We do ... insulate the hot water pipes

Submitted by Michael on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 13:21.

This could easily be the post about the energy audit that we got from our utility, but instead, it's about our insulating the pipes in our basement that radiate heat.

As you can see, it's a little ham-handed. I had to use twist ties to keep one section closed, and there's another section where I should have used it, among other defects. Almost every home-improvement project I've ever tackled has produced in me both pride — for having accomplished something new — and embarrassment — for having not done it professionally.

Even having not handled every corner well, and for not dealing well where ceiling hangers break the run, and blah blah blah, we're keeping the vast majority of the heat that was bleeding into the basement in the pipes, where it belongs.

So why could this have been about our energy audit? 'Cause they did come, but most of what they suggested, we'd already done, and most of what I asked for, they don't do. Like, insulating pipes.

 

Changes 'round here

This page now features all my professional writing. I've split my blog in two. The one here has a new name, "Sustainably," and is exclusively about green living and technology. Pragerblog continues, without the green content, at fisherblue.com/blog.

The left column discusses my memoir on obesity, "Fat Boy, Thin Man." Note the excerpts, please.

The right column features my work in print periodicals, current and past.

Green heroes

In my series "Green people," I ask everyone to name a green hero, and the following are their answers, some known, some not. Click through to see whose hero is whose, why, and further links:

Rick Ames
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Marty Aikens
William McDonough
Helen Norberg-Hodge
Al Gore
Mindy Lubber
Jane Goodall