Gottfried Green

There is something I found in FL called scratch and dent and I was able to get this LG wm2487 Tromm for half the price around 500 bucks. It will exist in a small room so I do not care about a scratch or a dent and it left me more cash to over spend elsewhere probably recklessly. Anyway, although Mr. Gottfried's job is a little less corporate these days he still needs shirts without wrinkles. We've been doing the ironing ourselves because dry cleaners are toxic not to mention expensive in FL campared to Brooklyn's a dollar a shirt deal. Anyway, this washer has "SteamFresh
-LG's innovative SteamFresh cycle makes it possible for you to refresh and reduce wrinkles in up to 5 garments at one time
-Running late for work with no time to iron? Load a cotton blend shirt into the SteamWasher and select the SteamFresh cycle. You'll be ready to go in just 20 minutes." I guess we'll see if this feature gives us any new freedoms from ironing. True green washing would be using rainwater in a bucket with a scrub board.

Labels: appliances

I am the type of person who really needs to be thorough when comparing prices with pros and cons when purchasing big items like appliances. I become obssessed not wanting to pay more for less. This is the second time we've done new appliances and so I did have a handle on brands I knew I liked already- Bosch and LG. I started with Bosch knowing I would do a repeat of a dishwasher and oven that we had purchased for our first house. Although now after visiting energystar.gov I was given an overview and if that failed I just looked for the energy star label. I used a site like homeclick.com that allowed me to narrow down my search based on things I knew such as size and color. Then when I found a few models I was able to look into the information and first of all see what had the most efficient energy label. My final step was to have about 3 to choose from and then just pick based on features I knew made sense for our use. With Energy Star appliances, you can recoup some extra cost for higher-end models over the first few years, especially water savers like dishwashers and washing machines. For my LG fridge and my LG washing machine, I actually went to a scratch and dent sale that offered a regular warranty but there were a few dings etc. I wrote down the model numbers went back home and researched those specifically and they worked out to be models I would have purchased anyway. I think I saved about $800 which allowed me to upgrade to an induction cooktop. I plan on posting each energy star label and the cost and comparing water and electric bills to past use etc to see if it really makes a difference. Also, we didn't even bother buying a dryer because we don't use one. If push comes to shove we can always make that purchase in the future.

Labels: appliances

It seems looking back that if it was a brand I already knew and they threw the word "Eco" into the product description, I went for it. Here, next to the oven, the dishwasher is the Bosch Integra 500 Series 4 Cycle Dishwasher w/ EcoSense. No doubt it is a good one but many of their other models are as efficient as well. As with the toilet, I could only do so many comparisons before I just bought something. We did look at the Fisher & Paykel double drawer but the more I read comsumer reviews the more I heard about this mechanical quirk it had. I'd already had a Bosch and loved it and so in the end the decision was easy.

Labels: appliances, kitchen

We went with a Kenmore Induction Cooktop for a few reasons. An induction cooktop uses electromagnetic energy allowing faster heating times while using less energy conventional cooktops. Basically it cooks the food and not the pot then the food. Since electric is required here in FL we also liked that there were no knobs to get dirty and awkwardly stick up on the cooking surface. The black surface works well with the dark paperstone counter.

Labels: appliances, kitchen

For our Brooklyn remodel we did stainless appliances, expensive marble and pietra cardoza countertops and although it wasn't custom, higher end wood cabinetry. It was really beautiful and was a big factor in our sale price. But that was Brooklyn, a different sensibility in an old townhouse and before I discovered green. I decided that when we did the kitchen here in FL things would different. Florida lends itself to a more streamlined, modern, clean feel which is why I am baffled that most of the new homes are over the top with McMansion lust. We moved to Florida to be outside more and enjoy our surroundings. The last thing we wanted was a house that felt heavy with bells and whistles. Clean lines and a simple look was the goal which brings me to my white Bosch oven. I love the look of this oven with its white knobs popping out of all the rectangles of the cabinets etc.

Labels: appliances, kitchen

I've been slow to post as things are happening quickly. I am going to try to post more updates this week. It looks like we will be in the house by the end of Feb. Our water heater is installed but there is no electric to the house yet so it hasn't been used. It sits under the house below the current bathroom and our future master bath. Even though it is on demand water heating, the distance the water travels to the fixtures matter because when the fixture shuts off whatever water left sitting in the pipe between the fixture and box will of course cool down. The farthest journey for water to travel is into the kitchen about 40ft away. We don't tend to let the kitchen sink water run hot before we used it for something so I don't think this distance makes much difference for us overall. As for the bathrooms where hot water is used more often the distance is about 4 ft. Although there are more involved systems used to make water hot i.e. solar water heating, the tankless is a great middle of the road solution for new builds and definitely remodels. At the Link is an earlier post explaining more about on demand water.

Labels: appliances, Energy, water

After doing the stainless thing already in Brooklyn, we were a bit over the hard to keep clean stainless appliances and decided to full high gloss white with appliances and cabinets. The stainless would spot and would never come clean for us even with stainless cleaner. At least the white when dirty or smugged is smooth and we can use less harsh cleaners to give it back its shiny sheen. The white Bosch oven I think has a great look with its white buttons popping out of the black.

Labels: appliances, interiors

While I am on the Energy Star Site it's a good time to also bookmark the current energy tax cuts. There is a very clear chart with all the resources to select products, find out the amount of the tax cut, what receipts/proof you'll need and finally you can print the various tax forms.

Important to note: "Home Improvements
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has provided guidance for consumers: IRS Notice 2006-26.

Tax credits are available for many types of home improvements including adding insulation, replacement windows, and certain high efficiency heating and cooling equipment. See chart. The maximum amount of homeowner credit for all improvements combined is $500 during the two year period of the tax credit. This tax credit applies to improvements made to your primary residence from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2007.

If you are building a new home, you do not qualify for the tax credits for "eligible building envelope components" (windows, doors, insulation, roofs) or "qualified energy property" (HVAC & non-solar water heaters). However, the tax credit for photovoltaics, solar water heating, and fuel cells is available for homeowners building new homes."

Labels: appliances, cost, Energy, taxes

Energy Star Home Advisor offers a page on their website where you can enter your location and current energy uses to determine ways to reduce energy use and costs. It highlights the usual list for existing homes:

sealing duct work
more insulation
upgrade windows
upgrade HVAC
programmable thermostat

Energy Star requirements are really just a bare minimum for how far you can go with R-Values and SEER ratings etc. but it is a good start to see where you fit in with home energy consumption.

Labels: appliances, cost, Energy, taxes

Short of using solar hot water heaters, the option of tankless hot water is a good compromise. A good analogy came from Dwell's recent green issue, "we don't keep a kettle boiling on the stove all day for the moment when we want tea, so why do we keep water heated around the clock when all we need it for is a shower..." That makes sense. Our house is also only going to have one bathroom so this too will allow us some options in types of systems we purchase. Bosch has a good site that explains some comparisons with usage and other advantages. Through the end of the year a $300 tax credit is offered.

Here is more general information I received in a Global Green newsletter. "Tankless water heaters have either an electric, gas, or propane heating device that is activated by the flow of water. Once activated, the heater provides a constant supply of hot water distributed at the same temperature and flow rate. The maximum flow rate is determined by the type of heater being used and at what temperature the device has been set to heat the water.

Indoor and outdoor models are available. On the low end, they will deliver between .6 - 4.2 gallons per minute. High end heaters deliver between 7.4 and 9.6 gallons per minute. If your household demand is high, several heaters can be run parallel for a constant flow. When choosing a tankless heater, it is a good idea to analyze your water usages. Tankless heaters work best with low- flow faucets and shower heads. Tankless systems also work best in houses with short hot water distribution lines. Smaller capacity heaters can be installed for appliances that use large amounts of hot water. They are also well suited as boosters for solar water heating systems."

Labels: appliances, Energy, water

The bank is going to do an appraisal based on our house plans
and what is going to be in it. In the end it's a home loan just as if we were buying a house already built on the property. In light of this we need all the specifics on appliances and fixtures. Fortunately, Inhabitat is doing a Green Your Appliances (sponsored by Bosch-hmmm) weekly segment. Here's a little fridge or "icebox" (as Grandma Gottfried used to call it) history. "As Americans in the 60s and 70s wanted a bigger refrigerator box, designers removed interior insulation to make room inside the appliance for weekly grocery trips and larger bottles of milk. The exterior of the fridge became so cool, it would start to “sweat.” So, designers ingeniously installed mini heaters outside of the refrigerator to evaporate the dew. All of this design and workaround put bigger energy demands on these appliances, so that a refrigerator in the mid 1970s used four times the consumption of a 1950s model. Meanwhile, Europe and Japan kept their standards high, their ice boxes small, and to this day total energy use is half that of American fridges." Read more at the Link.

Labels: appliances, Energy

The 3D online design world gets more and more interesting and more and more cohesive. Our house design was put into Google's SketchUp which allows us to move around and through the design. We can also watch the sun rise and set and see how the light plays through the house at anytime of the day or any time of the year. This a great tool to check the passive solar design with actual sunlight. For more details, I've been playing with Ikea kitchen planner to get ideas for how some specifics will look in our kitchen. Now Whirlpool has its appliances on Google's 3D warehouse almost ready made to slot into SketchUped, Ikea planned kitchens everywhere. Visit a new site to me, Ogleearth.com with all the details.

via archinect.com

Labels: appliances, design

According to Treehugger and Energy Star this is as good as clean clothes get. As this blog is my notebook for future use, for about 1200 bucks I'll keep this one on the wish list and if it doesn't work out I'll go back to the original idea of washing our clothes by hand in Gottfried Creek.

Labels: appliances