In the past, roof inspections mostly focused on what could be seen from the outside. Contractors looked for broken shingles, worn flashing, or areas where water might enter the roof. The problem is that roof damage does not always show clear signs right away. Water can move through roofing layers before it becomes visible inside the home.
MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery) systems are designed to continuously replace stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air while recovering heat that would otherwise be lost. In commercial and residential buildings, this technology provides several important advantages. First, it allows buildings to remain energy efficient without sacrificing airflow.
Checking your equipment once a month helps catch small issues before they turn into expensive repairs. A routine keeps everything running smoothly and extends the life of the hardware. Managers should create a simple checklist for their maintenance staff to follow.
In many Texas households, outdoor watering accounts for more than half of the total summer water use. The biggest mistake people make is watering in the middle of the afternoon. When the sun is at its peak, a significant percentage of that water evaporates before it ever hits the roots of your St. Augustine or Bermuda grass.
Improving indoor air quality is something every household can do. HEPA-based air purifiers - including budget-friendly air purifiers or DIY box-fans with a filter - are incredibly effective at cleaning and lowering particulate levels. That means you don't necessarily need a high-end system to see improvement.
A range hood is a mechanical ventilation system installed above a cooktop or range. Its primary job is to remove cooking byproducts, moisture, and odors. Some models vent air outside through ductwork. Others recirculate air through filters and send it back into the kitchen. While both options may look similar, their performance is not the same.
It looks like ordinary paint, but a new coating called Lilypad Paint has a hidden ability to pull moisture out of the air. It works like a dehumidifier, without the energy use. If it's on the wall in your bathroom, it can suck water vapor out of the air after you've taken a shower. The paint holds the humidity in nano-size pores, and then slowly releases it as humidity levels fall in the room.
You may recall LiquidStack was one of the early players in two-phase immersion cooling, and first dunked servers into tanks of dielectric liquids to cool down crypto mining operations. Microsoft was among the first to trial LiquidStack's tech all the way back in 2021. Since then, the company has expanded its portfolio to include both single-phase and dual-phase immersion tanks, plus direct-to-chip cooling technologies, including a rather beefy 10MW modular coolant distribution unit (CDU).
This is a brilliant machine for use in a garage. Not only can you control the humidity of the space at the touch of a button on your phone, it can be wall-mounted out of the way, and can handle cooler temperatures as well as looking the part - even beside a fancy super car
You should buy a dehumidifier. It will almost certainly improve your home environment. Pulling moisture from the air helps banish condensation and mold, making it cheaper and easier to regulate the temperature in your house or apartment. There's a reason the chatter about dehumidifiers has grown so loud and sales are soaring; it's because they work. Whether you've seen a persuasive Reddit thread, a life hack on TikTok, or an expert guide to the best dehumidifiers, the hype is real.
I was that person who only changed their HVAC filter when it looked like it had grown its own ecosystem. Richie Drew, Vice President of Operations at One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning, puts it bluntly: "Dirty filters can reduce airflow, increase dust in your home and strain your heating system." Think about it this way: your HVAC filter is like the bouncer at an exclusive club, except instead of keeping out people without the right shoes, it's blocking dust particles from circulating through your home.
The method Moisture meters measure electrical conductivity in the soil, which roughly correlates with moisture. Push the probe into the pot, around the root ball, read the dial and water only if it dips into the dry zone. Cross-check with the old tests: feel the soil, lift the pot to gauge the weight, and look at the plant itself. If the meter says dry but the soil feels cool and damp, trust your senses.
Let's be honest: most humidifiers are not so visually pleasant. They're the appliances we hide in corners, tuck behind furniture, or banish to the bedroom where guests won't see them. But what if a humidifier was so stunning you'd actually want to show it off? Enter the Balmuda Rain, a Japanese design marvel that's making us completely rethink what a functional appliance can look like.
When it's dreary outside, I usually hunker down and do household chores - running the dishwasher, catching up on laundry, maybe even taking a long shower and shaving my legs. These days, though, I take the opposite approach: I never do chores that require water use when it's raining outside. That's because I recently learned that my city, Milwaukee, has a shared sewer system - which means rainwater runoff, domestic sewage, and industrial wastewater collect in the same pipes.
February is here. The "New Year, New Me" energy has officially worn off, replaced by a much more realistic "New Year, Same Me, But Freezing" thanks to a very disrespectful wind chill a heating bill that's starting to look like a phone number.
With costs climbing across the US, energy prices stand out, made worse by record-breaking summer heat and recent waves of scorching temperatures that have affected multiple states. Having endured several of them this season, I'm always looking for ways to reduce energy use. There are many small things you can do to shave dollars off your monthly energy bill, and they go beyond simply switching off the lights when you leave the room.
They do nothing to save you power Scam "power saving" devices are rampant online. These devices plug into an outlet and promise to "improve the use of energy," "extend the life of electrical equipment," and even "avoid illegal electrical waste." Sounds great, right? Also: This USB power meter I tested is shockingly accurate - especially for how cheap it is Well, despite the bold claims and the sticker on the front of the unit, they are too good to be true.
The updated Building Emissions Saving Ordinance (BESO) requires sellers of single family homes or duplexes to complete at least six credits worth of upgrades before final sale or pay $2,500 to the city, which is then funneled to the buyer upon completion of the upgrades. For many sellers, installing a heat pump is the easiest and most efficient way to earn all six credits in one fell swoop, while also significantly increasing the appeal of the property, notes Grimsich, CEO of 1-888-Heat-Pumps.
All of the appliances and systems are brand-new: the HVAC, the lighting, the entertainment. Touch screens of various shapes and sizes control this, that, and the other. Rows of programmable buttons sit where traditional light switches would normally be. The kitchen even has outlets designed to rise up from the countertop when you need them, and slide away when you don't.
Anker SOLIX E10 is a smart hybrid whole-home backup system that blends batteries, green solar power, and a smart generator into one coordinated setup. It is designed to keep an entire house running, not just a few circuits, and is rated for whole-home backup with a 200-amp connection when paired with its Power Dock, matching a typical US main panel.