Vacation Energy Checklist: What to Turn Off Before You Travel
Last November I was standing in my kitchen at 4 a.m., suitcase by the door, running through the list I keep taped inside the pantry. Two weeks in Minnesota with my in-laws,…
Last November I was standing in my kitchen at 4 a.m., suitcase by the door, running through the list I keep taped inside the pantry. Two weeks in Minnesota with my in-laws,…
Our craftsman's basement has a slightly damp corner that no amount of dehumidifying will fully fix, so for years I assumed line-drying in a 1920s Portland house was a fantasy for people…
A reader in Sacramento forwarded me her first twelve solar bills last spring, convinced her installer had shorted her by roughly $1,400. Her 6.8 kW system was producing exactly what the design…
A friend called me last February in a small panic. Her HVAC contractor had just told her a heat pump "quits working" below 30°F and she should cancel the install she had…
Our block lost power at 4:47 on a February evening two years ago, right as freezing rain started welding branches to power lines. The furnace fell silent, the fridge ticked once and…
A friend in Hood River called me on a Tuesday night with the permit already filed: a 45-foot monopole in the side yard, a refurbished Bergey Excel 1 kW he had found…
A friend texted me a screenshot of a Chevy Equinox EV window sticker last month with one question: "Do I actually get the $7,500 off this, or is that just a headline?"…
Last February I pulled out of my driveway at 6:47 a.m. with the dashboard reading 24°F and my little electric hatchback showing 138 miles of range on a full battery. By the…
Last winter I mapped a 340-mile trip from Portland to a friend's place near Bend, and my first plan had me arriving with 4% battery on a night forecast to hit 22°F.…