All Questions

I've been looking for a simple solar powered lighting system for a carport I just built. I bought these without realizing how small they are: 2 Pack Solar Lights Outdoor. Unfortunately they look ...

A poster near a recycling station mentions that one liter of cooking oil contaminates 1 million liters of water and suggesting cooking oil recycling. If I spill cooking oil in the dirt of the backyard,...

One of my kids has asked for a bean bag for their room. I'm hesitant, mainly because of the styrofoam/plastic filler beans which (I assume) are generally terrible for the environment when they ...

Question: What are some good electricity-efficient ways to cool an ice pack down to ~5 degrees C once every 48 hours? Background: I am in a warm climate and connected to the grid in a US city. I don't ...

I am looking to calibrate a new battery monitor for an off-grid battery bank that's ~5 years old, since the previous battery monitor stopped working recently. I'm not sure how to go about it given the ...

A friend of mine just recently started avoiding any ultra-processed food because of health concerns. However he already had some in his storage room and some have passed their expiration date.This ...

When wind and solar generate surplus energy, can it be used to break water into oxygen and hydrogen and to store the gases in liquid form for later use as an energy source? Was this ever tried in any ...

Glazing is expensive and causes thermal loss. With those two considerations in mind, what configuration of windows is the most efficient in terms of reducing the area used by windows and maximizing a ...

Is this due to cost, or infrastructure, or path dependency, or incentives? I understand that batteries are more efficient (1) - but this does not take into account the quantity of rare materials ...

I recently experimented with storing "frozen edamame" in my refrigerator for 7 days (about 45 degrees F/7 deg C), instead of the freezer. There were seemingly no ill effects. So that made me ...

I have recently moved into a property that needs refurbishment and insulation. It has late 60s - early 70s cavity walls. I wanted to work out what the current U value is across the property and what ...

I use a Maze Compost Tumbler, which is a 2-sided rotary composter, to compost kitchen scraps. By volume, I add equal parts kitchen scraps, sawdust and peat moss whenever I add the scraps. It is ...

Background: Just acquired a 4-acre lot in Southern Virginia. It was recently cleared of a ton of small (roughly 6-foot-tall) pine saplings that look like they were mechanically planted. I am not ...

I've got a new EPEver 30a MPPT solar controller and single 320 watt 40v solar panel connected 4 feet away with 12awg wire. Very simple van setup my battery is a single 12v deep cycle 115AH. Note: ...

This question is focused on high quality solar panels (certified Tier 1) which are more and more mainstream. The 25 years warranty is becoming standard, and producers describe degradation in 25 years ...

I've heard lots of people mention that concerns about the sustainability of electric vehicles are mitigated when you consider that at end-of-life the batteries can be reused as stationary, grid ...

Lots of big companies are making grand pledges to go carbon-neutral (or even carbon-zero, removing historical emissions). It is feasible for a smaller company (that is, businesses that’d never be ...

This company: https://proton.energy/ Is trying to inject oxygen into old oil wells for it to combust and extract only hydrogen using steam reforming and a filter. Making steam reforming happen ...

I am looking to conduct a life cycle analysis (LCA) to investigate the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emission contributions from lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries. The first part of their lifecycle is ...

I have recently seen some pumpkins being curved for Halloween into jack-o'-lanterns and noticed it in some cases they are also being decorated with paint. I understand that pumpkins should normally be ...

I am working in the modelling and environmental evaluation of redox flow batteries based on Anthraquinone and Ferrocyanide. Currently I am having difficulties in finding information on how ...

I searched for recycling glass and there are no results. https://www.chestercountyswa.org/DocumentCenter/View/1646/New-Mixed-Paper-Guidelines?bidId= What happens with the broken glass in the recycling?...

I have an enameled cast iron dutch oven that has become unusable due to how cracked and chipped the enamel is. I need to get rid of it, and I'd hate to throw it away because there are several pounds ...

Are there any design elements or other indicators that could help me identify whether a particular type of electric blanket is likely to be durable (and how durable)? Are there any resources out there ...

I live in an apartment, with the authority to make minor modifications, and I am wondering whether there are any fairly low-effort passive solar design elements that I can incorporate. Any ideas? ...

As a residential water consumer on US city water, I am used to thinking about the marginal environmental cost (particularly energy cost) of my additional water use, based on considerations like ...

Is it the case that some of the energy expenditure associated with wastewater treatment is more proportional to the amount/type of waste than to the amount of treated water (meaning that my water has ...

A few studies I've seen investigating the energy intensity of water use in the US specifically enumerate the energy use of chilling*. Where in the system does most of that happen? How common/for what ...

Is it common for people on city water in the US to have their own on-site pumping as part of the "standard" delivery system, or is the pressure usually entirely supplied by the municipal ...

Are there long-distance water pipelines emanating from the North American Great Lakes region? Why or why not? Under what circumstances would this be an ecologically reasonable way to provide water to ...

There is a significant chance that this has been covered on SE, but I haven't yet found anything similar enough for my taste (see related questions, below). Question: How could I go about coming up ...

I love Dr. Bronners unscented liquid soap! I can use it as dish washing liquid, body wash, laundry detergent, and shaving soap. And it's biodegradable so I can use it on the trail when backpacking! It ...

I live in an apartment in the US midwest, and during the winter my pipes freeze unless I trickle my faucet. I think that the point at which it freezes is in a difficult-to-access exterior wall on the ...

A lot of washing machines offer different washing modes which change various run settings: Cotton (or 'General'), Towels, Bedsheets, Wool and so on. Most even have settings for 'Eco Mode' - which (if ...

I'm imagining heating some water pipes using heating coils similar to these. Under various conditions, would I need to apply almost continuous lengths of heating coil to the entire length of pipe? Or ...

I am told that, in cold weather, I should let my faucet trickle a little to prevent pipes from freezing, especially if some portion of my above-ground pipes are likely to get cold. Are there any rules ...

I came across some videos on YouTube where they used a home-made incubator to hatch hen eggs. The system was nothing fancy: A cardboard box with a light inside Some aluminum foil near the bulb (...

I want to connect my freezer to an external thermostat like this to maintain a higher temperature than it otherwise could. Are there any thermostats or other control devices that would keep the ...

The title says it all; I'm looking for any qualitative information that can help me. Freezers: https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-residential-freezers/details/2255167 ...

I'm talking about store-bought water-packed tofu. I'm sure it depend partially on the expiration date. The main thing I want to know is the highest temperature that I can probably get away with ...

Any "reasonable" methods would be appreciated. I have heard that this can be done but I'm dubious that it would do much. Maybe if I put polyethylene on the right bits?

I want to keep my hands warm(er) while working on a laptop in a cold room. Would it make sense to take a polar fleece blanket, fold it in half, sew together the two edges that are perpendicular to the ...

I have a room in my apartment that can sometimes get around 40°F (4°C), and that's where my new tankless water heater is stored. Should I take any special precautions to keep my pipes from freezing or ...

I live in a second-floor apartment in the US Midwest. For a few weeks per year, I have found that I need to turn on the baseboard heater in my kitchen in order to prevent the pipes in the kitchen and ...

I live in the US Midwest and am looking to upgrade from my current old baseboard heaters to a more energy-efficient solution. Any ideas? I am already well advanced on a parallel project of home ...

The Euro 6 bus WHTC test cycle here shows a value of 4.0 carbon dioxide and the Euro 5 ESC & ELR test cycles show a value of 1.5 CO. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_emission_standards It ...

I am shopping for refrigerators and looking at this model. Feel free to let me know if that's stupid. But my main question is this: I'm trying to come up with a moderately conservative power ...

I'm trying to get a simplified idea of how the EPA estimates annual power consumption for refrigerators, e.g. here. There are a number of reasons why I want to know this, but there are three big ones: ...

Various news media articles claim that Two-thirds of glacier ice in the Alps 'will melt by 2100' https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/09/two-thirds-glaciers-alps-alpine-doomed-climate-...

My understanding is that AC-to-DC converters each have their own "sweet spot" in which they achieve their rated or advertised maximum efficiency. I want something with maximum efficiency at ...