All Questions

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 ...

I have a gas water heater. If I go out of town for a week during warm months, I've been told that I will save energy if I turn the heater off before I leave. Would that still be true if I was going to ...

I have a used Kill-A-Watt power meter and want to see how accurate it is. In my "conventional" middle-class USA apartment, am I likely to have any electricity-consuming devices that I could ...

My refrigerator has a rheostat that I want to turn up to save energy. I'm trying to figure out whether I need to get a dedicated refrigerator thermometer. I have a digital and a mercury-based ...

I have seen competing information about whether it's a more sound environmental choice to choose real wood or composite decking materials. Different conclusions are drawn depending on whether the ...

For people engaged in sustainability in their work, sustainable supply chains are often discussed. What do consumers need to know about sustainable supply chains? How should this information be ...

I only use my freezer to freeze ice packs, which I only use about an hour every two days. Because of this, I plan to turn my freezer off (or to the hottest setting) most of the time, and then reduce ...

So my installation is for a sail boat. There's a lot things like rigging sails etc, that can create shadows on part of the array and this is constantly moving around. I've seen a lot of debate online ...

I have a big refrigerator/freezer and barely use any of the space. I also don't necessarily need to keep things cold all the time, as I mostly use it to freeze ice packs and extend the freshness of ...

I found an article claiming that In the 1970s and 1980s, Dallas emerged as a model of the kind of economic success government-subsidized suburban sprawl could generate Is that true? Did people get ...

I've been curious about power to gas technology. I've read up on the immense energy losses as you split water to hydrogen and then using the Sabatier reaction to generate methane. Do we know given the ...

This may be more of an academic question and less of practical relevance but I hope to have some input from this site nevertheless. In my opinion, multi-use products are always more sustainable than ...

On an average day, people using cars generate more polution than the people using public transport. Say for example: Person A uses a personal car. Person B doesn't have a car and it uses public ...

Recently I got a bid from a solar company and they said I don't need to upgrade my electrical box since it is rated at 125 amps, and for that value, I can install a 7k system based on calculation here....

The toilet rust is a very tough stain. I have tried: Vinegar alone Lemon juice Baking soda with vinegar: works a little bit I am asking for other options that are biodegradable. Please let me know ...

It’s 40°C at dusk during a summer heat wave. My electric utility is threatening blackouts and begging people to conserve. I have a couple unused rooms in a detached suburban house that don’t need air ...

Soda Stream is advertised as a more sustainable alternative to buying sparkling water in bottles. The main selling points are that no water filled bottles need to be manufactured, transported and ...

I am trying to figure out an application for a biodegradable packaging material a found out about. It is made from old or used potatoes or corn starch. I was thinking of using it in Pizza boxes to ...

I am trying to create a cheap and easy way to distill water. I learned through some research and talking with people that making a solar still is the best way. I really would like a cheap solution to ...

I'm designing a solar plant over the roof or a huge building for my company. Now the roof has a lot of obstacles, Shafts, pillars, AC equipment etc. I have a couple of questions that I could really ...

Are there any documented cases or examples about reusing greywater from a particular building in another adjacent building? For example: Using treated greywater from an office building for toilet ...

There are areas in the country I live in where deforestation has been extreme. I'm thinking of going to transplant smaller trees from the neighboring forests. Does this make sense? Could I end up ...

Wireless charging requires a number of 'receiving charging pad's and a 'management module' and I imagine there will be additional wiring. How much extra weight does this add to an electric bus?

It looks like the term is only used in Germany. I tried to search for it and found some hints in a random forum. I do not know how trustworthy this information is. Errr, no. What is sold as "...

I want to live alone in a floor above where I'm currently living cause I don't stand my family, only inconvenience, there is nothing not even tiles, I don't mind the discomfort but, how can I get rid ...

The commercially available solar cookers seem to use a variety of different technologies. I have seen ones that use mirrors, ones that use evacuate tubes, and other things, in different configurations....

I work for a brewery and we have recently started using 3mm thick 140x90mm Pump Clips on our taps instead of 2mm thick PVC Pump clips. These are the little plaques we see when we order a beer at the ...

I have a load of water butt rainwater storage linked to my gutter downpipes for my garden water needs, but I can't stand around waiting to fill watering cans from taps on butts, so occasionally (once ...

I have an old fridge that has not been used in years, but I am hesitant to get rid of it as it is an antique. I would prefer to upcycle it into something else but am lacking in imagination. Does ...

One of the advantages of timber buildings is regularly said to be their ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Wouldn't this require the timber used in the building to not decay, or at least to ...

I have seen a number of videos that talk about melting down HDPE and/or LDPE for craft projects. Some say these types of plastic are safer to some extent. I would like to do some crafts as well that ...

I am currently studying circular economy theory. More specifically life cycle sustainability assessment theory. And I notice that a paper in this area that presents a lot of citations is Finkbeiner, ...

There are well known commercial certifications, such as LEED. They operate with proprietary points-based score cards. See here. The ecological footprint of people's lifestyles is regularly measured in ...

I'm having a hard time finding specific up-to-date sources that contain clear guidelines and regulatory quality thresholds for graywater reuse. The only thing I could find was the EPA 2012 report and ...