PV Gap

Katrina Said:

This government and pass governments..cmon..give me a break!?

We Answered:

Agree with all of your rant except where you say the world is warming. In fact it has been in a cooling cycle for about the last 7 years. Most of the fools in Washington were put there by special interest groups such as Greenpeace, unions, wall street lobbies, and the global warming nuts. We can fix the problem but we must first start by throwing out people who are misusing their power/ positions. I have been a fan of Sanford from SC but he misused tax dollars to go and visit his girl friend so he should be thrown out of office. Barnie Franks has been in the pocket of Freddie and Fannie so he should be shown the door. Nancy Pelosie has been allowing and assisting the spending of US tax dollars on illegal immigrants so she should be tossed out. Senator Roy Ashburn of Ca. agreed to vote for a foolish budget which he had claimed he disagreed with because it withheld our tax returns and paid us an IOU. He voted for it because he was offered a position by Arnold after Ashburn terms out. Ashburn should be kicked out of public office and never allowed to return in any form. Party has no place in the argument as to how we can fix our nation. We need to throw out all of those who fail to represent us or who misuse their office/ powers.

Gilbert Said:

What is your version of Hell?

We Answered:

Your poem is very successful throughout most of its stanzas. You have a constant voice and coherent line of thought. Some of your words are...broken, such as "what ever"...which should be "whatever", and "minusing"? The concept is there, but surely you can replace it with "taking" or "subtracting".

As far as your ontological question...I think Hell is knowing there "is" something, but being unable to join it...to be perpetually "apart" from the source...while "knowing"...having the conscious awareness, that you can't get there from where you are..."that" would be Hell.

Your writing is good, for the most part...do a little editing and it will be even better...and keep writing.

Pamela Said:

Power/Renewable energy question?? HELP!!?

We Answered:

Check out solar panels by Konarka Technologies and Turby wind generators. These may help.

You can also set your house up to run like a sailing yacht at sea. But this will mean some interesting changes. Lighting could be LED or an AC drive alternative. You can set everything in the house to run of DC storeage battteries with and inverter. That's entertainment, lighting, microwave etc. Set your refrigeration up to run off DC - that mean a marine refrigeration system.
I would recommend a small diesel powered generator for cloudy periods and short winter days and use as a "when needed" system.
Heating and air conditioning become the problem and I haven't worked that one out yet.

Kyle Said:

Energy Efficiency for new house?

We Answered:

Austin is probably the "Green" capitol of the US. Look around the phone book (or call the CofC) and ask for the "Green Council" or something to that effect. They award points to energy efficient builders and offer all kinds of info on what works in Central Texas.

Russell Said:

Energy Efficiency for New Home?

We Answered:

Having just moved from Texas to PA there are a lot of things that you can do to help conserve energy. Windows are the #1 way that heat gets into or out of your house. Find out what type of windows are available; whether they have Low-E coating; are Argon filled; double, triple or quadruple paned (the more panes of glass, the more energy is absorbed). Post purchase I would certainly get them coated with a tint and you may also want to consider heavy drapes for the rest of the windows that you can close during the day. This goes a long way to keeping heat out.

Soalr would be a great way to lower your cooling costs in the summer, but it is usually quite expensive to install.

Ceiling fans are a must in all the bed rooms and in the living room.

A well insulated house will also go a long way to saving you money. Ask the builder how many inches of insulation were put in the attic and in the walls. Hopefully there is at least 6 inches in the walls and preferably 10-12" in the attic. If not, you can put more in the attic post purchase. Also, see if there are roof fans installed to vent the hot air from the attic to the outside. These are fairly inexpensive and easy to install and really make a big difference to cooling off the house.

A programmable thermostat will also go a long way to saving you some $$. I had one in my house and had it programmed to turn the air off at 8am when I left for work and turn back on around 4pm before I got home and then back down around 70 degrees around 12pm. This is also a simple post purchase fix.

As far as tax savings go, this past year the federal governement gave a $500 tax credit for certain energy improvements that you made to your house. It worked on a percentage basis. For instance, you got 5% of the cost for adding insulation (including labor) to your house; 10% of the cost for addign a more energy efficient boiler & also 10% of the costs for installing new windows. It's hard to tell if they will offer it again this year, but be sure to save your reciepts for any energey improvements you may make (even caulking around windows is considered an energy improvement).

Hope this helps somewhat! No matter what you do, plan on having at least a $200 energy bill from about May through September. Have some fun on 6th street for me!