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Empathy for Enthalpy

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We are all looking for ways to save money. Challenging our energy consumption thinking can really pay off.

Enthalpy, or the energy measured in thermodynamics, may seem a strange visitor to a discussion of your home’s energy consumption. But a brief breakdown of heating and cooling gains and losses will leave you well equipped to be a more energy-savvy consumer, and have a cleaner home, too.

Energy Consumption

It’s challenging to think of reducing energy consumption in the middle of summer’s heatwave. But there are small, individual choices we can make with great impact on our personal energy demand and the environment.

Problem: Rising population, rising cost of living, rising energy costs and consumption…Affects the environment.

“In the next 20 years…global energy consumption is expected to rise 40%”, according to The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine.

According to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (anspblog.org), how we use energy affects our environment. Toxic fumes and harmful byproducts are the unseen evils of energy production and consumption. As is stated in their article, “Reduce Your Household Energy Use”: “When we consume less power, we reduce the amount of toxic fumes released by power plants, conserve the earth’s natural resources, and help protect ecosystems from destruction… Cutting back on energy consumption reduces the amount of electricity that power plants have to make.”

Solution: Changes in how we think and use energy.

As individuals, we can be more aware of how we use the energy we consume by making optimal use of appliances:

Keep refrigerator at 36-38 degrees Fahrenheit, limiting frequency and duration of door opening.

When using oven and stovetop, make larger meals to afford leftovers for another day, requiring less energy to reheat.

Unplug technology including TV’s, chargers, small appliances when not in use.

Wash a full load of laundry in cold water, whenever possible.

Air dry laundry as much as possible, reducing the need for the dryer, the 5th most energy-consuming appliance.

Heaters, the most energy-consuming appliance, are responsible for over 30% of home energy use. Addressing poor insulation and gaps contributing to energy loss are the main ways to reclaim, lowering heating costs.

Cooling appliances account for about 10% of home energy consumption, also being affected by poor insulation and gaps, leading to loss of cooled air.

The state of your windows accounts for nearly 30% of potential heating and cooling losses. Dirty panes, debris, cracks and gaps, and broken weather stripping all contribute to higher energy consumption, as your heating and cooling must work harder to maintain a temperate environment.

Overall, a cleaner home, inside and out, increases the quality of air you breathe inside and outside your home. It also has a direct bearing on the efficiency of your home’s heating and cooling systems. Clean homes using clean, energy efficient appliances will work easier, saving you money as well as reducing energy consumption.

Professional House Washing protects your home from deterioration from elements, buildup of grime, bacteria, and fungus, which can work their way beneath your home’s exterior, ‘infecting’ and deteriorating the efficiency of your home’s energy.

Professional Window Cleaning likewise promotes better use of your home’s energy consumption. Clean windows allow more natural heat and light to enter your home, reducing incessant reliance on appliances and electric lighting.

There are many other appliances, electronics, and habits that affect your home’s energy consumption. While most of these depend on YOUR use and habits as a homeowner, why not depend on US to make the most of your heating and cooling energy expenditure, by scheduling a Professional House Wash and Window Cleaning Service.

With all of the “smart” technology available, let’s be smarter consumers, making better use of our energy consumption.

Life In The Gutter

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Leaves, dirt, saplings, and other life in your gutter can mean the destruction of your home.

At first glance, an overflowing gutter may look a bit comical. Packed with leaves, twigs, dirt, and other life, the task of carrying water away from your home may just be too tall an order. Bending and bursting, clogged gutters spill gallons of water to areas of your home vulnerable to erosion or absorption. And that is no laughing matter.

Gutter Cleaning may seem a simple enough task to DIY, and yet is easily forgotten or procrastinated. Unfortunately, the reminder usually comes in the form of another issue. Problems such as stained siding, bowed gutters, water pooling at the foundation, or worse still, dampness or leaking into cracked foundations, walls, ceilings, and basements. What was a simple job has now cascaded into a major problem.

Gutter Cleaning actually bears a huge impact on the health and life span of your home. Meant for the purpose of keeping your home clean and dry, left unmanaged, clogged gutters can actually reduce the life span of your entire home. That is bad for your wallet and bad for the planet! Repair, replacement, and renovation costs due to neglect far outweigh the small cost of a regularly maintained Professional Gutter Cleaning.

Advantages of a Professional Gutter Cleaning:

  1. DIY is not always cut and dry. Consider all the factors: ladder safety, having a safety partner, having tools while on a ladder, reaching without proper ladder contact, airborne debris causing eye and nose allergens, not to mention the time to properly do the job once you have obtained all of your materials, as well as running water (hopefully) through your unclogged gutter. Any issues could turn an afternoon job into a weekend project, costing you your precious time and energy.
  2. Professional Technicians are trained to look for areas of your home that may have damage, and issues that could lead to bigger problems. Knowledge is Power.
  3. Regular Maintenance of Gutters means a longer life span not only for your gutters, but also your roof, siding, foundation, fascia, and even the interior of your home.
  4. Regular Gutter Cleaning means your Roof and Siding will also stay cleaner longer, as moisture, debris, and algae will not have a resting place, and therefore a breeding ground in which to propagate. This also means a longer life for your roof, as shingles are a common food source for roof algae known as Gloeocapsa Magma.
  5. Keeping pooled and stagnant water away from your home also means less possibility of mold and mildew entering into your home, causing allergies and health issues.
  6. Cleaned, empty gutters serve to protect your home during some of the volatilities of the seasons, including heavy rainstorms in spring and summer, falling leaves in autumn, and ice damming in winter.
  7. Protect your investment. Long term regular care means less waste for the environment, and more money in your pocket.

Annual Professional Roof and House Washing coupled with Semi-Annual Professional Gutter Cleanings will help to keep your house and home pristine, clean, and dry. Professional Gutter Cleaning can be scheduled any time, but is essential prior to Spring as well as prior to and post Autumn. Don’t procrastinate or rely on DIY. Trust the Grime Fighters to keep your life out of the gutter! Get your FREE QUOTE NOW and schedule your Autumn Gutter Cleaning.

Algae and Altruism

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Learning manners from microorganisms.

Over the last two years we’ve learned a lot about bacteria, viruses, and the spread of germs. We’ve learned how the simplest of actions, washing one’s hands with soap and water, helps to reduce and prevent the spread of germs. Ironically, the same principle applies to keeping your home’s exterior clean and algae free.

Algae grows by photosynthesis. Algae have been referred to as “the most important photosynthesizing organisms on earth.” While there are various types of Algae, they share a common structure which is unique in that they do not have roots or leaves. Because of this unique structure, they occupy various habitats which would normally be inhospitable to plants, including porous rocks such as sandstone and limestone. But algae does not work alone. Forming a symbiotic partnership with Fungus, it forms Lichen, which behave as a plant-like growth. Both provide a beneficial environment for the other, including an exchange of oxygen, nutrients, and protection, allowing the symbiotic whole to become strong and resistant, able to grow and thrive where it could not do so alone.

Fungus lives by decomposing and absorbing the organic material in which they grow. Algae, on the other hand, is a chlorophyll containing aquatic organism. This symbiosis allows the organism to reproduce, withstanding extremes of weather and light, resulting in acid-producing lichens capable of disintegrating rock and damaging to zinc and lead used in flashing or gutters.

What does this mean for homeowners? Since a variety of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa, and algae are airborne, they can easily be spread from home to home. So just as proper handwashing can do much to prevent the spread of germs, viruses, and bacteria, so a PROFESSIONAL HOUSE WASH can protect your home from the spread of this insidious organism. While bacteria, fungi, and algae DO have an imperative function in our environment, they can also mean the slow destruction of your home. Just like disease, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Perhaps you have heard, or even repeated the adage, “Seeing is Believing”. The reality is that there are many environmental processes that occur which are unseen. However, we do see the effects. The symbiotic growth of algae and fungus may go unseen for a time, until it is all too evident. We’ve all seen a house or two, perhaps even in a row, smeared by the effects of the unseen.

So if your home is “sick”, your neighbour’s might be too. Why not take advantage of a special 15% DISCOUNT for a NEIGHBOUR REFERRAL HOUSEWASH. Partner with at least one neighbour to schedule a PROFESSIONAL HOUSE WASH to both receive the discount.