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	<title>Home Improvements Depot &#187; Green Home improvements</title>
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	<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com</link>
	<description>Home Improvement Tips and Tricks for the Average Homeowner!</description>
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		<title>How To Tell If Your Air Conditioner Is Working Or Broken</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-tell-if-your-air-conditioner-is-working/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-tell-if-your-air-conditioner-is-working/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Jul 2011 02:45:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=1574</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It almost seems common for air conditioners to break down and stop working, often at the most inconvenient times and during the longest stretches of extremely hot weather. A broken air conditioner can actually be incredibly dangerous, especially around older people who may not have recognized that the AC has even stopped working. Sitting inside a hot home with the windows closed and no source of fresh air is disaster waiting to happen. According to the National Weather Service in 2010 more people died from heat-related deaths, many of them preventable, than any other weather-related catastrophe. That&#8217;s why it&#8217;s so vitally important to be vigilant during heat waves and make sure you own home air conditioner is running smoothly and as efficiently as it can. You can help your air conditioner keep up with the heat by closing blinds and not using heat-generating appliances. But when your home begins to get warmer as the day gets hotter and you suspect that your AC is broken then it&#8217;s time to jump into action. Before you rush to the phone to call the air conditioner repair company you may first want to determine if your AC really is broken or if it&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>AC Not Keeping Up?  Cool Down Your House Now!</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/ac-not-keeping-up/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/ac-not-keeping-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:14:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=1551</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Whether you have a central air conditioner or just window air conditioners in your house there&#8217;s always a point during the summer when the temperatures start hitting the high 90&#8242;s and the AC can&#8217;t keep up with the rising heat and humidity. If you find that your air conditioner isn&#8217;t keeping your house cool on hot days but you don&#8217;t have the time or money to replace your air conditioner with a larger or newer unit, then don&#8217;t worry. These are some things you can do immediately to help your AC work better and to help cool your house down quickly.  Each is followed by a &#8220;cooling factor&#8221; which tells you approximately how much cooler you can make a room. These discounted (38% off!) thermal curtains can help block out the sun when your AC can&#8217;t keep your house cool. Cover Your Windows: It seems like a silly thing to worry about, but the sunlight coming in through your windows can heat up your house like a magnifying glass burning a leaf. All your windows, especially windows facing the sun or that get direct light, should have some sort of light blocking window treatments which will not only block out [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>LED Light Bulb Review</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/led-lightbulb-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/led-lightbulb-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Jul 2011 08:55:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Home Products]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=1535</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I finally got around to picking up an LED bulb and decided to give it a quick review when compared to the CFL and incandescent light bulbs I still have in my house. I&#8217;m one of those people who, despite all the logic that says that LED bulbs are cheaper to run and last longer than any other light bulb, still have some pretty big reservations about spending more than $20 for a single light bulb.  I happened to end up with a gift card and a coupon to Lowe&#8217;s a few days ago so I went ahead and picked up a few things I&#8217;d been wanting, including a relatively small 430 Lumen LED light bulb that is supposedly the equivalent of a 40 watt incandescent bulb.  Here&#8217;s a quick review of the LED light bulb that I picked up: The LED bulb I picked up is an &#8220;Utilitech Pro&#8221; bulb which is a brand of bulbs that is distributed by the Feit Electric Company.  They&#8217;re usually on the less expensive end of the LED bulbs that are out there but they still aren&#8217;t cheap.  You can pick up this particular Dimmable LED 40 Watt Equivalent light bulb from Amazon.com [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>The Do-It-Yourself Home Energy Audit</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/diy-home-energy-audit/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/diy-home-energy-audit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 May 2011 09:50:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=1269</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One way to reduce your home&#8217;s energy consumption is to give your house a home energy audit. By taking a good hard look at all the ways your home is not only using energy but also losing energy (through the loss of warm or cold air) you&#8217;ll be able to spot places where a little investment can go a long way to reducing your energy bills and making your home more comfortable. With &#8220;green jobs&#8221; and &#8220;green technology&#8221; being the phrase of the decade it makes sense that a lot people are starting to look at their homes as a place where they can not only improve the environment but also save some money by reducing the amount of energy their homes are wasting. A home energy audit can be as extensive or as simple as you want it to be. Most local utility companies actually offer energy audits where an expert will come into your home and basically look around and run some tests and then give you a report of different ways they think you could save money. Some utility companies give the audits for free, while some charge a modest fee, usually around $100 &#8211; $200 or [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Using A Programmable Thermostat</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/using-a-programmable-thermostat/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/using-a-programmable-thermostat/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:19:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Home Products]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=905</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the best and least expensive ways to lower your utility bills all year round is to replace the manual thermostat in your home with an electronic programmable thermostat. Installing a programmable thermostat is not a difficult home improvement project if you follow the directions for your model of thermostat closely. If you&#8217;re not comfortable doing it then most heating and air conditioner repair companies will install it for you at a very reasonable price. Most programmable thermostats are affordable and easy to use. This one sells on Amazon.com for less than $100. The advantages of a programmable thermostat are pretty easy to see. Electronic thermostats will automatically turn the hear or air conditioner on or off throughout the day according to your instructions. This gives you the ability to only use the utilities when you need them and when you&#8217;re home. For example: lets say you leave for work at 8:00AM every morning and don&#8217;t get back until 5:00PM each day during the summer. You can program your thermostat to let your house get to 80 degrees during the day and then have it automatically turn on and cool the house back down to 74 degrees as you [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>How To Change A Furnace Air Filter</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-change-a-whole-house-air-filter/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-change-a-whole-house-air-filter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Apr 2010 10:51:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=816</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you have any sort of forced air system in your home, including a central air conditioner or forced hot air heat, then you almost certainly also have an air filter in that system that needs to be changed fairly regularly. There are actually lots of regular things you should do to maintain your air conditioner, but changing your home&#8217;s filters when they are dirty is probably one of the most important. You can see the clean air filter and the dirty air filter which was only used for three months. I order my replacement filters online. Most filters are pretty simple in design: they let air flow through them while they filter back (or stop) most dust and dirt particles from being blown back out of your vents. A central AC or forced air heating system actually sucks air and dust in through return vents (these are usually larger vents that are found high up on walls) and then filters the air, cools or heats the air, and then blows it back out through your floor or wall vents at just the right temperature. If that filter gets blocked up with dirt and dust then the whole system has [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How To Use A Caulk Gun</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-use-a-caulk-gun/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-use-a-caulk-gun/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:10:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Products, Reviews and Resources]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=679</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A caulk gun is one of those tools that everyone can identify, but not a lot of people use on an everyday basis. Caulking guns can, of course, be used for much more than just caulk. They can spread out caulk, sealants, adhesives, and just about any other tacky chemical or material that is designed to be used with a caulk gun. Most caulk guns have a nozzle cutter in the handle.&#160; Caulking guns only have a few moving parts, but correctly operating them often eludes the home improvement beginner. I know, because I was once one of them! Manual caulk guns are relatively cheap (usually under $10) and can be used over and over again for many years if they are properly cared for. And, like a lot of home improvement tools, caulk guns only take a few minutes to understand but can take a lifetime (or at least several big jobs) to really master. It&#8217;s called a caulk or caulking gun because it pretty much looks like a gun. There&#8217;s a shallow metal half-tube that&#8217;s the &#8220;barrel&#8221; of the gun. That holds your caulk tube. There&#8217;s usually a metal plunger that can move back and forth along the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-use-a-caulk-gun/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Things To Remember When Buying LED Christmas Lights</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/things-to-remember-when-buying-led-christmas-lights/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/things-to-remember-when-buying-led-christmas-lights/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:19:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lighting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=574</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Christmas shopping season has begun early this year in most stores, and that can especially be seen in the larger chain stores. Home improvement stores are usually aiming for two holiday markets: the person shopping for that perfect holiday gift as well as the homeowner who is looking for new decorations to be used before the holiday. A lot of the larger hardware stores go all out during the holiday season, carrying a wider selection of lights and electric Christmas decorations than most other retail stores. One item that all the stores seem to push this time of year is LED Christmas lights. Many stores are offering a discount towards the purchase of LED Christmas lights when you trade in your old Christmas light strings. Many stores are now taking the buying of Christmas lights one step further this year: they&#8217;re encouraging people to turn in their old incandescent holiday Christmas lights in return for a rebate that goes towards the purchase of new energy-saving LED Christmas lights. Your old Christmas lights don&#8217;t even have to work! These retail store Christmas Light Trade-In offers are being advertised as a &#8220;green&#8221; and environmentally friendly gesture, but the truth behind that [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/things-to-remember-when-buying-led-christmas-lights/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Wagner TurboRoll Power Paint Roller Review</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/wagner-turboroll-power-paint-roller-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/wagner-turboroll-power-paint-roller-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:14:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Home Products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paint]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=532</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After putting up the drywall and finishing the walls in my basement room it was finally time to apply some primer and paint. I was going to just use a regular paint roller, but I had a unique chance to try out the new Wagner TurboRoll Power Paint Roller and I&#8217;m glad I did. The Wagner TurboRoll Power Paint Roller You see, after I wrote about painting my house this summer I was contacted by a gentleman from Wagner who asked me some questions about my project. One thing led to another and he sent me two free TurboRoll Powered Paint Rollers to try in my basement. In the interest of full disclosure, I received these two TurboRoll Power Paint Rollers in exchange for this unbiased review. I usually use a plain old disposable paint roller with the traditional method of pouring the paint into the paint tray, running the roller into the tray and applying the paint to the wall. The process of painting with roller is about 100 times faster than with a brush, but it&#8217;s also a process that punctuated with lots of mess and moving paint around from can to tray to roller to wall. The [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/wagner-turboroll-power-paint-roller-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Making Sidewalk Art With A Power Washer</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/making-sidewalk-art-with-a-power-washer/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/making-sidewalk-art-with-a-power-washer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:46:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=450</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s consumer power washers are good cleaning tools but you can also have some fun with them and add a decorative flair to your home. Just about any type of small to medium pressure washer should work for this project, no matter how low the psi might be. With a little imagination and creativity you can use a pressure or power washer to clean the sidewalks and pavements around your home and also leave some fun designs on your cement. There are no chemicals involved, it&#8217;s completely temporary and kind of fun! Even a little hand held power washer like this one from Amazon is powerful enough to make artistic designs on cement and concrete. First, before you go playing with your power washer, be safe. Power washers, even the little home units, are dangerous tools that can seriously hurt someone. Never aim a power washer at a person or animals, always wear goggles or safety glasses when using them and be very vigilant about what you are washing because you could be damaging something without even knowing it. If you have corded power washer then you also need to be extra careful about mixing water with any electrical tool. [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Home Improvement Tax Deductions and Credits</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/home-improvement-tax-deductions/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/home-improvement-tax-deductions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:12:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Products, Reviews and Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[taxes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=217</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A lot of people wonder if the home improvements and home repairs they perform on their house over a year are tax deductible or eligible for any money back on income taxes at the end of the year. Most people know that many of the home improvements which improve the energy efficiency of your home are eligible for some sort of tax deduction or tax credit, though each year the amount of money you can deduct gets smaller and smaller. But there are other types of home improvements that have nothing to do with energy efficiency that may also help reduce your income taxes in the year those improvements were finished. Overview of Tax Credits and Deductions for Home Improvements Generally, there are three ways a home improvement might benefit you financially come tax time. You may be eligible for some sort of income tax relief if: Your home improvements are being performed for medical reasons Your home improvements include certain energy-efficient upgrades to your home You are going to be using a home equity loan or home equity line of credit to actually pay for your home improvements Before we get into those three scenarios, let&#8217;s discuss the basics [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>34</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Will LED Christmas Lights Really Save You Money?</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/should-you-switch-to-led-christmas-lights-to-save-money/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/should-you-switch-to-led-christmas-lights-to-save-money/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:40:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lighting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=88</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With the rising cost of just about everything, the sagging economy and the growing interest in &#8220;green&#8221; energy and materials across the country, it&#8217;s no wonder that LED Christmas lights are becoming more and more popular each year. This year a number of cities and companies have boasted how &#8220;green&#8221; they were by switching to LED Christmas lights instead of incandescent Christmas lights that they&#8217;ve used for years. LED or Incandescent Christmas Lights? The big question: are LED Christmas lights really that much better in the long run? Will switching to them save you money and save the environment? The answer isn&#8217;t quite as clear-cut as you may think. Because there are thousands of different Christmas light configurations and options, both in LED Christmas light and regular Christmas lights, I decided to focus on two similar light strands, both made by the same company. They are: The GE 100 LED Christmas light set versus The GE 100 Mini Light Christmas light set Both sets are from Amazon.com, both sets are made by GE and I chose them because they had the exact same number of &#8220;bulbs&#8221; and because these two particular sizes of bulb are generally very popular. Cost to [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>18</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Passive Cooling To Lower Your Electric Costs</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/lower-electric-bill/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/lower-electric-bill/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:14:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/lower-electric-bill/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If your home is like mine then the hottest months of the summer are often accompanied with the highest electric bills of the year due to our air conditioner running almost all the time just to keep the house at a bearable level of comfort. Air conditioners are great, but no matter whether you have a bunch of window AC units or a new energy-efficient central air conditioner unit, they still take a lot of electricity to run. If you want to lower your electric bills but still keep your house cool with your air conditioner then you&#8217;re going to have to give your AC a little hand in the cooling process. Here are some relatively quick and affordable home improvement ideas that can serve as DIY home cooling projects that can reduce your electric bill and help your air conditioner work a little less. The concept of keeping your home cool without cranking your air conditioner is known as &#8220;passive cooling&#8221; and it&#8217;s what most people have done to keep cool throughout history. Air conditioning is a relatively modern invention, but that doesn&#8217;t mean that our ancestors just sat around in their homes sweating throughout the summer months. Today [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ceiling Fan Direction Makes A Room Cooler or Warmer</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/ceiling-fan-direction-makes-it-cooler-or-warmer/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/ceiling-fan-direction-makes-it-cooler-or-warmer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 May 2008 10:47:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Projects]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/ceiling-fan-direction-makes-it-cooler-or-warmer/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We&#8217;ve had a few days of warm weather here on the East Coast lately and my wife and I have been running the ceiling fans in most of our rooms to keep the rooms cool without having to turn on our central air conditioner quite yet. Even though its been relatively mild outside we have a few rooms that get a lot of sun and warm up rather quickly. I was sitting in my office last night and commented that even though the fan above me was on medium speed that it didn&#8217;t feel as though it was cooling the room very well. It was at that moment that I realized I had forgotten to switch the fan direction from &#8220;warming&#8221; to &#8220;cooling.&#8221; You see, most ceiling fans will go in two directions: clockwise and counter-clockwise. Most ceiling fans sold these days have a small switch right &#8220;above&#8221; the blades (between the fan blades and the ceiling, on the &#8220;stem&#8221; of the fan) that control the fan blade blowing direction: right or left. Some fan manuals call these directions &#8220;forward&#8221; and &#8220;reverse&#8221; but I can never remember which direction is which. This fan direction switch is a pretty important feature [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs): Environmentally Friendly or Mercury Pollution System</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/compact-flourescent-lights-cfls-environmentally-friendly-or-mercury-pollution-system/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/compact-flourescent-lights-cfls-environmentally-friendly-or-mercury-pollution-system/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 May 2007 12:29:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Home Products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lighting]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[You can&#8217;t walk into any store selling any sort of home goods these days that isn&#8217;t aggressively marketing Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs). By now most people know that CFLs use much less energy than regular incandescent bulbs and give out the equivalent amount of light. And the bulbs are getting more convenient and easier to use everyday with better designs and taking up less space. But no matter how well designed they are, they still contain small amounts of the poisonous chemical mercury. Exposure to enough mercury can have some pretty dangerous and life-threatening affects on your central nervous system. That means that as a homeowner you&#8217;re faced with a difficult choice: The CFL Bulb: Environmental Savior or Toxic Mercury Poison device? You could switch to CFLs, using less energy and reducing pollution&#8230;but you are buying products with mercury in them. You could begin to use more CFL light bulbs, but continue to be afraid of breaking one. or You could keep using incandescent bulbs, avoiding the mercury issue, but using more energy and causing more pollution. Not an easy choice! This entire mercury issue has been brought to the forefront lately by some news reports about a mother named [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Home Depot Introduces Eco Options To Save Engery and the Environment</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/home-depot-introduces-eco-options-to-save-engery-and-the-environment/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/home-depot-introduces-eco-options-to-save-engery-and-the-environment/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 2007 12:49:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Home Products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The Home Depot as introduced a new program called &#8220;Eco Options&#8221; which attempts to identify environmentally friendly products throughout its store. These products will clearly be labeled as part of the Eco Option program and will have less of an environmental impact than similar home improvement products beside them. Eco Options Promoting environmentally friendly home improvement and building projects is not a unique marketing plan for a business to take, but the fact that it&#8217;s a company as large as The Home Depot does grab headlines. The Home Depot is not only hoping to help the environment and reduce energy usages, but it makes good business sense. Many &#8220;green&#8221; and environmentally friendly products are now much more affordable than they were just a few years ago, perform much better and are much more in demand as consumers look for more ways to save money and energy in their homes and businesses. The Home Depot introduces its new Eco Options Environmentally Friendly Products program According to Home Depot: Products with the Eco Options label are either eco friendly by definition, such as solar lights that use natural power, or have met certain environmental performance criteria verified by Scientific Certification Systems, an [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Save Money and Energy By Insulating Your Home&#8217;s Heating Ducts</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/save-money-and-energy-by-insulating-your-homes-ducts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/save-money-and-energy-by-insulating-your-homes-ducts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 04 Feb 2007 22:19:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s only gotten cold here on the East Coast in the past two weeks so I really wasn&#8217;t thinking about how efficient my forced air heating system was until I really had depend on the heat every day and night. I knew that the previous owner (supposedly a carpenter by trade) had begun to insulate the air ducts of my home but for some reason never finished. I found more than one line of duct work in my unfinished basement that was only half-insulated, leaving bare 4&#8243; aluminum duct the rest of the way. I had never really worked with insulation much before this project, so I went out a bought a small roll of traditional fiberglass insulation. I figured it would be relatively easy, just shoving the insulation up there and wrapping it around the bare ducts, putting up small pieces of tape as I go and then taping the whole thing once it was in place. That was the plan. Things didn&#8217;t go well. Fiberglass Insulation Roll The &#8220;carpenter&#8221; who previously owned my home didn&#8217;t like to finish projects &#8211; like this half-insulated heat duct. The 12 inch wide fiberglass insulation was just a half inch too short [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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