Making Your Home Sustainable

Definitions, Retrofitting and Small Choices to Make Your Home Greener and More Sustainable

Table of Contents

Definition

What does that mean for a home?
Some ways you can achieve it. 

Benefits! 

Do you ever wonder what all of the jazz is about being 'sustainable?' What does it even really mean? We're taking a look at that, some ways to retrofit your home to be sustainable and everyday choices you can make. 

Definition

According to Merriam Webster "sustainable" can be defined as: 

-able to be maintained at a certain rate or level.
"sustainable fusion reactions"
-conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources.
"our fundamental commitment to sustainable development"

What does that mean for a home?

So your home in theory needs to either be "able to be maintained at a certain rate or level" or "conserve an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources.  Well, that gives us a start, but it's not really clear is it? After all, once a home is built, you're not doing a ton to bring in new materials, or are you? Let's try looking at it this way. A sustainable  home should be one that's either built or retrofitted in a way that it respects resources and their availability, optimizes energy usage and creation (when possible) and uses water wisely. Sustainable homes use low-impact, high-performance materials throughout, and are efficient in terms of manufacturing, shipping and installation. 

So ideally, whether you're retrofitting your home or looking to build from scratch, your home should "respect resources," optimize energy usage, and use water wisely. With that list in mind, that's considerably more manageable to tackle than trying to redo EVERYTHING from the ground up. Wouldn't you say? 

Some ways you can achieve it.

These are meant to be a guide for you, not a step-by-step outline. If you want more information and more in-depth guides, let us know in the comments and we'll expand on it! 

First off, don't try and do everything at once. Pick one section, list what falls under that section in your home, and then look to see what you can change. Out of everything else that we talk about today, that's the most important one to keep in mind. If you try and take everything on at once, you'll burn yourself out before you get it done. 

Both retrofitting and building new will have drawbacks, so consider carefully before you decide. Make a list of pros and cons to get a better grasp on what will affect your day to day life, finances and family. 

Different things you can look at include:

- Building materials - Sustainability isn't just "are these materials going to last a long time," it's also "how are these materials harvested?"; "How are they made?"; and "how are they used?"

-Building methods - Can you have a cool roof? What about designing your home in a way that allows air to move fluidly through the home? 

- Insulation- You want to look at a type of insulation that is sustainably produced, and is also going to protect your home best from loss of heat and cold. 

-Windows - Again, keeping heat and cold in or out of your home, your windows are a big deal. 

-Heat, ventilation and air conditioning

-Plumbing fixtures

- Appliances -  Energy Star appliances 

- Energy generation from solar and wind- If you can generate power on your own property, you can reduce your bills which is always a win. 

- Your habits when it comes to regular maintenance, conservation and green cleaning

For this post, we'll focus on retrofitting your current home, with the potential of covering building from the ground up later. 

Replacing Windows

-Why - It results in less loss of heating/cooling and makes your home quieter. (Which we absolutely love, and bet you will too.) 

-How - Look for windows that are tagged "low solar gain." This means less heat is conducted into your home through the windows. Reflective tech and double glazing are supremely important for keeping even more heat out. It also doesn't hurt to look at windows you can open on a breezy day. 

Appliances 

-We've talked about the Energy Star Seal before and how important that is to cutting your bills. Investing in appliances that are energy efficient is good not only for the environment but also for your environment as they draw less energy from the grid. 

Ditch Your Sprinkler System

-While we are planning on talking about the benefits of getting rid of a 'traditional' lawn, for now let's consider a drip irrigation system. 

Rather than watering your lawn 2-3 times a day just to keep it green, this is more efficient. Instead of soaking your yard and hoping the water gets to the roots, a drip irrigation system uses gravity to go directly to the roots. You save electricity and water. Double Win. 

Every day changes you can make include the following: 

-Draft proof your windows and doors- Seal them at the edges with foam or tape to help them close more firmly and keep drafts out. 

-Invest in curtains or blinds, or both! - We've talked before about the importance during winter or summer of keeping your windows covered, and it's just as important now. While we know that curtains and blinds are as much a matter of design choice as anything else, using both can help cut down on your bills further. 

-Reevaluate your home's insulation - Whether you go through your attic or basement, or take a look at the building plans for your home, check out what type of insulation was used on your home. It might be a project to tackle one room at a time to improve it and keep your home better insulated. 

-Install solar panels 

-Clean your refrigerator's coils - Keeping your refrigerator clean helps to keep it running more smoothly and staying cool. 

-Clean your dryer vent 

- Clean your dishwasher's filter

-Install a water filter that removes microplastics - Let's be frank, no one wants to eat plastic. Right now it's theorized that each of us is eating approximately enough microplastics to form a credit card, every day. Right now the easiest way to stop that is to install a water filter. Although it won't do anything to microplastics in your food, it's a place to start. 

-Replace fluorescent bulbs with LED bulbs

-Clean out your gutters -Having overflowing gutters will not only affect your home, as we've discussed in the past, but it will also keep water from flowing into your drip irrigation system. 

Benefits! 

-Using less water and electricity, results in lower bills for you! 

- Lower maintenance costs 

Since one of the definitions of sustainability is "able to be maintained at a certain rate or level," a well-built green home is going to last for a very long time. Thanks to construction methods, your home will require less maintenance over time, which means less money spent to maintain it. 

- Lower carbon footprint and better for the planet. 

Do you think you'd like to go sustainable? What reasons are keeping you from doing so? Drop us a line in the comments below or over on our Facebook page. We'd love to hear from you! 

If you're here because your refrigerator isn't keeping cool, or your dryer is taking forever to run, we can help! You can reach out to us on our contact page or by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055). We'll work with you to set up an appointment that works for your schedule.

Five Appliance Trends That Won’t Last

And what to replace them with

Table of Contents: 

Open Concept Kitchens     

The Color of the Year 

Air Sous Vide 

Smart Appliances

Dual Dishwashers In Your Kitchen

Trends are something we love discussing here on Appliance Repair Service. We’ve talked popular ones, new ones, and ones that died miserable deaths. Now we’re taking a look at different ones that are popular here in 2022.  These are things you may be thinking about jumping on immediately, but we’d advise waiting a while to see how these trends play out, so you aren’t spending thousands of dollars on something you’ll hate in three months. 

Open Concept Kitchens

From the early 2000s up until now, the open concept was the most common style of new home on the market.  They’re all about a home being able to serve multiple purposes with very little change or adjustment. Being able to shift seamlessly from one room to another, and having the family together without having to hunt through different rooms. 

With Covid and the rise of people working from home, the open concept plan doesn’t work either in your kitchen or for your whole house. Being able to separate ourselves out, and find quiet during different points of the day is important. You might need to use one area for an office, or another for your child’s school area, and section those off. You don’t want to hear shouts of “hey, where do we have the oregano” when you’re in the middle of a zoom meeting” if it can be avoided after all. 

The Color of the Year 

Going for the color of the year is something many of us want to do. There are hundreds of blog posts, magazine articles, and social media posts all over the net talking about how to best use Very Peri in your house, your kitchen, or your wardrobe. Many of us want to have the most recent colors or designs when it comes to somewhere we spend a large amount of our time. It’s the same as working on the rest of your house, where you might update every few years and bring in either a color you love or whatever the most popular color series is.  In the kitchen, we’re not talking just about painting your kitchen the color of the year. Many companies also will update their ranges, ovens, and refrigerators to come in new and different colors. (This year for example is seeing many companies adding “Mint Green” as one of the colors they offer?) 

But, we have to point out that color trends change. Like we point out every year, colors that were popular this year may not be next year. A better option might be to choose a color palette that you love and work from that in different ways. You might bring in tile with several of the colors that you like. Or paint your cabinets different colors to blend into the overall pattern.  This allows you to more easily change out colors when you want to refresh, but it also means that you’re standing out on your own. 

Air Sous Vide 

Think about the concept of sous vide, if you’ve ever run into it. If you haven’t, it’s a process of sealing food into a bag and boiling it until it’s cooked just right. Air sous vide then, is the same concept, except you’re using air. 

There are too many mixed thoughts on this one and not enough hard reviews about how well it works or recipes that are repeatable. We don’t recommend getting this one until (and if) they manage to solidify the way it works.

Smart Appliances

We’ve spoken before about smart appliances, both the uses of them and the downsides. We want them to be able to do all sorts of things and make our homes more automated so that we can focus on other aspects of our lives. The truth is though, that propaganda is just that, propaganda. Smart appliances might promise you the moon, but they aren’t there yet. 

With this one, we advise keeping a level head on what they can do vs what they can’t. Instead of thinking that your oven will cook you a perfect steak with potatoes and broccoli on the side and a perfect bearnaise sauce on the side.  Instead, it’s able to turn on when you tell it to, alert you when it’s come to the proper temperature and let you know when what you’re cooking has finished cooking. 

Dual Dishwashers In Your Kitchen

This one is lovely, honestly. It’s just a matter of what do you need? Do you need to have two dishwashers in your kitchen? Do you entertain a couple of times a week and deal with all of the dishes inherent in that? Or do you have a large family that you prepare food for and you need to be able to wash all of the dishes easily and without leaving yourself exhausted?
If the answer to that is no, then you might want to reconsider whether you want to bring a second dishwasher into your home. While it’s really popular, it’s not always needed, in which case, why bother? Instead, take a look at how much you use your current dishwasher. Would a larger one be beneficial for you? Do you need a different style? Maybe one that can handle larger pots and pans due to the amount of cooking/baking you do now? 

Do you have any of these already or are you looking at getting them? Let us know over on our Facebook page, or in the comments below! 

Don’t forget that we can also help with the appliances you have already. If your dishwasher is refusing to clean dishes or isn’t draining fully, we can help. Call us at ((214) 599-0055) or reach out to us on our contact page.  

Top 5 Things You're Cleaning Wrong

When something looks broken but is just dirty.

Table of Contents

Cleaning Your Dishwasher

Cleaning Your Washing Machine

Cleaning Your Oven

Cleaning Your Cast Iron Skillet

Cleaning Your Refrigerator

How often do you think something is broken when really it just needed to be cleaned in order to work properly? Did you know that improper cleaning is one of the biggest reasons a tool or appliance can break? We've seen it too many times, so this week we're taking a look at 5 of the areas many of you are cleaning wrong. 

Your Dishwasher

If you're noticing your plates and silverware aren't coming out clean, it might be time to clean your dishwasher. Many people will just toss in a packet from the store that claims to do it all. Then a few weeks later the dishwasher is having trouble again, and you're wondering why you wasted your money in the first place. 

Mix up some hot water and dish soap, grab an old toothbrush, and attack the inside of your door. You'll want to spend time on the detergent capsule and cap (the place where you actually put the detergent in) and any other nooks and crannies where you notice a build-up of hard water, detergent, scum or dirt. Next, remove the racks and use paper towels to get rid of all of the food and debris at the bottom of the dishwasher. While you have the racks out, give them a once over to see if they have any cuts, nicks, or built-up gunk that might cause problems. Once you've done that, put the racks back in and run it while empty. Once you've got that taken care of, take out all of the accessories and give them a thorough cleaning with hot water and soap. Your final step is to pull out the filter, which will be located at the back of your dishwasher. Use just hot water to rinse it out and carefully scrub away any debris that may have become lodged in it.

Your Washing Machine

Many of us think that a washing machine should keep itself clean. After all, it's washing your clothes. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way, and soap scum can build up inside your washing machine, leading to dirty clothes.  Just like with your dishwasher, there are soaps at the store that will claim to clean your machine, and they do work for a time. These can actually do a good job at getting your drum clean. Unfortunately, there's more to your washing machine than just the drum. 

For this you're going to want to start with finding any seals or gaskets and carefully checking and cleaning those. We're talking super delicate; you don't want these to crack or become dislodged and leak everywhere.  From there you're going to grab white vinegar and use that mixed with water to clean the inside of your drum using a toothbrush and a sponge as needed.  It's not a difficult process, but it is one you should consider doing once every six months. 

We covered this more in-depth in one of our more recent posts, which we'll link down below in the additional reading section. 

Your Oven

We've talked a fair bit about how not to clean your oven. In truth, we cover it every year. We tell you not to trust the shiny "self-clean" button that it is full of lies. We remind you that using the self-clean button will often mean getting an entirely new oven. (Yes, it's clean at that point, but did you really want to spend that much money just to 'clean' your oven?) 

So, how should you do it?  Grab a pyrex pan or something else that's oven-safe and fill it with two inches of water. Set your oven to 225*F and put the pan in the oven. If this is the first time you're cleaning your oven, we advise letting it work for 30 minutes. If you keep your oven relatively clean, you can do half that.  Turn the oven off at that point and let it cool until you can touch the walls safely. At that point, add some dish soap to the pan, grab a soft sponge and start scrubbing.  Once you're done, make sure to go over everything again with clean water, cleaning away the soap. 

Like many things, we suggest doing this once a month. 

Your Cast Iron Skillets

We love our cast iron skillets. It's the only way to properly cook sausage and gravy in our opinion. BUT They're a pain to clean if you aren't sure about what you're doing.  Your blogger ruined one of her first pans by using soap. Learn from her mistakes and don't use soap on your cast iron skillets. 

There's a 'seasoning' coat that has to be baked into the pan at a high temperature. Each use of a skillet will add together for an overall flavor that builds over time. There are only three steps that have to be done to keep your pan clean and happy. After you're done cooking and the pan is still hot, use hot water to rinse the pan. Wipe down the pan with a soft sponge, without any soap, rinse it again, and then pat it dry. Your final step is to rub in a thin layer of oil using a paper towel. 

If your pan is dirty with rust or food that just won't come off, grab some kosher salt and ice and use that to scrub the pan, afterward repeating the steps above.

Your Refrigerator

Sounds easy right? Just take everything out and wipe it all down? Well, yeah. That's the majority of what you need to do. Cleaning your refrigerator is more of a time-consuming process than anything, and that's because you need to clean everything so thoroughly. If you don't take everything out, you can have crumbs or liquids pushed into the corners that start to mold or rot. We advise grabbing a large ice chest, putting everything in that, and then tackling your refrigerator with a vacuum, a sponge, and then a toothbrush, in that order. The vacuum is to get out debris, the sponge is for general cleaning, and the toothbrush is to get rid of any build-up you might have in corners or shelf slides. 

Image credit: Marco Verch

Which ones did you already know, and which ones surprised you? Let us know over on our Facebook page, or in the comments below. What other areas do you want us to tackle? Tell us that too! 

If you've tried cleaning and you're still having trouble with your appliances, let us know! We service all major appliances from all major brands. If we don't know what's going on, we'll keep digging until we figure things out. You can set up an appointment with us on our contact page or by reaching out to us at ((214) 599-0055). If you live somewhere between Dallas and McKinney or Garland and Coppell, we can help.  

Additional Reading: 

Why you should clean your washing machine, and how. 

How to clean your refrigerator

Self-Cleaning Ovens

Make Your Garden Thrive Even In a Drought

Dry Plants That Fit in Texas 

Table of Contents: 

Gravel- Uses, and benefits 

Design Tips

Examples of Plants 

Let's face it, gardening in Texas can be.. complicated. You have to deal with unpredictable weather, heat that goes all over the place, and never knowing if you're going to have a tornado drop on your head. It's great! If you are brave enough to work with the elements, though, you can find that it's possible to grow plants that not only are beautiful but can survive even in drought years in Texas. 

We'll start off by saying that we aren't professionals at this. What we are are people like you that live in Texas and have had many plants die under our care, despite our best attempts. To that end, we're looking at how to transform your garden into a beautiful, functional space with plants that will grow back year after year.  

It sounds weird to say, "ok, the first thing your garden is going to need is gravel," but, well, it's true? When you're dealing with a garden that you want coming back year after year, you need to limit water consumption. The biggest abuser you have? Your grass. Grass is an extremely thirsty plant, not to mention finicky! Imagine if you didn't have to fight with that any longer? No more mowing, no more watering and weeding, and hoping temperatures don't reach up so high the roots burn or so low they freeze.  Oh, and did we mention that the water you are saving can be put to plants you love?  Are you sold? Great! 

So now that you're looking at different types of gravel, there are a few things to keep in mind. 

- There are a TON of color options. It's fantastic. Whether you're going for a light and airy feeling or something a bit more earthy, there's guaranteed to be gravel for you. 

-Since you don't have to stick to specific planters or worry about grass roots, you can put your plants anywhere! And just use the gravel as filler in-between. 

- Make sure to add raking and replenishing to your calendar. You should only half to do it twice a year, though, instead of standing out there for hours every weekend. 

Design Tips for a Dry Garden 

Now that we've got you sold on the benefits of gravel, let's consider how to design your dream garden.  Start by grabbing a layout of your property. Whether you're working in just one section of your home (ie just your front yard or just your backyard) or you want to blend the areas together, you need an idea of how your property looks so that you can plan things.  Once you've got that, add in any permanent features you've got on your property. Do you have a deck that you're putting in? What about trees around the property that you want to take advantage of? (Hint, you definitely should take advantage of the trees you have, as they provide shade for your other plants.)  Basically, you'll want to sketch out anything that is definitely staying on the property or any major changes that you know you're making.  From there, consider a few things. 

- Repeating plants in random areas gives a cohesive and pleasing look, without being too manicured. (Unless that's the look you're going for.) It also guides the eye throughout the garden, creating a flow that is pleasing whether you're walking or just looking around. 

- Use light and airy plants like pampas, fountain grass, and kangaroo paw. These not only add color to the landscape, but their beautiful foliage adds texture and movement all year long. 

- Use pavers across the entrances to areas to keep gravel contained. This way, you're doing less in the way of sweeping/raking/corralling. And it means that any plant material from 'outside' your garden can easily be scraped off. 

-For stepping stones, borders, or other breaks in the gravel, you can get really creative. You can use everything from large stones to slices of wood, reclaimed wood, or timbers. 

Choosing Plants 

Honestly, this step is simultaneously really easy while also being really difficult. We know, we've been full of conundrums this week. We're sorry. So let's look at the hard part and get that out of the way. What you want to do is compile a list of drought-resistant plants. While we do have a few examples for you to consider, we're not going to say that this is all of them.  The easy part is going through and choosing which of those plants are most appealing to you. Do you like to focus on light and airy plants? Do you want to focus on color throughout the year? What about a focus on plants that are useful in medicine or around the home? Your answer is going to change which of the plants you choose and how your garden is going to end up looking. One thing we do want to say, though, is that just because these are water-wise plants doesn't make them all bland and boring. 

You can have many beautiful flowering plants in your garden like the Kangaroo Paw, Disoma,  California Poppies, or Mediterranean Lavender. Adding in "Blue Cloud" salvia will give you a beautiful shrub all summer, while the "Teddy Bear" magnolia offers up a beautiful bronze on the underside of its leaves all year long. 

If you enjoy cacti and succulents, those can be an option to mix throughout your yard, and still create a beautiful array of flowers for you to enjoy. Check out barrel cacti for some examples.  

If you want something that's hardy but would do well in the shade of a tree, check out the cordylines. They do best in shaded areas, add texture to your yard, and are a stunning red or pink. You might consider mixing in coastal rosemary around the edges of those areas, as they love the shade, but they also enjoy well-drained areas. 

Whichever plants you choose, make sure to talk to experienced gardeners so that you can get the best tips for caring for your yard, whatever the weather brings. We hope that you'll consider showing us what you plant in your yard, whether it's great big cacti, beautiful flowers or an herb garden. Let us know over on Facebook what you get up to. 

If that's not what brought you to our humble corner of the internet, it might be that you're in need of appliance repair. And yep, you're still in the right place. If your dishwasher is broken or your dryer is busted, we can help. You can reach out to us by phone at ((214) 599-0055) or by heading over to our contact page. We'll work with you to set up an appointment that works with your schedule to get your home running again.

Smart Home - Getting Started (2022)

Everything you need to get started

When it comes to making your home smart, it can be confusing. There are so many different products, and systems that it's hard to know where to start.  You need to know which systems you want, what you want your home to be able to do, how to keep it all safe. Sometimes, you feel like giving up. Fortunately, as with many things, if you take it one step at a time, you can make it all make sense. 

Choose Your Core

This is where you start. If you're just shopping and randomly grabbing things that you like, they might not all work together. Instead, a way to do it is like planning a garden. You choose your tools with intention, and that starts by looking at the core. Which system do you want your home to run on? Is it Google's Assistant? Do you want to rely on Amazon's Alexa? Or do you want Apple's Siri? All of these have different toys, tech and background devices that achieve similar functions. Getting them to cross connect though? While it can be done, it's not easy. 

Can Your Home Handle It? 

We don't just mean the electrical grid, although that matters too. Instead, we're going to take a look at your internet. Have you ever had a group of friends over and everyone was on the internet for one reason or another? Maybe you're on because you've got music playing. Your brother is showing you the latest sports news. Your mom and your sister are discussing the latest politics, and your dad is browsing youtube. All of those people on the internet, will typically slow it down some, at least enough that you can notice it in comparison to how it is when you're the only one home. When you add smart devices, they are always on that network. Even if it's only checking in to see if you've said anything, they are always there. Which means that your internet is going to slow down. 

How do you prevent that then? By making sure your internet is at least 200 megabits per second or shortened as Mbps. By having at least that much, you'll be able to handle several devices on your network.

Create That Backup Plan!

What about when you have a blackout? Not like the great snow'pocalypse, but a summer blackout that lasts for a few hours or maybe a day. In that case, you might look into getting a backup battery for your internet modem. Just because the power is out in your home, in your street, in your city, it doesn't guarantee that your internet will be out. (Yes, it sounds odd, but we promise.) So, the best way to handle that is by purchasing a backup battery like these over at The Tool Review. The 10+ Best Battery Backup For Wifi Router Reviews in 2022: Top-Picks, Best Deals| Tool Review

Keeping It Hack Free

How many of these questions can be answered with your password? 

- Your birthday

- Your phone number

- Your spouse's name/birthdate/phone number

-Your favorite pet

-Your favorite sports team

-Your favorite book or tv show

If any of those are part of your password, you need to reconsider how you come up with your passwords.  You /can/ still use a combination of words and numbers, but they need to be ones that can't easily be answered. Grab a thesaurus and go looking for a word you associate with the account. Swap out all the letters you can for letters or symbols. and voila! You've got a strong password. 

Now, DON"T store that beautiful password on your computer. If you're like many people you might have been storing your password in a google docs file, a spreadsheet or a sticky note. No. All of those can be accessed by others. Instead consider one of the following. 

- A  password protection service like Dashlane. 

-A file you keep offline and saved to a USB. 

- An actual notebook for your passwords 

If you're going with the last two, don't tell anyone what they are, or write "Passwords" on the outside. While it's unlikely that someone will want to steal your work passwords, you would be surprised at the number of people who would be interested in stealing your bank or medical passwords. 

Now that we have your home set up and secure, let's take a look at what type of smart devices would best suit you at home. 

What Type of Smart Home Represents You? 

Are you an entertainer? Having friends and guests over most weekends and during the week too if you can? Then you might look into smart lights, a tv and a sound system. This way you can say "Hey Google! Turn the lights on X and play Y." And while you're working on that you can ask google for the contents of your fridge with a smart fridge to make sure that you always know what you have on hand for taking care of your guests. 

If on the other hand you're a homebody, you're more focused on keeping your comfy and secure. In which case, you'll want to add a system for thermostats, sounds, lights, a garage door opener, and a security system. The thermostats, sounds and lights can all be programmed to a 'routine' where once it's a certain time, your home system will turn everything to the settings you choose. The garage door opener isn't much different than a button activated one, but it's nice to be able to say "Hey Google, open the garage" as you're heading out the door. As for smart security systems, while they have many, many different features, one we particularly like is being able to pull up the feed directly on your phone or video hub to see if that was a raccoon you heard or an intruder. 

Our last category is one that many of us have been wanting since we were kids and is now becoming possible. The Jetsons! Although most of the systems won't talk to you or offer witty repartee like Rosie did, you can set up your home system to vacuum and mop for you. While the systems aren't perfect just yet, they definitely make your life easier, and isn't' that the point? 

What do you think? Which category of smart tools do you most want to get? Do you have some that we missed out on? Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page, we'd love to hear from you! 

If you ended up here not for smart homes, but because of your already smart appliances (or 'dumb' ones, we work on them all) you're still in the right place! Everywhere from Carrollton to The Colony, to Coppell, we'll here for you and ready to help. Reach out to us on our contact page or by calling us at ((214) 599-0055).