We continue to add new technologies to our homes to make our lives more efficient, convenient, affordable, customizable and environmentally friendly. Sometimes these devices and appliances can be overwhelming, but there are a number of ways we can make them work for us and meet our goals and needs.
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Many homes built on crawl space foundations in the Southeast suffer from poor moisture management. Symptoms are commonly noticed in the humid spring and summer seasons but can occur any time of year. Occupants typically call a heating and cooling contractor to address the problem, but it is often the result of poor moisture control in the crawl space.
We are surrounded by moisture. There’s rain from above, water from below, humidity, household moisture generated from breathing, plants and cooking, and more. However, we do have control over a few key areas: where and how our homes experience moisture from the outside and the inside, and the choice of materials used at these locations.
The buildings we live in affect our health in many ways. In recent years, research has linked poor health impacts to characteristics of the building environment, including the presence of moisture, airborne volatile organic compounds, allergens, particulates, radon and combustion byproducts such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. Increasingly, policymakers like the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy have sought to improve home conditions to enhance the health of the constituencies they serve.
We all use energy in one form or another in our homes, whether electricity, gas, kerosene or even oil. Ideally, this energy usage is not an expensive shock when each month’s utility bill arrives. However, keeping track of the growing number of devices that plug in, on top of our existing appliances and electronics, can be dizzying. Fortunately, there are a number of ways – both simple and more advanced – that we can work to lower our utility bills and improve our energy efficiency.