Here are five facts about fireplaces and stoves that may surprise you.

1. You can conserve energy, live a greener lifestyle and combat volatile heating costs with a high efficiency fireplace or stove.

Do you use every room in your house every day? If not, try zone heating the areas where you spend the most time with an efficient fireplace or stove. It will cut down on the amount of fuel consumed by your furnace and can reduce home heating bills by 20 to 40 percent, according to the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association. Simply turn down the central thermostat and let the fireplace heat where you live. This works whether your fireplace is fueled by natural gas, liquid propane, wood, pellets or other materials.

Renewable fuels like cord wood, pellets and other plant-derived materials are excellent sources of heat. The key is burning them in a high efficiency fireplace or stove, which makes the process much easier than it was for our grandparents. For example, a load of quality wood in a standard Quadra-Fire EPA-certified wood stove can produce heat for up to 15 hours, and in pellet stoves a single 40-pound bag of pellets can produce heat for up to 24 hours. In both cases, the amount of emissions and ash generated by these units has been dramatically reduced. There is also a U.S. tax credit in 2010 of up to $1,500 for the purchase of qualifying wood and pellet stoves.

2. A fireplace can be installed in your existing home without the hassles of adding a traditional chimney.

Don’t have a fireplace?  In most homes, a beautiful and efficient gas fireplace can be added for as little as $3,500, including installation. Made possible by direct vent gas technology, the fireplace is vented to the outdoors via a single pipe that runs through the side of the house to the outdoors, drawing air needed for the fire and expelling its byproducts. Direct vent gas technology has brought warmth and ambience to millions of homes.

3. Your inefficient wood burning fireplace can be transformed into a powerful and beautiful heat producer.

If you have a masonry-built wood burning fireplace that is drafty and inefficient, consider updating it with an energy efficient fireplace insert. “It is a fairly simple process to transform these fireplaces into energy efficient powerhouses,” says Jeni Forman of Quadra-Fire. “Professional installation can be completed within four to six hours, and it could make your fireplace up to 85 percent more efficient.” The cost of adding an insert, including installation, can be as low as $2,900 for gas and wood-burning units, and $3,200 for pellet-burning inserts.

4. You can control the heat produced by today’s fireplaces.

Many fireplaces and stoves can be thermostatically controlled – you decide how much heat you want and change it as desired. Some models also allow you to control the height of the flames and have LED lighting in the embers, which can be turned on or off. Controls are accessed either via remote control, on the unit, or they are wall-mounted.

5.  Modern fireplace design is pushing traditional boundaries.

If you prefer a traditional fireplace that burns real wood, or simulates it with gas, manufactured logs and burning embers, there are literally hundreds of models from which to choose. However, if your design style leans toward contemporary and you want some new options, today’s modern style fireplaces offer simplistic beauty and elegance. Inspired by European design, many modern style fireplaces are linear in shape, showcasing a panoramic view of the flames that dance in unison with colored glass, shiny metal or other innovative materials like black onyx. Placement is also being redefined, as modern style fireplaces are often positioned at eye level, evoking a living piece of fine art.

It’s winter and there’s nothing better than cozying up to a warm fireplace. Investigate the possibilities at fireplaces.com. The site includes an online program that walks you through the process of designing your fireplace, mixing and matching options with rooms, flooring and wall colors.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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Wall mounting a flat screen has become one of the most popular ways to display a TV; it makes a stunning impression, gives everyone a great view and keeps delicate electronics out of the reach of little hands. And thanks to some innovations by mount designers, hanging your flat screen has never been easier, or afforded you so much flexibility in terms of decor and use.

Here are some hot trends in wall mounts to help you show off and enjoy your new flat screen TV:

Look Mom – no cables!

In the early days of wall-mounting, your appreciation of how great your flat screen looked hanging on the wall might have been diminished by the tangle of cables connecting the TV with auxiliary units like cable or satellite boxes, DVD players and surround sound systems. A new generation of “cable-free” wall mounts eliminates the problem with in-arm cable channels that protect and conceal cables the entire length of an extension arm.

Don’t take this laterally

Older mounts allowed you to hang the TV on the wall – and there it stayed, unmoving, regardless of the seating arrangement in your room or where you happened to be when you wanted to watch. If you weren’t sitting right in front of the TV, you might not get the best view in the house. New mounts allow you to move a TV laterally – left or right on the wall bracket – so it’s positioned how you want it on the wall. It’s also a useful feature if your wall studs are off-center.

Other mounts allow for a full range of movement, so if your flat screen is mounted over a console table, but you happen to be sitting in the recliner on the left side of the room, rather than on the sofa in front of the table, you can move the TV for the best view from wherever you’re sitting.

Lighten up

Old-style heavy steel mounts were often unwieldy to manage and mount, especially for do-it-yourselfers. Mounts made of extruded aluminum compare to steel in terms of strength and durability but are much lighter, making installation easier. Plus, they’re eco-friendlier since aluminum is an easy to recycle material.

Get your motor running

Not only can your mount move, it can move by itself, thanks to motorized versions that allow you to adjust the position of your TV without ever leaving the comfort of your armchair. A new mount, debuting from Sanus, supports 37- to 56-inch flat panel TVs weighing up to 110 pounds. A remote control allows you to move the TV by extending the mount up to 9 inches from the wall and swiveling it up to 120 degrees. Fully retracted, the mount sits just 2 inches from the wall, unlike older, bulkier motorized models that require more depth for the motor. The 35-decibel motor is quiet enough for a library. Visit www.Sanus.com to learn more.

You can never be too slim

Super slim is the hottest trend in flat panels and a new generation of wall mounts continues the minimalist concept by keeping super slim flat screen TVs closer to the wall than ever before. Mounts like the VisionMount LL11 Super Slim mount emphasize the sleek look of ultra-thin LCD, plasma and LED TVs by placing them just over half an inch from the wall. Proprietary technology makes the mount easy to install and allows easy cable access without removing the TV from the mount.

More cable news

HDMI cables can make all the difference in how great the picture is on your high-definition flat screen TV. Good quality cables deliver images so crisp and clear you might think you’re looking through a window, rather than at a TV screen. But until now, the cables have been unsightly and awkward to use in tight spots, or with super slim screens. The next hot thing in HDMI cables is a head that pivots 180 degrees, making it easy to connect to hard-to-reach ports in tight places and behind TVs mounted on low-profile wall mounts.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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With the government behind this national movement from foreign oil to renewable and domestically produced fuel, it’s time to consider the advantages both to the environment and to your wallet of owning a new, efficient wood-burning stove or insert.

“This tax credit comes at the perfect time – when people are trying to make their homes more energy efficient and less reliant on foreign oil, but are having difficulty making the transition due to the economy,” says Bret Watson, president of leading cast iron wood-stove and insert maker, Jotul North America. “This credit essentially gives 30 percent off the purchase price of the stove or insert – up to $1,500 – making them much more approachable to everyone. Not only will taxpayers save money now through the tax credit, but they will save money on their heating bills in the years to come by buying an energy efficient wood stove or insert.”

This tax credit makes it very easy for people to purchase new, efficient woods stoves or inserts. In fact, www.smartmoney.com recently calculated that by using a wood stove to heat a home, a homeowner could recoup the cost of the stove within two to three years with the tax credit.

Once a new wood stove is installed, homeowners will reap the cost-benefits of heating with wood for years to come. To help compare the cost of various home heating fuels, free fuel cost calculators are available online for consumers. Visitors can see how much they would save by using wood instead of oil, gas, coal or electric.

Homeowners save money with new clean burning wood stoves or inserts because of the efficacy of the stoves to heat homes with the least amount of fuel. New wood stoves or inserts have been built to optimize the heat of the wood. Older stoves let gases go up the chimney unburned and leave large amounts of ash. Gases and unburned particles can represent 60 percent of the potential heat of the wood. To avoid this, new, efficient stoves have designs that bring secondary air to the combustion chamber to burn gases and particles that would normally go up the chimney unburned. This is normally called clean burning technology and will increase the efficiency by almost 40 percent.

Cast iron has long been the preferred wood stove material. All the cast iron used by Jotul is recycled. Cast iron is extremely durable and long lasting. Also it is excellent at heat radiating; heat is stored and distributed more evenly and for a considerably longer period than any other material.

Another way wood stoves help lower costs is by directing the heat where it is used most. According to the Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association, people regularly use less than 40 percent of their home. If a family uses a wood stove to warm the rooms used most, they can heat more efficiently by turning down their central thermostat, and save money — potentially 20 to 40 percent of their fuel bill.

In addition to the cost savings of wood stoves or inserts, the new efficient models are also much better for the environment. The fuel is renewable and supports American businesses, and the stoves release far fewer greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than ever before.

Many wood stove and insert dealers, such as the more than 300 authorized Jotul dealers across the U.S., will make it easy for taxpayers to receive the 30 percent credit on their new efficient wood stoves. They will provide a certification statement at the time of sale. This statement is all that is needed to receive the tax credit at tax time.

With the government encouraging everyone to make the move, now is the time to consider warming your home and office with energy efficient wood stoves or inserts.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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The average return on investment for midrange home improvement projects focused on aesthetic appeal, such as kitchen or bathroom remodels, is down since 2007, according to “Remodeling” magazine.

“Energy efficiency upgrades provide homeowners with the rare opportunity to see a return on their investment almost immediately and at resale,” says Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit dedicated to promoting energy efficiency. “We can’t always predict how the market will impact home prices over the long term, but all homeowners can improve their home’s energy efficiency to increase its value.”

Heating and cooling can account for nearly half of a home’s energy bill, according to the Alliance to Save Energy, and with temperatures dropping, it’s the right time for homeowners to focus on ways they can trim costs and energy consumption.

“The reality of the new economy is that homeowners want to save money while maintaining the value and comfort of their homes,” says Mike Lawrence, vice president and general manager of Insulation Systems for Johns Manville, a manufacturer of building products. “There are economical and smart steps homeowners can take that will positively impact their monthly energy bills today and their home’s value tomorrow.”

Homeowners can tackle projects that are low in cost and high in value and return on investment, either as do-it-yourself projects or by hiring a professional contractor.

To get started, homeowners should first estimate the current performance of their home by using an online energy efficiency assessment tool, such as the Home Energy Analysis test available at JMHomeowner.com.  Online assessments help gauge the savings that could be realized by making efficiency upgrades.

“After evaluating their home, most homeowners will find that adding insulation to their attic is a smart and cost-effective first step, since most homes are under-insulated,” Lawrence says.  “When adding insulation, homeowners should also consider weatherizing their attic to help eliminate any holes or gaps that may exist in the floor or walls.  By using caulk, spray foam or weather stripping to close such gaps, homeowners can further decrease wasted energy.”

A programmable thermostat is another cost-effective option that helps boost home energy efficiency.  Programmable thermostats let homeowners regulate the temperature of their home to deliver savings without sacrificing comfort. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, homeowners can save about $180 a year by properly setting their programmable thermostats and maintaining those settings.

A triple return on your remodeling investment

Compared to other home improvement projects, energy efficiency upgrades typically come with a considerably smaller price tag, compared to aesthetic-focused renovations like kitchen and bathroom remodels. In addition, there’s a triple return on these remodeling investments over the course of home ownership:

* Save on your energy bill today: According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), with a properly air sealed and insulated home, homeowners can reduce their heating and cooling costs by as much as 30 percent. The average U.S. home needs 19 inches of attic insulation for maximum energy efficiency.

* Save up to $1,500 with a tax credit: Through 2010, insulation purchases qualify for a 30 percent federal tax credit for energy-efficiency improvements, which reimburses homeowners up to $1,500 for the cost of materials.  Additional incentives from adding insulation or making other energy efficiency improvements may be available from state and local governments and utilities.

* Save for the long term: Investments made in home energy efficiency pay dividends for the lifetime of a home and improve the home’s resale value. According to the Appraisal Institute, for every dollar saved in annual utility costs, homeowners can expect to add $20 to their home’s market value.

For more information on energy efficient home improvement projects and to take advantage of local incentives, visit www.jmhomeowner.com/insulation/energytaxcredit.asp.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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Only two in 10 consumers say they’re completely happy with their kitchens and 42 percent say they’d like to change a few things, according to the Research Institute for Cooking and Kitchen Intelligence.

With trends leaning toward warm colors inside the home, many homeowners long for the look of cherry and other rich woods in everything from furniture to cabinetry, but are hampered by the high price point of such products. The good news is this high-end look can be achieved easily and economically while creating a custom appearance and gaining design flexibility in the process.

Hardwood finishes for firm budgets

If you’re only changing the cabinetry in your home, choose woods, colors and finishes that will work with other changes you may wish to make later. For example, one versatile type of wood that offers the rich look of cherry without the high cost is Alder, combined with a deep, rich finish. This wood type is found in relatively few kitchens, so it offers an exclusive look with added design flexibility.

Diamond Cabinets’ expanded finishes line, which includes delicious new colors such as Chocolate, Cider, Cranberry and Harvest Wheat, is available on the company’s new Alder wood cabinets, as well as on its classic Rustic Alder cabinets. Another idea is to choose a cabinet finish that crosses over into a variety of wood types. A Chocolate finish, for instance can be used on either Alder cabinets or on ever-popular Maple cabinets. All of the finishes are designed to blend easily with a variety of home interiors, including those with classic, contemporary, coastal or cottage-style design themes. Even if you modify your home’s design over time, your cabinetry can transition beautifully. To see what your new kitchen cabinets could look like, without having to step into a showroom, try the visualization tool at DiamondCabinets.com.

Greater design flexibility inside and out

As you look for greater design flexibility on the exterior of your cabinets, think about the interior of your cabinets as well. If you’re only installing a few new things, with a little extra planning you can squeeze every inch out of your existing kitchen footprint by making the most out of every cabinet.

Some cabinets are designed with fashionable exteriors that can be modified with an extra interior drawer of space in an area that usually goes to waste beneath the cabinet. An ingenious cabinet design called a Toekick Drawer can be added to a kitchen base cabinet, bringing valuable extra space to stash hard-to-organize items such as cookie sheets, baking pans or table linens.

For more information and cabinet design ideas, visit DiamondCabinets.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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Drafts, such as those around doors, windows and pipes, are the largest source of heating and cooling loss in the home. Most homeowners are well aware of the benefits that caulk and weather-stripping provide to minimize energy loss and drafts.

But what can you do about drafts from the four largest “holes” in your home – the folding attic stair, the whole house fan, the fireplace and the clothes dryer? Here are some tips and techniques that can quickly, easily and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes:

Attic stairs

Installing attic stairs creates a large hole (approximately 10 square feet) in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only a thin, unsealed, sheet of plywood.

Often you can see a gap around the perimeter of the attic door. Try this yourself: at night, turn on the attic light and shut the attic stairway door – do you see any light coming through? If you do, heated and air-conditioned air is leaking out of these large gaps in your home 24-hours a day. This is like leaving a window or skylight open all year ‘round.

An easy solution to this problem is to add an insulated attic stair cover. An attic stair cover seals the stairs, stopping drafts and energy loss. Add the desired amount of insulation over the cover to restore the insulation removed from the ceiling.

Whole house fans and air conditioning vents

Much like attic stairs above, installing a whole house fan creates a large hole (up to 16 square feet or larger) in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only the drafty ceiling shutter between you and the outdoors.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a whole house fan shutter seal. Made from white textured flexible insulation, the shutter seal is installed over the ceiling shutter, secured with Velcro, and trimmed to fit. The shutter seal can also be used to seal and insulate air conditioning vents, and is easily removed when desired.

Fireplaces

Sixty-five percent, or over 100 million homes in North America are constructed with wood- or gas-burning fireplaces. Unfortunately one study has shown that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating-energy consumption by 30 percent. Your heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter due to the drafts and wasted energy caused by fireplaces.

Even if the chimney damper is shut, it is not air-tight. Glass doors don’t stop the drafts either. The fireplace is like a giant straw sucking your expensive heated or air-conditioned air right out of your house.

An easy, cost efficient solution to this problem is to add a
Fireplace Plug to your fireplace. Available from Battic Door, a company known for their energy conservation products, the Fireplace Plug is an inflatable pillow that seals the fireplace damper, eliminating drafts, odors, and noise. The pillow is removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after.

Clothes dryer exhaust ducts

In many homes, the room with the clothes dryer is the coldest room in the house. Your clothes dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open to the outdoors. In the winter, cold drafts in through the duct, through your dryer and into your house.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a dryer vent seal. This will reduce unwanted drafts, and also keeps out pests, bees and rodents. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint and moisture to escape.

For more information on Battic Door’s energy conservation solutions and products for your home, visit www.batticdoor.com or send a self-addressed stamped envelope to P.O. Box 15, Mansfield, MA 02048.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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Repair broken floor tiles/install new tiles

To spruce up the bathroom or kitchen, repair broken tiles and install new ones.  Try using the Dremel Multi-Max Oscillating Tool for best results.  Insert a grout blade into the oscillating tool and orient the blade on the tool so you can best access all four sides of the broken tile.  For hard set grout, use the maximum speed; softer and less-set grout can be worked at a medium speed.  Keep the blade at a right angle to the floor, being careful not to knick the remaining good tile. Remove all the old tile and dust.  

Continue working away remaining grout. Remove the remaining thin set material with a diamond coated accessory. Attach the sanding pad and diamond paper. With the sander flat to the floor, work away any old material, dusting several times throughout. Removing the excess material will allow the new tile to sit flush with the other tiles already in place. Once the surface is clean to the subfloor, remove any dust with a wet sponge.  Finally, affix and grout new tile into place.  

Refinish kitchen or bathroom cabinets

Refinishing cabinets in a kitchen or bathroom is an inexpensive way to update the look of the whole room. Detach all of the drawers and doors and store them in a clean, dry place. Inspect the cabinets for any damage, and repair with wood putty or by sanding. Then, wash cabinets to remove any dirt that has accumulated over time.  In order to make the next step, sanding, as effortless as possible, use an oscillating tool with sanding pad and sand paper.  120 wood sandpaper is usually recommended.  While sanding on medium speed, keep the sanding pad flat to the wood. Always move the pad in the direction of the grain. Finally, paint or stain the cabinets.  

Tile grout

Removing and replacing tile grout is a small renovation project that pays big dividends in appearance and most homeowners find the project simple enough to do on their own. One of the primary reasons people replace grout is because of mold accumulation. The first step is to remove the existing grout material. Invest in an inexpensive power tool equipped with an attachment designed specifically for quick grout removal such as a rotary tool with a grout removal blade which will grind the old grout away in a matter of minutes. Then, thoroughly clean the areas where the existing grout was removed before adding the new grout between tiles. Remember to follow the grout manufacturer’s directions for a clean and thorough job.

Remove old caulk

Removing old sealing caulk from around a sink or bathtub is a simple way to refresh a room.  Begin by lining caulk with masking tape to reduce the risk of scratching the porcelain or tile.  For easy removal, use an oscillating tool with a flexible scraper blade.  Set the tool at a low speed and insert the blade in between the wall and the caulk. Make sure that the screw head does not make contact with the surface during the scraping process by holding the tool at an angle to the blade.  Work the line between the sink and the lower edge of the caulk and peel away the remaining caulk. When all the caulk is removed, wipe the area with rubbing alcohol to remove any remaining residue and remove the tape.

To re-caulk, line the seam with fresh tape. Hold the nozzle of your caulking gun toward the joint about 45 degrees out from it. Apply steady pressure to the trigger while moving the gun at a smooth speed along the length of the seam.

For more tips and project ideas, visit www.dremel.com or call the Dremel experts at (800) 437-3635.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

• How to Refinish Kitchen Cabinets If you choose to refinish kitchen cabinets instead of replace them, you'll save thousands of dollars on this improvement. From replacing cabinets at a cost of $3,000 to $5,000 to refinishing them for a few hundred, it's easy to see why this is a popular remodeling decision. Of course, you......
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Don’t wait until the first frost or snowfall to prepare your house for winter. One night with no heat or frozen water pipes can wreak havoc. Last year’s ice and wind storms in the Northeast and across the Midwest left families without power for many days. Here is a checklist of items to help you make sure you’re ready for winter:

* Outdoor plumbing – Start with the easy things by turning off and draining all of your outdoor plumbing. Go through everything at your house; hose connections, pool connections, sprinkler systems, etc. After you’ve turned off the water, leave all the faucets in the “on” position and remove any plastic components. If you suspect that the pipes might not be completely drained of liquid, compressed air can be used to purge water from the lines.

* Gutters – As soon as all the leaves are off the trees, clean the gutters of any debris. Clogged gutters can cause ice buildup or ice dams on the roof. Also install gutter downspout extensions a minimum of four feet from the house for the winter months. This keeps the melting winter snow and ice away from the foundation.

* Roof – Take a good look at the shingles. Make sure none are missing or curled up. Also check for signs of leaks – i.e., stains, cracks, damp spots – and make sure you seal the cracks. If you have an ice dam problem, install heated coils along the edge of the roof. They’re easy to install – just hook them to the shingles with a few clips and plug the coil into a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter outlet. If you don’t have a GCFI outlet, a qualified electrician can install one for you.

* Driveways and sidewalks – Get out and seal any cracks on your driveways or sidewalks because the freezing and thawing temperatures will only make them bigger during the winter months. Use crack filler or hydraulic cement to prevent the cracks from growing.

* Install a standby generator – When ice and wind storms hit your home, you don’t want to be without power for very long. Winter is not a time to try and rough it with freezing temperatures. Plus, when the inside temperatures drop, you’ll have to worry about freezing water pipes. And frozen pipes lead to expensive plumbing repair work.

A Kohler standby generator runs on propane or natural gas and is connected to your home’s existing gas lines. A transfer switch monitors electrical activity coming into the home, and when that activity stops due to a power failure, the transfer switch kicks in – in as little as 10 seconds – and the generator has your power up and running again.

“I tell people to get a generator that fits your lifestyle,” says home improvement expert Ed Del Grande. “Any homeowner will want to make sure the heat stays on at all times for the safety of their families. Standby generators are a must-have for emergency situations such as storms.”

It takes about a month to select, size, purchase and install a standby generator, especially since you’ll have to work around electrical wiring and gas lines, which includes local codes and proper testing. It’s better to get started earlier than later on this project. Once the ground is frozen, it might be too late.

By preparing your house for the winter season, you’ll be able to spend the colder months sitting comfortably inside without worrying about water damage or cold temperatures.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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