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Why Is It Unsafe to Heat Your Home with an Oven?
We have been engaged in quite the discussion at GIC this afternoon. A homeowner had contacted us stating her furnace was out and needed to be replaced. I asked her if she had space heaters to use in the meantime and she then told me, “Yes, as well as using the oven.”...
The Perks of Going Solar
Recently GIC co-owner, Luke Smith, installed a 7.5 kilowatt hour solar panel system on his home. He is excited for the installation as it will reduce his carbon footprint and lock in his energy costs. Luke’s home is all electric so everything in the home can be...
Fun Holiday Gift Ideas for the Eco Geek in Your Life
With the holidays in full swing we thought we would share with you some cool gadgets for the environmentally minded friends and family on you list. At GIC we love technology that is practical and energy efficient so here is a list of three affordable and fun gadgets...
Fireplace Safety
As the cold weather begins to take hold across the Kansas City metro many homeowners are beginning to fire up their fireplace. There have already been five house fires siting fireplaces as the cause so far this year in the Kansas City area. We recommend following...
What’s a Rim Joist and Why is it Important to Air Seal?
The construction industry uses a lot of technical jargon and homes don’t come with instruction manuals or glossaries. So what exactly is a rim joist? It is the area of a house were the foundation wall meets the floor joists. The diagram at left illustrates this...
How Stack Effect and a Leaky Home are Costing You Money
Most of us are aware that a leaky home will mean higher utility bills and more drafts. But, what exactly is going on that makes this happen. Let’s get nerdy with a little science on a Friday afternoon. We all know the saying that “warm air rises.” This is somewhat...
GIC is Now Qualified to Perform Home Energy Ratings
Last month we posted a blog about the HERS index. In order to have a home energy rating performed on your new or existing house and receive a HERS index score you must do so through a certified rater. GIC is excited to announce that we now have a certified rater on...
Pee Power?
We ran across a very interesting blog that explained a fascinating concept. Off Grid World describes a process of turning your urine into energy in a recent blog. Believe it or not this process was discovered by a 14 year old girl and some of her friends. They...
The Importance of Home Performance Work Standards
We have written several blogs about the Home Performance with Energy Star (HPwES) energy efficiency program. This program allows homeowners to receive up to $1200 for qualifying home energy efficiency upgrades. Before you get started with all those recommendations...
