The HTRC

The Homeowners & Trades Resource Center

Energy Savings & Efficiency 101

I love salesmen, the ultimate bringers of truth, justice, and the American way. Oops… I’m sorry about that & yes you can wipe the coffee off your monitor – I promise no more bad jokes. In all seriousness, while there are many well intentioned companies, individuals, and programs that love to talk about “home performance” […]

A look at the RRP enforcement actions & how it impacts you

Can you believe that today marks 943 days since the RRP went into effect? It only took them 119 days to come up with enforcement guidelines, and over 531 days to actually bring their first enforcement action? Well last week, (937 days later) the EPA released the names & details of 16 more contractors that […]

Thanksgiving: Getting ready in a rush?

Full confession; we are nowhere even close to being ready for Thanksgiving this year. That nice “getting ready for the holiday checklists” that I created & have honed over the years – yeah, I just barely pulled it up with 5 days to go. (Fortunately we aren’t traveling & the guest room is always ready) […]

It’s the Infrastructure, Stupid

It never ceases to amaze me at the lengths people will go; to escape blame, place it elsewhere, or shirk a more serious / pressing issue. In this case, many are blaming a downgraded hurricane named Sandy & climate change for a complete & utter breakdown with the infrastructure. In essence, “You know if it […]

I rent, how can I save on my utilities?

While there are many benefits to renting over owning, one of the cons is that you have no choice over how the place is cooled, heated or which appliances are used. In many cases the owner or management company will choose the less expensive equipment that fits the bill with no regard to what the […]

Shelter in Place: Surviving freezing temps with no power

While living without power isn’t fun, it’s doable. When you start coupling that with other issues… well, things start looking a lot bleaker. If that’s not enough, add in all the news reports talking about “You can die from being cold,” or “Thousands of New Yorkers who survived Sandy, and are sticking it out in […]

Keep your generator humming smoothly & safely for weeks

From a lowly mouse to the spectacular explosion of a transformer, from ice storms to tornados, or as seen this week with Hurricane Sandy; from flooded power stations to trees strewn everywhere, there is no shortage of issues that can knock ones power out. In most cases power is restored within hours though in some […]

Bathroom Blogfest: Still Climbing Out with Cancer

This week we are participating in the 7th annual, week-long, “Still Climbing Out” Bathroom Blogfest. This year (which is our first) we will be joining numerous bloggers from across the U.S., Canada, Dubai, and the U.K. who have signed up to participate. It does appear that there are actually two topics this year, customer experience […]

LEED Habitat: Punch List & Dedication

Yesterday at 2 PM, the Harbin’s now officially have a house they can call home after the tornados of April 27th, 2011 destroyed their prior home.  This marks the 38th house completed by the Athens Limestone County chapter of Habitat & the 2001 house completed in the State of Alabama. There were about 60+ people […]