Image by FilterFast.com

We spend more time indoors during the winter months. That’s why it makes sense to keep your heating and cooling system’s air filter changed. Here are a few details to consider.

Air filters are manufactured with a rating called the MERV or minimum efficiency reporting value.  That’s a number from 1 to 16 that’s relative to the filter’s efficiency. The rating was designed by ASHRAE in 1987.

The higher the “MERV Number”, the more efficient the air filter is at removing particles and contaminates from the air you breath.  The cheap ones you purchase as the grocery store (please don’t buy these cheap air filters) often have a MERV rating of below 4 or 5. At the higher end, a MERV 14 – 16 filter is typically the filter of choice for critical areas of a hospital (to prevent transfer of bacteria and infectious diseases). Read More About MERV Ratings.

Start out by matching your MERV rating to your heating system manufacturer’s recommendations. If the filter doesn’t allow enough air to be drawn through it there is a potential for damage to your heating and cooling blower motor.

Generally, the fan motor on a typical heating and cooling system is not strong enough to easily pull air through a filter rating above a MERV 6-8 (consultant your HVAC contractor – or call us – for help in determining a safe MERV rating/size). Also, the extra load on the heating system fan will use more energy than it should, driving up your energy bill.

On average I recommend you change your air filter every 60 days. A few factors that would/could alter that time frame are:

• You live on a dusty road. Even if you can’t see the dust in the air, it’s present.
• Your fan motor runs often. Longer run times will filter more particles.
• You’re using a high MERV rated filter. The higher the filter the more often it should be changed.

Get Air Filter Delivered to Your Door

Filtrete 9801-6PK Micro Allergen Reduction Filters, 1000 MPR, 16 x 25 x 1, 6-Pack

Follow these basic Laptop safety tips to improve your experience:
√ If you use your laptop on the couch :
• Make more frequent breaks because it is the best posture for the back.
• Try to have your back straight and supported on a cushion.

√ To relieve muscle tension in the neck :
• Use a chair that allows you to have your back straight at 90 degrees
thighs.
• Relax your neck and keep it aligned with your back.
• Place the top of the screen at eye level.

√ To relieve muscle tension in arms :
• Use a separate keyboard and mouse.
• Keep arms and forearms at 90 degrees.

√ To relieve stress at the hearing :
• Target your job so you are not reflections or glare.
• Blink frequently to keep the eyes hydrated.

√ Children / Kids use of laptop / computers at home :
• Try to have your back straight and supported on a cushion.
• Try to us a cushion to have the screen at eye level.
• Use a separate keyboard and mouse.
• In some cases, use a box as a foot rest.
• Limit time of computer use each day to 30 minutes.
• Ensure your child spends more time exercising then computer time.

This article by Allison Bailes is one of the best I’ve read that addresses the impact of this energy hog!

With the subject of insulation and R-value fresh in my mind again, I figured now is a good time to take it a little further. In the first article, I showed how to calculate the average R-value for lumpy insulation, and I assumed in that case that an attic had 50% coverage of R-50 and 50% coverage of R-10. The result was that the average R-value was an amazingly low R-17, not the R-30 you might guess.

So, let’s extrapolate. (Don’t you love that word! I think it does for verbs what ‘fenestration’ does for nouns, but maybe that’s just me.) Instead of an attic that’s 50/50, let’s look at one that’s 99% good and only 1% bad. In this case, the 1% is from the attic pull-down stairs, which typically have no insulation.

If we have 1000 square feet total of ceiling area, and we put R-38 everywhere but the 10 square feet of the attic pull-down stairs, you may be surprised when you see the answer. (For ease of calculation, I’m going to ignore the effect of the framing in the attic.)

Are you with me? We’ve got 990 sf at R-38 and 10 sf at R-1. (I’m being generous by assuming that quarter inch of luann plywood plus the air films give it a full R-1.) When you plug those numbers into the equation for average U-value and then convert to average R-value, the answer is R-28. (See the Flat or Lumpy article for details on the math – but be careful!)

No, I am not kidding! Because of that 1% of the attic that’s uninsulated, the average R-value for the whole attic drops by 27%. I told you it was amazing, didn’t I?

The reason for this is that, although the attic stairs account for only 1% of the area, the rate that heat flows through them by conduction (per square foot) is 38 times higher than in the insulated part of the attic. In other words, the amount of heat that flows through the 10 sf of attic stairs is the same as what flows through 380 sf of the insulated attic. Wow!

Also, what I’m talking about here is just the heat that flows through the solid material, not all the extra heat that leaks through the gaps around the edge of the attic stairs. Remember, the building envelope has both insulation (to limit heat flow by conduction) and an air barrier. I’m just talking about the former here.

So, what’re you going to do? Add more insulation to the rest of the attic and bring it up to R-49? Or find a way to insulate the attic stairs? The answer’s obvious, isn’t it?

I have devised several ways to help combat this issue. Contact me for more info.

The words we speak, the words we write are powerful. Is it possible to put a numerical value to our words? In the Hebrew language each letter is not only a letter but it has a numerical value as well. Jewish sages for generations have been finding hidden insights from matching the numerical values of different words.

So I was wondering is there a similar connection in the English language and could we could find the secret of having a complete life that so many of us are in search of in the numerical values of the words. This is what I discovered thanks to a friend of mine.

What if ….

Now let’s see what makes life complete or 100%….

Hard Work

H+A+R+D+W+O+R+K

8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

Knowledge

K+N+O+W+L+E+D+G+E

11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

Love

L+O+V+E

12+15+22+5 = 54%

Luck

L+U+C+K

12+21+3+11 = 47%

(Don’t most of us think this is the most important?)

Then what makes 100%?

Is it Money?… NO!!!

M+O+N+E+Y

13+15+14+5+25 = 72%

Leadership? … NO!!!

L+E+A+D+E+R+S+H+I+P

12+5+1+4+5+18+19+9+16 = 89%

Every problem has a solution if we can just change our attitude. What is it that can make us get to that 100%? What’s the one thing that if we can change or improve will make a difference in our life?

It’s our ATTITTUDE!!!

A+T+T+I+T+T+U+D+E

1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

It’s our attitude toward our life and work that makes us OUR LIFE 100%!!!

Attitude is EVERYTHING! Change your Attitude…Change your LIFE!!!

www.HelpWithMyBank.gov

It makes sense…try it here!

In this episode of Tuesday Morning Coffee Murfreesboro TN based Realtor and Broker/Owner of John Jones Real Estate, John Jones, presents the basics of renovation loans. What a renovation loan is, what can qualify, and how home buyers looking for a deal can use a renovation loan to purchase a home that needs repairs or improvements without coming out of pocket on costs.

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Carrie Bay at DSnews.com explains some of the new requirements:

The industry has long been awaiting a replacement for the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC). On Friday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued new Appraiser Independence Requirements to supplant the controversial HVCC, but both GSEs say the new appraiser rules make “no significant changes to core principles of the HVCC.”

The Appraiser Independence Requirements, developed in coordination with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, “maintain the spirit and intent of the HVCC and continue to provide important protections for mortgage investors, homebuyers, and the housing market,” according to a statement from Fannie.

The new directive, effective immediately, establishes standards for solicitation, selection, compensation, and practitioner independence when it comes to home appraisals. The goal is to ensure appraisers’ work is conducted autonomously, without pressure from lenders and real estate agents to manipulate property valuations.

“We will continue to review our appraisal independence requirements to address market developments and regulatory actions taken pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act, which may include rules relating to conflicts of interests and fee disclosure by appraisal management companies,” Fannie and Freddie said.

As stated in the new appraiser requirements, an appraiser must be, at a minimum, licensed or certified by the state in which the property to be appraised is located.

No employee or agent of the seller is allowed to influence the development or results of the appraisal “through coercion, extortion, collusion, compensation, inducement, intimidation, or bribery,” which may include withholding timely payment for the appraisal report, threatening to terminate future business, or conditioning ordering or payment of an appraisal report on the outcome.

A seller is not allowed to obtain or use a second appraisal in connection with a mortgage financing transaction unless there is reason to believe the original appraisal is “flawed or tainted.”

Sellers must provide the borrower with a copy of the appraisal report on the subject property at no additional cost and at least three days prior to the closing of the mortgage. However, the borrower can be required to reimburse the seller for the cost of the appraisal.

The seller cannot accept any appraisal report completed by an appraiser selected, retained, or compensated by any other third party, including mortgage brokers and real estate agents. And there must be separation of a seller’s sales/mortgage production functions and appraisal functions. In other words, an employee of the seller in sales or mortgage production shall have no involvement in the appraisal.

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