Going Green

Not sure if "going green" is just a fad, but for the last few years it seems to have really gained some momentum.  Things like recycling (prevalent in just about any neighborhood now, at least here in North Texas) and promotional campaigns aimed at reducing water use are fairly commonplace nowadays.

In addition to those two areas in the green movement (waste and water), another major component for going green is related to energy.

Several ways of going green around energy (and my opinion):
1) Transportation -
  a) Buy an electric car (however, if plugging in using grid power, you're sourcing it from primarily fossil fuel-based energy, like coal and natural gas)
  b) Buy a hybrid car (uses less grid power than pure electric, but still uses gasoline, derived from oil)
  c) Buy a car that simply uses less oil by getting better mileage (can even save a ton of money doing this, like going from a 15 mpg SUV to a 35 mpg hatch-back could amount to over $1000/year saved)
  d) And obvious maintenance things, like...
    - Keeping tires inflated (I just use 32 psi for all of my cars, easy to remember too)
    - Changing my air filters once every year (I just use a milestone date, like Thanksgiving or Christmas)
    - Using the correct fuel type (double-check for your car, premium gas in a vehicle only needs regular doesn't save any gas and certainly doesn't save dollars)
2)  Home appliances and gadgets -
  a) Upgrade old equipment to more efficient devices like (all good)...
    - An Energy Star rated refrigerator or television
    - The highest SEER rated A/C unit
    - Using a laptop instead of a desktop computer
    - Replacing incandescent lighting with compact fluorescent
  b) Unplug devices when not in use (lights, computers, charging devices)
    - Optionally, there are several power strips on the market today that can cut-off power to devices when it detects that they are not on, thereby reducing wasted "phantom" power (standby modes, charging adapters)
3)  Electricity -
  a) Shop around for the best electric rate (can really save a bunch doing this, if you haven't switched electricity providers in a while... I review this at least once a year)
  b) Renewable power (can be cost prohibitive, unless combined federal and local rebates make up much of the up front investment... and if it's a lease, I'll explain more on this later)
  c) Related to #2a, simply use less (bundle up in the winter, use ceiling fans in the summer, turn off the lights)

Whatever methods chosen to "go green", it's definitely a great thing to do and can save a bunch of money at the same time.

Sears Assurelink - Wireless Garage Opener

It has been a really tough last 6 months for my garage door system.  In the summer, one of the torsion springs broke (there are 2 on my garage door since it's extra wide and fairly heavy).  The sound of it was like a really loud "pop", as if someone shot a gun inside the garage... quite alarming since we were just entering the house and we had no warning.

Anyways, without both torsion springs, opening the garage using either the motor or manually using the override, was impossible.  So we made a quick call to the garage door repairman... a new torsion spring, an afternoon and $300 later, the garage door was opening and closing again without issue.

Fast forward a few months, to this past fall, and the garage started to make this loud "banging" noise while opening until one day it just stopped opening.  The motor sounded like it was struggling to move, but the garage door refused to open.  The torsion springs looked fine.  Another call to the repairman... a quick diagnosis, a new manual override lever and $180 later, our garage was opening and closing again just fine.

Then, a few months later around October, the garage door motor started to produce a white smoke each time after opening.  There was a slight burning smell to it and I knew it that it was probably on it's last legs.

The garage motor was a Genie screw-drive model from when the house was built, so it may have been about 15 years old.

However, since we'd just dropped almost $500 on garage door repairs over a few short months, I couldn't bear the thought of shelling out more dough to fix the aging unit.  Perfect opportunity for a DIY purchase and install of a new one!

Searching the internet for recommendations, I found that there were basically 3 types of garage door openers:  chain-drive, screw-drive and belt-drive.

From what I understood, the chain-drive is the loudest, but cheapest, whereas the belt-drive was the quietest, but most expensive.

Searching the internet further, I came across a new garage door opener from Sears, with a new feature called "Assurelink".  The main benefit of Assurelink is the ability to remotely monitor and control the status of the garage door, using a web browser or mobile (iPhone or Android) device. I thought, "How novel is that??"

Reading the history of the garage door, I learned that it hasn't changed much in the almost 90 years of existence. There have really only been 3 major milestones.

For about 30 years starting in the 1920's, you could open and close the garage door electronically, with a switch. Beginning in the 1940's, with the advent the remote control, you were able to control that switch wirelessly from a short physical distance.  Now, nearly 70 years later, the ubiquitous garage door can be connected and viewed anywhere in the world... amazing.

So, I purchased one of the new Sears Craftsman garage door openers that feature Assurelink and installed it.  I chose the chain-drive over the belt-drive because it was about $50 less expensive. It's also missing a battery backup, but with a working manual override, that shouldn't be necessary.

I'll post about my experience installing and using this new garage door opener soon, but so far it's been fantastic.