Today, we complete our review on the different Tulips that formed part of our front garden’s makeover.

As we learned in Part 27 we had 30 Plaisir Tulip bulbs left over from the package which also contained the Jeanne d’Arc Crocus. So, we used these in the left area of the front garden.

For us this was a good location for these bulbs because, from the above picture, the location for the Tulips was to be behind the Fireglow Japanese Maple and pair of Sedums. The Plaisir Tulips are to grow to a height of 8 inches which might be a little small and might be hidden by the Sedums, but we really had no other place for them.

However, the Plaisir Tulips  are supposed to bloom in early spring, so this might be prior to the Sedums reaching their full height. We will see in the spring how this works out.

Next, we chose two packages, 24 bulbs in each, of a mixture of Tulips for the two areas in the garden directly in front of the garage wall. These varieties, Ballerina, Elegant Lady, Claudia and Tres Chic Tulips are what I have seen called ‘Parrott’ type of Tulips because of their feathery type of petals.

What I also liked about these collection of multiple Tulips is that they are all planted at the same 6 inch depth and are to grow between 50 and 60 cm / 2o and 24  inches high, which is good as they are near the many Hostas plants also in the front garden.

Again, read the packaging to find out how deep to plant the bulbs. As was the case, actually, for all the Tulips we purchased, it was 15 cm or 6 inches deep. And, speaking of packaging, I also liked how, as you can see from the picture below, each of the 4 varieties of Tulip Bulbs are in their own self contained area within the single package.

Lastly, back over to the area on the right of the front garden. It is a large area needing many flowers. So, for this area we saved the last package we purchased, the Don Quichotte Tulip package which contained 45 bulbs.

This brand of Tulips are to grow, according to the packaging, to 60 cm / 2 feet in height which is good as they will be near the Sella D’Or Day Lillies which border the extreme right of the garden along the driveway.

So, there you have it. Many different tulips in our front garden. Did you notice that in each of the groupings all or most of the Tulips will have red or yellow in the flower part of the plant? Yes, there are other varieties. However, this colour / color coordination was intentional. The bricks in our house are red as you know. And the Stella D’Or Day Lillies product a yellow flower.

Colour / color coordination is important not just on the inside of the house but also on the outside.

Today, we start with the front garden.

Now, as a reminder, it’s important to think about the height needs of all plants in a garden, tulips included.

In the above picture, we wanted to have small tulips in the very front of the part of the garden on the right so subsequent flowers and plants further on in the garden towards the garage wall could be seen. In the picture above the white bag containing the bulbs  is where we planned for the tulips.

Now, we knew that the package had two different types of bulbs. However, look at the size difference between the two package of bulbs. That is a big difference.

 Look at the above picture closely. Ooops. The package on the right are tulips but the package on the left are not; they are Jeanne d’Arc Crocus.

Now, when I mentioned this to Cath, she said ‘Nice. Very Nice’. Whew!

So, I decided to plant just the Crocus in the area previously planned for the tulips. Why? Well, I did not yet have bulbs for the left side of the garden … now I did without even knowing it!

Obviously we did not look carefully enough at the outside of the package which, yes, did indicate it contained both Tulip and Crocus bulbs.

The other point to make here, is again remind you to read the planting instructions. Remember how I planted the Menton tulips in yesterday’s article 6 inches deep? Not so for Crocus. Per the packaging, the Crocus bulbs are to be planted only 1/2 the depth of Tulip bulbs, i.e. 8 cm or 3 inches deep.

That is why in the picture above it looks like the Jeanne d’Arc Crocus bulbs are not planted as deep as the Menton Tulips yesterday.

Tomorrow, more of our bulb selection for our front garden.

To continue to the next article in our series on our garden makeover, simply select this link to Part 28.

Have you entered yet?

Only entered once or twice? Why? Surely you can come up with more tips that you or your friends use to conserve energy consumption in the home, right?

So far, here are some statistics on entries we have received during the first two weeks of this three week contest:

• Total Number of Entries: > 350
• Total Number of Rejected Entries: 6
• Total Number of Different Tips: > 140

What is pleasantly surprising is that only 6 out of all the entries received so far have been rejected (e.g. spam). So, more than 98% of all contest entries are valid; meaning people are serious about knowing at least one thing that can be done in the home to conserve energy …. and, that people are serious that they want to win one of the Home Depot Gift Cards .

Remember the prizes to be won?

First prize is a $100 Home Depot Gift Card
.

Second prize is a $25 Home Depot Gift Card
.

Third prize is also a $25 Home Depot Gift Card
.

All you have to do is to access our Energy Conservation page and use the form thereon to enter your energy conservation tip that can be used in the home. And while you are there explore the other energy conservation links and listings to learn more energy conservation tips you can use in your own home.

Our goal is to have so many new energy conservation tips from those who enter our contest that we can increase our existing listing of these tips for the home owner to more than 200.  So far, on our own and from learning from others before the contest started we have come up with 101 tips.

It can be a simple or a complex tip; one that costs next to nothing or one that is expensive to implement; your entry, or entries, could even use the tips that are already on our 101 tips list (one tip per entry). it does not matter to us. As long as you start and continue to think about different ways to conserve energy in the home the more likely that you will take action and actually implement some of the energy conservation tips that you do not already use yourself.

So, what are you waiting for? Don’t worry. To receive your prize, we will not be asking you to give us your personal mailing address. We will have the nice folks at Home Depot contact the winners directly who will send out the prizes for us.

Go ahead, enter today. There is just a few days left until the last contest date of 05-DEC-08.

But what are they?

Well, Black Friday is the term given for decades for the day after Thanksgiving in the United States. This day is a huge shopping day, the unofficial kickoff to the Christmas shopping season, when retailers started to make a profit for the year.

Retail stores and shopping malls are jammed with shoppers hunt for bargains for their Christmas presents. The mall parking lots are jammed, stores have lines of people waiting to get inside, and people are generally miserable because they lost out on the deal that they saw in the local newspaper only to find out that ‘quantities are limited’ applied to the 50% discount sticker; what a waste of time, effort, stress and gas (for the car)

Cyber Monday , on the other hand is the name given to the Monday after U.S. Thanksgiving when internet shopping increases, because those who did not find what they wanted on Black Friday and the weekend finally realize how much easier, less stressful and beneficial it is to do their Christmas shopping on the internet.

So, with that in mind, we have gone looking for the best deals we could find on the Internet for home renovation, maintenance and energy conservation retailers.  Some of these have a coupon code you need to enter for free shipping and / or extra discount. Others are simply great deals. 

Oh, start your Internet shopping now. If you do in fact wait until Cyber Monday like everyone else does, instead of long lines at retail stores in the mall you might find that the internet retailers’ servers are a bit slow with everyone else trying to also buy some of their Christmas presents at the same time as you. But, at least you didn’t waste gas in your car going to and from the mall.

Think of it as our way of giving you an early Christmas present.

Here is our list of the best deals on the web. All you need to do is to click on the links below that you want to learn more about and possibly purchase.  Enjoy!

HOME PRODUCTS

Internet Only - $5 Off Orders $50 or more at HomeDepot.com. Enter code HOLIDAY235 at checkout until 12/1!

25% off Holiday Home

Internet Only - Get $5 Off Orders $50 or more at HomeDepot.com, enter HOLIDAY733 at checkout from December 2 to 14, 2008

Shop Holiday Gift Ideas for $99 or Less at HomeDecorators.com

Internet Only - Save up to 60% Off on Select Lighting at HomeDepot.com - Expires 12/3

Receive $30 Off + Free Shipping on the Pet Bathing System from Rapid Bath. Use code K8RAA30 at checkout. Offer valid 11.27 to 12.1.

Save $10 off Any Purchase of $50 or more at Domestications - Enter code D8NAFFN10 at checkout - ends 12/31/2008

25% off Kitchen and Dining

Crock-Pot.com - FREE Shipping Offer on any order of $100 or more

SAVE an EXTRA 10% on $99+ or 20% on $199+. Code: TenOrMore until 11.30.08

Save up-to 40% on Brand-Name, Manufacturer-Guaranteed Reconditioned Tools

ExpressDecor Clearance - Save Up To 80% on All Warehouse Clearance Items!

Save 50% now on the FoodSaver® Two Piece Canister Set. Only $10.49!

15% off + $.99 shipping on orders over $59 at Home Marketplace from 11.24 - 12.1.08!

GIFT CARDS

The Home Depot Gift Cards - The Perfect Gift - Order On-line

Omaha Steaks Gift Cards - Order On-line!

Free Shipping on Gift Certificates at HomeDecorators.com .

Dont’ forget that gift cards are such an easy gift to give. Why fuss about exactly what size, color and shape of give to give? Why force your the recipient of your Christmas present to go through the hassle of returning a gift they don’t like?

Would you like to receive a gift card? Why wouldn’t your friends and family?

And, of course to help you pay for your Christmas purchases you might want a new credit card with a nice offer:

Get $50 Cash Back Bonus with the Discover® More Card - Apply On-line!

You can find the first of the series of articles on the installation and usage of this energy conservation product in our own home by using this link to Exterior Solar Blinds - Part 1 - The Need.

The product we used, EZ Snap, can even be used on Recreation Vehicles (or RV’s) and Motorhomes for custom window shades.

What I wanted to write about today is our use of our EZ Snap exterior solar shades in the winter.

As those of you who have read our articles in the above series know, we have large south facing windows in our Family Room and Kitchen where we installed ourselves these wonderful, simple product.

Heck, as the above picture shows we even installed them on the outside of the French Doors leading to our deck.

I decided to leave them on this winter after contacting the manufacturer who indicated that many of their customers leave them on all year.

Why?

Well, it was partially because last winter, our first in our home (which was prior to us installing the exterior solar shades), even on the coldest days it was uncomfortably hot in the family room. So, we wanted to be able to keep our interior blinds up for the view of the forest behind our home which is quite picturesque with the snow on the tree branches.

It was also because of the sun’s position in the sky.

Remember, in the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere, as the Winter Solstice is approached just before Christmas the sun rises lower and lower in the sky.

We noticed this with our recently installed solar air heater. Back in early October the shadow from the large trees in the forest behind our house were not going to reach the back (south) wall of our basement walkout. However, once we installed the solar air heater in early November the shadows from those same trees covered our new solar air heater until 11 am. Yikes!

Now, one of those trees was on our property, a 22 foot Norway Spruce. The rest were deciduous trees whose shadows were not that wide . Once the Spruce was removed, our solar air heater went to work much earlier in the morning.

However, this experience made me more aware how much lower the sun rises in the winter for us.

Even if we had shutters on our south facing windows, the low position of the sun in the winter would still allow it’s direct sun light and UV rays to enter through our windows and into our home.

So, leaving the EZ Snap exterior solar shades on our 5 foot high south facing windows and on our south facing French door window inserts during the winter works for us. We think it will work for you as well.

Today we want to discuss the Solar Max 240 brackets.

Now, the size of the Solar Max 240 is approximately 4 feet wide by 7 feet high by between 6 and 9 inches deep, as shown below resting on its side inside our basement.

The mounting brackets provided by the manufacturer (sorry but I never took a picture of the brackets individually) in our opinion were not sufficient to hold the unit. They are shown together in the original packaging from the manufacturer in the picture below.

I am sure they worked well for others, otherwise why would the manufacturer include them in their standard package?

However, I can be a bit nervous and anxious when it comes to my own house. I wanted something more sturdy to hold the solar air collector on our wall.

So, what we did was to purchase some square brackets of our own.

On the right of the above picture are two 6 inch square mounting brackets which will be installed at the bottom of the Solar Max 240 to support it’s weight while the pair on the left are 5 inch brackets which will be placed on top of the unit.

However, one cannot just start to install the brackets. You see, our strategy was to have the brackets, both the lower and the upper pairs, installed first on the wall in a manner whereby the part of the replacement mounting brackets that would be affixed to the wall would end up being behind the Cansolair solar heating unit.

By taking this approach, the mounting brackets would be hidden from view once the Solar Max 240 was installed. Yet, this required very precise measurements.

So, before we could install the mounting brackets, a few things needed to be first completed.

First Bennett cut the hole in the lower back of the solar heating unit into which the blower assembly would be placed.

Once this was done we carefully used a vacuum to remove the excess debris from inside the unit. Notice the wire that is already inside the unit which is used for the temperature reading. It will ultimately be connected to the front of the blower assembly that remains inside the house.

Next we needed to install the blower gasket on the outside of the blower assembly to block any drafts or air leaks. This was of course easily accomplished with first silicone caulking placed in the gaps between the blower ducts and the brick on the outside wall, placement of the blower gasket onto the  blower assembly, more silicon caulking, etc., as shown in the series of pictures below:

But wait, we are not ready yet. We have more work to do in our installation. Return next time for our continuing examination of our installation of the Cansolair Solar Max 240.

However this left us with still an issue. There should be no gap between the end of the square blower duct and the end of the blower assembly containing the fan. However, as the picture below shows, there is a full inch and a half gap because of our extension of the blower assembly.

 So, what’s the fix?

Well, we could have simply used duct tap to cover that gap, but over time that would have worn out.

The solution Bennett came up with was to use sheet metal.

He found an excess piece of metal duct pipe in our garage from prior renovations.

He opened the excess duct pipe and proceeded to cut four strips in sufficient width to cover the above mentioned gap per the above picture.

Following this, he placed the square blower assembly duct into the opening in the wall and used the provided screws to screw the assembly into the wood paneling that was behind the drywall (per the above picture).

The was then followed by placing duct tape on all 4 sides of the inserted blower duct to help prevent drafts from entering through any gaps between the blower duct and the exterior wall.

 Following this, he placed the square blower assembly duct into the opening in the wall and used the provided screws to screw the assembly through the drywall and into the wood paneling that was behind the drywall (per the following picture).

Next went outside and started to shape the metal strips to the square shape of the blower duct (again, per the picture immediately below).

Next, he used a combination of duct tape and the friction between the swuare blower duct and the brick to affix the strips to cover the gap, as shown in the next picture.

Now there is no gap between the extended blower duct and the extended blower assembly. 

Next time, we discuss a concern that both Bennett and I share with the recommended approach to placing and holding the Solar Max 240 on the wall and the different approach we took that should help you as well.

To continue to the next article in this series, simply select this link to Part 13 - Bigger is Better .

The instructions call for the blower ducts to be cut in length so that 1 inch is exposed beyond the gasket on the outside of the wall.

One problem. What if the depth of the wall exceeds the length of the blower duct? Ours did per the picture below.

In the above picture, you can see that the end of the blower duct and the black fan part at the end of the blower assembly barely come out of the wall, not nearly sufficient to be contained within the Solar Max 240. Oops.

This was caused because in our house we have that wood paneling behind the drywall.

Both the vertical wood paneling and the horizontal sheathing in behind are adding a couple inches to the total depth between the exterior brick on the outside of the wall and the drywall on the inside.

What to do? First, let’s deal with the blower assembly.

In the above picture you can see we have disassembled the unit cover. On the ground is the interior cover containing the blue washable filter. Notice the four long silver metal screws holding the component with the black fan (at Bennett’s right hand) at the end of the unit to the wiring housing component (at Bennett’s left hand).  Do you see how each of these long screws protrude about 3 to 4 inches into the part of the blower assembly by Bennett’s left hand?

All we did was to measure how much distance we needed to extend the end of the blower assembly past the bricks on the outside wall so it would be sufficiently contained within the solar air collector. It was about an additional 2 and 1/2 inches that was needed. So, we simply adjusted the original assembly to increase the distance between two components.

Notice in the above picture the significantly decreased length of the 4 metal screws at each corner of the front of the blower assembly.

Now, when the extended blower assembly is placed into the opening in the wall you can see, if you compare to the very first picture in this article, that the blower assembly now sufficiently extends away from the outside wall.

But what about the blower duct? There is too much space between the end of the blower duct and the extended blower assembly.

Return tomorrow to see how we extended the blower duct.

To continue to the next article in this series, simply select this link to Part 12 - Extending the Blower Duct.

Have you entered yet?

Only entered once or twice? Why? Surely you can come up with more tips that you or your friends use to conserve energy consumption in the home, right?

So far, here are some statistics on entries we have received as of 6 pm ET on 21-NOV-08, about 1 week into the contest:

• Total Entries
  • 87 (yes, that’s it …. just 87 entries; that’s pretty good odds of winning for those who have entered)
• Rejected Entries
  • 3 
• The Most Common Tip
  • Turn off the lights when you leave the room / house
• The Most Intriguing Tip
  • Keep track of the environmental voting records of candidates for office. Only vote for those who have your environment at heart. (not sure if that is per the contest rules; we are checking to see if in the recent US election if it was possible to cast a vote from one’s home for any Federal, State, County or City elected position.)
• The Most Animal Friendly Tip
  • Adopt 3 dogs from your local shelter and you have enough warmth for those Three Dog (winter) Nights

Remember the prizes to be won?

First prize is a $100 Home Depot gift card .

Second prize is a $25 Home Depot gift card .

Third prize is also a $25 Home Depot gift card .

All you have to do is to access our Energy Conservation page and use the form thereon to enter your energy conservation tip that can be used in the home. Remember, our contest is open to United Residents 18 years of age or older.

Our goal is to have so many energy conservation tips from those who enter our contest that we can increase our existing listing of home energy conservation tips to more than 200.  So far, on our own and from learning from others before the contest started we have come up with 101 tips.

It can be a simple or a complex tip; one that costs next to nothing or one that is expensive to implement; your entry, or entries, could even use the tips that are already on our 101 tips list (one tip per entry). it does not matter to us. As long as you start and continue to think about different ways to conserve energy in the home the more likely that you will take action and actually implement some of the energy conservation tips that you do not already use yourself.

So, what are you waiting for? Don’t worry. To receive your prize, we will not be asking you to give us your personal mailing address. We will have the nice folks at Home Depot contact the winners directly who will send out the prizes for us.

Go ahead, enter today. Enter early, enter often. One home energy conservation tip per entry.

Now what?

Who do you choose to perform the home inspection? Are the service providers all the same?

Or, you are thinking of selling your home but heard it might be a good idea to have an independent professional inspect your home so you know ahead of time what deficiencies may be identified if the buyer has a home inspection performed on your home. This would help you be in a better negotiation position.

But, who do you contact to have the inspection performed on your own home?

Or,  you have heard (or read about on our site ) the ecoENERGY Residiential Retrofit program  and want to participate to help make your home more energy efficient.

Who do you choose to perform the ecoENERGY Energy Efficiency Assessment (i.e. energy audit)?

Of course, you want to only use a professional firm who trains it’s inspectors to meet, preferably exceed, the Canadian Association of Home Inspector’s Standards of Practice.

To me, you should look to a company who also provides more than just home inspection and energy efficiency assessment services. Such a company is AmeriSpec Canada.

How does this company provide more? By actually doing more than just home inspections and energy efficiency assessments.

Home inspections can be a confusing. AmeriSpec provides a Guide to Home Inspections  that anyone can download for free to better understand what is involved.

Experience is invaluable. A firm who has experience in providing more than home inspections, even more than energy efficiency assessments can typically provide more useful information and feedback. In addition to home inspections and energy efficiency assessments, AmeriSpec has a plethora of specialty services  including  commercial building inspections, water analysis, indoor air quality surveys, septic testing and more.

What about free information for the home owner? One of the areas I like about the AmeriSpec Canada web site is the collection of information and tips for the home owner that are free for the asking. All you have to do is access the Ask The Inspector area of their web site where information is provided on a wide variety of topics of interest to home owners including:

• Environmental (Fire Safety, Mould, HRV, …)
• Industry Topics (Condominium purchase considerations, job costing, insurance issues, ….)
• Major Systems (Electrical, Furnace, Plumbing, Septic Tanks, …)
• Building Envelope (Air Sealing, Ventilation, Water Treatment, …)

Whether you are a new home owner or one who has owned for decades, knowledge is power and these resources can be very useful.

Yet, that is not all of the free information available 24 X 7 from the AmeriSpec Canada. In the Tools and Resources area of their web site you can download a:

• home improvement and repair cost guide
• moving checklist, and
• sample inspection report (very useful for someone who has never has a home inspection yet wants to better understand what it is all about)

In that same area you are provided with links to a variety of organizations related to home issues including the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors, Canadian Home Builders Association, and more.

So, the next time you need a home inspection or any of the speciality services they provide, or want to start participating in the ecoENERGY Retrofit program, consider AmeriSpec Canada.