I have a recommendation for whole-house fans, and that is to go with the ones made by Triangle Engineering of Arkansas (made in the USA!). These things move more air than any other brand. As an example: the 36" belt-drive model sold at Lowes & Home Depot moves 6,900 CFM on its highest speed. The 36" one that Triangle makes moves 10,600 CFM. I just put one of these in last week and am so taken with it that I'm evangelizing for Triangle now. These things are much higher quality than the other brands too -- these are made with very heavy-gauge solid welded steel (as opposed to the thin, flimsy metal - often aluminum - that other brands use). They use a very solid motor made by Emerson, the best of the top three motor-making companies (the other two being Fasco and A.O. Smith). They come pre-framed on a wood frame for installation, AND they have sponge-rubber noise-dampening material between the fan and the frame, so they are much quieter than the other brands. Also, Triangle holds a patent on an automatic belt-tensioning system these things use, so you don't have to worry about getting the tension right when you install the fan (or in the years thereafter as the belt loosens up). Also, they come in more sizes than the other companies -- from 24" all the way up to 48" blade diameter (which moves a ridiculously whopping amount of air; no one else makes one that big). They're sold online at Southern Tool amongst other places that ship nationwide, so they're available wherever you live. Also, Triangle re-brands some of these as a private label for Dayton, which is the "store brand" of Grainger - so if you have a Grainger store near you (check your phone book or their website), you can buy one there. I will say this, though - Grainger/Dayton makes their own shutters, and those shutters are much better than the one Triangle makes. Triangle makes great fans, but crappy shutters. Luckily, they're sold separately -- so buy a Triangle fan and Dayton shutters; money can't buy better products. They also re-brand some for a company out in San Francisco called "Fanman" (a/k/a "Delta Breeze"). A word to the wise -- these fans move a lot of air, so make sure to install at least the recommended minimum amount of attic exhaust space (gable vents, soffit vents, roof vents, some combination thereof, whatever works for you) - if you don't have enough, the fan will operate at reduced capacity, and there will be a backpressure which will cause the shutters to rattle when the fan is in operation (any time you hear whole-house fan shutters rattling, you know there isn't enough exhaust space). Oh, and one other thing -- only buy a belt-drive whole-house fan, don't EVER buy a direct-drive model...the direct-drive models are at least five times louder, they sound like standing on an airport runway next to an old prop plane getting ready to take off. Several of the dedicated whole-house fan installing companies have chosen to use Triangle fans; that should tell you something. These companies want satisfied customers, so they use Triangle and only Triangle. Refer to http://www.trianglefans.com/wholehouse.html for more info Here is a link that might be useful: Triangle whole-house fans

I bought a System 2000 boiler with a SuperStor Ultra indirect water heater in September '08, and I'm absolutely THRILLED with it. Compensating for central MA heating degree days, the new system is using about 45% less fuel than our previous setup (a 1994 New Yorker steel boiler, measured at 82% AFUE, with indirect HW). You can tell right away that you're saving money because the boiler just sits there completely cold most of the time. When it does come on, it runs only as long as it needs to and goes cold again after circulating any residual heat into the house or water heater. It makes perfect sense when you think about it. I had considered the Buderus, but it was physically larger, a bit more expensive and a bit less efficient. That included the pricey outdoor reset controller that several contractors admitted was "very tricky" to optimize. Ultimately, I opted for simplicity over complexity, and buying American was a bonus. Regarding the cracking, my installer said the most common problem is when clueless technicians try to clean the high-tech ceramic combustion chamber with a brush and crack it (basically, it should NEVER be touched). Make sure the person installing/servicing this system has been fully trained on it, and get references if possible. Some contractors claimed "you can't get parts for those boilers". Turns out all the parts are standard off-the-shelf items (burner, circulator, zone valves, etc), except for the controller and the boiler core itself. If the controller dies, you can short out two contacts with a paper clip and force it into conventional boiler mode - always hot - until someone can fix it. There's even an outlet on the controller to plug in a generator if you lose power, which I learned during the December ice storm. I was stuck with oil, but this boiler can run on natural gas or propane with a simple burner swap if you decide to switch. I thought it was a really cool feature. Warranty is limited lifetime on the pressure vessel & controller, and I believe five years on everything else, but you can confirm with the mfr. I chose the SuperStor water heater because it had a lifetime warranty and the EK one didn't. I probably sound like a shill for the manufacturer, but I'm just extremely pleased with this boiler... and happy to be saving money, helping the environment and hurting the terrorists. ;-)

When I lived there a green sand filter was standard with all new houses and well water. The water was green and smelled of sulfur. So what they called a green sand filter was just a tank filled with a chemical called potassium permanganate. Permanganate coates over the green sand every time it backwashes. It filtered particulates, sulfur and Iron out of the water and made it clear and less smelly. There are 2 types one for Sulfur approx $550 and one if you don't need sulfur removal $400 It did nothing for the softness of the water. And the water WAS hard. I had it tested by 2 companies before I got wise and purchased my own testing kit. $20 The iron in the water clogs up the softener so we used Iron out which is a treatment system that hangs on the outside and when added to the brine mix dissolves the iron in the chamber. You could get a whole house RO for $4k or so or you could just get a small one for drinking $150. or Buy a 2 stage whole house filter with a charcoal filter for taste and smell and a particulate filter from HD or Wall-mart for approx $50 and a water softer from HD or Sears for $450 and DIY. for under $500. I am almost finished my kitchen remodel and here we have city water and even though its not very hard is is WAY better with a softer. I also installed a charcoal filter because coffee tasted terrible made with unfiltered water. Especially on the days they chlorinate the water. You can also use those faucet mounted filters which contain a charcoal filter for drinking, and ice. I also have a RO system but I don't think I will use it unless, the water gets worse. This just scratches the surface in filtration systems. You can add many different types of filters depending on whats in your water. However as said RO gets 99% of everything. http://www.qualitywatertreatment.com/iron_filters.htm http://home.howstuffworks.com/question99.htm http://www.ampac1.com/?gclid=CI-jj67kjZQCFQgWiQodwHo4XA just 1 of hundreds.

We had one installed when we built our house 15 years ago and I love it! It is so much more powerful than any stand-alone vacuum I've ever owned. We just replaced the Turbo-Cat head and the new one works even better than our old one did. We also bought this really cool attachment for wood floors. It sort of reminds of a toupee for Cookie Monster. ;-) It's bright blue, sort of boomerang-shaped with fringe along the edge. It does a great job on wood floors, collecting dust and pet hair and there's no danger of scratching the wood. And the best part is that the blue cover can be thrown in the wash! As for lugging the hose around, I prefer that over lugging a heavy vac around, especially when I'm vacuuming stairs. If your dealer offers it, get the "tube sock" (don't know what it's really called but this is what we call it). It's a knit sock that covers the vacuum hose end to end, cushioning it so that the hose doesn't mark up walls or woodwork when it bumps against it. We paid a minimal cost for them to put the sock on the hose - well worth it! writersblock, I haven't sucked up earrings but I've sucked up itty bitty Legos more than once. They sound very odd as they rattle through the pipe. I learned to empty the vacuum bucket fairly regularly so I didn't have to sift through as much crud to find those blasted Legos.