Tips from This Old House

Last weekend while hanging out with my son in the family room, I happened to tune in to PBS where they were showing that “Ask This Old House” program. For those who are not familiar, “Ask This Old House” is a spin-off from a popular PBS program titled “This Old House“, which features a crew of handymen who find an old house (or barn) and renovate it. Most specially for people like me who have always imagined themselves to be very apt around the house but never really get beyond being a couch potato, I find it really fascinating to see something old given a new lease on life. Whenever they combine the old with the new–old, rugged exterior (think barn or log cabin) mixed in with state-of-the-art home theater system–it gives a unique identity to the house.

So this “Ask This Old House” features basically the same crew, but instead of finding some close-to-be-demolished building, they take questions from viewers and provide answers to everyday home maintenance concerns. For instance, last weekend the theme of their episode was being green; so they enumerated some ways on how to save energy and be more environment-friendly around the house. They gave tips like setting your water heater temperature a little lower and using a programmable thermostat to save on cooling and heating costs. They also advised to insulate your water pipes in the basement, so they don’t waste heat. Don’t you hate it when you turn on the hot faucet and it takes forever to get some? And it isn’t so much the waiting as the amount of water that gets wasted! If only there was a way to recycle that water and put it back in the pipes…

But what I found rather enlightening was when they asked the landscaping expert on what you can do around your yard to minimize maintenance costs. Turns out, you can use nature’s own cycles to work for you. If you plant a tree towards the northern part of your yard, during the summer when the tree has leaves, it will block the sun from your house and help make it a little cooler. During the winter when the tree doesn’t have any leaves, it will allow the sun’s rays to reach your house and help make it a little warmer.

Just another proof that it’s always best to work with nature rather than come up with high-tech solutions