50 Comments

1. Thank you both, once again an interesting conversation.

   I will use the video to inspire family members to let go of their dryer sheets, paper towels, and household chemicals.

   I would note an unmentioned source of great poisoning, water fluoridation.

   The practice of adding (HSF) hydrofluorosilic acid to the water supplies in most American communities has been going on for 75+ years and is still strongly supported today by the ADA to reduce cavities. despite the science saying it is toxic, reduces IQ, etc.

   The energy that goes into the water fluoridation process is immense.

   HSF is waste from fertalizer/phosphate industry, trucked all over the country, added to water supplies and pumped to our homes and businesses.

   I personally go to great lengths to get filtered water to drink that is free from this chemical.

   Check out Fluoride Action Network.

   https://fluoridealert.org/

   1. Great addition. Could not agree more!

   2. Right on the money, Eric! Aluminum hexafluoride, a waste byproduct of the aluminum smelting industry, has been used as the additive in your toothepaste for a long time, too. I go to some trouble to avoid toothepaste that has any sort of fluoride in it, and I deliberately chose a community to live in that doesn’t fluoridate the water. This week’s Highwire episode was all about the fight against fluoride in our water and I think that may be coming to a head next year. One should ask our water suppliers why they’re willing to spend so much money to poison us all. There should be a nationwide movement everywhere to prevent the privatization of our water, too, which has been underway for many years now. I imagine getting the fluoride out of our water would be more difficult if our water supply isn’t publicly owned.

      1. I’m glad my city of 50,000 is too poor to fluoridate the water supply. They barely keep up with chlorination. In fact I’ve gone out of town in the past for 2 or 3 weeks on business or pleasure. I come home to find mosquito wigglers (larvae) in my toilets. No mosquito swarms in the house, so had to come in with the water supply, which means the city did not chlorinate enough to keep the microscopic eggs from developing. Fortunately we have not had any outbreaks of typhoid or cholera, which is the main purpose of chlorination.

2. Charlie and Catherin, thank you. I live in the south of the UK and we are going to put solar panels on the roof. What do you think. I know thst the pay back is a long way into the future. But electricity bills here in the Uk are very high and going higher so break even is in about seven years. I will also put in a battery for night time power.

   1. I’ve always been a bit conflicted about solar PV, and especially when batteries are involved. Such systems do give you the ability to maintain some level of electricity use when the grid goes down, but the energy and materials footprint of the typical solar technologies used is quite large. The production of pure silicon (which is then carefully doped with some exotic materials) is highly energy intensive, and as is the production of the batteries. And then there’s the international criminality around the sourcing of the battery materials (typically lithium hydroxide). Sadly, by now we shouldn’t need all of this to generate electricity on site or at any particular electrical device, but that’s a separate topic – one that Catherine began exploring way back in 2011.
      For now, having an array and storage big enough to provide the electric essentials (refrigeration, some lighting, and hot water) isn’t a terrible thing. Until we have better means, the grid isn’t a bad thing, when it’s there. It’s the electric grid that allows us to collectively use a lot less electric generation capacity than the sum of our individual peak demands (through the diversity of timing of those peak demands). It also allows people with solar PV generation to share that generation with others when you’re not using it – the same concept.

      1. I have been thinking about solar panels and batteries for independence from power outages but have been trying to weigh up the environmental, cost benefit issues. I am also concerned about the electromagnetic dangers of having solar panels on our roof

3. Charlie! You hit on one of my pet peeves! Dryer Sheets. My life improved immensely when I discovered 100% Wool Eco dryer balls, the size of tennis balls but made solely of wool. Here is the link to what I found. http://www.friendsheepwool.com.
   Note, I did find them on Amazon. Now, I have solved a great expense, horrible toxicity issues surrounding my clothes and rid myself of all the horrible scents these ghastly sheets try to smell like. I only have to run in the house when my neighbor with three children runs her dryer which is often because I can smell those blasted sheets from 30 feet as the scent drifts out of her garage man door to my side of the world. When you speak of small gestures we all can do, I can only imagine an entire town which ditches dryer sheets and what a positive impact that would have. Thanks again for a great chat. It’s clear you and Catherine are kindred souls! Looking forward to #4…Best!

   1. Nicely done, Cathleen! As it happens, a lot of those dryer sheet chemicals that you and I are responding to (and I have some of those dryer balls myself…) are also in a LOT of other products. Pthalates of many varieties are a major culprit. They’re endocrine disruptors, at the very least. Oddly enough, there’s an article in Apple News this morning about all of these products, so maybe the mainstream is starting to catch on. Charlie

   2. I use dryer balls as well! Sometimes I out essential oils on them to add a healthy natural fragrance,

      1. Ginger, I recently tried a few drops of lavender oil on the eco-wool dryer balls and you’re right…nice enhancement!

   3. I guess this is a guys vs gals thing. I personally have never used dryer sheets. Occasionally 1 is left in or there is residual in a dryer at the laundramat that I go to, and my shirts get too soft, T-shirts and underwear become scratchy and irtitating, and blue jeans and cotton Docker brand pants (slacks / khakis) and short pants are not stiff enough to look right and feel weird when I walk and won’t hold a crease. I just don’t feel the need to have any type of fabric softener on my clothes, either liquid in the rinse cycle or dryer sheets in the dryer. I’ve learned that a lot of you ladies like soft, soft, soft. And the perfumes in these products sometimes flare up my sinuses, plus I don’t necessarily want my clothes to smell like rose petals. I’m a guy. And this could be one of the reasons I’ve never married – dryer sheets and liquid fabric softeners. Over time several possible wives and I never agreed on these simple things, thus no walks down the aisle to the altar for me. ?

      1. I have never heard of dryer sheets. I hate that stuff too. I make my own liquid soap scented slightly with essential oils which I use for washing clothes, dishes, floors, kitchens and bathrooms. Washing is dried naturally on a line.

   4. My friend in NZ has sheep and had to throw away the wool as there is no market any more

4. soy house insulation

   https://www.nachi.org/soy-based-insulation.htm

5. I have not read enough detail about 2030 to understand if the Dept of Energy can require me to upgrade my home structures..? Can they?

   Recently the federal regulation about appliances seemed to be upgraded. Super useful details for any home owner and renters too! My city does require notifying buyers of the air flow condition of our home…Austin, TX. Charlie, Super discussion again!

   1. Hey thanks very much, Brad! I appreciate your kind words. I don’t think you’ll have to worry about being forced to upgrade your home from an energy perspective. And I don’t think the Department of Energy would be the agency to mandate that. The energy efficiency of buildings is regulated by the states, in their energy codes. I could be wrong about the rackets’ plans, though.
      To thoroughly weatherize an older home (pre-2000) can cost quite a bit of money. The good part about that is most of those efficiency measures don’t require any maintenance or replacement. But you can upgrade various appliances and systems as the older ones wear out pretty easily, by simply paying a bit more for the most efficient products available. For instance, given the choice and affordability, I would always choose a new variable capacity heat pump system for heating and cooling, even in the coldest climates. If you live in the northern part of the country, you’ll just want to buy a cold-climate system. You can tell which ones those are by looking at the heating capacity at 5 degrees F – it will be the same as the rated capacity, which is measured at 47 degrees F. Most manufacturers have a line that meets that specification.
      I started participating in the federal energy efficiency standards process in 1990 and have lots of experience in creating appliance and equipment efficiency standards (including helping to design the public process that’s used to set those standards). And you’re right – they’ve been upgraded quite a bit over the years, and newer products are a lot more efficient than the older ones. In fact, short of the development of some radically new technologies, a lot of products (like dishwashers) just aren’t going to get any more efficient.
      It sounds like the City of Austin requires a blower door test when the home changes hands. That’s good to know – it tells you how much air leakage a home has. You’ll want at least a third of an air change per hour. Any tighter than that and you may have indoor air quality problems, including the chance of growing some mold and mildew (which is partly why they require a test).
      Thanks for weighing in, Brad. Charlie

      1. The day after the “health emergency” ended in 2023, CDC set a target of 5 air changes per hour for infectious disease mitigation, which may apply to federal buildings in the event of a future emergency.
         https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/12/health/cdc-new-ventilation-target/index.html

6. Regarding insulation, check out wool insulation, which is nontoxic and excellent for moderating and handling moisture. It is ideal in humid/damp climates because it is breathable (which helps with mold as well). I’ve always thought this could be a great way to support local farms, too!

   1. Everyone should find out what works best in their local climate before following general advice.

      I would like to caution against spray foam. Even when I started working with renovation twenty years ago, spray foam used around windows and doors (in the 70’s? 80’s?) had crumbled, leaving nothing but dust and rotted frames. Any plastic insulation has a limited lifespan and has the potential to create a vapor barrier and turn your house’s construction to mush (think vegetables in a plastic bag at the bottom of the fridge). Even latex based paints can cause serious problems; you are basically painting on a plastic bag. For my damp, cold region, mineral wool is usually preferred for insulation. Mold is a serious problem in reinsulated houses and can cause, for example, chronic asthma.

      I would strongly advise against vinyl window frames as they have a short lifespan and usually need to be replaced even if slightly damaged. Any time you see “maintenance free” you should read “can’t be maintained”. If you have old but good quality wood windows, I would generally recommend additional storm windows, but it depends on the individual situation.

      1. Douglas:

         Very much appreciate your advice on this. I keep avoiding the spray foam option. Now I know why!

         Catherine

7. A Solari subscriber friend of mine told me their new LP gas whole house generator install costs were in the range Charlie just spoke of and like Charlie said, plus the generator…electrical panel upgrade and such.

   1. If one can’t afford the full installation of a standby generator, it’s also possible to get your home wired to support a portable one. Before we got the permanent unit, we had our portable one hooked up to power the fridge and furnace, as well as a few other circuits.

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