This Cold House: The Simple Science of Energy Efficiency

I just bought my first home and was interested in insulating more, so i picked up this book on a whim to learn some general principles about ventilation, insulation, and other issues related to keeping my house warm. Being a layman with little knowledge of the subject, i figured i'd just quickly scan the book and try to get a few quick tips before being bored to death. Before i knew it, I'd read the whole book! Mr. Smith took a subject that could be dull, technical, and inaccessible and makes it vibrant and fascinating! If you have any interest in physics and would like to know more about the way the world works, read this book! You won't be disappointed.

As utility bills for consumers keep soaring for electricity for summer cooling and for oil and natural gas for winter heating, This Cold House provides some relief in the form of options to make one's home more energy efficient. This will help tenants and property owners save money on their residential energy bills, and these energy efficiencies will help the planet as they slow the rate that fossil fuels are consumed and greenhouse gases are created. Something that is good for you and good for others, something that is both expedient and altruistic, is the definition of civility. This Cold House reveals that our most private retreat, the home, is yet another site for civility, where our relationship with others can be considered, in addition to our own self-interested efforts to save money on runaway utility bills. This Cold House is an excellent primer on the various types of heating and cooling systems, the pros and cons of different energy for them (ie., oil versus natural gas versus electricity for heating systems), and insulation options. These form the central pieces of a home that can be made both more energy efficient and optimally comfortable. The book also explores various safety and convenience permutations, as well as the place for personal preference in terms of ambient home temperature. The book is at once elementary and oddly technical at times and reads like a perfect introductory textbook for an HVAC 101 class. The average homeowner will find some helpful tips if looking to overhaul one's heating system or enhance one's insulation. It will also provide an extremely useful companion if one is undertaking an energy audit of one's home in terms of insulation, system type, and fuels. For renters, it provides some more modest possibilities for saving money on monthly utility bills. This Cold House is written in a charming, inimitably British, and accessible voice, though at times Mr. Smith becomes cloying with his many winking asides ("My wife really does look beautiful in her new sweater!"). Overall, This Cold House really does make the science of energy efficiency simple, and its consideration of human factors such as convenience and comfort, as well as the more computational, make it a warm, inviting, and, indeed, most civil, volume. It is a very clever idea and very well executed.