Home Improvement

From simple DIY projects to ambitious renovations, we share practical tips, expert advice, and creative inspiration to help you unlock the full potential of your home. Whether you're a seasoned DIY enthusiast or just starting your home improvement journey, we'll be here as your trusted friend, providing guidance and support every step of the way.
Most recent posts
A close-up of a gas water heater
Hot Water Heaters Decoded

Hot Water Heaters Demystified: How They Keep Your Showers Warm

Explore the crucial components and processes of your hot water heater, gaining the knowledge to better understand and maintain this essential home appliance.

Electrify your home, for the environment
Get the gas out

Electrify Your Home: The Smart Way to Safety, Savings, and Sustainability

Discover how transitioning to electrify your home so you can enhance safety, reduce maintenance costs, improve energy efficiency, and significantly contribute to a more sustainable and climate-friendly living environment.

Man surviving winter in NYC, his breath can be seen in the picture.
NYC Winter Comfort Tips

Surviving Winter in NYC: How to Handle an Overheated or Freezing Apartment

Discover essential strategies to comfortably navigate the winter season in NYC, whether you're battling a too-hot or too-cold apartment environment.

A laundry room with a basket of dirty laundry sitting in front of a washing machine.
Spin Cycle: Eco Edition

Save Money and Energy: Smart Ways to Upgrade Your Laundry Room

Explore smart and cost-effective ways to upgrade your laundry room for enhanced energy efficiency and significant savings on your energy bills.

Someone uses a plunger to unclog a drain
Eco Unclog, Chemical Dodge

Cleaning Green: Eco-Friendly Plumbing Solutions to Unclog a Drain (And Prevent It From Happening Again)

Discover eco-friendly ways to tackle drain clogs without chemicals! Our guide reveals easy, sustainable methods using everyday items for effective drain maintenance. Embrace a greener approach to plumbing and keep those pipes clear naturally!

A family evaluating their garden based on new USDA plant hardiness zones.
Altered Zones, New Norms

Gardening in a Changing Climate: What the Revised USDA Hardiness Zones Mean for You

Delve into the nuances of the recently revised USDA Hardiness Zones and discover how these crucial changes will impact your gardening choices and strategies in an era of climate change.

A woman sits on a couch, worried about off-gassing from her furniture.
Dresser Dilemmas: Stylish or Hazardous

Furniture Fumes: How Concerned Should You Be About Off-Gassing?

Many manufactured products we use in our homes, including furniture, contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can be harmful to humans during the off-gassing period.

Solar panels on a net zero home
Low Impact Living

What Is a Net Zero Home?

A net zero home produces as much energy as it consumes for home heating and cooling and all electrical needs over a given time period. You can have one!

A person turns off a circuit breaker on an electrical panel
No more tripped breakers

Electrical Panel: What You Need To Know to Run and Maintain Yours

As we electrify our homes to save money and the planet, we’ll need to know more about our electricity setup. Here’s everything you need to know about your electrical panel: service capacity, safety, maintenance, and upgrading!

A plant of some kind releases pollution into the atmosphere, this is not carbon neutral production.
Emissions terminology 101

Net-Zero, Carbon Neutral, and Zero Emissions: What’s the Difference?

What does carbon neutral mean? Understanding emissions-related terms is essential to comprehend the urgency of climate change, take informed actions to mitigate its impacts, and reduce our own emissions.

A basement with a water heater
Nice hot showers, efficiently!

What Type of Water Heater is Most Energy-Efficient?

Water heaters consume a lot of energy, but choosing a more energy-efficient water heater type can go a long way to saving you energy and money!

Four colorful new front doors
Energy saving doors

How to Choose a New Front Door With Energy-Efficiency and Sustainability in Mind

New front doors are generally made from steel, fiberglass, or wood. Learn which is most sustainable and energy-efficient!

A white tiled bathroom, with dark grout that might bely some mildew or mold.
Natural mildew banishment

How Can I Prevent Bathroom Mildew and Mold or Get Rid of It Naturally?

Prevention is the best medicine, let your bathroom dry out during and after bathing or showering. If mildew and mold still appear, use these simple, cheap, and natural cleaning solutions.

A woman in a warm sweater at home she has used preheating to keep her home warm.
Preheat and save

What Is Home Preheating and Why Would I Do It?

You can save money by preheating your home during off peak hours in a time of use electricity setting. Then let the heat drift comfortably into your ideal zone!

Woman cleaning her windows. A regular cleaning is all most windows need, but some window problems need more.
Window Maintenance Mastery

Window Maintenance: How to Fix Common Window Problems

For newer windows, annual maintenance means basic cleaning, while older ones benefit from essential care to extend their lifespan and prevent window problems. Learn everything you need to know.

A foreman stands looking at a home, he will need to build all four control layers on this house.
Stay dry and comfortable

What Are the Four Control Layers of a House and Why Should I Care?

Energy efficiency starts with building science. Learn about the four control layers of a house and how they impact your bills.

A front door on a white home with a lot of windows. In a home like this, air-sealing your doors and windows will go a long way.
Seal up that house

Why Air-Sealing is The Best DIY You Can Do

If your home isn't properly air-sealed, you are losing money. Keeping the air you pay to condition (heat, cool, or dehumidify) where you want it is job # 1 on your energy-efficiency mission!

Someone is installing home insulation in an attic. The materials appears to be recycled and therefore would have a lower footprint.
Low environmental impact insulation

How to Choose Home Insulation With the Lightest Carbon Footprint

Our top picks for effective home insulation that also have the lowest environmental impact.

A woman dusts her air vent in her home HVAC system.
Bigger is not better

Why Your Oversized HVAC System Could Be Costing a Lot of Money

You might be wasting a lot of money on an HVAC system that’s too big or too small.

A woman uses an induction cooktop. She used the OhmConnect energy use guide to choose her new cooktop.
Cook for cheaper

The Ultimate Cooktop & Oven Energy Use Guide – Saving Money and The Planet

Don’t buy your next oven, cooktop, or stove without reviewing OhmConnect’s energy use guide. You’ll learn the pros and cons of each type for your family, including energy efficiency.

Heat pump technician on a home exterior using the heat pump incentive money to get more heat pumps installed.
Heat pumps get a boost

Is There a Heat Pump in Your Future? A Lot of Governors Hope So.

25 Governors announce incentives to install 20 million heat pumps by 2030. Is your state on the list?

A man uses a gas-powered lawn mower, and the emissions from the machine are making the air smoky.
Say bye to noise+pollution

Ditch That Gas-Guzzling Lawnmower and Electrify Your Yard Maintenance Tools

Old-fashioned gas-powered garden maintenance tools are out! Their electric and battery powered counterparts are surpassing expectations, reducing emissions, and limiting the noise of lawn care.

A man is using caulk to air seal his windows to increase the energy-efficiency of his home.
Cost saving projects galore

DIY Home Improvements That Pay for Themselves

Which DIY home improvement projects pay for themselves? Air sealing, smart thermostats, LEDs, and more!

A rolled up layer of grass, which is pretty bad for the environment. Choosing alternative ground cover and landscaping is better for you and the planet.
Kill the green monster

It’s Time to Break Up With Your Lawn

Why so many environmentalists are begging you to tear out your turf lawn and what you can do instead, from a professional landscape architect.

A passive house at dusk, the design is modern and angular. The building is taking advantage of the climate in the area it was built in order to reduce energy consumption needs to run it.
Take advantage of nature

What is a Passive House and Should I Build One?

Passive House is a voluntary building code that reduces the energy it takes to run your home, sometimes down to zero.

An older couple is having coffee together in their kitchen, they have a number of countertop appliances and are deciding which are most useful and efficient
Built to last

A Guide to Actually Useful (And Efficient!) Countertop Appliances

Your guide to our favorite energy-efficient countertop appliances

A woman uses a tool to change her kitchen faucet attachment to a WaterSense-labeled water aerator, which will conserve water and save money.
Water is precious

Conserve Water with These Easy Water-Efficiency Steps

OhmConnect’s guide on how to find the best water conservation fixtures for your home water use!

 A photo of a patio with partial covering and lots of native plants, which were chosen with water conservation in mind.
A "greener" landscape how-to

Ideas for a "Greener" Landscape to Save Water and Energy

What to consider when taking on projects to make your landscape "greener" so that it conserves water and energy.

A contractor measures something in the home and he is near some ductwork, which you would need to install an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV).
Clean ventilation

Do You Need A Heat or Energy Recovery Ventilator (HRV/ERV)?

The difference between an ERV and an HRV and what each does for air quality in a home.

A woman adjusts a wall-mounted AC control. She is choosing to precool her home because she lives in an area where energy costs more at certain times of day.
Precool and save

What Is Home Precooling, and for Whom Is It Useful?

Precooling your home can be useful for those who have time of use electric plans.

A family sitting on their porch with a pumpkin, two parents and two kids. They are thinking through their fall home maintenance list to get ready for the change in seasons.
The leaves are changing

Fall Home Maintenance: Make Your Home Last Longer and Perform Better

Indoor, outdoor, and professional needed home maintenance tasks for the fall.

A technician works on a mini-split, which is a ductless AC unit that is often used in retrofitting homes with AC that didn’t have it originally.
What AC to get

What's the Difference Between A Mini-Split and A Heat Pump?

The differences between a regular heat pump and a mini-split and the ideal uses for each.

A drought-tolerant landscape at sunset. There are native plants and part of a home. This landscape is designed to conserve water.
Save water, save money

How to Create a Drought-Tolerant Landscape

A step-by-step guide for creating a home landscape that requires minimal water.

A heat pump outside a home after a snow storm
Pump it up

Do Heat Pumps Work in Cold Climates? Maine Says Yes!

Do heat pumps work in cold climates? There's a new answer!

A duel fuel heating system uses both a heat pump and a fossil-fuel furnace to keep your home warm.
New tech, old backup

What Is A Dual-Fuel Heating System

A duel fuel heating system uses both a heat pump and a fossil-fuel furnace to keep your home warm.

A father and daughter reviewing their refrigerator contents together, the full fridge is best for energy efficiency.
Cool for less

The Refrigerator Energy Use Guide - Saving Money and the Planet

Your guide to all things energy efficient refrigerators

Sunlight on wooden stair steps show high quality healthy finishes in a home.
Ban bad air

Ditch Microplastics and Embrace Sustainable Finishes in Your Home

Your guide to healthy and sustainable finishes, including avoiding microplastics and VOCs

A furnace in an old house
Hot alternatives

Will My Furnace Work When the Power Is Out?

When electric power goes out for days and even weeks at a time, we all have to consider how we’ll keep our furnace going or find other ways to heat and cool.

A leaking water heater means it’s time for replacement.
Water heater world

Should I Replace My Water Heater?

Water heaters don’t have a particularly long lifespan. If yours is around 10 years old, it’s wise to consider replacing it, and with rebates, you should definitely consider a heat pump water heater.

Learn how to heat my house when the grid goes down
Back it up

How Do I Heat My House When the Grid Goes Down?

Losing your electric power is inconvenient for a few hours, but it can also be quite dangerous if you lose your heating system in the winter months. So what can you do to prepare?

An electric dryer
Dry baby, dry!

Maximizing Efficiency and Savings with Your Electric Dryer: An Energy Guide

Unlock energy-saving secrets for your electric dryer! Learn efficient usage, lifespan, upgrades, and smart tips to cut costs and boost sustainability.

Washing machine energy use improves with a full load, as shown here
Laundry 101

The Washing Machine Energy Use Guide: Saving Money and the Planet

Your guide to all things energy efficient washing machines

Ground-source heat pumps are a simple solution to heating and cooling housing.
Beneath your feet

Geothermal Energy and Ground Source Heat: A Sustainable Solution for Your Home

Ground-source heat pumps harness the thermal mass of the earth to heat and cool homes.

A window air conditioner can help cool homes without central air conditioning
Variable speed, baby

What to look for in an energy-efficient window air conditioner

There are good options for temporary window air conditioners available for nearly anyone and any window. Look for Energy Star ratings, and pay attention to CEER and think about paying extra for inverter technology.

Having a backup power source to keep your home running during a power outage is critical.
Be prepared

What to do during a long power outage

Power outages are on the rise as our energy grid is under increasing stress. Here are some tips to make sure you stay safe during a long power outage.

power outage resetting a circuit breaker
Be prepared

When the lights go out: Making the most of a short power outage

Whether it’s an hour or a day long, it’s never a bad idea to be prepared for what to do during a power outage

Heat pump condenser outside in Southwest
Heat pumps are cool

Electric Heat Pump Conversion: What to Consider

Upgrading to a heat pump for heating and cooling makes sense economically and for the environment, but what else do you need to know?

A family cooking in the kitchen
Cool eats

7 Summertime Tips To Keep Your Kitchen Comfortably Cool Without Running Up Your Energy Bill

Stay cool and save money! From meal planning to air-drying, follow this step-by-step recipe to prepare your kitchen for summer energy savings.

keep kids safe from wildfire smoke
Save the children

How to protect yourself and your family from wildfire smoke

As climate change increases the risk of wildfires around the globe, use this guide to keep your family safe from the impacts of secondhand smoke

Close the blinds to cool down a room without AC
Cool your bills, stat

How To Keep Cool Without Air-Conditioning This Summer

Electricity prices are high: don't waste money on AC this summer. We've got four simple tricks to help beat the heat without breaking the bank!

A child eats a popsicle to keep cool without AC
Beat the heat

10 Top Rated Amazon Items to Keep You Cool Without AC

Don't swelter in the heat this summer. Get some relief and stay cool with these 10 top-rated products on Amazon. Perfect if you don't have AC!

Interior living room with lots of windows
See clearly

Energy Efficient Windows: A Smart Choice for a Greener Home

Looking for a home upgrade that won't just increase curb appeal but help lower your monthly energy costs too? Look no further than energy efficient windows

An installer prepares a heat pump
Energy moved

Heat Pump Basics: Everything You Need To Know

Ahh, the mysterious heat pump. Meet the energy-efficient alternative to traditional heating and cooling systems that's all the rage right now.

A sign in a store window about the building's air conditioning
Cool those bills

Supercool Your Home to Save Money on Air Conditioning

Looking to save money on air conditioning this summer? This strategy keeps you chill while taking advantage of Time of Use pricing. Ka-ching!

Landscaping can help with a home's energy efficiency
Throw some shade

How to Use Landscaping to Increase Your Home's Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency is about more than simply turning off your lights. Find out how landscaping for energy efficiency can lower your energy bills!

The Best Cheap & Free Tools for Home Energy Efficiency
You can do it

The Best Cheap & Free Tools for Home Energy Efficiency

Making your home energy efficient shouldn't break the bank. Check out our best tips to save on your energy bill.

How to stay cool and save energy during heat waves
Splash zone

How to stay cool and save energy during heat waves

Use these simple, low-cost tips to stay comfortable and keep your energy bill in check (and even get paid!) during heat waves

How to Improve Air Quality in Your Home
Breathe easy

How to Improve Air Quality in Your Home

Four easy steps to improve the air you and your family breathes.