· Air & Climate
Battery backup for a gas furnace: best power stations, sizing, hookup
Battery backup for a gas furnace: a power station runs the blower and controls in an outage. Size it from the rating plate; hook it up via a transfer switch.
The Journal
Every piece we have published, newest first: field notes, explainers and practical guides on water, air, wildlife and life outdoors. 24 pieces so far.
· Sustainable Living
Wood stove accessories worth owning, and the ones you can skip
The wood stove accessories that earn their keep: a moisture meter, a stove thermometer, CO alarms, a metal ash can and a yearly sweep. The rest is optional.
· Air & Climate
What radon level is safe? Reading 4 pCi/L, 2 pCi/L and 100 Bq/m³
No radon level is known to be risk-free. What the EPA's 4 and 2 pCi/L mean, how WHO, Canadian and EU limits convert, and what to do with your own result.
· Water & Rivers
How to shock a well: bleach amounts, contact time and flushing
To shock a well, mix plain bleach into the standing water to 50 to 200 ppm, draw it to every tap, wait 12 to 24 hours, flush it out and retest for bacteria.
· Water & Rivers
Best well water test kit: strips, home kits or a certified lab?
The best well water test kit is a pairing: a home screen for quick checks and a certified lab for bacteria, nitrate, arsenic and lead. Here is how to choose.
· Sustainable Living
How to tell if firewood is seasoned: signs, a meter and the wait
Seasoned firewood reads under 20% on a pin meter at a fresh split face. Without one, look for cracked grey ends, loose bark, light weight and a hollow knock.
· Air & Climate
Best radon detector for a home: charcoal kit, alpha-track or monitor
The best radon detector depends on the question: a charcoal kit for a quick lab result, alpha-track for a yearly average, a monitor for watching changes.
· Air & Climate
Flash floods in steep terrain, explained: rain, rock and runoff
Why steep, narrow valleys turn heavy rain into sudden floods: stalled storms, thin soils, fast runoff, the forecast terms to know and how to stay safe.
· Community & Lifestyle
Rail-trails and the small-town comeback along old railroad grades
How abandoned railroad lines became trails, why some trail towns thrive while others stall, and a practical checklist for riding a long rail-trail well.
· Community & Lifestyle
Brownfields explained: how old industrial sites get cleaned up and reused
What makes a lot a brownfield, how site assessments and risk-based cleanups work, what old sites become, and the questions neighbors can ask along the way.
· Sustainable Living
Heat pumps in cold mountain valleys: what works and what to watch
Cold-climate heat pumps can heat a house in a frosty valley. Here's how they work, what COP means, and how to site, size and back one up in the mountains.
· Sustainable Living
Where your recycling actually goes after the truck pulls away
Follow a bin of cans, boxes and bottles from the curb through the sorting plant to new products, and learn which habits keep your load out of the landfill.