Ed Begley Jr., an actor in television and movies whose credits include “A Mighty Wind”And “Batman Forever,”His so-called eco-friendly extreme practices, such as riding a bicycle to gala events, used to make him laugh. Begley, who was a pioneer in the green movement back in 1970, appears to have it all right today.
Begley was inspired by his convictions and founded Begley. “Begley’s Best,”A line of non-toxic, natural household cleaning products recently published “Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life.”Begley bought a 1936-built house in 1988 and transformed it into an example for energy conservation.
Begley has a wind turbine on his roof and 6 kilowatts worth of solar panels. These provide his home with the majority of his energy, as well as powering his car. In a recent episode, Begley was interviewed by “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,”Begley claimed that he only pays $300 per year in electricity bills.
Begley was able to see that there were still areas for improvement in his environmentally-friendly home despite his efforts. Begley did an energy performance assessment of his home. Infrared cameras showed that heat was leaving the house in winter and cool air was entering the home in summer.
Begley had to seal his basement and install a water heater that would work in this environment. A.O. was the right choice for him. Smith’s gas-condensing power vent Vertex 100 is the result of A.O. Smith’s partnership to the U.S. Department of Energy in order to accelerate the development of high-efficiency residential water heaters.
Standard and tankless water heaters have a thermal efficiency of around 80 percent. This means that 20 cents for every dollar spent heating water is wasted. The Vertex 100 operates at 96 percent thermal efficiency. This is a significant difference in energy and money spent on heating water over the lifetime of the heater.
The Vertex 100 provides higher hot water output and more efficient combustion, which will reduce Begley’s winter heating bills. This will help him move closer to total sustainability.
