Expert Advice on Home Improvement

To keep mosquitoes away naturally, put celery in a juicer and rub or spray the liquid on your skin. Another natural option that works even better are products made from lemon eucalyptus oil such as Repel plant based insect repellent. Watch this video.

Adding compost to your soil is one of the best ways to improve your garden. Make a compost pile from a mixture of organic matter—such as leaves, grass clippings, vegetable scraps, eggshells, and coffee grounds. Turn the pile once a week with a pitchfork to introduce oxygen, and keep it covered with plastic to hold in moisture and heat. Adding red worms to the pile will speed up the process, since they digest and process their body weight in organic matter every day. Watch this video.

With the cost of energy on the rise, producing electricity from the sun is looking more promising than ever. But while sunlight is free, producing electricity from photovoltaic cells is still quite expensive, costing from $30,000 to $40,000 to convert an existing home to a solar powered one. Until solar cells become more affordable, there are other solar options worth considering, including solar landscape lighting and solar hot water heaters. Watch this video.

Heating water accounts for 25% of the energy used in homes. While a tankless water heater costs three times as much to install as a conventional tank type, it can pay for itself over time in the energy saved. That’s because conventional water heaters use energy around the clock to keep the water in the tank constantly hot. Tankless models, on the other hand, only heat water as you need it. This can result in a 20% to 30% saving in the energy used to heat water. Watch this video.

One way to reduce potentially harmful chemicals present in your home is to replace chemical cleaners with natural organic ones. Vinegar is one of the best natural cleaners. Simply fill a spray bottle with a solution of one part vinegar to one part water and use it to clean, deodorize, and disinfect many areas of your home. Watch this video.