Data Collection

chart of falling temperatures during a power outage

How Fast Does a House Get Cold When the Power Goes Out?

If you lose power in cold weather, you might double your stay-at-home time window by retreating to your basement. If you think an outage is likely, pre-heating can buy you a lot more time, too. See how I broke down our data from a recent outage.

Image of a big rain gauge attached to a post

Have You Ever Seen the Rain? I Have — 1,387 Times

Ever wanted to be a citizen scientist? I started with a simple rain gauge. Eight years and 1,387 rain days later, here’s what I’ve learned…

Time chart of radon levels over a ten-day period along with 3-hour and 24-hour rolling averages.

Collab: Exploring Radon Levels with Data Analyst GPT

I’ve been tracking radon levels in our home for 9 months. Collaborating with Data Analyst GPT to analyze them was actually fun…

Chart of the number of power outages versus their duration.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Afternoon: How We Used Data to Prepare for Our Next Power Outage

The power went out and stayed out… for three days. How do you prepare for the next time?…

Drawing of the well-holding tank-house system that supplies our water

The Day the Water Stopped: What I Learned During a Seven-Month Drought

We lost water to the house. What do you do next when you’re in a drought?…