What is a James Dulley Update Bulletin?

For those visitors who have not downloaded or ordered (by snail mail) an Update Bulletin, you may be curious as to what is included in an Update Bulletin. There is a thumbnail of an Update Bulletin at the bottom of this page.

I am a mechanical engineer and an avid do-it-yourselfer. When I write about a topic, often efficient, unique house plans/construction methods, buyer's guides for various unique home-related products or projects, my research staff first collects all the available printed and online information on all of the products. I review all the information and make telephone calls to the manufacturers' marketing and engineering departments to research the important technical details. I also contact experienced contractors and installers to get the "real story" on many of the products.

For most of the reasonably-sized items, I actually test the products in my own home - both using them as you would use them and I analyze them in my testing lab. (See an online open house of my own home). I obviously cannot install all the furnaces, air conditioner, windows, etc., so this is when I rely more heavily on my engineering background to evaluate the designs and to communicate with the design engineers at the various manufacturers. It is really quite an involved and lengthy process that I and my research staff go through to develop each week's Update Bulletin.

With this information, I and my research staff develop the Update Bulletins. These are all four-page newsletter-type documents with text and graphical information on the various topics. Where they are buyer's guides of products, I generally list only the highest-quality, most efficient or unique ones that I feel are particularly "good buys". They are often not the ordinary ones that you can find in every home center or hardware store. If you just wanted these, you can easily find that information anywhere or just visit your home center store and stroll the aisles.

Each one of my columns on my web site has a brief description of the information contained in the related Update Bulletin. When housing or home-related product manufacturers are listed, I include the full name, mailing address, toll-free and regular telephone numbers, and web site addresses where applicable. The detailed product information on each product is presented in a text listing or a table format when this makes it easier for you to compare the products. Where prices are listed for products, they are suggested retail prices so that you can get a fair comparison among the various products listed.