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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-05-03, Page 18Conserving energy is smart in about a hundred ways; yet many people still like to overuse to fix problems. Protecting our environment is quickly coming to the forefront of every political agenda, mainstream media outlet, film, book and indus- try. People are buying cars based on fuel efficiency, watching films and reading books to learn how they can help, rather than harm and voting for people who have the same green agenda they do on their clipboard. One corner where people can make a real difference to their envi- ronment, by controlling their energy consumption is their homes. For too many years, simple things like house design and insulation were ignored, always with cheap energy coming to the rescue and the environment pay- ing the price. With several ways to produce green energy emerging year-by-year, the experts urge you to take a hard look at your home before jumping into a new solution. “Always, the first step should be saving power wherever you can. That means, applying timers or motion switches, switching off prod- ucts is a big deal these days,” said Evert Schaap, the president of E- Vert Energy who holds a Masters degree in science in engineering. “Saving is your first step, always, and it really doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.” David Blaney from the Centre for Applied Renewable Energy in Brussels agrees, saying that before any moves are made, an energy audit should take place. “You should go to your current house and do an energy audit. That way you’ll find out how much elec- tricity you’re using,” Blaney said. “[The Centre for Applied Renewable Energy] is starting to set up a service to do audits, but for right now, the place to ask is the Elora Centre for Environmental Excellence and they deliver a gov- ernment program that’s designed around this.” Schaap has shown many people down this path. He cites one exam- ple where he received a fax from someone asking him advice on poor insulation and a leaking roof. Water and cold air were coming into his home from these areas and he want- ed to combat it by installing more heaters, run by wind generators. Schaap insisted that while wind energy is good, wasting it defeats the purpose. He advised the customer to go back to basics and seal the roof and beef up the insulation, solving the problem and reducing the energy usage. Once the first steps of ensuring a home’s efficiency have taken place, there are several ways to go. There are choices between active solar power and passive solar power and there is also the question of whether the customer is outfitting an existing house, or building a new one. Because earlier houses and even most current houses were not built with solar energy in mind, retro-fit- ting a current structure is a much more daunting task than it is to build a solar-accessible house from the ground up. “You can get a little subsidy from the government to retro-fit existing homes to make them more efficient. There’s a program and money for that through the Ministry of Energy. However, the legislation does change every few months,” Schaap said. “In an existing home, you should check your windows and your insu- lation. Make it airtight. I put a lot of emphasis on starting at the basics, saving as much energy as you can.” Blaney says that while retro-fitting a home isn’t impossible, it is a more expensive option. “You can build a totally off-grid home that will allow you to do every single thing you can do in your wired home; and I’ve been in them. Unfortunately, they cost about 30 cents on the dollar more than a con- ventional home. That’s the figure I’m quoted by anyone who’s done it,” Blaney said. “The cost of retro-fitting your home is even more because when you’re designing for an off-grid home, you’re really designing with that in mind, and of course, conven- tional homes aren’t designed that way, so retro-fits are difficult in some cases that way, and they can be expensive.” When it comes to add-ons to cur- rent structures, Schaap doesn’t hesi- tate when recommending solar water heaters first and foremost. “Water heaters are your best investment right now, except for insulation of course. The water heaters pay for themselves within two to two and a half years. Because heating water by natural gas or elec- tricity accounts for 30 - 35 per cent of your energy bill, taking away a major chunk of that cost would be a big step,” Schaap said. “The water heaters don’t heat all PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2007.Take a hard look at home to save energy White Black White Black 69" High 87" High Brussels Variety Open 7 days a week 565 Turnberry St. 519-887-6224 We now have an ATM machine Also packaged flower and vegetable seeds MOVIES Now stocking • Flowers • Hanging Baskets • Bedding Plants I C E • GROCERIES • POP • CIGARETTES S L U S H I E M A C H I N E ICE CREA M NOVE L T I E S Continued on page 19 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen