HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1996-10-23, Page 7FALL HOM F T 11 P R O V F. M FNT Times -Advocate, October 23, 1996
Page 7
Is your hearth ready for winter?
As the chilly winter evenings
approach, you may be looking
forward to spending some time
basking in the cozy glow of your
fireplace or stove. But wait—is
your hearth ready for winter?
Is your chimney dirty or partly
blocked?
Is the chimney flashing cracked
and leaking?
Did your stove spend the
summer in a damp basement?
Are the door gaskets frayed,
loose or packed?
Are the fan blades full of dust
and lint?
Although your system may have
none of these problems, you'll
never know until it is checked.
You don't want to have a problem
in mid -winter when you depend
on it most for heating and
enjoyment. There's no doubt
about it, your system will work
better and be more reliable after
its annual servicing, not to
mention providing some peace of
mind.
There are options of course.
You could buy all the necessary
tools and learn to do the servicing
yourself. Some people don't mind
getting black from head to toe or
climbing up onto roofs. But if
you're like most people, you'll
hire a professional chimney
sweep or a technician from a
specialty hearth retail store to do
the service for you.
A chimney sweep does much
more than sweep the chimney.
Did you know, for example, that
some chimney deposits won't
sweep out? And that a qualified
sweep will never just walk away
leaving a potential problem in
your chimney? For example, the
winter frost works away at gaps in
the chimney bricks and
mortar -every year there is a little
more deterioration. During the
annual chimney servicing, the
chimney sweep will seal the
cracks and make the minor
adjustments that will save you the
cost of major repairs.
Fireplaces and stoves have parts
that deteriorate too. They get hot
(it's their job) and over time the
intemal components like baffles,
air tubes and even fire bricks can
wear out from the stress. The heat
also makes gaskets stiff and
adhesives brittle. Replacing the
gaskets on doors and glass panels
is not a big job, but an important
one. Good seals will provide for
better performance, especially for
the newer high tech stoves and
fireplaces.
Although the new pellet stoves
are more trouble-free than ever,
they too need regular maintenance
to ensure that the fuel auger is
clear. the exhaust vent is clean,
the drive motors are lubricated
and combustion controls are
properly adjusted.
Natural gas and propane stoves
and fireplaces are entirely
automatic, but their gasket seals,
fans, burners, exhaust vents and
flame controls also need periodic
service. Most importantly, if the
performance or behavior of your
pellet or gas appliance
changes—it doesn't start, the
glass soots up, or the flame looks
odd—call your service
professional immediately.
Be secure in the knowledge
that your hearth is ready to keep
you warm and cozy this winter.
Have it professionally serviced
soon. For more information or a
list of service professionals near
you, call the Hearth Products
Association of Canada at (416)
626-6568 or Wood Energy
Technology Transfer Inc. at (416)
695-1676.
Help yourself and help the environment
If you're a homeowner you can
do well by doing good, and in the
process do yourself and the Earth'a
favour. Here's how: By reducing
the energy you use for home
heating, cooling, ventilation and
lighting, you not only cut your
utility bill—you also help reduce
the need for power generation. That
means less burning of fossil fuels,
burning that contributes to air
pollution and the generation of
green house gases.
There are plenty of things you
can do to cut your home energy
use. Here are a few ideas to get you
started.
1. Insulate your home. If you
keep the cold out in winter and the
heat out in summer, your furnace
and air conditioner won't have to
work so hard. Insulating walls and
attics and weather stripping around
doors and windows can make a
significant difference in your utility
bills, and keep you more
comfortable, too. Your local utility
may even offer low-interest loans
to help pay for the work.
2. Wash or replace filters. Wash
or replace the filters on your
heating and cooling system at least
four times a year. Pulling air
through a clogged, dirty filter
makes your system work harder
and use more energy. Replacing
throw -away filters with washable,
reusable filters cuts down on waste
going into landfills.
3. Get a checkup: Just like your
car's engine, your heating and
cooling equipment needs an
occasional tune-up to operate at
peak efficiency. Have your system
checked by a heating and cooling
contractor annually.
4. Install a programmable
thermostat. Do you always
remember to adjust your thermostat
to save energy when you're
sleeping or away from home? If
not, let a programmable thermostat
remember for you. A
programmable thermostat can cut
energy bills by as much as 30
percent, depending on your home's
construction and geographic
location.
5.Kill the lights. Put timers or
photocell controls on outdoor
lighting to avoid wasting energy.
inside, use dimmer switches to
control lighting in areas where you
need bright light only occasionally.
When dialed down to "dim," your
lights will use only about 50
percent as much energy as they do
"undimmed."
After a hard day in a cold world
A
recent
survey
has found that now
more than ever Canadians love
the romance of a fire. A
glowing hearth can add beauty and
warmth to a room, making it come
alive. The new clean burning wood,
pellet and gas appliances are better
than ever.
it's As Easy As Pushing A
Button!
Not so long ago one fireplace in a
home was a luxury, especially
considering the cost of hearth
construction, chimney placement
and the effort required to harvest
wood. Today with a modern gas or
iSropane fireplace a click of a
remote can create a beautiful fire at
a surprisingly affordable price. No
muss, no fuss, just the fascination
of a glowing hearth and the warmth
of a fire, New burners, controls and
decorative logs make it difficult to
tell whether a fire is gas or wood.
Warm Your Hearth With A
Traditional Wood Fire
If you prefer the traditional wood
fire, new clean burning appliances
provide for greater efficiency, have
"stay clean" glass doors with air
Wash designs and come in almost
every size, style and colour. There
are masonry site -built fireplaces,
factory built fireplaces and for
those looking to upgrade existing
fireplaces, an exciting range of
fireplace inserts that provide the
perfect balance between aesthetics
and efficiency.
Pellets Provide Refined
Warmth
A decade of design advancement
has produced attractive clean
burning pellet stoves, inserts and
most recently, barbecues. These
appliances are quiet, easy to
maintain and are complete with
A
thermostats for even heat. The fuel
pellets are made of compressed
wood by-products which are
bagged and easily placed in the
built-in fuel storage at the back of
the appliance.
Fire Works, That's Its Job!
More than 500 specialty retailers
from coast to coast offer a myriad
of products to delight the senses
and underscore the message that
fire works.
Protecting your investment
You've just completed your new
kitchen or bathroom, perhaps
spending thousands of dollars on
new faucets, sinks and appliances.
Now what can you do to protect
the appearance and life of those
products against soap scum, hard
water spots, lime curd and other
aesthetically unappealing and
potentially damaging residues of
hard water?
A great percentage of Canadian
homes are supplied with hard
water, which is defined as water
that contains significant levels of
dissolved calcium and magnesium.
This means no one is guaranteed
immunity from hard water—even if
you live in the city.
Hard water buildup can take its
toll on everything from glassware
to sinks and faucets to major
appliances, possibly decreasing
their life and detracting from their
appearance. And while it's
frustrating to deal with soap scum
in the sink or that bathtub ring, it's
even tougher to tolerate the higher
utility and repair bills that result
from lime curd and related hard
Guidelines offer
simple steps
Whether you have a wax or
surface finish, wood flooring is
easy to care for and maintain. A
finish protects wood flooring from
wear, dirt and moisture.
For A Wax Finish -Dust, Buff,
Wax:
• Dust, mop, or vacuum regularly.
• Buff to restore shine.
• When buffing no longer restores
shine, apply a cleaner and liquid
wax specifically for wood floors.
Apply the wax evenly, allow the
floor to dry and buff to the desired
luster.
Proper Care For A Surface
Finish -Dust, Clean, Recoat:
• Dust, mop, or vacuum regularly.
•Clean with a manufacturer's
recommend cleaner.
•When cleaning no longer
restores shine, recoat the floor with
a surface finish. The frequency of
recoating depends on the amount of
traffic.
water buildup inside appliances and
plumbing.
Above and beyond the costly
repair bills and shortened life of
your appliances, consider the extra
time and effort it takes you to scrub
away soap scum and hard water
spots.
To avoid this hassle and expense
and to ensure a newer looking
bathroom, kitchen and even
laundry room, many homeowners
choose to remove troublesome
hardness minerals with a home
water conditioner.
There are many options on the
market today, including everything
from manually operated
conditioners to fully automatic
systems. Topping the popularity list
because of their ease of use and
high efficiency are demand
initiated regeneration (D1R)
systems, which actually meter
water usage. Studies show that
DIRs can be twice as efficient as
alternative time -metered systems.
Twin resin tank DIR units are also
available from leading water
treatment equipment
manufacturers. Because these
systems automatically switch from
tank to tank as they exhaust, they
provide softened water 24 hours a
day (something that single tank
systems can't claim). Some DIR
units offer the additional advantage
of non -electric operation and a
more efficient regeneration cycle.
Because they don't operate on
electricity, these units are not
susceptible to power outages. And,
they use sot water when
regenerating, which provides better
overall cleaning of the unit and
extend, its service life.
Regardless of the make or model,
third party certification is
important. For example, units that
are CSA approved are more likely
to perform as claimed—because
they've been put to the test by
someone other than the
nmufacturer.
You've already made a sizable
investment in your home. You can
protect that investment by
introducing softer water into your
life.
SUNWORTHY
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