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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-04-24, Page 44• 1 • ; "Tilt ar.NYCr• 7i;i'coNiVt)Ct, • a :.4.:3(-;, • • •"; --w r" • , Good ener Sometimes the people with the best intentlonti Make the worst mistakes. Energy, efficiency arowal the home is one area where good intentions can go a long way to reducing energy bilis. Sometimes, theugh, those good intentions are based on myths and miscon- ceptions about energy conservation.These straightforward answers below will set the record straight on some home energy efficiency myths. - Turning a fluorescent light on and off wastes more energy than leaving ft on all day. A widely held belief about fluorescent lights surrounds the energy used in turning the lights an and off; that fluorescent lights • must be turned off for at least half an hour before the energy saved equals the energy used to energize it in the first place. People argue that you should not turn off the lights when leaving a room for short periods. In fact it takes less than a second for a turned off fluorescent light to save the amount of energy required to turn it on again., As a general rule, if fluorescent lights are not going to be needed for five minutes or more, switch them off. - Turning the hot watery off at night is a ,1111171,1,1111.1111111,11,, y intention valuable energy saving habit. It te• MOM practical to inahitain the hot water tank at a set temperature than to reheat - it every day. There are simpler mare efficient ways to save energy and dollars. One simple alternative is to lower the temperature setting on the heater. This alone can result in energy savings of five to 20 percent, depending on the temperature drop. A fixed setting of 43C should result in notable savings. Some people keep the setting as low as 38C, but that's a matter of personal comfort. Remember, though, that a dish- washer requires a higher water temperature setting to be effective. Insulating the heater and the piping is another realistic way to save energy and money, especially if the water tank is located in an unheated space such as a cold basement. There are two types of heater insulation. One is a simple to install tank blanket; the other is strip insulation. Either are appro- priate for gas and oil -fired heaters but controls, Junction boxes, air inlets and the top and bottom of the tank should be left free of insulation. Covering a gas or oil -fined H ILDEBRAN D FLOWERS Main Street Seaforth 527-0555 See us at the - Home & Garden • Show April 25, 26, .27 llesit$0 • einette•tteeteetteente Come -and visit us at the Seaforth Home & Garden Show Thursday, Friday & Saturday - April 25, 26 8, 27 at the Seaforth & District Community Centres Fashion Shows- Thursday & Friday Night Golf Videos: . .,. sK9SeeseeStetteSeen / ette4tetts .• • -:. . 0 • is, ,, ,,,,w,k, ,i2„0„,.... ..2..,,,,....•• , ...„. .,,,g.,...;,..., ..,...,, , .. ,.,„„, . +WAWA PP /..• AM d•• .4' st•At:.',..;.W.P.'04.0 Ad. /....M.-5.. ".4.... ' :: ..., — .., oy.e. ores- se a 8:00 p.M. heater's centx01 box is dangerous and a fire hazard. • bundating art electric .heaten without that having it inspected by a utility representative is not recommended. If you are renting an electric heater, the utillty may install e blanket for you. You can buy hot 'water tank insulation in most hardware or building supply stores and prices vary from approximately $25 to $50, while R -values vary from RSI1.05 (R-6 ) to RSI 1.76 (R-10). The higher the R•value, the lower the heat loss. libergy' savings with an insulation blanket or ship insulation can range from five to 15 percent for a gas or oil -fired water heater and a little less for an electric water heater. The payback period for the insulation depends on the percentage of heat savings and the price f the insulation. - Insulated shutters and blinds are too expensive to make the energy savings worthwhile. Custom made insulating shutters and blinds can be expensive, but there are many cheaper, do-it-yourself varieties. Some shut- ter kits, for instance, cost less than $20. An even cheaper solution to the expensive shutter is a removable foam board pop -in, cut to the size of the window and weatherstiipped along the edge for a tight fit. Insulated curtains need be no more than in-place heavy curtains sealed tightly to the wall and window sill with special tape. Or sew in energy savings the next time you make curtains by adding a layer of insulating material between the fabric and the backinc, Insulation values can range from a high of HSI 1.25 (R-7) for a well -made shutter to RSI .19 (R-1) for insulating drapes. - To be cost effective and keep out cold winter drafts, insulating shutters and blinds should be closed day and 'night. , Interior window insulation helps stop warm household air from seeping into the night air, but it should always be opened or removed during the day, for two important reasons. In the first place, uncovered windows on all but northern expostwes take advantage , of passive solar gain during -daylight ham, ii4owhig the sines heat to wann the hot*. Second; edtheWindsor shutter e are left closed day and night, there is a danger of heat build-up between the glass and the window covering. The windows may overheat, sometimes stressing the glass to the breaking point. - Keeping a furnace fan running continuously during whiter months creates cold drafts and wastes more electricity than it saves in home heating fuel. The answer to this statement is not quite as cut and dried as the others. Expert opinions vary, but for the most part keeping the fans running on low makes sense. Here's why. Furnace fans continually recirculate room air through the ducting and the furnace, spreading heat evenly throughout the house. Energy savings result because the continu- ous air circulation not only extracts more of the heat produced by the furnace, it also makes efficient use of trapped household heat from such localized sources as lighting, cooking, laundry, showering and solar heat. Instead of being left to overheat certain rooms, warm air is evenly distributed throughout the house, raising the general temperature. The end result is that the furnace turns on less often and the homeowner saves fuel. The added electricity cost to run the fan continuously is about $3.30 per month, or less than $25 for the heating season, a cost that will likely be recovered in fuel savings. People sometimes complain of cool drafts from the fans but that is simply because room temperature air in motion feels cooler; in fact it isn't. But let your comfort be your guide. Thew are many misunderstandings that cloud the mad to energy efficiency: The next time you hear a fool proof wayto save energy, back it up with an expert opinion from the Ontario Ministry of Energy. Better to be energy sure than energy poor. Book for home owners If you are really serious about buying an energy-efficient house, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has a new book that tells you what to look for and offers some guidelines about what you can afford to pay. "Choosing an Energy -Efficient House: A buyer's guide" is for people who are interested in something more than the CM HC minimum energy -conservation measures required for housing assisted under the National Housing Act. ° An energy-efficient house referred to in the title means, in this case, one that: is well SeetSeeteeetes " / • "v • • ' / ' ...11;41.40 5,.:•;••414, ,dag.:AF insulated and airtight; has more windows on the south than on any other side; has controlled ventilation and an efficient heating system; probably uses between 40 and 80 per cent less energy for space heating than a conventional house; is not too big for the family that occupies it. Not one or two, but all, of these requirements should be met since they interact with one another to save energy. The book, prepared for CMHC by the consultants Allen-Drerup-White Ltd., pre- scribes the kind and amount of insulation, including air -vapor barriers, that should be installed in ceilings, attics, walls, basement and foundations according to the climate in your particular part of the country. Generally RSI values - the resistance to heat loss - will be higher than in conventional houses. No house can be really energy-efficient unless it is airtight to keep the warm air in and the cold out. That means a carefully installed continuous air- vapor barrier on the warm side of the insulation. Since you have now sealed off all the nooks and crannies that allowed air to leave and enter the house, you must now be concerned about ventilation. The best solution may be a central ventilation system and an air-to-air heat exchanger, which uses the warm air being pushed out to heat the cold air coming in. There is a lot of free energy to be had from the sun and, toncialte the most use of it, most of your windows should face more or less south. To make sure they don't lose more heat than they gain they should be at least (Continued on. Page 13)