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Wingham Advance-Times, 1977-10-19, Page 16st "t",! ,krv�cr•�t j�,r 'j. ,Tho ban Advance -Times, October 19, 1977 SOLAR ENERGY—Tony McQuail, who will be teaching a night school course in Wingham on alternate sources of energy, stands in front of the home he has built and suc- cessfully heats by the sun. Mr. McQuail holds a thermosi- phoning solar collector for heating water which will be mounted on a greenhouse he intends to build on one of the walls. He stands on the south side of the house which has 228 sgyare feet of window space. The first floor exterior wall is. stone and the second storey is pine sheathing. Energy aIteinatives :wjII be taught of high school Almost everyone has heard of " boor's, freezer to . keep garden produce. If efforts in drying food are successful they hope to end the need for the freezer. People don't have to go to the extreme ' that Mr. and Mrs. McQuail have, however; to con- -'serve energy. Mr. McQuail says the great thing about solar energy is that it can be adapted to individual requirements. It isn't necessarily expensive if a person is remodelling a home or building a new one, he says. A decision is made which of the many available methods should be used, and the work is simpli- fied. Mr. McQuail drew the plans for his home three years ago and has been building for two years. He and his wife lived above the driv- ing shed while construction start- ed and now live in comparative comfort in their new home. There is still much to be done, they say, but work is completed as money is available so no debts have piled up. PASSIVE SYSTEM He uses the passive system of solar heating. That is, the house itself collects the solar heat, as opposed to an active system where heat is held in a collector added to or in the house and is then blown or pumped throughout the energy crisis and most do their small part in conserving, but if we were to literally run out of present resources, would everyone be able to survive? Would we know, for instance, how to tap a most obvious supply of energy, the sun? Solar energy and othea sources of energy are the topic of a newly - offered night course at F. E. Madill Secondary School this year and teacher Tony McQuail is certainly qualified to talk about alternate sources of energy. Mr. McQuail and his wife, Fran, are in process off building their home, which is successfully o heatedby the sun. On a sunny winter day it can even get too hot, Mr. McQuail claims, with the thermometer reading 75 to 80 de- grees at times. When the days are cloudy and little sun light is available, as has been the story this season, a thermostatically controlled wood stove is used as a back-up unit. Presently' there is no running water in the house; it is carried from a spring. Plans are in the making for a hydraulic ram or pumping windmill. The couple has no electricity either, but use coaloil lamps for lighting and borrow a neigh - Buy your home, life, boat, and auto insurance from a friend The Co -Operators your credit union sponsored insurance company Co-operation among Co.Ops. Located in the Credit Union Building. 8 Alfred St., [corner of Josephine St.] Wingham, Ont. North Huron Credit The Co-operators Union 357-2311 357-3739 the home. His plans called for the walls of the house to face true north south, east and west and by using heavy insulation. Natural light flows from the south wall which has 228 square feet of windows. The rest of the walls have only 48 square feet of window space and, during the winter, the north wall windows are blocked out by rigid styrofoam panels. He used basic knowledge about the sun, intricate calculations and information he picked up from reading. For instance, the north wall is set into a hill so that only 14 feet of wall is exposed, while on the south 22 feet are exposed. Despite all the modern tech- nology Mr. McQuail applied in constructing the house, the inside is homey and comfortable look- ing. Well used furniture sur- rounds the living ,room fireplace and the wood stove sits by a large wooden table in the kitchen. Traces of modern living are evident in the double aluminum kitchen sink with taps ready for running water and a bathtub in a corner under the stairs leading to the upper floor. The bottle off shampoo that sat by the tub al- most looked out of place. On one wall are a number of ribbons, won for showing sheep, Mrs. McQuail says. They do not insist their way of life is for everyone • or that it should be. They made a decision to live with the basic necessities and added amenities as they felt they were needed. They do feel, however, conservation of energy in anyway is important and necessary. The first floor wall of the two and one-half storey house is foot thick stone, with four inch fibre- glass on the inside. The rest of the walls use two, four -inch fibre- glass batts with a fibreboard divider between them and pine sheathing on the exterior. Two .'our -inch layers of fibre- glass are laid crosswise on the roof with an exterior of steel roof- ing. Wind breaks have been planted which in time will reduce wind exposure. More plans' for his house in- clude double glazing all the windows and building airlock entrance ways for all the exterior doors. Mr. and Mrs. McQuail also plan to add a greenhouse on the south wall which will be vented to the house on cold days and to the outside on warm days. The east and west walls of the 'greenhouse will be heavily in- sulated and an insulated steel roof to provide summer shade will be added. It will be angled to reflect winter sun into the second storey windows and reflect summer sun away from the collector for heating water is to be mounted on the greenhouse roof, in conjunction with thermosiphoning coil in the wood stove. Canadians have an advantage for solar heating, Mr. McQuail says, in that the snow acts as a reflector for the sun for almost eight months of the year. The land around the greenhouse will be graded to serve as such a re- flector. The couple uses about 50 gal- lons of kerosene a year for light- ing and about four cords of wood for heating and cooking'. Their bill for electricity, kerosene, bat- teries and chainsaw gas ap- proaches $100 for the year. Mr. McQuail says with the knowledge he has gained in build- . ing his home, he -could now build an even better system. Through his course he hopes,to spread the word of these better ways to con- serve energy. He taught the energy course last year in Goderich and several projects were started as a result. He discovered many people had been thinking1off ways to conserve and just needed some know-how to go about it. Neighbours ex- changed ideas with each other; neighbours who never realized they felt the same about con- servation. The course will, be taught at Wingham on Wednesday nights, beginning Oct. 26, and will con- tinue for eight weeks. Mr. McQuail will also be teaching in Goderich this year, on Monday nights. The course at Wingham will deal with what energy is, energy conversion, energy equivalents. home energy budgets and the alternatives of solar, wind, 'methane, wood and conservation. Fanners' Almanac forecasts rough winter again Another rough winter with cold and snow aplenty, although not as bad as the winter Just past, is on the way. says Ray Geiger, editor of the Farmers' Almanac. He will be visiting Southern Ontario from November 6 to 9. The Farmers' Almanac is in its 161st consecutive year of publi- cation and has been producing a special Canadian edition for Vic- toria' and Grey Trust Company since 1988. Although "Farmer" is part of its title, the Almanac features anecdotes and useful information to all householders. Based on past records, nearly house. 100,000 copies of the new Victoria A thermosiphoning solar and Grey edition will be distri- buted. Miller invites discussion on use of the flood plains Should development be allowed' on the outer fringes of Ontario's flood plains? Should the criteria for a flood plain be the area af- fected by the worst flood in 100 years, the worst regional flood on record, or the greater of the two? In opening these questions for public discussion Natural Re- sources Minister Frank S. Miller said the time had come for a re- view of the existing provincial standards that restrict develop- ment on lands bordering flood - prone rivers. Releasing a summery report entitled A Discussion Paper on Flood Plain Management Alter- natives in Ontario, Mr. Miller said it was ,a condensation of a comprehensive report by the con- sulting firm of M. M. Dillon and James F. MacLaren Ltd. for the Ministries, of Housing and Natural Resources. 'From this technical paper, a steering committee made up of senior staff of the two ministries and J. S. Bauer, chairman of the Grand River Conservation Au- thority`, has made a series of re- commendations on which we would like to have the comments of the interested public," Mr. New CGIT members BELGRAVE — The first meet- ing of the C.G.I.T: was held in the basement of Knox United Church on Tuesday evening. There were nine present, two of whom were new members. The girls were ini- tiated by the rest of the group. Doreen Anderson was elected president, with Melanie Scott vice-president, Meribeth Scott secretary, Karen Coultes, treasurer, and Marion Taylor pianist- Donelda Lamont and Janice Coultes are assistant leaders. Each girl present adopted a grandmother whom they will visit during the year. Janice Coultes conducted the worship service on "Friendship". The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at which the girls will canvass the village for U.N.I.C.E.F. The girls will also sell United Church calendars, and will take orders from anyone wanting one. Mrs. William Coultes, leader, encouraged everyone to bring a friend to the. next meeting. Miller said. The recommendations include a suggestion that individual municipalities be allowed more scope in permitting use of the land in the fringe areas of their flood plains, provided certain conditions are met. It was recommended that such land use be supported by an offi- cial plan and zoning bylaws and that it would require the approval of the local conservation author- ity and the Ministry of Natural Resources to make certain other municipalities in the watershed would not be adversely affected. The recommendations dis- tinguised between the "flood - way" where development would be restricted and the "flood fringe" where the municipality could decide on potential use. The discussion paper has been distributed to all conservation authorities, all municipalities affected, and various interested organizations and associations. Copies of the paper are available at the Ontario Government Book Store, 880 Bay Street, Toronto, at a price of $1. Mr. Miller invited all interested persons to send in their com- ments and suggestions by December 15, 1977. HOEGY ., FARM SUPPLY LIMITED Brodhagen, Ontario Tel. 345-2941 After hours, 345-2243 * Barn washing and disinfecting Spraying with carbola = whitens and disinfects as it dries. * Cattle spraying for lice and warble control. CORN ELEVATOR Our new elevator is now open for use. -Fast Unloading (Probe System) - No Long "Line-ups -Competitive Prices - Storage Available Howson & Howson Ltd. Elevator 523-9624 Blyth, Ontario 1st Corner East of Blyth Mill 523-4241 Next time you're in town, call on the Commerce manager. Ask him about the Commerce Farm Services he has for cattlemen, to cover short and intermediate term financing. And while you're at it, ask him about the other Commerce Farm .. ,;,N;to. Services he has. tutci all, hat's why the Commerce has Commerce Farm Services—to help you with the business of farming. CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE