Energy Conservation Plans for Our New Home

We have practiced energy conservation ever since we rented our first apartment as newlyweds.  Although utilities were included we paid extra each month to be able to have an air conditioner in the summer months.  Once we bought our first house, paying all of our own utilities including using AC and a pool in the summer months, energy conservation went into high gear.  As a young couple with a growing family, keeping the utility bills down was a matter of being able to afford living in our own home.  It was that first house (a duplex) that I experimented with solar heat banks, made quilted insulated window shades, learned to heat with wood and perfected using a caulk gun.   We have come a long way since that house!

We bought a vacation home in March of 2010 and we moved into our new home, our sixth purchased permanent residence in September of this year.  The primary focus of every home we have owned including the two we currently own is getting the house as energy efficient as possible as quickly as possible.  Now it is not a matter of not being able to afford higher utility bills but rather reducing our consumption to become more eco-friendly. 

I estimate it takes a good three years to achieve that goal in a house we just move into but this house likely won't take much more than six months to a year.  It's a newer home that was built in 1994 so has good insulation and a good lot position that takes advantage of the south and west walls for passive solar gain.  The biggest problem we are facing is the house is too new to warrant higher energy savers like replacement windows or new furnace and AC as the energy savings would be too low, creating a high pay back period.  In other words we would likely end up replacing what we replace ten years down the road without it ever paying for itself.  The house is too new to take advantage of the Energy Audit for grants covering a portion of any updates like windows, doors, and HVAC system.  The furnace is original but considerably newer than our old furnace and it has a heat recovery ventilation system for higher energy savings.  The windows are fairly large to take advantage of natural lighting reducing the need for indoor lighting during the day but that can mean thermal loss on cloudy days and overnight.  Our best course of action to reduce our energy usage in our new home will be considerably less expensive than in any of the other homes we have owned!

Here are a few things we have done and plan to do to conserve energy in our new home:

• sealing - The caulk gun is loaded and ready for action as leaks are detected indoors and where I see the need outdoors.  I've sealed all leaks I've found so far and will continue doing this as the need arises.  I use a paintable 20 or 25 year acrylic caulk for sealing unless silicone is warranted.  A rule of thumb is if you see a spider web there is an air leak nearby as spiders spin their web in cooler locations to keep the egg sac cool.
• insulating - We insulated all of the outside wall electrical outlets and receptacles using foam insulators and child safety plugs.  There is very little need for additional insulation in the walls or attic however, we are considering adding a bit more insulation in the attic as it may save a little money and it is a rather easy, low cost DIY project.
• lighting - We added solar lighting outside and changed most of the incandescent light bulbs indoors and outdoors to CFL bulbs.  There are a couple of outdoor fixtures that need the bulbs changed or the fixture replaced to accommodate the CFL bulbs.  I'm using timers on our energy efficient Christmas trees and will be working on our X-10 home automation system during the winter.  I plan on adding more solar lighting outdoors including a solar powered, motion activated security light.  A few of the indoor windows lend themselves nicely to using solar powered lighting as well and we are planning to install a solar tube in the main bathroom.
• heating - We are heating with natural gas using the energy efficient furnace installed when the house was built.  It has a HRV system for further savings.  On sunny days there is a gorgeous passive solar gain through the windows on the south wall.  I'm taking advantage of that.  There is also nice passive solar gain in the kitchen that faces east.  More importantly, the kitchen floor (marble) and entrance floor (ceramic tile) act as heat sinks absorbing heat from the sun's rays then releasing it back into the rooms once the sun is off the windows and patio doors.  The partial ceramic floor on the lower level creates a smaller heat sink.  I've been working on sealing any duct work I can reach using aluminum foil tape that will reduce heating and cooling loss through the ducts.
• water - When we moved in, both toilets were leaking as was the main bathroom faucet.  We repaired all three water leaks immediately.  We know our water usage will increase with a pool but feel we can be frugal with this aspect as well.  Surprisingly, many will spend more watering their yards and gardens than we will operating the pool.  We are installing two DIY rainwater fed, gravity activated water storage units for the gardens and yard, possibly three.  I'm working on a great DIY gravity fed irrigation system for the vegetable gardens as well.  
• cooking - My husband and I are very much foodies who enjoy home cooked meals the majority of the time.  That is not going to change.  We did however switch from cooking with hydro (indoors) and natural gas (outdoors) to cooking with natural gas (indoors) and propane/charcoal (outdoors).  Natural gas is one third the price of hydro here.  There is better control for the burners so less energy is needed and preliminary results have shown foods cooked with natural gas cook faster further reducing the energy needed.  This house is ideal for experimenting using solar power so I already have a couple of projects lined up involving solar power. 
• windows - We are taking the maximal advantage of our windows for daytime solar gain but at night we cover them to prevent thermal loss.  We have two half circle windows and two side windows that are a bit problematic.  I'm making quilted insulating shades for the north windows and adding insulated panels to the large living/dining room window.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

In the Wall Natural Gas Fireplace

Once all our offer had been accepted I started looking for decorating ideas.  There are a few things that we want that will add to the comfort of our new home.  One of the first things we will do is update all the electrical sockets and switches to the European style.  There are light fixtures that definitely will be replaced.  An interesting feature of this house is neither bathroom have a window so I finally get my much coveted solar tube for the main bathroom.  We are in the market for a natural gas fireplace as well.  In the event of a power outage, a natural gas fireplace will still work and it is cheaper to run the fireplace during the months of October and April to take the chill off the house without firing up the furnace.

During a recent road trip to Niagara Falls we stopped at the casino in Brampton on the way home.  They have remodeled since we were last year.  I fell in love with these gorgeous in-the-wall natural gas fireplaces.  The day we visited was in the midst of the heat wave.  The AC was going strong in the casino so I thought the fireplaces were just decorative.  To my delight they were indeed putting out heat and a fair amount of it too!  Now in terms of economics I thought this was rather fool hardy but since the casino is run by the Ontario Government surprise me [sarcasm].  At any rate, I thought they were absolutely gorgeous.

The fireplaces were mounted about four feet from the floor.  They were recessed into the wall, sticking out into the room by only about an inch.  I would guess the size at about four feet wide, eighteen inches high and about twelve inches deep.  It would make a great accent wall in the new house.  Time to go shopping!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

That Dry Winter Air

We were very lucky at the start of the 2010-2011 heating season that it was unseasonably mild here.  We used the gas fireplace for much of the heating turning on the furnace only to be sure everything was working fine.  It's a good thing we did as there was a bit of a problem but we solved that quite quickly with minimal expense.  

When the winter sets in here we suffer from dry house sydrome!  Everything from nasal membranes to hair, anything wood and pretty much everything feels the effect of the dry air.  Walking across the carpet is enough to set off a round of static electricity zaps when touching anything.  The only neat part is the eerie greenish lights caused by the static electricity at night.  To counteract the effects of the dry winter air, we installed a new furnace humidifier about this time last year.  While the humidity level is still lower in the house it is more comfortable.  Of course on days we only use the gas fireplace the air looses moisture but it takes a few days to get uncomfortable.   This time of year we can only go a day or two or even just the afternoon without having the furnace on.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Back-up Heating

We heated solely with wood for almost 16 years.  During that time the only time we worried about back-up heating was if we wanted to go away for a few days during the winter months when the possibility of freezing was high.  We could stoke up the fire in the morning and that would get us through most of the day and then again at night so for the most part unless being away from the house more than 12 hours we were good.  Then we moved into a house with a HVAC system.  On the surface controlling heating and cooling via a flick of a switch seemed like a marvelous except as we quickly found out the furnace needed electricity meaning if the power went out we had no heat.

Regardless of any heating system a secondary, back-up heating source is necessary if you live in an area where winter heating is a must.    That source of heat should not be dependent on electricity in the event the electricity is knocked out via a winter storm.   Remember that during a power outage the HVAC and any electric heaters will not work.

We have a natural gas fireplace with an electronic ignition so it is electricity independent.  We can heat the main living area with this fireplace by closing off other rooms and in fact in the cool but not cold months this is what we heat with.

If you use a secondary or back-up heating source that requires some type of fuel such as wood or kerosene, be sure to have enough on hand to last 2 to 4 weeks.  In most cases you will not need this amount of fuel but it is a good, safe rule of thumb. 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

New Natural Gas Meter

Union Gas informed us last week that they would like to change out our natural gas meter. My only thought was it was about time! They changed it out yesterday and I even managed to pick the brains of the installers. I'm always on the look-out for making our home a little more energy efficient. Natural gas appliances in our home include hot water tank, furnace, gas fireplace and gas dryer. We also have an outdoor natural gas grill.

Natural gas leaks can be very dangerous to the point of causing homes to blow-up. For that reason natural gas which is odourless and colourless is scented with mercaptans to serve as a warning of a gas leak. If you smell a natural gas leak, cut off the main gas and electricity to the house, get out of the house and call the emergency gas leak line for your natural gas provider. If the gas leak is bad enough something as simple as flicking on a light switch is enough of a spark to cause a problem so be safe and cut the electricity as well. Gas meters should be kept clear of vegetation and snow as well. Not only does this prevent errors reading the meter it also helps prevent potential leaks.

Old Meter

We bought this house almost two years ago and from the get go I was not pleased with the gas meter pictured. First, the meter itself looked quite old and there were signs of rust. I also suspected there might be a small gas leak but despite several checks never smelled enough natural gas to call them. I called them asking to have the meter checked which they did as well as a bit of basic maintenance on the meter. Union Gas paints the meters, checks for leaks and replaces if necessary or as part of their maintence schedule. I was very pleased to hear they were going to finally replace the meter!

There were two large shrubs on both sides of the meter virutally hiding most of it, obstructing not only reading the meter but also trouble shooting. We cut the shrubs down last summer leaving about a 1' high trunk on each side, planning to dig them out when we were sure they were dead. The service technicians said we maid a good choice to remove the shrubs. Apparently roots from both trees and shrubs can cause the gas pipe underground to shift that can ultimately cause leakage problems. They also recommended not digging out the roots of those shrubs but rather cut them off just below the ground level and let them rot so as to not risk hitting or shifting the gas line.


New Meter

Pictured is the new gas meter. Two things are quite apparent aside of aesthetics even though I only indicated one major change (red arrow). There is also a little round upside down (I think) vent that wasn't on the old meter. The meter now shows our gas used in cubic meters making it a lot easier to track. All utility meters should be tracked to catch any problems before they become major problems. For example if you track your natural gas usage at the same time every day and you find you are averaging 10 m3 daily, a reading that indicates you used 15 m3 would be abnormal so start trouble shooting right then before it costs you a lot more.

Our gas was off for about 40 minutes during the installation process. Once the meter was installed the service technicians came inside to make sure each of our gas appliances lit properly and were working. Both our furnace and dryer have electronic ignition so there is no pilot light burning all the time. The gas fireplace and gas grill have manual electronic ignition. However, the technicians said we should light the gas fireplace and leave the pilot light on for the entire heating season. They said this will save wear on the thermocoupler and even though this part is about $10 to replace they said it is better to leave the pilot light on. To me that doesn't make sense to have a pilot light running for an appliance we use a couple of times a month. We don't leave a pilot light on the gas grill either just light it when we need it. So I do think this is a bit of bad advice for out particular gas fireplace. We are planning on updating to a newer model that may possibly need to have the pilot light left on but hopefully not. A gas pilot light is using fantum energy and even though it is not a lot there is no point using that energy unless the appliance is in use.

Ok, so the really great news is they thought our furnace looked very, very good. The one technician has the same model at home and said he was amazed there was no rust on ours! His recommendation was very consistently with those of everyone we have talked to about our furnace. Leave it alone until it goes! This is great new to some degree even though we were hoping to go to a smaller sized (physically not BTU) furnace that along with going to a tankless hotwater heater would free up a considerable amount of room to extend the lower bathroom. It would appear we will be focusing on other improvements this year and that won't be such a bad thing.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Our Furnace Problems

Quite often when household problems occur there is a bit of troubleshooting to do if the problem is not immediately obvious. In this case we had problems with our furnace but it was not immediately apparent. The problem was gradual only becoming noticeable when our kids made the comment they had never felt our house that cold. I just thought the house was a bit cooler because we had the daytime setting at 19ºC (66ºF) instead of 20ºC (68ºF) as well as it being early in the heating season so you tend to notice the cold more. Thank goodness this was during our Thanksgiving (Canadian) weekend so we were able to start the troubleshooting early.

Natural Gas Usage Graph

We can view our gas bill online and we get a hardcopy. Both include a graph of our natural gas usage that can be used as a visual. These graphs can help you troubleshoot and make you aware of a problem even if you have not noticed one. A sudden spike on the graph can mean you have a gas leak somewhere that you may not be aware of.

Oct. 25 - Nov. 26, 2007 is indicated in turquoise and highlighted by the bottom green arrow. Note the arrows are what I put in using Photoshop®. In comparison Oct. 23 - Nov 24, 2008 is shown in yellow indicated by the bottom pink arrow. What I noticed was a slight increase in natural gas usage despite all of the winterizing we did in the past year. In short our gas use went up instead of down as expected.

A couple of days after the bill came in I noticed the furnace staying on almost constantly but no warm air coming out of the vents. I checked the furnace room that lies off the laundry room and it was very hot. Obviously the furnace was working just not blowing the warm air. My husband checked it and replace the fan belt. The fan worked for a couple of days then stopped again. He re-adjusted the fan belt and once again it worked fine for a couple of days. We thought things were fine until a few days later I got up to a nice clunk. So I shut off the furnace and used the gas fireplace for the day until my husband got home. He brought another fan belt with him just in case. It turns out that he thinks he tightened the belt too much causing the one pulley to come off but it could be that the pulley was loose to begin with. He fixed it again and so far everything seems to be fine.

Nov, 26 - Dec 27, 2007 is indicated by the upper green arrow. The use for the same period in 2008 indicated by the upper pink arrow shows that we did use more gas during the furnace troubles. However, we used less gas from Dec. 29 - Jan. 23, 2009 than we did from Dec. 27 - Jan. 23, 2008 as apparent from the graph. During that time period in 2008 we used an average of 14 m3 per day, the same amount we used this year but the average outdoor temperature was 7ºC colder than in 2008. So we used less gas to keep the house at a comfortable temperature during January 2009 than we did in January 2008. It is encouraging to see progress in our attempts at reducing our natural gas usage.

The Problem

Our furnace is a Clare Megasave (installed about 1983) I that has a secondary heat exchanger. If the secondary heat exchanger fails it cannot be replaced because the company is no longer in business. As a result these furnaces have become notorious money pits when they start to fail. The current recommendation is to replace rather than repairing these furnaces. However, our furnace is in quite good condition. There is no signs of rust and it has been well maintained. The former owner vacationed in Florida every winter for about 7 years before we bought the house. Everything including the utilities was shut down so for those years the furnace was only used briefly in October and April. It was serviced annually as well. Given this history and the fact that the furnace was performing quite nicely before the recent fan belt problem and it has been working well since the fan belt (blue arrow) was replaced, we have made no plans to replace the furnace unless it does quit.

The 2009 Canadian Budget introduced the Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC) for home improvements over $1,000 and under $10,000 up to a maximum of $1,350 tax credit to be claimed on the 2009 Income Tax Return. We figured if we combined this with ecoEnergy grants and provincial grants this would be a good year to replace the furnace. We are also considering other energy conservation improvements and if we take advantage of DIY projects we can maximize the improvements we can make while taking advantage of sales, tax credit and grants. After talking to several friends the recommendation is to use this furnace as long as possible. Apparently new furnaces only have a lifespan of 10 year! So we will be doing a lot of extensive research on furnaces over the next few months.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Sealing Those Air Leaks

For many of us this time of year just simply means high heating costs so I fight back each year. From mid September to late December a caulking gun is always within handy reach in our home. In order to seal our house and because of age and design that is an ongoing project but the more you seal the more comfortable you and your family will be, the more you will save and then you can direct your energies where they really should be, your family. The more I save on energy costs the better for both my family and the environment plus there are those pocket book savings too.

There are other reasons for sealing up those air leaks. Overall sealed air leaks will save on both heating and cooling costs. Sealing helps prevent rodents and insects from getting in your home. Water is sealed out that could cause damage as well.

Great Stuff Expandable Foam

Two very low cost tools for eliminating drafts are paintable latex caulk and spray expandable foam. I'll discuss the caulk first then the spray foam.

Caulk: I prefer using a 10 yr paintable latex caulk for most draft sealing for a few reasons. First application is smooth with easy clean-up and almost no odour. Latex caulk is rather inexpensive with a very short payback time. Paintable caulk is a must have when painting rooms for a nice, professional finish. My preferred brand is Weather Shield available in a four pack ($6.97/4 pack) at Home Hardware however any good quality latex caulk will give similar results. Some applications require silicone caulk is necessary for certain applications like resealing around window panes. Home Hardware has a three pack for $9.97 and while more expensive it can be used for other purposes besides caulking. Think of silicone caulk as a heavy duty glue. The main problems using silicone caulk is clean-up and odour.

The first thing when sealing air leaks is detection. There are a few ways besides the wind blowing on your feet approach. While that is a very effect method, it's likely best to seal cracks before they are that bad. Sometimes with a new to you residence you will have to start with the larger air leak problems but that's to be expected especially in older buildings. The best bet is to wait for a windy day then focus on that side of the house. I think everyone has heard of using a candle as the flame will indicate any drafts. A safer method is using an incense stick. Both will detect smaller air leaks. Of course if you feel air coming in, seal!

Obvious spots to check is where any two different materials meet such as window pane to trim, wood trim to drywall or plaster. Seal around all window frames and unless your windows are high efficiency and already well sealed, seal between the window and trim. Open your cabinets and seal around where any pipes enter. Seal around any pipes entering through walls or floors.

Useful items to have on hand when using caulk: caulking gun, plastic knife or spoon, masking tape, paper towels or old rags. For a nice straight bead, run a piece of masking tape along both sides of the crack you want to seal. I prefer using the pull method where the tip of the caulk canister is placed at the starting point then is pulled along. You can use the push method by placing the tip at the start point the pushing along the crack. Whichever method works for you is fine. Run your bead of caulk, smooth with plastic knife of handle of plastic spoon. Remove masking tape while the caulk is still wet.

Expandable spray foam: There are times where caulk is not enough because the crack or gap is too big. This is where expandable spray foam comes in. The brand I prefer is Great Stuff mainly because Sam's Club has it two cans for $4.99. This essentially works like caulk for big spaces. It doesn't have a lot of odour but it sure can make a mess! I recommend using plastic or latex gloves and wearing old clothes when using this product. Shake the container well then put the nozzle on. Hold the can upside down and at an angle to fill cracks. As the name implies the foam does expand to fill the entire gap. Let the foam cure for 24 hours then use a serrated knife to cut away any excess foam. The foam can then be sanded and painting. I recommend painting if the foam will be exposed to sunlight as it will turn an ugly brown.

Use this foam for any larger gaps. I've used it around the the heating boots, behind the electrical panel, behind one 6-switch panel, and around where the house sits on the foundation. However, I have also used it around pipes, wire entries and any other gap that warrants it. My husband used it to seal up the crawlspace vents for winter as well. It can easily be cut away when we need the vents open during the summer. The only downside to the expandable foam aside of the potential mess that does decrease as you become familiar with the product is I find it is best to use the entire can instead of trying to save some. What I do is use mini post-it notes and tag where I want to seal using the foam. Then I go through and seal whatever I can using one can of the foam. Other tagged spots are left until I know I have enough to use up another full can.

Garden Gnome
© 2007