| Marianne Johnston has a dinosaur in her basement – a big, fiery, gas-guzzling dinosaur of a furnace.
Replacing it is a no-brainer – she worries it will up and die at the worst possible moment, and her gas bill is soaring along with natural gas prices. But since Canada signed on to the Kyoto Accord on greenhouse gas emission reductions late last year, replacing a furnace has almost become an act of patriotism. In an effort to meet Canada's obligations under Kyoto, the federal government is asking every Canadian to reduce their emissions by one tonne – replacing a furnace can go a long way towards meeting that goal.
And that’s where Stephen Farrell comes in. He shows people that there's a lot more that can be done around the house to increase efficiency, and the benefits are greater than just meeting a vague request from the Liberals.
Farrell is an energy auditor, and his company, VerdaTech Inc., along with a handful of others in Calgary, offers EnerGuide home audits at a rate subsidized by the federal government under its climate change strategy, which was precipitated by Kyoto. The audits make unbiased recommendations to homeowners about improving the efficiency of their homes, and implementing his recommendations can save homeowners money – in most cases, the money saved by lowering power and gas bills will eventually pay for the cost of making the changes in the first place.
Farrell agrees that it’s time to upgrade Johnston’s furnace, but his examination goes beyond that. Before his job is finished, he will create a list of suggestions that could reduce the energy consumption of her home by 50 per cent. As another Earth Day rolls around and many Canadians consider how they can make a positive environmental impact in their own lives, Farrell is a practical guide.
His audit of Johnston's house begins outside, measuring each wall and window to get baseline data – everything from the size of the house to its exposure to sunlight have an impact on its energy consumption. In Johnson's case, her 1950s-era bungalow is in good condition, but as Farrell knows, a home's efficiency is often determined by aspects you can't see on first glance. Beneath the exterior siding, for example, lies a thin layer of insulation, which is a good sign.
Inside, Farrell measures the interior insulation, which isn't such good news. The interior insulation wasn't replaced when the siding was changed before Johnston moved in, and its age makes it only marginally effective. Farrell shakes his head – there's no point trying to address that problem until the siding is changed again, he says, because it is simply too expensive to justify based on energy cost savings alone.
Farrell then pokes his head into the attic and emerges with his hair full of fibreglass insulation and a smile on his face. He says the roof insulation looks good – Johnston upgraded the insulation a few years previously, but Farrell offers a few recommendations to improve air circulation.
Farrell then connects a huge fan to the front door, and it sucks air from throughout the home. This gives him an idea of how well the house is ventilated and allows him to pinpoint leaks. Using chemical smoke, he searches the edges of windows looking for moving air.
Johnston was worried about the cost of window replacements, but Farrell says in her case, as in many others, he doesn't recommend their immediate replacement because that would be expensive while only providing relatively minor energy savings – he says sealing window edges is a cheaper and more effective way to reduce heat loss. If Johnston is to make any investment in windows, Farrell says, she should replace two small opening bedroom windows because they don't close properly.
Farrell's test of the home's mechanical system is what Johnston was holding her breath for. Farrell confirms that a new furnace is a good idea – furnaces often have the single biggest impact on a home's energy efficiency. After looking at Johnston's heating bills, he says the cost savings of a new furnace will pay for itself in as few as seven years. A new furnace can save on electricity bills as well, he says, because new furnace fans operate more efficiently. That makes the $3,000 to $6,000 cost easier to swallow for Johnston.
Farrell also makes a few more recommendations for reducing energy consumption. He advises Farrell to cut back her use of, or eliminate altogether, a second refrigerator and freezer – old model refrigerators use huge amounts of electricity. He recommends energy-efficient lightbulbs because their low cost and low energy consumption make them a great investment.
When Farrell is finished the audit, he will input all the data into a software program and mail the results to Johnston. The report will detail each recommendation and its estimated cost, cost savings, payback time, energy savings and greenhouse gas reduction.
Farrell says such reports let homeowners make decisions about the best places to invest their money – few people can afford all the recommendations at once.
"There are many little things you can do," Farrell says. "We give them the tools and show them the benefits, and they make the decisions."
Farrell says the cost savings of energy audits – not meeting the federal government's targets – are what drive most people. Either way, with energy prices so volatile, conservation makes financial and environmental sense.
"You can crystal ball gaze as much as you want, I don't know where (energy) prices are going to go," Farrell says. "It just makes sense."
Johnston says she originally hired Farrell because she thought she needed a new furnace anyway and hoped the report could be used to cash in on federal government incentive programs if they are eventually implemented. At the end of Farrell's audit, however, she says she feels better prepared to make a good decision about investments in her home because Farrell has no interest in selling her expensive renovations or equipment.
"There's nothing better than being an informed consumer," she says. |
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