Posts Tagged ‘Heating’

With “Going Green” being the latest trend in home improvement, many people want to take part but often do not know where to start. Having an ecoEnergy audit preformed on your house can be a great first step and help provide a clear step-by-step plan to upgrading your home in an energy-efficient manner.

An ecoEnergy audit is preformed by an outside organization’s certified energy adviser and the assessment will evaluate the energy efficiency of your home. The focus of the initial audit will be on windows, doors, the heating system and insulation and typically takes around two hours and costs around $150 per visit. A “blower door” test is completed in order to determine if there are any air leaks, a major contributor to heat loss.

Once the assessment is finished the certified energy adviser will present you with a report which will provide you with an analysis of the amount of energy you are using, where and will provide solutions to better allocate your “energy dollars” to improve the energy efficiency of your home. Accompanying the report will also be a rating of you home of how it compares to others with respect to energy efficiency.

By implementing the recommended upgrades it will allow you to reduce cold drafts of your home, identify moisture problems, improve your home’s ventilation, reduce overall energy use and save money on your energy bills.

These audits are done by organizations that are unaffiliated with Homeworks therefore, will give you a completely objective measure of your home. After, you have completed your upgrades you call the certified energy advisers back to assess the improvement of energy efficiency in your home. Having these tests done will typically qualify you for ecoEnergy federal grants and other incentives.

If you are interested in improving the energy efficiency of your home, book a free in-home consultation, visit our showrooms or call 604.697.5700.

At some point during home renovations, there comes a time when you have the opportunity to move on from old energy-hungry technology and replace it with a new model that saves money, energy, and in the case of tankless hot water systems, space.

Right now, tankless hot water systems are capable of providing an instant, endless supply of hot water. In addition, because these systems function only when needed, they don’t require a holding tank to store pre-warmed water. No storage or holding reserve means that tankless hot water systems can last twice as long as a traditional hot water tank since they avoid the risk of rust and corrosion.

The full advantages of tankless hot water systems are:

• Supply: Endless supply of hot water
• Size: Smaller, lighter and easier to install
• Installation: Tankless hot water heaters are able to hang on a wall unlike regular hot water heaters
• More Hygienic: They do not store hot water, therefore the risk of bacteria growth is eradicated
• Expected Product Life: 20 years versus a tank hot water heater has an average lifetime of only 6-9 years
• Efficiency: Tankless hot water heaters will uphold their efficiency for the life of the unit, whereas conventional hot water heaters become less efficient as a result of annual buildups of minerals

If you’re interested in making the switch to tankless hot water, book a free in-home consultation, visit our showrooms or call 604.697.5700.