The Pros and Cons of Tankless Hot Water Heaters

From time to time we invite experts in their field to contribute to our Homestars blog. Debra Fenwick of Fenwick Design Group has been advising her clients on the “green” renovation options for a few years now. One of the subjects that comes up frquently is whether or not the client should install a tankless hotwater system.  I’ll let Debra take it from here…

The Pros and Cons of Tankless Hot Water Heaters

By: Debra Fenwick, Fenwick Interior Design

Your water heater is typically the #2 energy user in your home and can use between 18-20% of the energy budget.  Much buzz has been generated by the press and in environmental circles as to the benefits of the tankless hot water system earning it the reputation as the “eco-choice”.  But what are the real pros and cons to this system and should it be an integral part of a green home renovation?

 The tankless hot water heater (or “on demand” unit) heats water as you use it instead of storing hot water like a traditional system.  It’s available in propane (LP), natural gas, or electric models.

 The benefits are that it is a compact system which virtually eliminates standby heat and energy losses.  When installed at a specific faucet or shower, it can provide warm water at remote points of use thereby decreasing the water wasted waiting for the warm water to travel from the main tank.  The unit can provide unlimited hot water as long as it is operating within its capacity.  And therein lies the rub…

Discussions with Nick Tilelus, partner at Paul’s Plumbing Ltd (416-759-7491) confirm that one of the main disadvantages of this system is that it doesn’t provide the necessary capacity for the needs of a typical family household.  For example, it is unlikely that a shower and dishwasher can be run simultaneously.  There is also an approximate 10-15 second delay before the water is heated sufficiently for use thereby increasing water waste.  Pricing for the unit itself is several times higher than a regular tank.  Gas units may require a larger gas line or additional venting and electric heaters draw more power (160,000 BTU vs 40,000 BTU’s for the traditional tank) thereby requiring multiple circuits and/or heavier cable all of which increase the installation costs by 2-4 times.  The energy savings is only maximized in a gas unit when the pilot light is kept off when the heater is not in use and in areas of the country where electrical rates include a peak demand charge, operation of the electrical unit can actually be more expensive than the typical hot water tank. 

The tankless system will be most effective for a home with 1-2 people requiring a limited hot water supply.  Unless a unit is installed at each faucet (with the associated higher costs), it is not a system that would be recommended for a large family home where showers, laundry and dishwashing is done simultaneously.

 Systems aside, the potential home improvements most effective for energy savings are:

• Reduce water heater temperature setting to 120 degrees (140 degrees for homes with an automatic dishwasher)
• Insulate water heater tank and pipes to reduce standby losses and maintain water temperature longer (for best results wrap both the cold and hot water pipes entering the tank and top and sides of tank down to the lower element)
• Install low flow showerheads and water flow restrictors on showers and faucets to reduce water use and cost
• Consider installing a heat recovery water heating system on existing a/c system
• Consider installing heat exchanger devices below showers which recapture approx. 60% of heat in the drain returning it to the water heater

 Energy usage and environmental impact are key elements when choosing a new water heating system.  The best advice is to calculate your hot water needs in order to determine which system will work best for your household while using the tips noted above to get the most out of whichever system you choose.

Debra Fenwick is an interior designer and LEED Accredited Professional working in the Toronto area .  

http://www.fenwickdesigngroup.com

Posted by CathyR

Eco-Friendly Building Materials

By Kelly Turnbull
Sacchidananda Design Solutions

There is no doubt about it; everyone wants to be more environmentally responsible. However, going green can be a little overwhelming. The best advice I can give is to pick your battles. You don’t have to save the world all at once.  Just a little bit can go a long way in creating a healthier home. When choosing eco friendly options for your home, here are a few guidelines to help you along;

Floors

To ensure dust and allergens are kept to a minimum, avoid fitted carpets and synthetic rugs. Consider canes and grasses such as Jute, Sisal, sea grass, hemp and rattan. Natural fibers such as silk, cotton and wool coloured with vegetable dyes are also an option, just be sure to use a natural fiber underlayment with them.
Other choices include natural cork, which is insulating and warm underfoot, bamboo which is beautiful and also renewable and sustainable resource, recycled rubber or linoleum flooring made from 100 per cent natural products including linseed oil, jute, resin, cork, limestone and wood flour (sawdust). Linoleum is also considered extremely durable and can be 100% recyclable.
If you love the look of hardwood, try using reclaimed lumber, smart wood or FSC approved hardwood.
Countertops
There are several gorgeous options for eco friendly countertops; Solid wood butcher block, such as maple, from responsibly managed forests, Marmoleum, which is a durable and eco- friendly linoleum, Concrete with at least a 30% fly ash content, which lowers production energy, Stainless steel made from salvaged or with recycled metal and surfaces made of recycled glass, reclaimed paper or a combination of bamboo fibers and paper.
If you plan on using natural or quarried stone such as slate, granite or marble, be sure avoid varnishes and sealants containing PVC.

If possible, consider refacing your current countertop – use water based VOC free spray refinisher over your existing arborite, wood or laminate counters to get them looking as good as new and keeping them out of the landfill.

Cabinets
The most significant source of UF (urea formaldehyde) emissions in the home basis come from the composite woods in our furnishings and cabinetry. Avoid traditional MDF and try solid wood from sustainably managed forests, plywood with flour based glues or particle board made of recycled and sustainable raw materials with low VOC adhesives.

Paint
Look for low VOC options and the “Green Seal” label. Darker the paint colour the more VOC’s, though Benjamin Moore has developed a new colourant system which does not add VOC’s with the addition of pigment. Oil paints become zero VOC after 3 days as opposed to standard latex paints.  If you’re really serious about zero emissions, try looking for recycled paint or using milk paint and adding your own pigment.
Fabrics and Upholstery
Use natural fabrics such as wool, cotton, linen, silk and bamboo fibers. Since many cotton and linen growers use pesticides, organic is best…a bonus if you can find products which have been naturally sun bleached.

And of course, recycle whenever possible during your home improvement projects – refinish existing pieces whenever possible or contact stores like the Habitat for humanity re-store, who will help keep your unwanted building materials out of landfills while helping raise money for less fortunate families.
Going green in your home doesn’t have to break the bank or create a compromise on style and comfort.  New environmentally sound technologies are emerging every day and the opportunities to make beautiful and responsible choices are everywhere. With a little research, you can have the gorgeous home you dreamed of and feel good about doing your part in taking care of the planet.

Posted by BrianS

Toronto Hydro’s festive light exchange program, first one this weekend.

I know, I know, it’s way too early to be thinking about Christmas and the holidays, I mean, we haven’t even had Halloween yet, but as I was doing some research for another article to be posted in a few weeks time I came across Toronto Hydro’s “Festive Light Exchange” program. This is a great program that helps take lots of energy-sucking incandescent Christmas lights off the grid in exchange for super energy efficient LED lights (an entire 25 light strand uses only 1.8 Watts of electricity).

If you are planning on updating your holiday lighting selection, LED is the way to go; the lights consume so much less electricity (approximately 95% less than an incandescent strand to be exact) it’s incredible. Toronto Hydro has a great information page on the cost savings and fire hazard reasons for switching to LED bulbs.

To encourage you to change your lights, Toronto Hydro has a “Festive Light Exchange” program they’ve been running for the past few years. The first one is October 25th, at the Gerrard India Bazaar BIA
N/W Corner of Gerrard and Ashdale Rd at the library from 6:00 - 8:00 pm — which is why I felt the need for this post at this time.

For a complete list of program exchange dates, times and places, go to Toronto Hydro’s website.

If you’re wondering if switching to LED lights makes a difference, in 2006 over 24,185 light strands were taken off the grid, avoiding over 1500 tonnes of CO2 output.

Posted by CathyR

Smart home automation systems promote energy efficiency

If you’ve ever dreamt of a smart home where your security, HVAC, audio and video systems were controllable at the touch of a button, Brack Electronics is one of the companies that does this work. Now, however, they’ve taken their system integration knowledge a step further and have made it possible to increase a home’s energy efficiency with their “green button.”

Some of the features of a “green automation system” are:

• Light dimming. Dimming lights by 25% will conserve 20% of your electricity), and extend bulb life.
• Electronic window shading. Sunshades will come down at preprogrammed times of the day, keeping south facing rooms cooler in the summer and providing insulation and warmth in the winter.
• The “green button” on the flat panel display provides an “away” button on the thermostat for lower settings than even your programmable thermostat provides
• Extend the life of a flat panel TV by lowering its “ISF calibration” and therefore, its electricity draw.

Naturally, installing a system such as this is best suited in a house that is either being newly constructed or undergoing a significant renovation.

For more information see their website: http://www.brackelectronics.com/

Posted by CathyR

Energy efficiency products for your home brought to you by Village Energy

At the Fall Home Show I met Jup Bhasin from Village Energy. Village Energy has all kinds of products that will help your home become more energy efficient — just in time for your winter heating bills. I thought I knew quite a bit about curbing energy bills, but after speaking with Jup, I realized my knowledge really only went as far as insulation and caulking.

Probably the coolest thing he showed me was the Redwell “infrared heater” that looks like a mirror, it also comes in a variety of pictures or even a chalkboard.  These heaters range in size and strength using between 270 and 1100 watts of electricity. The 1100 watt model will heat up to 365 square feet.

Infrared is a “new-to-me” space heating concept. Apparently it heats the objects in a room, which then retain the heat similar to radiant heating. So I guess it works more efficiently if you have more stuff in your room to retain the heat. You’re supposed to be able to keep your thermostat at a lower temperature (thereby using less heat). Jup says he just put a few in his mother’s house and they work like a charm. I could see that these would be great for cold basements, sunrooms and cottages.

Another interesting product were the Intellicon Fuel and Energy Economizers for central air conditioners, hot water heaters and furnaces. The most energy intensive part of running your furnace or air conditioner is the start up. The intellicon is a small computer that is connected to your furnace, central A/C or hot water heater. It keeps track of when the unit turns on and adjusts it so that it doesn’t turn on as often. The cost of the unit plus installation runs between $500-$600, but the manufacturer claims you’ll see a return on investment within 4 to 18 months.

The last thing Jup showed me was an Energy Recovery Ventilation box by Purifresh. It brings preheated fresh air in from outside which allows you to keep your windows closed (therefore no heat loss). It sits in your window like an air conditioner, uses heat from the room temperature stale air and transfers it to the cool outside, fresh air as it comes into the house. While it isn’t designed to lower your heating bills per se, because you don’t need to keep your windows open it prevents cold air from coming in while it helps improve indoor air quality.

Jup had all kinds of LED and CFL lighting options I didn’t even know existed on display. He said they can help any homeowner become more energy efficient without going through a major renovation.

Visit their website for more information on their products and services.

Posted by CathyR

Free Home Solar Panel Tour tomorrow in Cedarvale

As people become more conscious of the electricity they use and their ever rising hydro and gas bills, alternative forms of electricity and heat generation are being explored not just by treehuggers but also by regular Torontonians. Naturally, many people have concerns about the expense and effectiveness of solar panels, particularly in our dark and snowy climate.

In an effort to convince Torontonians that Solar panels — the kind that generate electricity (photovoltaic) and hotwater (solar thermal) — really work, The Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative (TREC) is offering a tour tomorrow (Saturday June 14th) of four homes in Cedarvale with solar panels in action.

This year at the Strawberries and Asparagus Festival, the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative is launching the first ever free and guided residential solar tour. This exciting new initiative will commence at 11am on the grounds of the festival where participants will proceed by Hydrogen Bus to visit four residential
destinations. Participants will have the chance to view the featured
photovoltaic or solar thermal installations and an opportunity to speak with
homeowners about their solar experience. The bus trips in between also
offer a chance for an ongoing solar power question/answer period.
Refreshments will be provided at the Pinewood stop of the tour. (TREC)

It promises to be very informative and gives interested homeowners the opportunity to ask questions about the effectiveness, expense, practicality, etc. of solar panels already in use. If you’re interested in finding out more about the tour, or the use of renewable energy in general, contact TREC.

:: The Globe and Mail

http://www.cedarvalepark.com/2008/04/11/strawberries-and-asparagus-june-14th-2008/
http://trec.on.ca/

Posted by CathyR

Toronto Hydro’s Peaksaver Program

When the weather decides to turn hot and humid, it really decides to turn! Thursday I was wearing a jacket and jeans and thinking Environment Canada’s forecasting equipment was broken when they predicted 32 Celsius plus humidity for Friday. Sure enough they were right and we sweltered our way through three days of heat and humidity.

We’ve turned our air conditioning on for the first time this year, still early in the year, but in comparison to the last 5 years, not too bad. We will still get a shock though, when we get our hydro bill. In order to keep costs down, do our part to contribute less smog to the GTA and generally lighten our family’s carbon footprint, I signed us up for the Peaksaver program this year. The way it works is when Toronto Hydro needs your electricity during peak hours, it sends a signal to your central air conditioner, pool pump or electric water heater to cycle off for 15 of every 30 minutes. Houses and townhouses are eligible at this time, but not apartments or condos. While you may not see any direct benefit from participating, you are helping to reduce the cost of electricity and pollution over all. Toronto Hydro needs to import less, future generators can be smaller, and less smog will be produced than without the program.

For more information on the peaksaver program, reducing your electricity consumption, and rebates and refunds on energy efficient appliances, etc., click on the links below:

https://www.peaksaver.com/peaksaver_THESL.html
http://www.everykilowattcounts.com/residential/
http://www.toronto.ca/livegreen/home_energy_rebates.html

Posted by CathyR

freegreen.com has free home plans you can download — really!

The other day I was reading my usual rss feeds when I came across one I had to share with Homestars users. A new website called http://www.freegreen.com/ offers free downloadable house designs. Since we here at Homestars.com have a similar, “free to the consumer” business model, we think this is one great site and one great idea! At the moment there are only two designs available but the site is still very young. The picture is their 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath standard family home. Why “green” in the title? Because the house plans are energy efficient, “green” home designs. As they say on their website:

“Green” means different things to different people. What is important is that as a society we are constantly improving our building culture. The goal at FreeGreen is not to produce the “greenest” possible home but rather to provide a variety of different home plans that allow people to create homes that fit their lifestyles in a responsible and equitable manner.

As their website grows and more homes plans become available it will be a boon to those looking to build. This site is also great for builders looking to get into green home building. There is information on each product recommended for each plan. You can save product info in “My Favorites” section and refer back to it later.

::free green via ::inhabitat via ::treehugger.com

Posted by CathyR

Improving Your Home’s Energy Efficiency - Part 2

Insulating your home:

So, you’ve had your home energy audit (see previous post), and found out you need to insulate. Oh, if only it were as simple as calling up your local insulation company and blowing some cellulose into the attic! Yes, that will help, and of course we have a directory full of insulation companies that will assist you in your quest for winter warmth and summer cool. But, it’s a bit more complicated than that. It turns out that insulation works in conjunction with three other components in your “building envelope.”

Specifically, the four factors that affect how warm and cozy you are in the winter are:

• Insulation
• air infiltration
• moisture and
• ventilation

Because each component affects the others as they are modified, a contractor should take what is known as “the whole house approach” when insulating a home. For instance, if, after a home become has been insulated and air leaks have been plugged, the home could be too tight, producing poor indoor air quality - like those “sick buildings” that were common in the ’70s and ’80s. If this happens, mechanical ventilation will need to be added.

Familiarize yourself with the different types of insulation available and which one would work for the areas that need it. You can do this by talking to the insulation professionals, but having a smidgeon of knowledge ahead of time will help the whole process go faster.

There are three common types of insulation:

• fiberglass,
• cellulose and
• sprayfoam

(There are other types, such as mineral wool and denim scraps, but the above are by far and away the most common.)

There are four different forms of insulation:

• bats or rolls,
• loose fill,
• rigid board and
• spray foam.

Insulating your home is not your typical do-it-yourself project. Licensed technicians have the equipment and knowledge on how to install the insulation and understand how it affects your home. They will also be aware of moisture issues, air and vapor barriers and how to install them along with the insulation.

Grants for insulation: Both the Canadian federal and provincial governments have rebate programs available. Be aware that the grants are only valid if you’ve done an energy audit before you’ve done the work. Below is a link to the ecoAction website which explains how much you’ll get back depending on the work you do.

http://www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/retrofit-homes/retrofit-qualify-grant.cfm?attr=4#eligible

Posted by CathyR

Improving Your Home’s Energy Efficiency - Part 1

Home Energy Efficiency:

According to meteorologists, this winter was supposed to be the coldest in 15 years. While December was certainly the snowiest I’ve seen in awhile, I wouldn’t exactly say it’s been bitterly cold out there (okay, so as I’m writing this it’s -10 and with the windchill it’s -18 so what do I know?). However, with all our temperature ups and downs, and we humans being the root cause of them (not really disputed by many anymore), not to mention oil hitting the magic $100/barrel mark, one thing you can do for wallet and the planet is increase your home’s energy efficiency. As gas and electricity prices continue to rise, making your home use less electricity and gas all around is a sensible thing to do.

Where to start?

Your home is freezing in the winter and boiling in the summer. You can hold a Kleenex in the air and watch the breeze push it away from the window. You know you need insulation, drafts caulked, and windows replaced, but you’re not exactly sure how to go about it.

A home energy audit will help you determine where the drafts are coming from and what areas of your home are lacking in insulation. It will also identify other energy wasters such as your furnace’s efficiency, old appliances and whether they need replacing and how well your windows are holding up. However, in order to qualify for an “EcoAction” grant (that’s the Federal grant program) for your home improvement projects, you need to have an energy audit performed by a federally approved and licensed agency. Not sure where to find one? Funny you should ask! We have a list of federally approved energy auditors in our directory. Already had an energy audit done? Share your story and help out those who are just venturing into theirs.

For more information on the EcoAction grant and qualifications go to:
http://www.ecoaction.gc.ca/ecoenergy-ecoenergie/retrofithomes-renovationmaisons-eng.cfm

Posted by CathyR