Susan Glenn Homes

admin January 30th, 2012

A desire to reduce our energy consumption in our homes continues to generate new energy efficient products. Recently there has been a push to use water heaters which only use power when the demand for water is stimulated, known as tankless water heaters. I have often wondered if this type of water heater is actually more efficient in power and water usage than the traditional type.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) recently conducted a study to determine the impact that replacing a conventional hot water heater with a gas-fired tankless heater had on water and energy consumption in the home. 23 households were monitored and this is what it showed.

The results of the study showed that gas consumption was reduced by 46%; however, water consumption increased by about 2%. The reason: It takes time to heat the water to the set point and any cold water that is still in the pipes needs to be pushed out. The burner only ignites if a larger amount of water is run through the system, so you have to run the water for a while in order to get hot water; All of this uses more water.

Heating water accounts for about 20% or more of an average household’s annual energy
expenditures, so there is a savings in gas consumption with these tankless systems. However, tankless water heaters need both electricity and gas to operate so your electric bill will be higher. Maintenance is another factor since calcium accumulates in the unit and needs to be cleaned out every couple of years. In addition, the cost of these units is considerably higher than the traditional tank water heater.

Most tank water heaters work with only gas so if there is a gas interruption, you still have a tank full of hot water. With tankless models, you will be without hot water during a power outage as well.

In the final analysis you may not be saving as much as you might think between the gas cost, the electricity cost, the cost of the unit, maintenance and the extra water cost. However, they do take up much less room so they are a great solution for smaller spaces. Perhaps the best solution is still solar powered water heaters but that’s another topic.

Here are some of the companies who manufacture tankless water heaters.
Bosch Therm Ultra-Low NOx, Navien, Noritz, Rinnai. A competent contractor can advise you on the size and model that would work best for you.

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admin January 24th, 2012

Back in the early 1970′s I was completing my degree in Consumer Studies, Design and Marketing. The topic I chose for my thesis was one that was not at the top of too many people’s minds at that time. The topic was excess packaging used by manufacturers. Since that time, we have come a long way in environmental consciousness and trying to remedy our polluted world with reduce, reuse and recycle, but we still have a long way to go.

Certainly there has not been much change in the amount of packaging used by manufacturers to bring products to consumers. What we have done is found more resourceful ways to get rid of the packaging by recycling which has spawned several companies such as Tetrapak, who use plastics to create new products. We have a campaign to encourage consumers to use the same bag over and over again by charging the consumer for every new bag. Perhaps the focus should be encouraging manufacturers to reduce the packaging used in the first place instead of trying to find places to put it after it’s in the marketplace. But I’ll be covering that in another blog.

In the housing industry, a great deal of focus has been placed recently on building homes with environmental products as well as an emphasis on conservation. Over the course of the last couple of years, I have incorporated an Environmental section in my newsletters and written several articles that pertained to new environmental products available for our homes. In addition recipes for simple everyday cleaning solutions were included. I will continue to keep you informed of new and current environmental suggestions for your home.

Incidences such as the toxic drywall from China, have made it necessary for us to be more diligent and aware of what we are using in renovations and construction and in our every day lives and where it is coming from. Many countries do not have the strict regulations for manufacturing that Canada has. When you consider the numerous glues, dyes, varnishes, finishes, etc. in household products, furniture, fabrics, not to mention the cleaners we use, you can imagine the chemicals floating around in each of our homes.

As we start 2012, let us resolve to make it a safer, healthier and chemical free environment for ourselves and our children.

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