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New energyefficient doors Conserving Energy Wednesday October Ate you losing valu able energy through your doorways If you are and youre thinking ingihembe sure that the new ones will be energy savers The things you should look Tor in a new door arc stability hernial resistance cost appear ance and security Stability and thermal resistance go hand in hand Look at the weathersiripping it should be strong secure resilient and easily replace able since it will be under a lot of stress from move ment and traffic Because all doors can warp or change shape try to find weatherstripping that can be adjusted particularly ir it is attached to the surface of the door Make sure there is weal ripping on the hinged side or the door as this is often overlooked Insulated doors arc the most energy efficient They are filled with a high RSI material and arc a substantial improvement over regular uninsulated doors But because RSI values depend on type of material and thickness check the doors actual insulating value with the manufacturer or distributor Boyd Hodgins of Ottawa Door Consultants says hat doors vary sub stantially in price The average cost uninsu lated wooden door is about to while the average cost of an insulated metal or wooden door ranges from to A wooden door with double glazing would be even more expensive the bottom of iheline ranging from to says the most cost efficient and popular door installation today is a steel insulated door because it is energy efficient and comes with its own frame and weather stripping With a wooden door you often have to purchase the frame and weather ripping components separately The installation of a pre- wood or steel insu lated door is easier and cheaper involving less labour because most of the work is already done Appearance and security are not as Oil heat maintenance Just likeacaror any other major mechanical device your oil furnace needs to be checked regu larly A knowledgeable heating professional should clean and service your furnace at least once a year to ensure safely reliability and efficiency A thorough cleaning and tuning operation will lake one to two hours and involve the partial disas sembly of your furnace and oil burner The inter nal heal exchanger flue pipe and lower chimney surfaces should be brushed and vacuumed to remove soot and debris Corroded or damaged rtue pipes should be replaced immediately Moving parts such as dampers need be lubri cated and belts should be lightened All safely con trols must be cleaned and tested The entire system from the fuel lank oil fil ler to the nozzle should be in peeled cleaned ad j and where necessary parts should be replaced Your should use replacement nozzles certified by the Canadian Standards Association Make sure that spray pat tern and oil flow meas ured in gallons- per hour arc compatible wiihihe rating described on the name plate of the furnace The condition of the ductwork can affect fur nace efficiency Recir culating air needs a clear path for its return to the furnace for reheating The duct system should allow for adequate circulation and registers should never be obstructed An open or loose panel on the furnace casing will draw cool base ment air into the system and may even be a safely hazard Warm air duels should be insulated espe cially where they pass through unhealed spaces or Into exterior walls The joints in can be taped with special duct tape to reduce the loss of warm air but remember to wash them first other wise the tape wont cated Appearance is sim ply a matter of personal choice secure door just requires com mon sense you need a solid door with a proper strike plate hinges on the Inside and a reliable lock With garage doors ihe rules are pretty well the same is airtight because even an unhealed garage can limit heat loss from the house if it is well sealed Weather- stripping must be of the heavy duty type since garage doors are very heavy Hodgins says there are a number or insulated garage doors on the market and they have proved to be quite energy efficient Hot water dollars The water healer is the second largest energy- consuming appliance In the average house Some steps can be taken how ever to reduce the amount of energy used for heating water and many of them will cost little more than a bit of your own lime and effort Lowering the temper ature setting on the tank will result in immediate savings at no A tem perature of will pro vide water hot enough for most household uses If you have a dishwasher without a booster healer the water heater tempera ture should beset at The power supply lo an electric water heater should be turned off before any thermostat adjustments arc made Draining about lures of water every month from hot water lank will remove sediment and reduce scaling this lets heating elements work more efficiently and will prolong the lire of the system You can install flow and aerators n faucets and The water pressu re should still be more than ade quate for all household purposes Leaky faucets should be fixed promptly One drop per second from hot water lap will waste litres of hot water per month enough for about 16 hot baths An insulation kit for your water heater can be purchased from hardware stores follow all installa tion instructions that accompany the kit Make sure here is an opening for ihe drain valve thermostat and other controls If your water healer is fired by oil or gas take great care not to plug the draft hood or the air intakes You should also contact either the manufacturer or your local utility for details before installing an insu lating blanket If a new hot water heater is installed in your home keep heat loss from pipes minimum by putting the lank as close as possible the kitchen or the bathroom thereby reducing the length of pipes through which the water must pass to reach Ihe faucets A heat trap con reduce heat loss from convection of hot water in pipes have a contrac tor include a heat trap with new hot water tank installations Watch for these im portant features when selecting a new water tank tanks that have mm of glass fibre or thick foam insulation are widely avail able make sure the bot tom is insula An acces sible switch on or near the tank will enable you to turn the heater off when it J not be used for extended periods An switch is not part of an electric hot water heater system but a switch can be installed or the appro priate fues removed or circuit breakers switched off Whether youre in stalling a new hoi water lank or taking a closer look at your present one hot water bills can easily be trimmed in any home WE SERVICE ALL MAKES RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL FRIDGE AND FREEZERS HEAT PUMPS COOLERS AND FREEZERS RESTAURANT GAS EQUIPMENT ELECTRIC HEAT 8531274 HONESTY IS OUR POUCY TROUBLE IS OUR GAME IF YOU NEED SOMEONE TO FIX IT AUANSIS THE NAME