Build energy efficiency

into your renovation plans

Perhaps you are planning to fin-
ish your basement, Maybe the
time has come for a kitchen over-
haul. Or perhaps you’re going ta
put in a bay window, or add an
extension to your home.

‘No malter what area of the
house, take the time to build cner-
gy efficiency into your renova-
’ tions,
“At a little extra cost, Power
Smart measures will soon pay for
__dhemselves. in reduced heating”
bills, increased home comfort and
quict, and extended lile of the
stricture,’’ says Lorraine Crist,
Power Smart representative for

. the Skeena area. As well, an in- —

vestment in energy efficiency is
an investment in the conservation
of our valuable energy supplies,
which is good for the environ-
ment.
This article covers three main
renovation areas: basements,
kitchens and the exterior. But
keep in mind that energy-saving
measures can be worked into any
Tenovations or repaims you are
doing, ‘Renovation time is a
great time to caulk and weather-
strip drafty places, increase in-
sulation, add an air-vapor barrier,
even switch to energy-efficient
_ lighting,” Crist adds.
Down Under
‘Since the basement can account
for up to'30 per cent of a home’s
“heat loss, it presents many op-
_ portunities: for energy improve-
- ments. If you’re planning to tum
an unfinished basement into a
usable living space, first carefully
- draftproof «the exterior wails.
Caulk along the sill plate, header
joist: ‘and © around — service
“entrances, pipes and ducts that
. pass through the walls, Then
. frame the walls and have the out-
‘lets, switches and lighting fix.
\ tures installed.
"Once the wiring is in place, in-
-sulate the basement walls from
_ floor to ceiling. ‘You can insu-
late from the inside unless the
wall has a history of moisture
. problems or poor drainage. If
‘these conditions exist, have them
corrected before you proceed,”
Crist warns,-A moisture barricr is
usually applied toe basement
walls, up to grade level, before
insulation. Be sure to install a
generous amount of insulation be-

1° Chances are better than

» §0/50 that some house on
your block - perhaps the one
you're living in - will be hit °
“with a burglary within the
next two years, says foe
Sullivan.

“And Joe Sullivan should
know.

As president of Lockport
Security here in Terrace, Joe
- Sullivan keeps a watchful eye
.on area crime reports. And
what he’s seeing is keeping

him worried.

‘Crime all over the country
is steadily increasing’’, he
says, ‘‘no longer confined to
inner-cities.’’. Criminals are
‘just as likely to. hit the
suburbs and outlying small
‘towns.

“Unfortunately,” says Joe
Sallivan “you can’t tum
your home into a fortress.
And it wouldn’t do much
good anyway, * he adds.
“given the time and the
toals, a determined burglar
can get into any house."

But you can thwart even
determined burglars with
modern electronic security
systems that protect your
home when you’re gone and
when you're at home as well.
Such systems sound an alarm
at the first hint of intrusion,
then call a central monitoring
station ‘that immediately
sends police to your home. »

Besides standing guard
against burglars, modern
electronic --securily systems
also keep a: watchful eye out
for fire. And some even let
you call for medical help by
simply touching a pushbut-
ton on a wireless touchpad
that's smaller than a pack of
cigarettes.

Statistics point out that
homes not protected by
burglar alarm systems ex-
perience "600% more break-
ins than homes that ARE

teen joists'in the header aréa,‘e#ef "2

ri 1S FIXUP Ns.

No matter what material you
use, never insulate directly
around heat-producing obDstruc-
tions such as flue pipes, (You can
insulate around water pipes.) Be
sure to turn off the power before
working around electrical outlets,
and avoid the main electrical
panel altogether.

Before you apply wall board, it
is important to install an air-vapor
barrier on the warm side of the
insulation. This will help prevent
household air from moving into
the walls, where water vapor can

condense and cause moisture |

problems. The air-vapor barrier
should extend into the header
area. Apply special heat-resistant
tape to seal all joints in the hot air
ducts. You should also insulate
long runs of duct work to prevent
energy losses as the heat travels
from the furnace through the
heating system.

In the Kitchen

Homeowners often spend
several thousand dollars making
the kitchen more attractive and
functional, so a few extra dollars
spent on encrgy-saving measures
will hardly be noticed.

Planning and timing are crucial.
**For example,” Crist points out,
‘if you are replacing your kitch-
en cabinets there will be a break
between removing the old
cabincts and installing the new
ones, Take advantage of this to
seal air leaks around plumbing
pipes and other wall openings
that are normally hidden from
view. Several caulking products

R

have been specially designed for.

areas subject to high levels of
moisture,”

Exterior Work
Energy efficiency can even be a

consideration in exterior renova-

tions. If you have excavated to
repair leaky foundation walls,
you may want io take the op-
portunity to insulate unfinished
basement walls from the outside
before filling in the hole. Similar-
ly, if you are installing new
siding, you can incorporate addi-
tional insulation at the same time.
Power Smart Products

Half the battle in carrying out
energy efficiency measures is
knowing what products to use
and where to find them, Consult
your local building supply dealer
for information on the different
types of insulation and their uses

to determine what kind-is best for. .

your needs. In addition, your

relailer will be able to advise you -

on Power Smart products such as
caulking, weatherstripping, elec-
trical outlet gaskets, heat duct
tape, plastic film for vapor bar-
riers, and 50 on.
For More Information...

“Renovation can be a chore,
but it can also be an op-
portunity,’’ says Crist. ‘‘Think of
it as change not just to improve
the appearance of your home but
to make it Power Smart as well.
Energy efficiency is one of the
best investments you can make,
paying tax-free dividends im-
mediately in the form of lower
heating, costs and greater com-
fort.” -

FACADeaFA

“THE PLUMBING & HEATING PROFESSIONALS
” REASONABLE RATES — BONDED GASFITTERS

YOUR AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR

_ LENNOX —

: on eared
vache AirConditioning/Hearing . *

‘protected by systems,

‘‘There is no simple A,B,C
method for protecting your
home. ]’ll mention a few im-
portant items that should be
considered, however.’’

“The first step, in protecting
your home against crime is to
determine what to protect,”
says Lockport Security. ‘There
is no way today to absolutely
guarantee | the prevention of
break-ins,’”

‘The best protection for |

residences,” says Lockport
Security, ‘tis an alarm system
designed to keep ihe intruder
out to begin with, Therefore,
a perimeter system covering
the doors and: windows is
more logical than a system
that limits its protection to
INSIDE the premises.”’

Interior protection systems
present two potential pro-
bles. First, the intruder can

enter the home before the &

alarm is sounded. When
there are people in the home,
including sleeping family
members, the danger is ob-
_ vious.

‘Second, many cannot be us-
ed without limiting normal
activity inside the home.

Perimeter protection, on the
other hand, emphasizes per-

sonal safety’ while interior

protection protects: property.

The greatest. protection |
from combining :
perimeter and interior pro--
interior-
‘traps’ that can -be turned.
on or off al your convenlence :.

comes

tection: Creating

is a sound idea.” Since . no

_ system is foolproof, this pro-. ”

cedure provides backup’?
protection in case an intruder
gets inside the house. Jn ad-
dition, it allows the use of
‘limited’? perimeter protec-
lion that protects doors and

"AFFORDABLE, FLEXIBLE & RELIABLE

the. most vulnerable round
level windows.

Lockport Security sometimes
recommends protecting

specific items in a room - a
desk, gun cabinet, jewelry
box, valuable paintings and
art objects.

“Even if the room itself is
unguarded, you can easily
and effectively protect in-
dividual objects within the
room. Any unusual move-
ment - such as moving a vase
or painting, lifting a jewelry
box, or jimmying a cabinet
door - sends an alarm to a
‘central station and the siren
~~ will send ‘the burglar runn-
: ‘ne. SE ak ee

-; Garages. ‘and ‘other - out-

| > buildings hundreds “of feet

“away-can be -protected with
‘door ‘and: -window. sensors
‘that’ react to movement or
breakage.

Besides calling ‘the police,
many alarms can turn. on

iside. and outside lights to:

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scare away an intruder.

Interior and yard lights can
also be linked to smoke sen-
sors to help your family get
outside quickly and safely in
case of fire.’’ Lockport
Security says.

After you’ve decided what to
protect in your home, the
next step is deciding how to
protect it. “At one time’’
says Lockport Security ‘‘the
main characteristic of a
residential security system

was wires. There were wires
all over the house - wires to
every door, wires lo every
window, wires drilled
through walls, wires under
carpels and wires snaking up
staircases.”*

“Besides being unsightly, all
this wiring . was costly:

Homeowners weren’l paying

. But advanced technology has

In case. of an alarm, these
- ble signal to a finely tuned

“this receiver (an alarm con-

“Along with eliminating all .

7 wireless

: gy points out,

4 “They're far more reliable
+ with no wires to cut or short
: outy-And-there are no un-

’ with any sensor, the systern

for protection; they were
paying for wiring and drill-
ing,’’ says Lockport Secteri-
ty.

eliminated all the wires and
all the mess. Instead, modern
home. security syslems use
wireless devices that work
much like your radio. or
television. Tiny radio
transmitters are built right
into door and window sen-
sors, motion’ sensors and
even smoke detectors.

transmitters beam an invisi-
receiver in the house. In turn,

trol panel) automatically
sounds the alarm and calls
for help. The police or fire
department will be on their
way in minutes. Or in a
medical emergency, the
nearest hospital or am-
bulance service can be dispat-
ched,"’ says Lockport Securi-

the messy wiring, these
security systems
have’ a lot of additional ad-
vantages,” Lockport Securt-

sightly foil strips on the win-

dows to get cut or torn,
Besides keeping an eye on the
‘house they keep an eye on
their ‘own operations.

Ir something goes wrong
reports in. I get a signal at

our central station that tells
me whal’s wrong, and where.

Then [I can send a service

dialing your home telephone

tire house as well.

technician out to fix it im-
mediately.

Another feature is that a
wireless system is completely
portable. So when you move,
simply pack it up along with
the rest of your furniture and
install it in your new home.”

And you can add functions -
using the system to turn
lights on and off simply by

number.

One new system - called
CareTaker - watches the en-
It can
automatically dia! for-help if
interior temperatures drop
too low, or the basement get
flooded, or the freezer quits.

Moreover, with CareTaker
you. can call home from
anywhere in the country Lo
check on the. alarm. status.
You can even tell it to turn
up the heating or cooling
system because you'll: be
home in a couple.of hours.

“We offer both hardwire
and wireless security systems
for. homes” says Lockport
Security, ‘‘It’s:-our.’ con-
sidered recommendation that
a.wireless system gives. the
best protection - both fire
and intrusion - for the
dollar.”"

HOME OF
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FEBRUARY 25-28

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4623 Lakelse Ave.
’- Terrace

‘WIRELESS ALARM SPECIALISTS”

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