If you are looking at changing or upgrading your heating system – read this article. It may introduce you to things you have never heard about and can certainly save you a lot of money while improving the comfort of your home.
BANNING OIL HEATING
If you are concerned about the move to ban h...
You might also call this entry “Insulating the ceiling of a garage under a bedroom”.
Any floor over a cold space will be cooler than a floor over a heated space, no matter how well you insulate it. So bay window jut-outs always have cold floors as do rooms over garages. For the bedroom over a...
I get a lot of complaints about cold air drafts coming in through ducts connected to the outdoors. Here are some solutions.
Butterfly dampers
Any exhaust vent that rises up and out will have a tendency to let cold air fall back down that duct. Quality butterfly dampers are available that have ...
Jim from London, Ontario is wondering what temperature he should leave his thermostat while he migrates south for the winter. The short answer is 55 degrees F, or about 12 degrees C.
That should keep the pipes from freezing, keep the humidity under control, keep the furniture from going through ...
Often furnace heating and air conditioning duct work is run though an attic and then back down into the house. Personally I think that this is a really bad idea unless there is absolutely no alternative route. Why?
First, most duct work is not sealed where it goes through the ceiling, so a lot o...
Many electrical utilities across the country offer a "Dual Energy" rate program. Before trying to decide if it is appropriate for your house, you should understand why the utilities have created this system. Click here to get the full picture on Hydro Quebec's residential electrical rates and su...
This letter was written to Montreal municipal officials relative to total banning of heating with oil in February of 2021. It will give you the full ecologically valid arguments against this proposal. In the fall of 2021 the Quebec government has decreed an end to residential heating with oi...
Saving money on residential heating in 2022 – a look at the financial side.
Electrical Rate Structure summary: Hydro Québec is developing various incentives for people to reduce their electrical use during peak periods in the winter. Lowering the peaks in the demand for electricity allows f...
Video conferencing, like Zoom, is known for head-to-head talks, but it is also a dynamic tool for interactive inspections, remote on-site consultations, and remote on-site teaching. In 2016 I tried to start a Zoom interactive webinar but back then, not many people were comfortable with video c...
There are three key steps to making leak proof copper pipe joints.
Clean off both the inside of the elbow and the outside of the pipe with steel wool or a special cleaner tool.
Apply a soldering flux to both cleaned surfaces. The cleaning gets rid of contaminates and oxidation o...
