The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Tired Of High Heating Bills At Your House? Wash Day A Chore SAlLL EN. W taiII oo i Keeping warm during a long Canadian winter burns up a large chunk of our household budget, especially for homes with baseboard heaters or an electric furnace. Government fig- ures show that the average cost for space heating with electricity ranges from $695 a year inVancouver tô $1,950 in central Ontario; higher if you operate an electric water heater or use air conditioning. Natural gas is relatively inex- pensive, and the popularity of oil is increasing as its price drops, but combustion heating con- tributes to greenhouse gas emissions. An increasingly popular tech- nology for residential and com- mercial buildings is an earth energy heat pump, which trans- fers heat from the ground into your house, at one-third of the cost of all-electric systems. They can also heat domestic water, and a reversing valve provides air conditioning in summer. The principle is simple: Underground pipes pick up the absorbed solar heat in the ground around your house, bring it back to the unit in your basement, and convert it to heat through a compressor cycle (like your kitchen refrigerator). 1 vvit HardU aer1 THERMOSHELLITWISS FUELS eD11 Q Sheil Fuels Q 24 Hour Burner Service U Energy Efficient Testing < Q Installations U Equalized Billing Q Lubricants - Industrial & Commercial FURNACES: Although they just hide in your basement, they are an essential part of your home. So, to achieve a long life and maximum efficiency, it is worth taking the time to properly maintain them. 1. Change filters regularly. 2. Keep objects such as boxes, paint cans, toys, etc. away from the immediate area 3. Don't enclose in a closet or other small compartment (they must have air and lots of it). 4. Know which fuse or breaker controls your furnace (if it stops working this is the first thing to check). 5. Have your furnace maintained annually by a qualified technician. INSTALLATIONS and HOT WATER HEATERS A dependable, safe, efficient and environmentally friendly way to heat your home Warm up to 11) EPEN DA B LEI FOR QUALITY PRODUCTS & SERVICE 32 Steeles Avenue, Unit 15, Milton R 7 R - R <b PiwF r-17R.2788 MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTEDI CANADAN OILHEAT ASSOCLaAO i You pay only for the power needed to run the components; $225 to $795 a year for the locations noted above, with the added benefit of Iree" summer cooling and water heating. Unlike noisy outdoor air source heat pumps, earth ener- gy systems are designed to be most efficient when the tempera- ture drops below freezing. The CoP (co-efficient of perfor- mance) indicates the level of efficiency, and regulations allow only efficient units to be sold in Canada. Homeowners praise the quiet operation, low mainte- nance and lack of drafts, but they rave about the dollar sav- ings. Earth energy units offer the lowest lifecycle cost of any heat- ing/cooling option and are rec- ognized in the United States as the most environmentally benign technology available, but sales are lagging because of the cost of installation. The total price can range f rom $8,000 to $15,000 (depending on numer- ous factors), but even a com- mon five-year payback period is too long for many consumers. Most companies offer financing to ensure that monthly charges for installation and operation are lower than what you would pay 1 1 1 1 1 to the gas or oil company. CSA standards regulate the quality of installation, and a recent rebate offered by Ontario Hydro resulted in the purchase of almost 7,000 residential sys- tems, which displace the need for more than 100 MWh of elec- tricity each year for the utility. With better industry standards and higher CoP levels in today's units, this contribution would be at least 50 percent higher. Earth energy technology is confusing to many Canadians because it is not your typical heating source. They cannot be compared directly to gas and oil units, and many of our basic assumptions (such as the need for a setback thermostat) are changed. Since 1987, the Canadian Earth Energy Association has promoted the technology as a viable option for Canada's energy future and has produced material to explain the concepts to home- owners. CEEA's Internet home- page (www.earthenergy. org) offers helpful explanations, and offers a package of information for interested homeowners. CEEA can be contacted in Ottawa at 1-613-230-2332 or (fax) 237-1480. Your Exclusive AIR MILES Heating Oil Supplier The Canadian Champion, Friday, February 13, 1998-15 Let us anaýi1 ze your particular need and recoininend hiel- efficient hýqh qualitil equipinent foi- your oil heating systein. n 1 .ýý - - - "&"l F-C ON 0 MI 7CAL Laundry is a chore no matter how you look at it. But when your clothes appear dingy and yellowed, when "soap curd" appears on your clothing, and when fabrics seem to be wearing out more quickly than they should- laundry becomes a real drudgery. These are typical problems in hard-water areas found in many parts of Canada. Hard water occurs when calcium and magnesium bicarbonate are dissolved in an area's water supply. While hard water does not pose a health risk, it can make household chores-especially laundry-more of a chore than they should be. First, hard water typically requires the use of more detergent than soft water. Hard water can also leave a residue that combines with laundry soap to leave a "soap curd" which will need to be cleaned off. To do this, extra rinse cycles may be required. This means more water is used, more energy is needed to heat the water for the cycle and run the machine, and there is more wear and tear on your wash- ing machine. Hard water has a detri- mental effect on fabrics. Colours fade more quickly, whites tend to yellow and the fabrics tend to have a short- ened life span. The dissolved minerals in hard water can collect in washing machines (and other water-using appliances, such as dishwashers and cof- feemakers) and shorten their lives. The buildup of these minerals can clog pipes and cause excessive wear on moving parts. While laundry will probably never be a favourite activity, some of the headaches can be relieved with a simple change in your household: Switch to soft water. The addition of a water softener to your home can have numerous advantages in the laundry room alone. If you think you may have a hard-water problem, the first step is to have a certified water specialist come and test your household's water supply. He or she can recom- mend a treatment system if one is needed.