Loading ...As we mentioned before we are very concerned about being as environmentally friendly or ‘green’ as we can. One of the steps we are taking in our efforts to lessen our carbon footprint is taking advantage of the government scheme to reduce energy usage; we had our home energy audit back in February last year and discovered that our house receives a failing grade!
Recently we have made some fairly big changes that we hope will make a big difference to that grade. We have had our old inefficient oil furnace replaced with a super efficient multi-stage gas furnace, and today we had our basement insulated, by a local company – Merkley Energy Solutions.
But we didn’t have just any insulation, we have HeatLok Soya – a high-efficiency insulation system made from renewable vegetable oils and recycled plastics. Every barrel of HeatLok Soya contains more than 40% recycled materials. This includes more than 1000 plastic bottles.
It is one of the highest thermal value insulation products and unlike other types of insulation it is water resistant, which with our stone basement is certainly a huge plus. Also as a spray foam it will fill all the cracks and holes, meaning that in addition to keeping out all drafts, it will keep out spiders and mice!
Already the floors don’t seem so cold, and the basement certainly seems dryer and warmer. Plus the lighter colour walls make the the space seem so much bigger, that we are starting to think we should do something with it!
No, changes like this weren’t cheap, but with the energy audit scheme and the home rebate tax credit we will be getting back about half the cost! And we get a warmer house and lower heating bills!
We are making a bunch of other smaller changes and will be having our follow up audit soon, but this post is already more than long enough, so I will have to tell you about that another day.
Disclaimer: we have not received anything from Merkley Energy Solutions or the people who make HeatLok Soya, we are just happy customers and wanted to share.
Hmmm, looks like something we should do too!! Wouldn’t keep the water off the floor, but sure would make the space warmer! I hate to cover up all that pretty stone though.
Comment by Cheryl — January 28, 2010 @ 4:31 pm