Buying, Selling, and Living in Healthy Homes.

I recently sat in on a CMHC conference on Selling Healthy Homes.  I took with it quite a bit of helpful information that can help not only myself but all of you as well.  There were various topics such as moisture problems and various issues that come with it, air circulation of a home, Energy Star Homes, VOC’s(volatile organic compounds), Radon Gas, hydro usage and more.  I won’t get into everything in this one blog, so I will focus on 3 for today.  Radon Gas, Air Circulation and hydro usage.  Trust me you want to read this people.

HYDRO USAGE:

Whether you have heard the rumors yet or not, it appears to be happening.  The cost we pay for Hydro are expected to increase approx. 47% over the next 5 years!  Shouldn’t we be looking to ways on improving our usage?  Well some great solutions are out there.  Some homes and condo’s are now coming with a universal switch that cuts the electricity off of either the entire unit, or the plugs and outlets assigned to said switch.  Makes it easy to not forget to unplug some things and/or turn off lights.  Light bulbs are probably the quickest and easiest way for us all to make a difference.  Traditional bulbs last 1000 hours using 60 watts to power, CFL bulbs last for 10,000 hours and only use 13 watts to power, and LED lighting will last for approx. 50,000 hours (prob never have to change) and they take only 3 watts or so to power!  Solar panels are also a great way to go.  Considering we pay around 14-16 cents per kw, programs here now pay us approx. 35 cents per kw that you can produce.  They are developing some nice small panels now as well that look like shingles.

RADON GAS

You have all heard the term.  You might have even heard that there are some pockets of Radon Gas in the Ottawa area.  What you might not have heard is that Radon Gas is the number 2 cause of lung cancer in North America!  Kanata is told to have some higher than normal levels, but really they can be found anywhere and if your neighbor has traces it doesn’t mean that you will have traces.  You can buy test pucks at your local hardware store, place them in a main level living space, leave them for a few months and then bring them in to get tested.

Radon mitigation is covered under Tarion Warranty.  To fix the issues, basically you should have the gas exhausted out with a pipe right from the foundation and the foundation should be sealed completely after that.  Not a bad thing to test for and handle the issue.

AIR CIRCULATION:

One great solution getting more popular is the use of an HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilation).  HRV provides fresh air and improved climate control, while also saving energy by reducing heating (and cooling) requirements.  A typical older home goes through approx. 4-6 ACH’s (Air changes per hour).  This means that you are heating your home every 15-20 mins only to have it escape back out and new air to be heated.  Most R2000 homes must reach a level of 1-2 ACH’s.  Also, upgraded insulation levels, better windows and doors, and sealing of all cracks and small holes in exterior walls, can and will help with this.  The better the air flow, the less risk of stagnant air as well and thus lower levels of moisture.  So although you may have your vents shut off in the basement to help the air go higher quicker, you are allowing the air down there to sit stagnant which can cause moisture and poor air quality.  That air then gets sucked up and spread throughout your home.

Whether you take my advice or not is up to you.  These are some quick and easy solutions to not only save our environment, but save your money in the long run, and more importantly save your family and the next family that buys your home because it is a HEALTHY HOME.

email me if any questions or concerns on how to make your home more healthy, or if you would like to buy or sell a home. amiller@kwottawa.ca