Part 4: Lighting the Way

Future Friendly Houses Are Worth More, Today and Tomorrow

A Five Part Series: Climate Change Begins at Home

According to Chris Winter, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of Ontario, ‘if residential incandescent lighting in Ontario were replaced by CFLs Ontario could save 500 megawatts of power demand – that’s the generation capacity of single nuclear power plant’. The Real Estate Market is moving to understand that energy is the second price tag of any house. This series will show you how to improve your property value while saving the environment at home.

Within the home there are five categories of energy consumption and loss; The Building Envelope, Lighting, Home Heating Systems, Hot Water, and Electric Appliances. The trick with keeping your house up to date is, not missing opportunities to do better.

Lighting the Way to Future Friendly Housing
The era of Halogen pot lights has passed. There is a lot of interest and promise in emerging LED lighting and compact fluorescent lighting as the new standard. When I walk through old houses with 100 amp service I advise my clients not to be concerned about the capacity. Lighting and appliance loads are reducing. There are Compaq Fluorescent Lighting retrofits for halogen lights but technology is not the only answer to lighting challenges.

Why all the LED Hype?
Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) aren’t soft on the eyes, but they represent a truly revolutionary source of illumination. LEDs are special because they convert ionic energy (electricity) directly into light. This compares to CFLs which very efficiently uses electricity to agitate the electrons of a gas in a tube in order to create light. Conventional Incandescent Lightbulbs use a very inefficient method of creating resistance (heat) to bring a glow to an electric filament. CFLs use just one third the power of Incandescent bulbs, LEDs use an estimated 5% the electricity of conventional Incandescent lights to provide the same illumination.

In 2002 I wrote that ‘LED lights will transform the built environment in the future’. That future is beginning now. If you are planning a renovation or a new project you should consider LED technology.

Lighting the Way Without Carbon
There is a lot of interest in Solar Energy these days, but animals and plants have been relying on Sunlight for millennia. Natural sunlight fills interior spaces through windows, doors, and solar tubes (energy efficient skylights) offering effective ways to reduce daytime dependence on artificial lighting.

When decorating, incorporate lighting needs with the functionality of the window dressings to let enough natural light in. Design window coverings to be open to the West and South in winter daytimes to capture the heat of the sun. In summer these same curtains should be drawn, preventing unnecessary solar heat gain without blocking natural light. 

Power in Your Finger:
Finally, when you go to sell your home, buyers often want to see previous hydro bills. If you use the power in your finger to turn those lights off you will be creating great math that your Realtor can use to illustrate that your home has a low cost of ownership, and is therefore worth more. If you are leaving a room for 1 minute or more it is worth while turning off the light. 

Chris Chopik is a Toronto based Realtor, Consultant and founder of EvolutionGreen.Com. Chris can be reached at chris@evolutiongreen.com or at 416.993.4870. 

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