‘PANORAMIC VIEW afforded of bustling Horseshoe Bay is always worth

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the time to enjoy. (Terry Peters photo)

imers as energy and money savers

For years home owners

have installed automatic
electric timers as burglary
prevention devices, to turn
lights on and off automatical-
ly to make homes look
occupied when residents are
away. Now timers are being
used as a special way to help
homeowners fight skyrocket-
ing utility bills.

In this -new application,
timers can be used to help
control some of the most
voracious consumers of
energy in the home: the
furnace, air conditioning
systems and electric water
heaters, as well as be used

for the familiar function of
turning lights on and off at
specific times.

In 1975 an_ electronics
engineer named James Hall
in Columbia, South Carolina,
experimented to find out if.
there really was an energy
saving by using timers. He
found that in one year timers
helped by cutting his elect-
ricity bill by $800.

According to an_ Illinois
Timing Device manufactur-
er, a timer designed by his
company used in conjuction
with the electric hot water
heater reduced homeowner's

electric bills by about $15 per.
month. He said a 40-gallon
quick-recovery electric water
heater uses up to an averdge
of 750 kilowatt hours of
electricity each month. By
setting a specially designed
timer to turn it on only three
hours a day, enough for
sufficient hot water, 375
kilowatt-hours a month can
be saved. Figured at 4 cents
per kilowatt hour, this was a
saving of $15 per month or
close to $200 per year.

Other timers can be used
to help reduce heating and
cooling costs on a central
system controlled by a single
thermostat. Designers of this

new timer say a homeowner
can realize a9 to 16 per cent
saving in heating costs if it is
-used in tandem with a
temperature setback mech-
anism, connected to the
timer by a length of flexible
plastic tubing and plugged
into a wall outlet near the
thermostat.

When the timer flicks the
setback mechanism on,
slightly heated air is blown
into the thermostat which
then “‘thinks’’ the room has
warmined up and reacts by
turning the furnace down.
The same timer can be used
with air conditioning equip-
ment in summer.

If you are in the market for
another home right now, the
Real Estate Board of Greater
Vancouver reminds potential
buyers there are other ways
to minimize fuel use by
choosing that home wisely. A
two-storey design with a
smaller roof area or a
square-shaped home has Icss
heat loss area.

‘

Look for a house where the
biggest windows face south.
Large expanses of glass
could be double glazed or
should be covered by insulat-
ed drapes to cut winter heat
loss. Check the present

insulation or additional insul-
ation possibilities in arly
home you're considering.

Besides checking with
your electrition to see what
timers can do for you in
energy saving, make energy
conservation an important
part of the investigation if
you’re looking at houses
right now.

Additional energy saving
tips are outlined in a free
pamphict called What can
one family do? available to
houscholders from = any
member of the Real Estate
Board of Greater Vancouver.