18 - Friday, November 28, 1936 - North Shore News “IS YOUR FURNACE 20 YEARS OLD?” **... if so, it?s on borrowed time”’ (3@ Super Saver Furnaces Save 30% to 40% over standard gas furnaces .. UD to 50% over standard oil furnaces For free expert honest advice call Gino Fera 253-7511 anytime Our 41st Year in Business fos HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING (8.c,) cta. 1230 COMMERCIAL DR. § VANCOUVER, B.C. § $949.00 INSTALLED SUNDAYS TIAM-SPM Vad Features: 39" Glass Viewing ¢ Ashtray Cleanout « Easy to Install « 2 Blowers (Thermostatically controlled) ¢ Variable speed * No Creosote Problems °24 sq.ft. Heat Transfer Area 14,000 customers can’t be wrong! CHIMNEY CLEANING AND REPAIRS TOO! 4538 Kingsway, Burnaby GRANNY’S 438-6558 “Save a bundle at GRANNY’S” WOODSTOVES « FIREPLACES « ACCESSORIES TODAY, AS two hundred years ago, a woodstove’s warmth places it at the centre of a home. But today’s woodstoves are more diverse than our ancestors’: today we have fireplace inserts, heat ex- changers, central furnaces and boilers, pool heaters, fireplaces and simple parior stoves, to name a few. Construction techniques and materials are different now, too. Precision casting equipment has made the traditional cast iron stove airtight. Automated welding devices permit plate steel air- tight woodstoves. Cast iron is the more durable of these materials by far. Plate steel stove manufacturers usually line their stoves with fire bricks. The bricks protect the plate steel from the rapid oxidization which is the essence of wood burning. A word to the wise: beware of the plate steel stove with steel baffles welded in place directly over the fire. - They will likely burn out quickly. Furthermore, they will be difficult and costly to replace. Both cast iron and steel stoves are available with ceramic glass windows for safe fire viewing, or with decorative porcelain finishes. Porcelain is not a paint but a colored glass finish melted over the stove's exte- rior. The resulting exterior finish is not only beautiful but permanent. The best stoves now available are likely as good investments as fine furniture. They are certainly as attractive. Wood stove efficiencies have approximately doubl- ed over 200. Older stoves, like today’s fireplaces, sucked air voraciously to produce their fires. Modern stoves, at least the airtights, restrict house- hold as: loss to a minimum to support combustion. Efficiency is a technical term. It refers to the overall efficiency of a product. And the overall efficiency is established by multiplying combustion efficiency by transfer effi- ciency. For example, suppose your fireplace burns up 90 per cent of the wood you put into it — it is therefore 90 per cent combustion efficient. But it takes more heated air from the house to do that than it delivers or transfers: 0 per cent transfer efficiency. So the fireplace’s overall efficiency is 0 per cent (0x90 equals 0). Most of the best modern woodstoves have overall efficiencies roughly between 60 and 80 per cent. They are, in other words, almost as good as regular gas furnaces. The most efficient stove made, though, may have its performance drastically reduced by poor installa- -tion practices. Those usually involve draft. If your fireplace insert does not work well, suspect the draft first. The appropriate draft will produce the highest efficiency. SAVE HEATING DOLLARS enovate efficiently From page 17 air available to a fireplace can also reduce the amount of heated air drawn up the chimney. Fresh-air intake ducts bring combustion air the fireplace. CANNEX—— CONSTRUCTION SPECSALISTS CARPORT IONS TURN YOUR CARPORT INTO YOUR OWN GARAGE CONVERS — FREE ESTIMATES — FACTORY DIRECT PRICES PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENTS WITH THE BEST “ BETTER INSULATION * OPTIMUM SECURITY * INCREASED HOME VALUE * PROTECTION FROM THE ELEMENTS * FINANCING AVAILABLE WE HAVE THE ONLY GARAGE DOOR SHOWROOM OW THE NORTH SHORE CHECK OUR SELECTION, AIVE US YOUR IDEAS! from the outdoors to the front of The ducts should be equipped with a tight-fitting damper that can be closed when the fi replace i is not in use. Glass doors.can be an attractive addition to a fireplace © and can help prevent house air from being lost up the chimney when the fire is dying down or when the fireplace is not in use. If you're in- stalling a new fireplace, ensure it is energy efficient. Major kitchen renovations, such as the addition of new cupboards, also provide an opportunity for air sealing or insulation work. If you’re adding a _ south-facing breakfast nook, consider incor- porating energy-efficient windows in the design for a_ pleasant solarium-like effect that takes ad- vantage of passive solar heat. In the bathroom, do as much caulking and insulation work as possible (insulate on the cold side of the water pipes to prevent freez- ing). Many caulking materials are moisture resistant, making them ideal for the bathroom. Also, consider installing a flow restrictor shower head to. reduce the amount of hot water used. Before finishing the basement ceiling, tape all joints in the hot air ducts (you might even consider in- sulating long runs of duct work). This will help get more of the heat from the furnace to its destination. Caulk all cracks in the exterior masonry walls, install insulation and add an air-vapor barrier. Energy efficiency can even be incorporated into renovation work on the outside of your housc. For example, if you have gone to the trouble of excavating to repair leaky foundation walls, it makes sense to insulate these walls from the outside before backfilling. In any case, make sure the wall is well damp- proofed. Before re-siding your house, add insulation from the outside or use insulating siding. And if you’re adding a pool or buying a new heating system for an_ existing pool, consider buying a solar water-heating system.