The past week has been a mixed bag entirely on the house front. I had the initial energy audit/assessment last week ($168, due to a $150 subsidy from the gov't) which I used
Energywise Solutions. In a nutshell it was probably one of the best dollars spent thus far. He did a pretty quick tour of the place, took some basic measurements, looked at materials (windows, walls, insulation, etc.) and then did a blower test (seal the house, suck out the air and then see how long it takes to balance - which tells you how much air is leaking in). It took about an hour in all, and he then sent me a report later that night. The good news: I'm eligible for many thousands of dollars in subsidies. The bad news: to receive them, I have to have the building envelope in place by March 31st, which is going to be VERY tight according to our timelines.
Over the weekend, Kris and I went to the Vancouver Home Show which was interesting, but not mind blowing. Did get a bunch of options for everything from heat recovery ventilator systems, to sheds, to countertops, toilets, and so forth. Here are some of the ones we're thinking of:
1)
Modern Shed: Shed, gear storage, guest room, office...all in a very cool shell. Not sure what size we'd do (probably below the non-permit size of 107 sq.ft) - or even if we can do it - but it's definitely appealing!
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| Example of a a "Modern Shed" shed. Hey baby - nice clerestory windows... |
2)
Eco by Consentino: pretty awesome countertop surface - green, durable, looks great...but a bit pricey. We'll see if we can swing it in the end....
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| White Diamond is our choice of colours |
3)
Dual Flush Siphonic Water Toilet /
Fresca Dorado Elongated Toilet: We're desperately in search of a pimpin' dual-flush toilet that doesn't have nasty areas to clean. Here are our faves thus far...
4) Lighting: I quite like the
Le Klint lamps (stylish and affordable), but there are lots of options on that front. My other lighting of choice includes this Nuevo
Asparagus lamp and the classic Poulsen lamp
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| Le Klint |
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| Nuevo Asparagus |
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| And the classic Poulsen Artichoke (don't ask me why they want to name them after vegetables) |
I could go on, but I'm several weeks behind in posting, so that will do for now...
Great Posts Alexis. Look forward to following your journey.
ReplyDeleteOne of the HRV vendors that you would have seen at the Home SHow is Eneready (enereadyproducts.com). David is a industry leader in this filed and has some excellent products coming on stream that are substantially more efficient than just about anything else on the North American market.