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WMM BFMEEPRESS, WEDNESDAY. AUGWfrý 12.,19M2.PAGE, ln A-HOME DESIGN AND IMPROVEMENT -FEATURE Restoring enovating0.olderhomes Man ftdysconsumers are interes tedina nostalgia and preserving the pat. In fact, more' and more people are buying oider homes or townhouses - 100 to 200 years old --' for reasons of investment, achitectural appre- ciation or just toadd atouch of yesteryarte their lives. Indeed these homes -- usuaily complet. with unusual nooks, crannies and ounate touches not found i thir modemn counterparts -- are atribut. te, the craftsmanship of bygone day.. Whether you own an older home or areplanning ta, buy one, theres a goo chance that it may require a bit of, elbow grease te, bring back some .of its original spiendor. When. planning renovation work on an old home, you shbould first decide what you'd like done te the. houa.. Do you want te tetally restore it from. top te bottomn, or blend'the past and present together for a unique look that carrnes your imprint?. Renovations of older homes tend te fail into three categories: restoration, rehabilitation. and redesiun (or adaptive rehabilitation). Restoration When restoring an eider home, you are essentially returning the structure,asmc as possible, te it original appearance and condition. Tis technique is used mainly on buildings of historical or architectural interest. This proces. is expensive and involves the. removal of additions and details made during later dates. Governments and histori- cal societies, for instance, generally opt for restoration. Rehaliltatioei This proces. makes the house fuily functional by keeping the best period details of the -house, while allowing for modern comforts and conveniences. New elements are. added te the structure, but they blend in with the style and mood of the home. Rodeslgnt or adaptive rehabilitatims Tis technique makes use, of the barest, essentials and complet.ly alters the eisting home with -new materials. SRedesign is frequently used when the home is of inferior design or made fr-om inferior material, or when the owner intends te use it. for a different' purpose than it was originally intended - such as an office or apartment complex. Do sc.wdie n Once you have decided on the type of renovation your home requires and what your budget, restrictions are, try te answer the foilowing questions: " When was the hou.. built? " Who buit it -- a farmer, a crafisman, a merchant? 0 What was the original style and structure - Georgian, Victorian - brick, shingle, log, frame, brick or stone e Who were. the previou.s tenants? If the information isn't readily available, try talking- with local townspope seilyin rural areas.Yo may aise .want te, do some rese arc t the local librar or tewn hall. The information you uncover will help you get, a real'feel for the house and agood.indication of the way it may have originally looked. Planl et actio Depending 'on your, financial situation, you couldhbire somen te do the job for you, or you could do the. work yourself - over a period of time. wr YousIfeeo apa faction and a timfraefrahPhase of work. If you hure a restoration- anchitect and builder, the ME PAGE 12 Free energy source is right in your own backyad (NO) Believe it or not, you have a free natural energy source in your own baec3yad that can b. used to heat your water and keep your home conifortable ail year round, plus it won't harm the environment. 1Don't go looking for great pools ofocil because you likeiy won't find any. What you, wil- find, however, i. the natural energy of the earth. .While you may not think of the earth a a source of. heat, it la actually an enormous. reservoir for enery stored from the sun. And, net.just'a little energy - in Canada, it is estimatod that-the first 30 metres of earth beneath a typical urban lot contains enough energy. te heat, cool and supply ail the hot wat.r needs of 10 single-famiy homes ail year round. Called an earth energy system, it is..baicaily a ground or -water soute heat pump. In cold weather, it takes heat fio= the earth' or ground water and transfiers it te the hou.. through an outdoor underground piping system. In warm weather, the proces. is reversed,, the pump draws heat and humidity from warm indoor air and ejecta it te, the earth or groundwater. The beauty, of the -system i. that the 'heat 'i. fre sud .iexhaustible. Electricity i. needed. only te, operate the cempreso, circulating pump and fan. 1And, while heat 'pumps use chlorofluorocarbons. C si) as refrigerants, they use a variant form of-CFO that has an ozone- depietion value of oue-tweutieth- that of other widely used refigerants. Therefore, the earth euergy sstem i. very easy on the enviroument compared te non-renewable poiluting formé of heat energy. The . system, has three, main parts: a- circuit: of -underground ppig outoide the houa., a heat pump unit inside the houa., and a hot air çeliçr em ducts. The outdoor piping system cen be either an open lop or closed, 101 oOpen -bop system takes advantage of the heat retaiued in an underground body of weter. The wat.r i. draWu up through a weli directiy te the heat exchanger where its low grade natural heat i. extracted. Closed loop, systems collect heat from the ground by means of a continueus bop of piping buried underground.- An antifreeze solution, that ha. been chiiled by the heat. pump's refrigeration system te several degrees colder thanthe outaide soil, circulates threugh the piping, aoring heat f rom the surounding sou. Backyard enerw Depending on the land's subsoil and other conditions, pipa can b. instelled verticaliy inte the ground, tnenched horizontally or laid ina pond, river or lake. Another bonus is that earth energy systenis provide 'free' hot wat.r heating through a 'desuperheater,' or 'waste-heat récovery unit, attached te, the system. The unit makes use cf exces heat fnomn the hot refigerant after it leaves the compresser. When properly instailed, the earth energy syst.M is very quiet, and the onily Maintenance it requires i. an annual or twice yearly cleauing of coils, fflt.ra and fans. Since ail parts of the system are either indoors or under- ground, there i. no exposure te weather cconditions sud ne unsightly equipment te 'Mar the epp earnof your preperty. Sound toc good te b.b true? Well, prhaps it i. ... the euee downfal of the - system i. the initial high startup cost. These systemns cen coet up te twice as much te purchase sud instei as a gseetnc or cl,,furnace with add-on airconditioning." However,, don't let that discourage you., If -yeu use an earth energy systeni, yeur heating bllI may drop by as much as 60 par cent if you formeriy heated your home eiectricaliy. For residential, unit., the payback period i. usually five years. . Since earth energy systems reduce demand on the utility cempanies during peak perioda, .mn krovincial utilities are encouraging consumers te consider. switching. Ontario Hydro ha. led the way with up te $2,000 in incentives te' eligible> buyers, sud other provinces are quickly foliowing suit. Before you buy, meke sure you cal your'eiectri c copàuy te seS if you qualify for such a Grudsource heat pumps are relatively new in Canada but have been used in Europe since Worid War IL fhe Cqmaian Earth Energy Association (CEEA) wanted te make sure Canadien consumers were* protect.d se they, along with funding frem Energy, Mines and Resources Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Euergy and the. Canadien Standard. Association (OSA), developed a national safety standard on the design and installation of ground and water source heat pump systems. Mmi CEEANs certification program requires installer. te' meet the requirements of- the standardsi . Another OSA standard on the performance of grouud sud water source heat pumps makes sure ail units sold in Ontario meet minimum energy efflciency requirementa. fyeu docide te purchase an earth. energy system, make sure youa choose a qualified contractor and look for the CSA mark on the Unit., , For more information or a list of certified -contrcercotc the Canadien Earth Energy Association, 228 Barlow Cnes, Dunrobin, Ont. KOA 1VO, or cal (613) 832-1854. TO INCREASE the energy efficiency of your home, insulate crawlspaces. This homeowner is nlailing unfaced, insulation blankets to a sili with long, furring strips. 'HOme-in Space' at faill homne.show fiTe 1992 Fail National Home Show takes'aý giant lesp inte tthe future Sept. 24 »te, 27 as it leunches a fuil-scae replica. of the first permanent home in space., The " Dise< vi Space Honéis an exciting, ineatlr psentaton, showcasing, the lvng module thet wil h. the hub of Space Station Freedom~ that NAMA plans te, place in o-at orbit by the yar 2000. fie auàthentic 35-ft. space home will allow visiter. te walk through the interioref a real space station, learning about the unique working and living environint that astrenauts will soon call home.- People ;àil e. how tlie commonplace tasof washing, eating sud, sleeping are al very different f1or someene living in DisceveWys micre-gnvity., 'rheiicoe exhibit wll aise feature - live appearances byr Canadien -and merican astronauts, an 'actual 400-lb. Apollo 'moon walk space sit, panels, diaplaying the- new generation of varied, space -fooda and aspecial, 'NASA Spinoif'area that 'will show visitor. how everyday, products, such as cordlss- appliances, Velcro, iicwave'ovenis, thermal paint. and, freeze-dried; fooda, were intially, developed for the, spa-ce program. in. addition,> SPAR Aeroepace, Canada's space1wscience leader anc1 develp'rOf te robotic Candam wiil be. involved to highlight the îcaaia" c nneto' in the epoainof this final frontier. T'he .home show will b. at th 'e Betterý Living Centre, Exhibitioný SEE PAGE 13