A HOME DESIGN AND IMPROVEIMENT FEATURE ______ Panefu heat Ioss Go high tech In the ongoing battle by homeowners te keep the heat in and the cld eut, windows represent an enormous handicap. Twenty-two-per cent of the heat lest in a conventionally built home escapes tbrough windows. This lest heat represents a lot of energy -- about tbree per cent of the total energy use in Canada, or the equivalent of 60 million barrels of oil each year. At current energy prices, beat loss through windows . costs bomeewners a significant part of their annual fuel buils. A new generation of windows promises te revolutionize the industry and -transform a serious liability into an attractive, energy-saving option. H-igh-performance windows apply advanced technologies and materias te improve ail three major window components: glazing,-dge spacers and frame. Super Glazings Back ini the, 1970s, researchers discovered that a thin .filmi applied te window glazing acted as a heat barrier. The film is virtually transparent and it returns up te 90 per cent of the heat given off by warmed objects inside a room. The process works equally well in either direction, keeping heat inside in winter and outside in summer. The result is lower heating and coling costs. As an added benefit, the ceating ase, blocks incoming ultraviolet light (some manufacturers now claim up te 99 per cent effectiveness), wbich is responsible for fading carpets, drapes and furniture. These coatings, called low-E," are either bard or soft. Soft or ilsputtered!' coatinga are most effective, and can refiect 90 per cent of the heat back inte the room. More difilcult to manufacture, they are more expensive. Hard coatings are more durable, cheaper and can be handled like normal glass. The coating may be applied te, the glass or te a thin plastic film suspended between two panes. A dm rNATUREWORLD 53 Baldwin Street, Brooklin e 655,1163 This arrangement perforais like a triple-glazed unit, but witbout the added weight of an extra sheet of glass. Before buying 'low-E" coated glass, ask the dealer about the type of coating tbat is used and its emissivity; the lower the rating is, tbe higher the insulating factor. F111 'Er Up Another mecbanism of beat loss in windows is convection -- the migration of beat between the two panes of a sealed unit on currents of air. One way te, prevent air movement between the glazings is te replace the air with an inert gas. The inert gases, argon u -id krypton, are niost commonly used for this purpose. In a convenient sealed window unit, *gas-filling yields only a marginal improvement in performnance. But in windows equipped with 'low-E' glass, gas-filling boosts the thermal performance of the glazing, tbereby increasing the insulation factor. ' Low-E,' gas-filled windows are now widely available in Canada. A gas-filled window sbould be clearly labelled as such by the manufacturer. Before you buy, ask about the warranty on the window and the gas seal. Edge Spaoers No matter how effective the glazing may be, the use of conductive spacers can reduce a window's overall performance by as mach as 34 per cent. Conventional windows use rolled aluminum spacers. Rolled aluminum is ight and durable (it lasts up te. 20 years), but it conducts 3,000 times more heat than the glass. New, non-conductive spacers are now being developed for use in higb-performance windows. These include plastic, extruded foam reinforced witb pleated aluminum strips, and black steel. An insulating foamn spacer is SEE PAGE 26 Christmas shopping is here. Don't get caught in the Iast minute rush - corne ta NATUREWORLD for charming, unique gifis for everyone on your ist. - Bird feeders & feed e Nature relaxation tapes* Outdoor gear -WWF' Great outdoor accessones & gifs e Books - Posters'e I . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . ... . . . . .... . . . . . ... . . ............. Saving the past for the futuÉer-.P-ýý .......... DAVID BRIGGS HOUSE Brigg9s famil y prominent in M ynie ByVMarty Wright LACAC The David Briggs House is located on Myrtie Road just east of Highway 12. It is a substantial brick farmnhouse built for a well.to-do famlyin 1857. David Briggs, witb bis brother, James, purchased the property in 1836, atter moving te Whitby Township from Stanbridge East in Quebec. David originally built a log house on the property shortly after he purchased the land. On Nov. 13, 1859, he teck out a mortgage fur 250 pounds (about $1,250 back then). This was probably to get money te bud the brick bouse te replace the log cabin. Another dlue regarding the origin cf the brick bouse is in the obituary ot' William Francis Briggs, David's youngest son. The obituary states: "The deceased was born in a log bouse on the farai he bas lived on al bis life, moving into the new large home whicb bis father buiît, wben he was quite sinaîl." His gr-avestone in Groveside Cemetery gives his date ot' birth as Jan. 2, 1857, se, the brick bouse could bave been ready for him te, move into in 1857 or 1858. A third dlue is upstairs in the attic, in the tail wing at the back of the bouse. There the construction crewp ut their mimes on a beam in lead pencil with -the date Sept. 17, 1857. The tail wing was probably added on after the main part et' the bouse was completed, but only a matter et' menths. The Briggs family played an important role in the development eof the Myrtle. area. Sylvester E. Briggs was David's oldest son. He moved te Torente in 1873 and becamne one of the founders of the Steele Briggs Seed Company, along with R.C. Steele eof Oshawa. He was president of the company from 1910 until bis death in 1926. He was an bonourary director et' the Canadian National Exhibition and was on its board eof directors for 17 years. David Leslie Briggs, the second son, operated a general store in the 1870s and 1880s at the northwest corner of Hlighway 12 and the 9th Concession in the village cf Myrtle. The store burned down in 1889. and he moved te Toronto and joined the Steele Briggs Seed Company. When bis wife, Anne Beecroft, s ~-Richmond Richmond Carpet e Armstrong Floorîng lest her hearing, he moved with his family te Califernia and opened a seed business there. Ris wife was once the editor of the Canadian Ladies'. Home Journal and contributed peetry te magazines. She belonged te the California Ladied PIress Club and wrote plays while living in Los Angeles. Henry Warren Briggs, the third son, was in the fur business in Toronto and Ottawa. He was president of the Ottawa Commercial Travellers' Club. William Francis Briggs was the only one of the children te stay on the farm for bis lifetime. He farmed the property until bis death on June 26, 1936. The Briggs farm, called Maple Grove Farm, stayed in William's family until recently. In 1987, the Briggs farm was sold te Richard Worr, ending 51 years of ownership by the original pioneer family. The David Briggs bouse bas been designated as a historical structure under the Ontario Heritae Act. LCAC (Local Architectural Conservation Aduisory Com- mittee) is a committee that aduises Whitby council on heritage mati crs. Active Carpet & rie 843 King St. W. Oshawa (West of Thomion on South Sie) -576-7847 Whitby Free Pre3ss, Wedrlesday, November 9, 1994, Page 25 Rit 1