O•S•C•A•R© Fida's Pizza Changes Hands - Old Ottawa South

MAY 2010
Demystifying Home Technology
By: Russell King, CCPD
Sovereign Designs Inc.
With Earth Day 2010 just
behind us, I thought it
a good time to do our
part by talking about home energy
management. Most all of us are
concerned to some degree about
saving on our energy bills and in
doing so reduce our eco footprint on
our small part of the planet. This is
the 1st part in a small series which
will cover energy management in the
home.
So for this, the 1st part of our
series, let’s talk lighting. Did you
know that lighting accounts for about
20% of an average home’s energy bill.
Pull out your latest energy bill subtract
20%; now wouldn’t you like to spend
that elsewhere? Sure you would,
who wouldn’t? Take the most basic
example: a single light in your home.
We’ve all been told that we should
replace our standard (incandescent)
light bulbs with the more energy
efficient CFL (compact fluorescent)
There were over 4,000 charges
in Ottawa in March for unsafe
and heavy/commercial vehicle
infractions and speeding.
The Selective Traffic Enforcement
Program (STEP) focus on unsafe
and heavy/commercial vehicles and
speeding resulted in 4,358 charges
being laid in March, according to
the City’s Integrated Road Safety
Program (IRSP).
Specifically, 1,063 tickets
Mothers ... Cont’d from previous page
Tradition
(For my mother, Margaret)
I vowed I’d never do it,
you know, spit on an old
piece of discarded tissue
and wipe your face.
Not the way
my mother used to.
The big cotton handkerchief
she kept stuffed
in the bowels of her handbag,
encrusted with expelled
jewels of waste that clung
to old, dry tobacco flakes.
Her spit, yellow-stained
from coffee and
non-filtered cigarettes
bathed our chubby little faces
removing sweet stains
with one foul swipe.
And now, I do as she did
and you, as I,
hold your breath
and puff your cheeks
like a cartoon goldfish.
The OSCAR - OUR 37 th YEAR Page 37
Energy Management - Part 1
bulbs. While this does reduce the
energy consumption used, they are
generally environmentally unfriendly
due to the chemicals used in the bulbs
when improperly disposed of. There
are also practical issues with CFL
bulbs: you can’t dim them, and until
recently there has been no choice in
the colour of the light they give. The
CFL bulb doesn’t sound so appealing.
So what to do?
Lets first look at changing the
switch controlling the bulb, instead
of the bulb itself. By replacing a
standard switch with a dimmer you
now have control as to how much
energy is going to the bulb, not just
off 0% or on 100%. Also you’ve
gained an excellent way to create
different moods within your space.
By dimming a single light or a group
of lights to create a lighting scene
you can easily add drama to a space.
Think of the last time you went to the
theatre, the curtains opened, the lights
dimmed and the show started. All of
that is in place to set a mood and to
create drama. Replacing a standard
were issued to drivers for unsafe
and heavy/commercial vehicle
infractions and the speeding initiative
resulted in 3,295 charges being laid.
Examples of unsafe vehicle charges
include: improper tires, obstructed
windshield, no clear view to side or
rear windows, and defective brakes
and steering.
Examples of heavy truck and
commercial vehicle-related charges
include: insecure load, load not
Police Report
switch with a Lutron dimmer can save
you up to $30/year (1).
So what about dimmers? Well,
a typical dimmer (2) will save you
energy -- an eco-dim dimmer (3) -
guarantees at least 15% energy savings
and 3X bulb life extension when you
replace your standard switch. These
dimmers, manufactured by Lutronm
the company that invented the solid
state dimmer, are the latest in the
green movement.
In addition to dimmers,
occupancy/vacancy sensors can be
installed so you never have to worry
about the light that you think you left
on. An occupancy sensor is just that, it
senses when someone is in a room and
turns on the light or lights associated
with it and when no one is in the room
turns off the lights. A vacancy sensor
will turn off the lights when you have
left the room, which means you’ll still
need to turn them on when you enter
the room.
Wireless Occupancy Sensor
My suggestion then when it
properly covered, improper use of
the designated Truck Route Network,
failure to surrender Commercial
Vehicle Operator’s Registration
(CVOR) Certificate and operating
commercial vehicle without valid
CVOR Certificate.
Each month since 2004, STEP
has been profiling and enforcing two
initiatives that target specific traffic
safety priorities. These initiatives
support larger IRSP public awareness
comes to bulbs: leave what you have
and add dimming solutions or take the
leap with LED (light emitting diode).
Although LED bulbs are fairly new
to market and therefore a bit costly,
huge strides have been made in the
field of LED technology. You can get
replacement bulbs from most lighting
resellers in the city. Be careful when
purchasing, as many bulbs currently
on the shelf are non-dimming so if
your intended application requires a
dimming styled bulb ask for one.
Next Time: Home Automation
‘With home automation systems
starting in the hundreds of dollars it
has now become affordable for most
everyone to have the benefits of
automating in at least a part of their
home.
---------------------------
(1) based on 2009 US energy
prices.
(2) Dimming your lights just 25%
saves 20% in energy
(3) eco-dim dimmers are a
trademark of Lutron Corporation
and enforcement campaigns.
In 2003, two City departments - Public
Works and Ottawa Public Health - and
the Ottawa Police Service developed
the IRSP to provide a comprehensive
approach in promoting road safety.
Ottawa residents have identified
traffic safety as a top priority.
The IRSP is committed to using
available resources to make Ottawa
roads safer for residents.