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June 12, 2008
Langley B & B operator has no shortage of energy-saving ideas
Wally Martin knows about home energy conservation the way that Martha Stewart knows how to throw a good wedding shower.
It's in his bones.
This is a guy who checks his house's meter to check electricity consumption five times a day – and no, that is not an exaggeration.
"I've been like this all my life; I'm endlessly researching," Martin says. "I can look at a meter and walk into the house and I know how many sheets my wife has ironed. I can tell by the meter. She thinks I'm crazy," says the former house builder.
Since Martin and wife Sharon started the Princess and the Pea Bed & Breakfast in Langley a decade ago, he has set about reducing his home energy consumption by as much as 80 per cent. If he didn't need his computer so much, he'd try to get that amount down to zero. One day, he hopes to generate enough solar electricity to power a small car.
But these are dreams. Right now, the fact is that Martin has cut his energy bill from $650 to $120 for a two-month period, and he's still working to reduce it.
Going beyond the basics
Martin's efforts on his big heritage house have not been so conventional as weather stripping and insulation. He has come to his own conclusions about what works, and the big energy savers have been clever transformations that anybody could do – if they shared his tenacity, that is.
Take shutters, for example. Martin built bifold wood shutters himself for all his windows, keeping rooms cool, minimizing noise and drafts. It has meant he's all but eliminated the use of his huge air conditioner in his house.
"I think we're at a point now where I'm not going to have to use it at all," he says.
Now that he knows he can naturally reduce his house's temperature in the summer months, Martin opposes the use of air conditioners. He believes that energy consumption could be greatly reduced by turning them off.
"Put shutters on all the houses in America and you could turn off a couple dozen coal-fired power plants," he says.
Bringing back the clothes line
He is also a big advocate of the clothes line, which is making a comeback in municipalities where it had been previously banned because it was considered unsightly. Because the B & B requires 20 loads of laundry a day in their four washers, 95 per cent of his drying is done on the clothesline. That one little move translated into added benefits. It means that their $1,000 a bed fine Italian linens get twice the lifespan – and guests love it."
"I have gotten bookings because people like the idea that we dry our sheets on the clothes line," says Martin. "They see them fluttering and think, 'isn't that cool?'"
Insulation, awnings, shade trees, solar panels
He has made other adjustments too. When they bought the house a decade ago, he replaced all the windows with double paned ones and put Styrofoam insulation on the basement walls and under the floor. Over the last seven years he has planted a dozen leafy maple trees around the house to give shade. He has put old-fashioned awnings – popular on houses in the 50s – over his windows. He has put a trellis and grape vine over his gravel parking lot to give it shade.
Most recently, he installed a 10-panel solar system that cost $18,000 and is tied into the grid. It started producing power in the last two weeks.
A switch to LEDs
Martin says he has also made big savings by switching to LED lighting. Because they keep their lights on throughout the night for guests, he found savings by switching 25-watt incandescent bulbs to 1-watt LED lights. Martin had already tried out CFL lighting but after sourcing LED lights discovered they're even more energy efficient.
But he's nowhere finished.
"One thing bothering me at the moment is phantom power," says Martin.
"We have appliances – washers, microwave, two fridges, a router, a cordless phone, a modem. We have power bars with lights on them, a printer.
"Every one of those has a transformer on it. It's sucking power. I don't know what to do about that."
Taking on the fridge
He has done something with the refrigerators, however.
"I've done something a bit revolutionary here," he says. "It's not something a lot of people can do, but it should be taken a look at."
Martin has put two inches of Styrofoam insulation around the backs and sides of his fridges, careful not to impede airflow that runs over the compressor, fan and condensing unit underneath. He has yet to do the doors of the fridges, and he may add another 3 or 4 inches of insulation over their tops.
And yes, some might think he has indeed gone over the top. To show them exactly how he's done it, he's even hosting a Solar Energy Fair on July 30 from noon to 8 p.m. at the B & B. He wants to help educate others about his unique efforts at sustainability.
"When I was a kid I remember hearing, 'Electricity is so cheap it will be free, don't worry about it.' That was in the 50s. We grew up thinking that way.
"I know I cannot change the entire world by myself. It isn't going to happen," he adds.
"But it's a matter of leadership. We have grandkids and I'd like them to see what we're doing. They understand solar power and power generation and being tied up to the grid. We're actually explaining this to our five-year-old grandkids."
So what does Martin have left to do? In his perfect world, he says, he'd get his power use down to zero and have enough left over to power a small electric car. Only then would he feel truly independent, he says.
"I might get one of those electric scooters one of these days," he considers. "You don't even need insurance on them, you know."
