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November 7, 2008
All wrapped up in a Sunshine Coast 'dream' home
Posted by Nola Poirier
I am wearing two sweaters, leggings under a pair of pants, my husband’s wool socks, slippers, a toque, and a scarf while I type this from my kitchen table. It’s been more than a month since I last blogged, and a lot has happened.
In the last month, both Canada and the U.S. have had federal elections, the media has been reporting an accelerated economic downturn, and I have moved from my rental suite in an east Vancouver house to a small piece of property on the north end of the Sunshine Coast. I am no longer a renter; I bought a farm.
In this time when talk of hopes and dreams and reaching for ideals has been at the forefront of the news, it seems fitting that I am striking out toward one of my dreams. For years I have wanted to buy a little piece of land and work towards living a sustainable, more self-sufficient lifestyle. I want to grow food, shrink my ecological footprint, and live in a house that is a model of energy efficiency.
The thing about dreams though, at least my dreams, is that they always get a bit muddled in places. If I try to tell someone what I dreamed about it’s like: so we were at your house, but it wasn’t really your house, but it was, and then it turned out it wasn’t you…
That is kind of how my dream house has turned out too: it looks like there’s a wall, only it isn’t really a wall, just a piece of paneling, and the window is not attached, it’s just balanced in place by a couple of tacking nails.
The inspector estimated that the house was built in 1929, judging by some of its features. There have clearly been many owners and renovations since then, and they tell their own muddled tale, each chapter crudely nailed over the last, all building on the theme that it needs a lot of work.
The property is nearly four acres, two of which were once cleared, but have more recently become surrounded by a fortress of blackberries. The house itself has shifted somewhat over the years, leaving lots of gaps and cracks for cold air to gust in. Also, it doesn’t have a working source of heat, which explains the way I am dressed.
But the place is not without a lot of thinly veiled charm. The house has good lines, a strong roof, and a solid foundation; there is a tiny red barn with two little windows and a hayloft with big swinging doors; there are mature fruit and nut trees; and it all lies a short walk from the ocean. I can hear barking sea lions from my driveway!
Another incredible thing about living up on this end of the Sunshine Coast is the number of rivers and lakes and creeks and streams that flow past, racing the final stretch to the ocean. Living here, and getting all my drinking water from the stream up the road, brings home to me the recognition of how valuable these watery ecosystems are, to all the creatures that inhabit them, including us.
I know that in B.C., our mostly hydroelectric energy produces far less carbon than burning fossil fuels, but I also know that building more energy generation plants means impacting more rivers and the surrounding ecosystems. That’s one reason I want to do my part to cut back on my energy use. BC Hydro is asking residential customers to join Team Power Smart and reduce their energy consumption by 10%. I am accepting their challenge; in fact I want to take it further than that.
My problem has been knowing where to begin. Sitting here shivering beside my plug-in, portable heater, the idea of making big energy efficient changes to my house seemed a little daunting. I needed some guidance about the best way to resolve some of the more obvious problems, and how to prioritize other changes to have the biggest energy impact. I also needed some rebates so I could afford to make the necessary changes.
Fortunately for me, getting started didn’t require a great leap, just a simple first step. I booked a home energy assessment through the LiveSmart BC home energy program. From now until March, 2011, home owners can have a home energy assessment done to help them determine how to cut back on energy use and greenhouse gas emission from their homes. After you have an audit, you have 18 months to make changes, and you can get money back for qualifying upgrades to insulation, heating systems, windows, doors and other energy efficient changes.
My energy assessment is this week. I can hardly wait to have someone come and help me develop a plan to make my house more energy efficient. Check back in to see how it goes.
Oh, and I haven’t forgotten that I made a pledge to you to talk to my landlady about making our old rental home more energy efficient. I will still talk to her about it. Stay tuned.
Nola Poirier is a freelance writer and a key contributor to bchydro.com’s Green Guides.
Source: BC Hydro
