Natural gas is dirt cheap in Canada. When I first began looking at the potential cost of switching to all electric for my heating, hot water, and stove, I found calculators only on US and UK sites and was shocked at their high natural gas and hydro rates. Everyone in Canada whines about gasoline prices,…
Tag: Climate Action
Are Windows Accessible?
Windows allow sunlight to come in and moments of standing, pondering the rain drumming the ground outside. Windows exist everywhere, and we accept the way designers have innovated them. But should we? I’m not talking about the science of keeping the indoors comfortable and the weather outside; I’m talking about how we open and close…
Summertime and the Carbon Dioxide Is High
Carbon dioxide. That gas of climate change — and vegetation exhalations at night. I walked into the room where my Aranet4 is sitting, a room I hadn’t been in for 12 hours and only for a few seconds all the previous day (Sunday) and my jaw dropped. 1132ppm carbon dioxide?? What the actual f—‽ This…
Toronto Hydro’s PowerLens for Solar Customers
PowerLens: Toronto Hydro’s web portal for customers who generate power. That’s you with the solar panels. Solar panels generate energy to power your home and maybe net you credits. Through Ontario’s net metering program, the solar inverter sends any excess energy your home doesn’t consume to the hydro grid. PowerLens also tracks consumption data, the…
Solar Power in T.O. for Climate Action
Solar panels have advanced in technology and dropped in price significantly in the last decade. They are now over 20 percent efficient: the panels convert 20 percent or more of the sunlight hitting them into usable electrical energy. Although purchasing and installing today’s solar panels will mean that you’ll have less efficient panels than someone…
Coffee and Snow
What is your favourite drink? I’m spending way too much time on tracking my power usage. After all, isn’t the point of going green to save power and money while being more comfortable? And how can you know you’re saving without tracking? Unlike other parts of the globe, we here in Toronto have one set…