Radiant Heating and Convection Heating are the two primary types of ways we heat our houses. FORCED AIR HEATINGConvection heating means moving hot air -- what we usually call a forced air heating system simply heats air and moves it around the house through a system of fans and ducts. Forced air...
I am always amazed at house construction where so often things are half built or more while people are running around beginning to think about "extras" that should never be though of as "extras" but as part of the essential system. So time for one of my lectures -- (you asked for it).Heating is o...
Peggy is moving from Calgary to Vancouver and in her new province she says she can't locate the SuperSpacer windows that she loved in Calgary. That brings up the whole question of what are different window spacers, and why some are available in some areas of the country and not others.Thermal pa...
Wiping a steamed up bathroom mirror with your hand can be grounds for divorce.The Clear Mirror electrical mirror defogger could save your marriage. This is an electrical pad with self adhesive backing that glues to the back of your mirror. You tie a transformer into the bathroom light to power i...
Paul from Prince Edward Island needs an exhaust fan in his bathroom and wants to know where is the best place to put it.If you go up through the roof, you will be unable to totally avoid condensation in the top of the duct that can come back into the bathroom. I would prefer to avoid going throu...
Patrick from Richmond BC is complaining of condensation in his bedroom windows. Why is it that our bedroom windows seem to fog up more often than any other windows in the house?Condensation is caused by a combination of low temperatures and high humidity. We tend to keep our bedrooms cooler tha...
Not all gas fireplaces develop a greyish haze on the glass window and sometimes a bit all over the inside of gas fireplaces, but many do. Most manufacturers that we contacted didn't know what the haze was but they assumed it had to do with breaking in the heated parts of the fireplace, and gener...
Yes!Traditionally thermal windows were held apart by a hollow tube of aluminium and then sealed with some sealant over that. Of course the aluminium let a lot of cold come from the outer window to the inner window. (Actually cold doesn't exist -- it is just the absence of heat and heat moves no...
Vapour Barriers should go on the "Warm in Winter" side of the insulation so that they can stop all the moisture in the air from going through the wall, but stop it where it is still warm and there will be no condensation. The problem is that a lot of air, and a lot of moisture can go through ele...
Harold in New Brunswick has a problem with moisture and mould. He has a bungalow with a 2 foot crawl space. There is no insulation in the floor and no vapour barrier under the floor. He asks if installing insulation between the floor joists prevent moisture in the house?No. Most insulation wi...
