This past week I received my natural gas bill for part of November and December. I am on a budget payment, and my bill showed an increase of two dollars for the month. Equalized on a year round budget, I now pay about $3.50 / day for natural gas. In fact, I have five gas-fired appliances in my own home. One furnace, one hot water heater, two gas fired fireplaces and a unit heater in my garage. The only reason I have a heated garage is for the small workshop.

The house was built in 1975, and if I had not taken steps to try and improve the efficiency levels of some important items, my natural gas bill would be much higher. Some of the items carried out were basically of minimal cost, while, others were more expensive. In the past 30 years the population of Calgary has almost doubled. In the same instance, the newer housing stock has become much more energy efficient.

As an owner of an older home, the first thing I would recommend is having an energy audit carried out. These energy audits necessitate using calculations to assess the amount of air leaking out of your home. Energy audits look at many of the same factors home inspectors consider. In fact, I will relate to some of the more important energy retrofitting items to review. A full energy audit will reveal the areas of your home requiring improvements and provide your home with a current rated number. The audit will also show what your home rating can achieve when the requirements of the audit are carried out. In a previous recent article I related to looking up web pages of Natural Resources Canada and the Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation. Grants are available for energy improvements and these grants are based on the level of improvements made to reduce energy consumption requirements. Also I understand the Federal Government is in the process of undertaking another project to reduce the amount of green house gases emitted by our homes - the one tonne challenge.

Main recommendations are based on my own practical experience and considering what expectations are for pay back. In discussing with other sources, if an improvement can buy back in a seven-year period or less, by all means go for it. Some other items do not pay back in this time frame, however, they will add to your over all reduction in energy costs.

The least expensive item you can help reduce your energy costs is to improve the insulation levels in your attic. Over the years, building codes have required enhanced levels of insulation to separate the living areas from the effects of cold temperatures invading the living area of the home. Today we require a thermal level of R-40 or approximately 12 inches of insulation. This level has been increasing over the last 30 years. Initially a suitable insulation was considered as R-12, increased to R-20 and now R-40 is the minimal standard. Placing additional insulation on top of your existing insulation level is relatively inexpensive to carry out. Along with insulation levels it is also important to insure your attic space is well vented. Ventilation can be achieved by natural or mechanical means. While carrying out insulation improvements you may also want to consider insulating any of the plumbing stacks, bathroom and dryer vents and other penetrations that go from the heated area of your home to the exterior.

Also consider insulating the attic hatch. I see many homes, which have suitable insulation levels, and then find the attic hatch is not suitably insulated. The hatch should have a weather seal pulled down with hooks and eyes to maintain a good seal.

Providing a set back thermostat and making sure the thermostat works is also an inexpensive way to save energy. Keeping the thermostat set at approximately. 16 C at night and when you are away at work reduces your costs. In our home we reduce the nighttime temperature to 16 C and only turn the daytime temperature to a maximum of 20 C.

Insulating the exterior of your basement perimeter walls is also a relatively new requirement in basements. Before considering this, make sure the perimeter rim joist (where the basement floor joists rest on the concrete foundation wall) is insulated. Using fiberglass batts is certainly not expensive to fill in this area. Insulating the basement walls may require some consideration for future basement development. Consequently, consider what you are going to use the space in your basement for (i.e. hobby rooms, utility areas, storage rooms, and other ideas). Plan ahead.

Make sure all the weather stripping on your doors and windows is in good working order and is not missing. Replace or install new weather stripping as required.

Reduce the temperature of you domestic hot water. Ideally if you have a dishwasher the domestic hot water temperature should be approximately 45.5 C.

If your home has hollow core exterior doors, consider replacing these doors with metal clad insulated doors. An up-side to this is the solid core or metal clad doors also aid home security.

If your home is over 20-years-old, you may want to consider installing a more efficient furnace. Most of the furnaces installed today have a rating of approximately 80% efficiency. Higher efficient furnaces are available, but the initial cost to have these installed is more and retrofitting to an older home also increases the cost.

The basic cost of a mid efficient furnace installed is about $2,400. Additional cost is added for a combustion air supply or optional humidifier.

Finally, the most expensive retro fit to the end. Windows installed in older homes are not as efficient as vinyl windows installed in homes built today. Many thousands of sliding aluminum windows were installed in the City. The cost of new windows can be budgeted for. As and when you can afford, replace the air leaking sliding windows on the west and north side of your home first. Other windows can be replaced over time. As a matter of fact, I replaced six windows on my home a few years ago. An additional four windows were replaced two years ago and the two sealed 30-year-old units have yet to be replaced. New windows provide an energy savings and also improve the aesthetics of your home.

Saving energy reduces your utility costs and is a consideration, which should be a priority in everyone's mind.

-The opinions and ideas expressed are solely those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Calgary Real Estate News. Paul Tobolski RHI, DIPL. A.A. & T. (Architectural Technology) is the owner of Ability Home Inspections and can be reached at 519-6038 or 286-HOME(4663). Paul has nearly 40 years of experience in the areas of design, construction, maintenance and inspection of homes. He has been a member of CAHPI (Ab.) since 1993 and is the past president of CAHPI (Ab.).