Here in Quebec, our hydro-electricity is so readily available that we have the cheapest rates in North America. Electricity is abundant, the valleys are already flooded, ecosystems lost ages ago (seriously though: dams are a problem), and the resulting methane production is dwindling. So why would anyone care about how much clean electricity we use? After all, it is the best in Canada (ergo, North America) for GHG emissions. We seem to have done a few things right, no?

Well, yes, but wait. As more people move to the cities [when they should really be moving (back) to the regions], efficiency increases the perception of abundance, and the draw on the power grid increases. The cities are not doing enough, yet, for themselves to keep the demand steady-or-less, or supply more of their own. Until businesses, municipalities, and utilities develop a local private/community power model, that electricity must come from somewhere. HydroQuébec doesn’t have many, or even any, incentive programs to help people switch to off-grid electricity generation, though, unbeknownst to many, it finally established a net metering option for self-generators to feed power back in to the grid. That will help a bit.

Elsewhere, many utilities practice load-balancing: timing periods of demand by offering consumers preferred rates, after businesses close down for the evening and overnight (when one can run the dishwasher, laundry, bathe and shower, and charge electronics). HydroQuébec doesn’t do this, either. And yet meeting future peak demand is why they want to develop new sources.

The kicker is, cheap electricity is practically designed for waste.

When I came up with the idea for Green4r | V3rt [now Rewilding], I wanted to learn the business by doing it for myself. I identified a bunch of green projects, put them into a table, and identified the priorities based on how they connected to each other, like so:

One of the first projects that I could get off the ground was changing the lighting – and it was a lot of changes. Here is one reason it was so necessary:

Recessed lighting, so beloved by designers and normal humans alike, should not be put into a ceiling that goes into the attic or space below the roof. It might look nice, but the fact is, you’re creating a hole 5″ in diameter through which all the heat escapes. As heat rises, you’re pulling air in from below, which means you are paying to heat fresh air that must come in from the outside.

Not only that, but unless you had put in a fireproof box surrounding that lighting pot – not many people have done this (it only marginally reduces the escape of heat from your home) – you are putting yourself at risk of an electrical fire in your attic, because like the picture demonstrates, the insulation bats were layered on top. The dark staining that you see on the Fiberglass Pink is where the batt has acted like an air filter. It gets dirty. Fibreglass is slow to catch fire, but it can if things melt down due to heat or sparks fly out due to damage.

One of my priority projects was to remove the seven recessed lights in my attic ceiling to cut down on those drafts. Three were in the foyer ceiling (pictured below), and four in the bathroom.

I moved these recessed lights down to my finished basement, which was dreadfully dim, with only one recessed light and a couple of sconces. But first: I finally found some sconces I liked, at ReStore, the store for recycling home renovation materials and decor.

Here are some pics of the basement now that I moved five recessed lights down there (there are now six). How dim it was before the change! Although I had two table lamps and two desk lamps that kept things cozy and functional.

Meanwhile, upstairs, I patched over the holes in the ceiling. I also installed a new sconce in the bathroom, and temporarily installed some old track lighting with the fixtures I want to keep, while I wait to get started with the solar tunnel project. That will be happening in December.