A focus on lighting

According to Natural Resources Canada, lighting accounts for about 3.5 per cent of an average Canadian home’s energy use. Thus, many Live Net Zero families zeroed in on this area when searching for ways to lower their household carbon emissions. 

The Shannons, for example, embraced the power of automation. As “traditional methods of behaviour modification and reminders to turn off lights often yield short-term results,” Samantha Shannon says, the family of five from Airdrie, Alta., instead decided to explore a long-term solution to minimize energy waste. As her children leave for school at 8:25 a.m. every day and often forget to turn off their lights, the family uses a smart system that allows them to schedule when their lights turn on and off automatically. Their smart thermostat follows a similar schedule – automatically lowering the heat when the family is away from home. By doing so, they don’t have to rely on sheer willpower to reduce their carbon footprint and effectively use less electricity during the day. 

An original feature of the MacInnis-Boudreau family’s 100-year-old home is a tiny LED bulb next to a light switch that indicates whether the basement lights are on or off. When the bulb is glowing red, the family knows they have forgotten to switch the lights off. “Having these little reminders around the house, like this little bulb, makes a difference,” said Ashley MacInnis.

Meanwhile, the Marsh family from Etobicoke, ON., also focused on their lighting system during this challenge. They installed LED lights throughout their home, which have a longer lifespan than traditional bulbs, are recyclable and can decrease energy use by 50 to 70 per cent over other types. They also invested in dimmer light switches and motion-activated lights, which shut off when you leave a room and save money on energy bills.

Downsizing appliances 

Typically, the larger the appliance, the more energy it uses. Multiple Live Net Zero families have thus explored ways to avoid turning on the stove when cooking meals, as electric ovens draw between 2,000 and 5,000 watts of electricity on average. Because of this, the DePape-Rodrigues household has been taking advantage of their Instant Pot, using it to cook veggies, for example. Compared to full-sized stoves, most six-quart Instant Pots use around 1000 watts. The Reids have also been cooking meals on this appliance, from simple beans and rice to more complicated soups and stews. “I have three boys who eat a great deal, meaning that energy-efficient cooking is not only extremely important, it has been a game changer in many ways,” said Jen Reid. 

The Proulx-Colls have also found ways to cook food without the energy demand of a full oven, discovering that their air fryer takes half the amount of time and energy to roast potatoes compared to their oven. The air fryer cooked the potatoes in 20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, only drawing 0.6 kilowatt-hours, while the oven-roasted potatoes in 40 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, using 1.09 kilowatt-hours. The MacInnis-Boudreaus rave about their air fryer, too, and often use it to cook garlic bread to accompany a meal.

Conserving water and turning down the heat

Electricity also provides comfort in our lives by heating the water we use at home. But since water heating accounts for approximately 20 per cent of your electricity bill, according to the Water Heater Guide by Natural Resources Canada, many Live Net Zero families also considered ways to cut back on energy usage in this area. 

Whenever you take a five-minute shower, you are using about 75 litres of water. Baths are double that, using, on average, 150 litres of water. The Foreman household knew they could improve in this area and recently installed a shower timer that beeps after a set time, indicating that it’s time to get out. In addition, they have installed an adjustable “stopper” that limits how far their shower handle can rotate in the hot water direction. 

Of course, it’s not just showers that use hot water: 90 per cent of the energy consumed by washing machines goes to heating the water. But switching your temperature setting from hot to warm can cut energy use in half, according to ENERGY STAR®, and if you wash or rinse in cold water, you can save even more. Because of this, many families, including the Foremans, are trying to wash more items with cold water.