As many as 20,000 visitors are expected to attend the Clark Public Utilities Home & Garden Idea Fair, which begins a three-day run at the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds starting at 9 a.m. Friday. This is the 20th year for the show, which features hundreds of vendors with products and services for homeowners and gardeners, as well as elaborate landscape displays presented by the Washington Association of Landscape Professionals. The show is also host to one of the largest plant sales in the region, coordinated by the Specialty Nursery Association of Clark County, with nearly 50 nurseries participating.
Admission is free. Attendees are encouraged to donate canned goods at the gate to benefit Operation Warm Heart. Parking is $6.
Among the most popular displays at the fair is an Energy Smart house assembled by Vancouver’s New Tradition Homes. It offers the latest technology for reducing energy costs and cutting your home’s carbon footprint, including a solar water heating system and an electric vehicle charging station.
The 24-by-24-foot model home uses low-emittance, argon-filled EnergyStar windows, energy-efficient lighting throughout, a tankless “instant” water heater and a high-efficiency furnace and heat pump system.
This year, the Energy Smart house is showcasing a home automation system, said Steve Tapio of New Tradition Homes. “The system allows users to control an electronic security system, TV and surround sound, all from an iPad computer,” Tapio said.
New Traditions is partnering on the project with Azimuth Communications, a company that designs, installs and maintains custom network, security, heating and cooling, lighting, communications and audio/video systems throughout the Portland-Vancouver area.
Interest in “smart” technology has jumped among consumers this year, Tapio said, because people are “really looking for ways to cut the household monthly budget.”
The energy savings from new technology provides more of those options. “There are a lot of things about the Energy Smart Home that will keep folks intrigued,” he said.
Clark Public Utilities energy counselors will be on hand at the fair to answer questions about the utility’s conservation efforts, including incentives and rebates for energy-efficiency measures, loans for installation of heat pumps and weatherization measures and the latest on energy-efficient appliances.
Information will be available on the utility’s refrigerator and freezer recycling program, which offers utility customers a $30 bill credit for recycling old, but still working, appliances, plus a $25 instant rebate on new EnergyStar-rated refrigerators or freezers purchased from participating local retailers.
For the family: The Home & Garden Idea Fair offers entertaining activities for the family, from creating bird feeders to playing salmon life-cycle mini-golf. The Edith House, complete with smoke alarms and simulated smoke, will be on site to teach children how to practice proper fire safety steps in a fun and interactive way.
Getting there: The 20th Annual Clark Public Utilities Home & Garden Idea Fair will be at the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds, 17402 N.E. Delfel Road in Ridgefield. Hours are: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information call 360-992-3000, visit http://www.clarkpublicutilities.com or see the insert in The Columbian.
The Energy Adviser is written by Clark Public Utilities energy counselors, who provide conservation and energy use information to utility customers. Send questions to energyadviser@clarkpud.com or to Energy Adviser, in care of Clark Public Utilities, P.O. Box 8900, Vancouver, WA. 98668. Past topics are available at http://www.clarkpublicutilities.com
