Thermostat Switch

Canadians are increasingly replacing their old thermostats with new ones that will improve the comfort of their home while saving money and energy. It is also good for the environment. But what should you do with your old thermostat? throw in the trash is not the answer because it may contain mercury. Did you know that just one gram of mercury to contaminate an eight-hectare lake at a point where the fish are not edible for a full year? Now consider that the old thermostats can contain between 2.5 and 10 grams of mercury each. If you have your old thermostat to the garbage, the mercury will end up in landfills or incinerators, how it can come into our groundwater and lakes.

Mercury is a neurotoxin that is harmful to human health and the ecosystem, especially for fetuses and children. Exposure to mercury can cause developmental delays, speech problems, memory loss, difficulty walking, blindness, paralysis, heart disease, kidney failure, liver damage and even death at concentrations extremes.

Fortunately, there is an alternative to throwing your old thermostat with the trash. Switch the 'Stat is a program of disposal of old thermostats and responsibly to ensure that mercury is collected and managed properly. Managed by the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) on behalf of manufacturers of thermostats, Switch the Stat 'connects you with one of more than 1,100 contractors involved replacing your old thermostat with a programmable energy efficiency new model while the safe disposal of old and switches containing mercury. The program is currently offered in Ontario and will be coming to British Columbia in spring 2010 and for the rest of Canada shortly after.

To make the transition easier, many utilities around cash rebates of Canada provides for the replacement of older, non-electronic thermostats with new programmable thermostats. Programmable thermostats save you energy and money while improving the comfort of your home. They are good for the environment. Turn on Stat 'offers the added comfort of knowing that your old mercury thermostat will not end up harming the environment.

Since it began in April 2006, the program has collected more than 35,600 mercury-containing thermostat switches, effectively diverting more than 89 kilograms of mercury into the environment.

More information and a list of participating contractors can be found online at www.switchthestat.ca .

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