The Vancouver Sun reports in its Wednesday edition drafty homes with inefficient furnaces cost more to heat and have a considerably larger carbon footprint than newer homes, but the researchers believe a "quick win" is within our grasp. The Sun's Randy Shore writes that more than 800,000 of British Columbia's 1.88 million homes were built before 1985 and could benefit from an energy retrofit. Fortis BC and BC Hydro are being urged to take a serious new look at on-bill financing for energy-saving renovations. "This is effortless policy magic," said Tom Pedersen at Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. "It costs the public purse essentially nothing, yet it saves B.C. a significant amount of electricity while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." Consumer loan programs run in other North American jurisdictions have resulted in nearly $800-million in renovations. Manitoba upgrades 5,000 homes a year. One answer may be on-bill financing programs. This allows homeowners to take low-interest loans and apply the money to energy-saving renovations. The money is paid back on their utility bill, meaning the home is improved and the customer's bill does not change appreciably until the loan is paid off.