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Shortly after moving in they had an energy advisor conduct a preupgrade assessment, the first step in their extensive energy efficiency retrofit. The most significant recommendation from the assessment report was to replace their home’s electric baseboards with an energy efficient central heating system. Jeff determined that with the grants available from the Efficiency NB’s Residential Energy Efficiency Program and the federal ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes program, a ground source heat pump would provide an efficient system with low operational costs and a reasonable investment payback period.
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When Mark Curtis moved to New Brunswick from his native England, he soon realized that keeping warm was going to be priority. The drafty, century-old, red farm house he purchased in Williamsburg was far from warm and cozy and was costing him a small fortune to heat.
Since his old wood stove and furnace were due for replacement he smartly decided to take a step back and look at his options in a more comprehensive and practical manner. Mark figured that investing into making his home more energy efficient would provide a better payback down the road, so he took the first step and contacted an energy advisor to see what upgrades he could undertake to maximize his energy savings.
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FAMILY ENJOYS THEIR FIRST COZY WINTER IN OLDER HOME
In the four years since the Furlotte family moved into their 69 year-old home, being cold had become the norm. Maryse Furlotte thought that re-caulking the windows would eliminate the drafts they felt whenever they sat on their living room couch but it didn’t make much difference. They also added a wood insert to their fireplace but that only seemed to heat a small area.
When ice build-up on their roof led to extensive water damage, investigation by their insurance agent revealed their house had very little insulation. Except for wood chips in the attic and old t-shirts stuffed between the basement walls, their house, like many built around that time, was not insulated. It was commonly believed at the that walls breathed better that way.
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AN INCREDIBLE JUMP IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Wendy Martin and her husband, Gilles, decided to renovate their 150-year-old home in Springfield to make the drafty house warmer and easier to heat during the winter months. Thanks to a number of energy efficiency improvements, the Martin home went from an EnerGuide rating of 0 to 75, an incredible jump in rating that brings the Martin home close to par with average houses built today. Efficiency NB’s New Homes program encourages homes to be constructed to a minimum EnerGuide 83.
“We’d heard about Efficiency NB through word of mouth and in the newspapers, so we knew retrofits for energy efficiency would make considerable improvements, but we didn’t realize just how much,” says Wendy.
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HERITAGE HOME GETS EFFICIENCY UPGRADE
When the Boudreau family moved to New Brunswick from Alberta they
had every expectation that they would purchase a house not very different to the one they left behind - a newer home in an R2000 subdivision that was heated by natural gas. “Then,” Blair Boudreau laughs, “My wife suggested we buy a 140 year old heritage home”.
While he insists he had never thought of it before, he says it sounded like a fun idea. Little did he know the challenge upgrading a heritage home in Hampton, New Brunswick would prove to be.
The Boudreau’s purchased a home that was more than 140 years old and needed a great deal of upgrading for daily living and energy efficiency. “We had a lot to learn, very fast. The house still had the original stone foundation.”
Older homes are often drafty and not well insulated, making them less comfortable to live in and more costly to heat. Most homes, regardless of their age, can be made more energy efficient however through specific, targeted energy efficiency upgrades.
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MAKING LIVING MORE COMFORTABLE
Azadeh Joulaie admits that she and her husband Khashayar Ghandi were unprepared for the climate in New Brunswick. “We moved here from Vancouver, and were surprised by how much colder it was here in the winter.” The cooler weather prompted Azadeh and Khashayar to look for innovative ways to warm up. “Our first electric heating bill came as quite a shock” said Azadeh, “and we wanted to do something about that.”
They were so surprised by the cost of heating their home that they had NB Power out to take a look at the house, to make sure their electrical system was working correctly. It was through NB Power that they learned about the Efficiency NB’s Existing Home Energy Efficiency Upgrades Program.
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SAVING FOR THE FUTURE
The Nichols’ bungalow has been a true labour of love. “I began working on the house about four or five years ago, starting at one end and moving to the other.” laughs Colin Nichols. The Nichols are nearing retirement age and realized that by making energy efficient changes to their home, they would be saving money on their heating costs now and throughout their retirement.
The Nichols had already made many improvements to the energy efficiency of their home prior to applying for a loan from Efficiency New Brunswick’s Existing Homes Energy Efficiency Upgrades Program. “Like many homes built in 1964, it needed to be modernized,” he said, “and its efficiency could be improved.”
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SAVING HISTORY. SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT. SAVING MONEY.
Doug Creelman knew, even before moving the abandoned 1840’s
home to its new location, that there would be a lot of work to do to make it liveable, but the challenge excited him. “We were happy that we could preserve a bit of the area’s history.”
In fact, New Brunswick houses are among the oldest in Canada, with over 30 percent of homes in the province having been built prior to 1960. Older homes are often draftier and not as well insulated, making them less comfortable to live in and more costly to heat. However, most homes, regardless of their age, can be made more energy efficient through specific, targeted energy efficiency upgrades.
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CREATING COMFORT IN THEIR FAMILY HOME
When Lena Manuel and her family heard from a family member about Efficiency New Brunswick’s Existing Home Energy Efficiency Upgrades Program, they knew that it was what they needed to improve both the comfort and efficiency of their older home. The program was designed to help homeowners make the right decisions for energy efficient upgrades and retrofit projects by providing expert advice and financial incentives.
“The cost of wood and oil just keeps going up,” said Lena. “And with the wood furnace, the fire would go out in the middle of the night so that it was always cold in the morning. Having a five-year-old running around the house in the morning, it was important to us that our house be warm.”
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AT THE RIGHT PLACE- AT THE RIGHT TIME
When Efficiency New Brunswick launched their Existing Homes Energy Efficiency Upgrades Program, it was a case of at the right place, at the right time. “There was a lot of noise about the program,” said Donald Saunders. “Both the provincial and federal programs were in the newspapers. You were hearing people talk about it a lot more often, and we knew there were things we wanted to get done that might qualify.”
The Saunders’ home was built in 1920’s and Donald said it wasn’t well insulated, making it less comfortable and harder to heat. He said, “There were definitely areas where we knew we could improve the efficiency and warmth of the house.”
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Jeff and April MacKinnon and their three children moved from Nova Scotia to Sackville in April 2011, and into a 150-year-old Victorian farmhouse overlooking the Tantramar Marsh. Even before taking possession they began to research how to make their home more comfortable and much more energy efficient. The MacKinnons had some experience with energy efficiency upgrades having improved the EnerGuide rating of their Nova Scotia home by 30 rating points and reducing their energy bills by almost 50 per cent.
Each month that the Allain family receives a power bill at their new 1,700 square foot house, Luc Allain sees his investments in energy efficiency paying off. The Allain family home, built with a geothermal heat pump and passive solar heating, has an EnerGuide rating of 89, putting the home in the top 1% of the province’s most energy efficient homes. In fact, this house is so energy efficient that its estimated annual heating cost could be around $600!
