Residents slim down

Rossland residents experience phase one of their Rossland Energy Diet participation—the pre-retrofit energy audit and discover what they need to do to make their homes more comfortable and energy efficient.

 

 

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Ray Smith, Certified Energy Advisor, performed the  energy assessment required to participate in rebate programs.​

When Alicia Gray and her family moved to Rossland from Vancouver last summer, they bought a two-storey home that was built in the 1940s. It was the original farmhouse on the block.

 

The 2,600-square-foot heritage home has character and it is central, meaning they can walk to most amenities in the small community. And while it has all the charm of another era—hardwood floors, rippled windows, glass door knobs—the home has one irksome quality.

 

There is no insulation in the walls.

 

“We were pretty floored last winter about our heating costs,” she explains. “There was one month where our heating costs were higher than our mortgage payment. I couldn’t believe it.” 

Gray was among the first to sign up when FortisBC, in conjunction with the City of Rossland, Columbia Basin Trust and the Nelson & District Credit Union, launched the Rossland Energy Diet program. She received a free home energy assessment, under the direction of a certified energy advisor, and help accessing financial rebates for home energy efficiency improvements.

 

On average, residents of Rossland use 36 per cent more electricity compared to other BC homes. This is due in part to the age of the homes, many of which were built when Rossland was a mining community in the early 1900s.

 

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A blower door test measures a home's rate of air leakage.​

Ray Smith, a certified energy advisor, wasn’t surprised at the size of Gray’s heating bills once he completed an energy assessment of the home.  He uses a specially designed "blower door" test – a variable-speed fan mounted on an adjustable panel that can fit into any exterior door opening – to measure the home's rate of air leakage. When the fan is turned on, the pressure inside the home is gradually reduced to allow outside air to flow into the house through unsealed openings or cracks in the house structure.

 

“Most people are very surprised at the amount of air leakage in their home. (The Gray’s) home had no insulation in the basement so when I put the blower test on and she stood at the top of the stairs, it was like a hurricane coming up from the basement,” Smith says. “It was very, very drafty.”

 

He says some homes have “holes” the size of a front door, meaning heat is escaping from the house at a very rapid pace. Areas common for air leaks are light switches and electrical outlets, fireplaces, woodstoves, attic hatches, crawl spaces and baseboards.

 

As part of the assessment, Smith produces a report with suggested energy efficiency upgrades as well as a savings sheet that details an estimated return on investment.  He says the number one upgrade that people should consider is upgrading their insulation, particularly in the basement and attic. 

Rossland resident Bill Profili has mulled over energy efficiency upgrades to his 3,600-square-foot log home for some time, so getting an energy assessment seemed logical. The assessment found there was minimal leakage around the logs but it was a different story with the fireplace.

 

“The fireplace was a big one. We will either have to seal it off or install a more modern, high-efficient insert. We also have a woodstove in the basement that is about 60 per cent efficient so we’ll be looking at that too,” he says.

 

Profili says he will replace the woodstove and caulk around windows and doors. Longer term, he will look at sealing his fireplace and upgrading windows. 

Alli Eve has owned her 860-square-foot Rossland home for the past 12 years. She signed up for the energy assessment because her home was built in the late 1800s and she wanted a baseline before she started any efficiency upgrades.

 

Eve says she wasn’t shocked by the results of the assessment —air leaks around doors, windows and an area in the kitchen between the wall and foundation — but admits she was pleasantly surprised by how well her home rated in terms of being energy efficient. The report rated her home 69 out of a possible 100, whereas the average rating for a home built prior to 1940 is 47.

 

“Considering I haven’t really done much in terms of upgrades, it was a nice surprise to know that my house wasn’t too bad. The advisor was super helpful and did recommend I replace a window, seal and weatherstrip around windows and doors and increase the insulation in the attic,” she adds. “I’ll be looking into getting those done.”

 

Eve says the energy advisor also recommended installing a heat pump but she recently installed a wood stove to complement her electric baseboard heating and has no plans to purchase a heat pump.

 

Gray says she too wasn’t surprised by the assessment results, as she knew her house “had holes.”

 

“We’ll be doing the insulation on the main floor and looking at drywalling the basement to install insulation. Keeping the heat in the house is definitely a priority,” she adds.  

 

Now that the home energy assessments are done, follow these Rossland Energy Dieters and others as they continue to choose and complete energy efficient upgrades in their homes.