Final Energy Audit

After all of the changes we made to the house, we were ready for our post-retrofit energy audit.  We were definitely looking forward to finding out what rebates we would qualify for!

Here’s an overview of some of the energy upgrades we told you about earlier:

• Replaced our oil boiler and rads with a new 95% efficient forced air gas furnace.
• Added spray foam insulation to the exterior walls, which had no insulation before.
• Replaced a number of the old windows.
• Put in two new toilets – both from the City of Toronto’s approved list for the Residential Toilet Replacement Program.  Dave’s choice was the American Standard Champion 4 (eligible for a $60 rebate) and Jen’s choice was the Toto Aquia Dual Flush (eligible for a $75 rebate).

Some other things that we haven’t had a chance to blog about yet are our new hot water heater and heat recovery ventilator.

Hot Water Heater
When we got the house, there was an electric hot water tank.  We decided to switch to a tankless water heater.  The small size takes up a lot less space in our basement.  We’ve been really happy with it.

Heat Recovery Ventilator
We also decided to install a heat recovery ventilator (HRV).  An HRV takes stale air from indoors and exchanges it with fresh air from outside.  It transfers the heat from the stale air to the fresh air, reducing the amount of energy needed for the furnace to heat the air.  With all the air pipes, it’s a pretty bulky looking system.  We call it ‘the octopus.’

All of our HVAC and gas work was done by Domilco Ltd.

At the end of our post-retrofit audit, we got the good news… we are eligible for the maximum rebate amounts from the federal and provincial governments!  We also learned that the City of Toronto has a new program and we’ll be eligible for a rebate for our insulation.

It feels good to know that we were able to make our old house a little more energy efficient.

Warming Up

We have heat!  Our new high-efficiency gas furnace was connected today.  Since it’s starting to get pretty chilly outside, we are happy to finally have some warmth.

As you may remember, we removed the old boiler and oil tank.  We decided to change over to a forced air system, so we removed all the rads.

 

The new furnace is from KeepRite.  It has a 95% efficiency rating, which will qualify us for the highest grant amount through the government energy programs. 

The Final Push Before Drywall

This past week has been filled with very long days (and nights!) as we’ve finished the final preparations for drywall.  Thanks so much to everyone who came by to help – Rich, Pat, Steph, Marilyn and Marty.  We couldn’t have got it all done without you!

Here’s a rundown of what we did:

We pulled communication wire (phone, internet and cable) throughout the house.

 

We had spray foam insulation installed on all the exposed exterior walls.  This will allow us to claim the highest value of rebate through the government home energy programs. We used Frank’s Spray Foam Insulation.

 

We installed sound insulation between our house and the attached neighbours, as well as between the bedrooms.

 

  The drywall is being delivered tomorrow and installation will start on Tuesday.  It is expected to take about ten days for drywall and taping.  Luckily, we’ve chosen to contract this work out, so we’ll be taking a break and getting ready for the next stage.

Washer and Dryer

Today we ordered our new washer and dryer from the Maytag Store . Our basement stairwell is super-narrow, so we need to get them delivered before the walls go back up. Once they're in, they likely aren't coming back out, so hopefully these will last us a very long time!

We decided to go for the high-efficiency front load washer and dryer combo. We will be able to claim a rebate through the City of Toronto's residential washer program.

Energy Audit

Today we had our Home Energy Audit. The audit looks at things like the furnace, hot water heater, insulation, toilets, and windows and doors. The whole thing took a couple of hours. The most interesting part is the test for air-tightness. A powerful negative-pressure fan is placed at your front door to find where there are air leaks in your home.

We have lots of leaks! There are also some other areas where we can improve our energy efficiency. The government program allows you to qualify for up to $10,000 in federal and provincial rebates for energy upgrades. We won't qualify for all of it, but we should get a fair amount back for things like new windows, furnace, hot water heater and insulation.

Mike Thomson, a friend of Dave's, was our licensed energy advisor. His email address is ecoenergymike@live.ca