How I achieved massive cost and carbon reductions for the cost of a bathroom

A sustainable, feel-good home for a modest cost

Our 20 year old furnace and leaky hot water heater were at end of life. I did a bit of research and learned that electric, sustainable alternatives were the way to go - but I had to be proactive before they broke down in an emergency. 

So I electrified my century-old home, saw my energy usage, energy bills and home carbon emissions drop to near 0, and my family now lives in a significantly more comfortable and healthy environment. 

I did it all for a cost comparable to your average bathroom reno. Read on to find out about what was done, costs, savings and more!   

Background

Read our blog post on Jouleia's origin story to understand my personal motivations, the many benefits that come with properly electrifying your home, and the challenges I faced when trying to decide what to upgrade and how. While every home is different this type of result is within everyone's reach. I wasn't an expert when I started this process, and you don't need to be either. Also a couple things I explicitly wasn't looking to do:

1. A "deep" retrofit. I did end up achieving a 40%+ reduction in energy usage which is the definition of a deep retrofit, but not intentionally! 
2. A "net zero" home. 

How I did it

Broadly speaking the home upgrades fell into 2 categories:

1. Weatherization: Air sealing and insulating the home. These prevent energy from escaping the house. Done right, and paired with a proper HVAC install like a heat pump you can fix issues like mold and icicles and make your house much more comfortable, eliminating hot and cold spots.
2. Electrification: Replacing all my fossil fuel appliances with energy efficient electric alternatives, and then adding solar panels to the roof. These greatly reduce the amount of energy consumed by your house, and will also greatly reduce emissions in most provinces. They also make the home healthier and safer since you're no longer burning fossil fuels in your home which releases toxic fumes and are a leading cause of childhood induced asthma.

Weatherization Upgrades

Here are the weatherization upgrades I performed:

1. Air sealing: The most important thing you can do to make your home more energy efficient and comfortable is air sealing. It's also one of the most affordable! It mostly involves weatherstripping and caulking, you could even do it yourself if you wanted to.
2. Basement insulation: First I spray foamed the basement headers. Basement headers are the parts of your basement that aren't actually underground but rise just over ground level. Uninsulated basement headers are a huge source of heat loss in many homes. I also spray foamed the walls of a previously finished room with mold issues which I was turning into a bedroom. This required taking down the existing drywall, then spray foaming and replacing the drywall. The mold issues cleared right up and it's a much more comfortable space now! 
3. Attic and roof insulation. First I spray foamed the floor of the unfinished attic to create a very good seal. Then I topped it up with blow-in cellulose to properly insulate it. Cellulose insulation is just old recycled newspaper. I also have a part of the roof which is flat, I drilled holes into a bedroom ceiling and pumped dense pack cellulose insulation into it. 

For insulation - I focussed on the basement and the attic because it's the biggest bang for your buck, reducing the impact of the stack effect. Note I did not insulate the walls or exterior foundation of the house, which would have been much more disruptive and expensive insulation options and are usually recommended for deep/net zero energy retrofits. 

Electrification Upgrades

Here are the electrification upgrades I performed. My furnace and water heater were around 20 years old and at high risk of failure which upped the urgency. Not sure how old your furnace is? Find out by creating a retirement plan

1. Bye bye 20 year old gas furnace, hello air to water heat pump! I replaced my gas boiler with a super efficient cold climate heat pump, which heats the water in my old cast iron radiators up to 45C all winter! 
2. Hello A/C! I added a 2nd cold climate heat pump with 2 mini-split heads to the 2 floor. The house now has air conditioning for the first time, and of course being heat pumps they can be used for heating too if ever needed.
3. Good bye gas water heater, hello heat pump water heater! Replaced my gas water heater with a super efficient heat pump water heater.
4. New induction stove. Replaced my gas stove with an induction one. 
5. Electrical upgrades. I upgraded my panel from 100amps to 200amps, and added 240V outlets for my new stove, heat pumps and heat pump water heater.

We also installed a solar system! Since the whole home now runs off electricity we can power it with clean energy harnessed straight from our roof.

Would I change anything? 

Given what I know now, I probably would change 2 things to reduce costs:

1. I would skip on the 200amp electrical upgrade. I've seen many examples of people that have been able to do all of this on 100amps.
2. I would consider a regular electric hot water heater vs a heat pump water heater. Although less efficient they are much cheaper up-front.

That said I have no regrets with any of the purchases! 

What It Cost

I'm sure many of you are thinking this must be crazy expensive. It certainly isn't cheap, but it's entirely comparable to a major bathroom or kitchen renovation. I was able to take advantage of rebates to cover about 25% of the cost as well. Breakdown below:

Wait - what about solar?

Good catch! It was expensive, but I was able to use some great federal 0% financing options to make it quite affordable and spread the costs over 10 years. I'm going to discuss how it worked in a follow-up post.

Benefits:

The investment from these upgrades has definitely paid off.

1. Energy bills go to almost $0. The weatherization and electrification upgrades reduced our energy bills from $3200 to $2100. This despite the fact that electricity is 3x the cost of natural gas in Ontario. That's the power of all the efficiency upgrades we made! Energy bills then go to almost $0 with the solar system!
2. Home carbon emissions cut by 98%. They went from 7.6 tonnes a year to a measly 0.2 tonnes. That's a savings of 7.4 tonnes - which is equivalent to preventing 40,000 lbs of coal being burned annually!
3. The house is way more comfortable. 2nd floor bedrooms that were previously way too hot and cold depending on the season feel much more comfortable now.
4. A drier, healthier, mold-free basement.
5. We have air conditioning for the first time! 
6. The induction oven is great. I liked my gas oven, but the induction is equal or superior in every way.
7. Reliable heat in the Canadian winter. Our heat pumps have survived 2 winters, the house has stayed warm and comfortable throughout. We did have a motherboard failure after a year but it was covered under warranty and promptly replaced.
8. We've never run out of hot water with our new water heater
9. 87% reduction in energy use. The weatherization and electrification upgrades reduced our energy usage by 50%. Adding solar into the mix reduced it by 87%! 

Short Cuts

For anyone looking to start with sustainable upgrades here's a few short cuts:

1. Plan your furnace retirement, don't wait until it breaks! ~85% of your energy usage comes from your heating, cooling and water heating. To have the greatest impact start with heat pumps and your hot water tank. 
   • You should understand when is the right time to replace your heating and cooling systems, and plan for their retirement!
   • You can also see a preview of the cost and energy impact of replacing those systems with Jouleia's calculator
2. Weatherization can also have a major impact for older homes, especially ones built before 1990. It may be required to ensure your house stays comfortable with a new heat pump on the coldest days. While the right solution and biggest impact can vary from home to home, if your basement and attic are light on insulation that is probably the best place to start. 

You - yes you! - could also do this

We founded Jouleia so others could learn and take advantage of the many benefits that come with sustainable upgrades, starting with heat pumps. We're here to help answer any questions you may have. Reach out anytime.