Phil and Pegi: Riverdale Renovation

This past summer we had the pleasure of meeting Phil and Pegi on their lovely front porch. From there we learned about the key components of their low-carbon retrofit: better exterior cladding and two new heat pumps. 

A lot of people instinctively think their homes are leaky because of their windows but houses have a lot more wall than window. An energy audit can precisely determine both the biggest culprits for heat loss and the best fixes. Phil, a long-time advocate of energy efficiency, had an audit done for precisely that reason. He wanted to know which upgrades would most improve his building envelope.

Phil next to his newly insulated exterior wall and heat pump

The east side of Phil’s home was in need of repair but instead of just replacing the siding, Phil made the wise decision to add 2 inches of rigid foam insulation underneath new stucco. This widened his home by 2 inches but it looks great and blends perfectly with the front of the house. The result is a great looking wall that provides way more insulating value.

Most of us are familiar with adding insulation to the inside our homes but it’s even more effective when it can be placed on the outside. Inside, insulation is constantly interrupted by wall studs, outlets and more, whereas outside it can run almost continuously.

On the west side of Phil’s home, proximity to the neighbour’s house prevented adding exterior insulation but his home has interior wood framing so the walls could be insulated from the inside using a method called “drill and fill”. It required repainting but it greatly improved the building envelope. In addition to insulating both sides of his home, Phil also upgraded some of his windows.  

With the building envelope fixed, the next step was to improve the heating and cooling. Phil’s home has cast iron radiators but the heat was unevenly distributed. His home was also too warm on the upper floors in the summer. The perfect solution was to install a cold-climate heat pump because it would provide both heating and cooling. In fact, Phil installed a first heat pump with two indoor heads and it worked so well that he soon purchased a second heat pump so the rest of the home would be as comfortable.

With heat pumps now servicing Phil’s home for both heating and cooling, the gas boiler is getting much less use. It’s still needed during the coldest months because it services the basement and a few other areas, but burning less gas overall means fewer carbon emissions. The other advantage to using the heat pumps is that each head has its own remote thermostat. This means that everyone in Phil’s home gets the right temperature, not just the person with the lucky room, which used to depend on the season.

In doing this project, Phil and Pegi had a little help from the City of Toronto. Toronto H.E.L.P. loans can be a good idea for homeowners taking on efficiency and solar projects. These loans are attached to the property tax so that if you move, the outstanding balance is transferred to the new owner. It’s a great solution if you want a solar array but worry you might move before it’s paid off. 

Goldfinch has Phil to thank for inspiring our tagline: Comfort and cleantech under one roof. When we first interviewed Phil about his project he told us he never imagined how much more comfortable his home could be. Now, improved comfort and reduced emissions is our goal on every project. Change is easy when it’s win-win.

Barbara: Getting Off Gas in The Danforth

Barbara lives in a beautiful 2 ½ story home just north of Danforth Avenue in Toronto. A lawyer by trade, she also has one son and one nephew, both of whom were constantly reminding her about the climate crisis and how awful natural gas is.

Three years ago she decided she needed to do something (if only to keep her son & nephew quiet!) and started figuring out what to do. It wasn’t easy, a lot of HVAC companies predominately install gas furnaces and many tried to dissuade her from making the switch from a gas furnace to heat pumps. However, Barbara persisted and is glad she did as she’s discovered that heat pumps are a really versatile and cost-effective way to heat (and cool) a home.

I recently visited Barbara’s home (while wearing a mask) to learn more about her fuelswitching experience.

Before fuel switching from a gas furnace to electric heat pumps, Barbara also wanted to understand her home’s overall efficiency so she hired an energy advisor. The advisor visited her home, ran some tests and provided her with an EnerGuide (an energy audit program run by NRCan) to guide some efficiency upgrades. Although people tend to think of replacing windows to reduce heat loss, Barbara had some wise advice to look at her walls instead. If you replace glass windows, sure you end up with less leaky windows, but they’re still glass openings. If you instead think about insulating your walls, it’s like adding a cozy thermal blanket around your home. To improve her home’s thermal envelope, she removed some of the old walls and built new framed walls that could be insulated behind the drywall. Barbara also installed a new, airtight front door. 

Although heat pumps can be centrally ducted, just like furnaces, Barbara’s home warranted a different approach. To free up precious ceiling space in her basement (that was being taken up by her ductwork) she went with “ductless” technology which places indoor units in various rooms of the home. Ductless systems are incredibly advantageous because each indoor unit has its own remote thermostat. For Barbara’s home, with four adults living on four different floors, this means no fighting about the temperature. Everyone gets the freedom to set their heat pump to the temperature they like, ensuring perfect comfort in each room, year round. 

Shown on the left is one of the indoor units and to the right is one of the outdoor units. Electrical, controls and refrigerant are all run via cables between the indoor and outdoor units. Finding the right HVAC installer is important as the location of both outdoor and indoor units is critical.

The baseboard heating in Barbara’s bathroom.

As an early adopter, Barbara wanted some back-up heat just in case (the city also required it for her basement apartment). Barbara purchased some electric baseboard heaters from her local hardware store for $60. Even though the baseboards are there, she and her roommates have found that the heat pumps provide more than enough heating even during the coldest days in winter.

As for the bills? Barbara’s costs have gone down. Thanks to her insulation strategy, Barbara saves about $100 a month, uses a quarter of the gas (she still uses gas for her hot water and stove) and is far more comfortable. Best of all, her son and nephew are proud of her for slashing her home’s emissions. 

Goldfinch Energy keeps finding that smart home retrofits like Barbara’s go hand-in-hand with improved overall comfort. Contact Goldfinch for expert advice on a heat pump configuration that makes sense for you and your home.