On April 20, 2024 from 2-4pm, in association with SFRA, four homeowners in the Sherwood Forrest neighbourhood will be showcasing their green home retrofits, including electric vehicles.
Come out and learn how to electrify your home and your ride! Learn from our journey and start yours today!
Why is this important? To reduce our reliance on fossil fuels (which are causing climate change and extreme weather), we need to electrify our home heating and transportation with Ontario’s low carbon electricity. Take advantage of government incentives and no interest loans to start your journey today!
HoSTS
Carol Aziz - 2934 Hammond Rd. - COLD CLIMATE AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMP AND EV
Over the last several years, we have been on a quest to electrify our home and our ride. Our main motivation is to reduce our carbon emissions.
After conducting an energy audit, adding additional attic insulation, upgrading our windows, and sealing air leaks, we updated our electrical panel to 200 amp and sealed our ducts using Aeroseal to improve air flow within the home.
In June 2022, we installed a Mitsubishi Zuba centrally ducted cold climate air source heat pump, which does both heating (down in -30C, with electrical resistance backup heat - so far we have not needed it!) and cooling. In addition to a $5600 grant from the now closed Greener Homes Program, we also receive an annual discount on our home insurance. As you can see from the photo, I am definitely pumped about heat pumps!
We have since electrified our fireplace and will replace our gas range with an induction stove this year and then disconnect the gas line!
We have a 2019 Leaf (electric, 40 kWh battery, max range 250 km) and charge at home with a 240V/32 amp receptacle in our garage. The cost to charge our EV is about a dollar, if charged overnight with ultralow overnight electricity rates (2.8 cents per kWh). But most importantly, the ride is so much more fun! We found Plug N Drive to be an excellent resource when shopping for an electric vehicle. Currently, federal incentives of up to $5,000 are available for EVs.
Got questions? Contact Carol at carolaziz2015@gmail.com
DARIN BUCKLAND - 2512 Fountains Abbey- TESLA MODEL 3 AND MODEL Y AND CHARGER
We purchased our first EV in 2016 and loved it so much we replaced our other “backup" gas car with second EV in 2018 and have never looked back. Our Tesla Model 3 and Model Y have never let us down, even during a 33 day/33,000 km cross-Canada/USA road trip in 2022! They are fun and safe to drive with the total cost of ownership often lower over the life of the car compared to similar gas cars due to its low costs to charge and maintain.
We are happy to discuss home charger installation and best practices for charging at home or on extended road trips. Given the amount of disinformation in the news and online regarding EV’s, we can discuss and reassure anyone that has concerns about range, batteries and winter driving. Having lived it for 8 years…it can be done. Happy to get butts in seats so you can experience the future of driving for yourself!
Got questions? Contact Darin at darin.buckland@gmail.com.
Pierre ROy - 1939 Lincoln Green Way- MITS AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMP (HYBRID), HEAT PUMP WATER HEATER, 2023 KIA NIRO aND MUCH MORE!
Over the past year, we have been working on upgrading our home’s systems to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, save money on utilities, and increase our overall thermal comfort.
We started by having a registered energy advisor complete a comprehensive energy assessment of our home, which provided us with specific recommendations to meet our goals.
Our first order of business was to reduce heat loss by insulating the floor of a crawl space, air sealing around light fixtures, and replacing our drafty 30-year-old front door.
Next, we replaced our air conditioner with an air-source heat pump (Mits Air 2.5T ) that works alongside our existing high-efficiency natural gas furnace. Our smart thermostat automatically switches from the heat pump to the gas furnace when the outdoor temperature drops below -12 ˚C.
We then replaced our 12-year-old natural gas water heater with a Rheem Proterra hybrid heat pump water heater. This unit uses a heat pump to move heat from the basement into the hot water. The tank also has electrical heaters to reheat the water faster if needed.
Last summer, we also purchased a 2023 Kia Niro electric vehicle. The car features a 65-kWh battery and a maximum range of 407 km. It has been a fantastic vehicle so far, costing under $1 to drive 100 km when charged at home overnight. It was immediately the “family favourite” vehicle to drive.
To understand the savings from our retrofits, we are monitoring our utility bills and power usage with smart power meters. Our February Enbridge bill was only $35, while the heat pump added about $80 to our hydro bill. As a comparison, our Enbridge bill last February (2023) was $148, and $226 in February 2022.
Got questions? Contact Pierre at pierre.roy10@gmail.com
Altaf Chaudhary- 1887 Deer’s Wold - Mits AIR AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMP (HYBRID)
In 2022, we installed EIFS ( Exterior Insulation and Finish System) for the whole house. The house’s insulation and energy efficiency were tremendously improved after the application.
In January 2024, we installed a MitsAir cold climate heat pump with Cased A – Coils It’s a 5 ton unit to serve a 4200 sq. foot area and works with our existing gas furnace as a hybrid system.
We also applied to the Canada Greener Homes Loan and received the full amount for the installed MitsAir system at the house. The procedure is quite simple and you can get up to $40K as an interest free loan, payable in 10 years on a monthly basis.
What’s next? We are currently looking into solar panels and so far received one quote to fully offset the house’s electricity requirements ( approx. cost is $25K ).
Got questions? Contact Altaf at achaudhary@duron.ca
USEFUL RESOURCES
Centre for Community Energy Transformation, Region of Peel - free guidance and coaching on how to implement energy-saving home retrofits, DIY energy saving tips, and information on incentives.
Plug N Drive- Provides information on available EVs, incentives, and offers test drives of various models.
Toronto Home Retrofits - Learn what communities in Toronto are doing to retrofit their homes! Their community model is based on the Pocket Change Project - read more about this amazing project here. Ottawa has a similar initiative called Electrify613.
Energy Neighbour - is another service helping Torontonians to retrofit their homes. Has lots of helpful information on heat pumps and incentives.
Homes to Zero - Find out your home’s climate score for free. Also offer net zero assessments and plans for a fee.
Ontario Clean Air Alliance - Provides information and calculators to assess savings from air source heat pumps
TRCA Step Program - Provides information on air source heat pumps and cost-effectiveness of hybrid heat pump systems.
Energy Auditors - Goldfinch Energy
Contractors - Spring Home Heating and Cooling, McKinnon, Switch Heat Pumps