ecoENERGY Evaluations: Testimonials
“Our bedrooms were always the coldest parts of the house but now they don’t take so long to warm up. When we turn off the heat at night our whole house used to cool off really quickly—now it really holds the heat. We were shocked by our first utility bill after upgrading insulation. Our house is just so much more comfortable...I can totally feel the difference.”
- Marcia Ruby, Kitchener, 2012
Customer Profile – John Jackson, Cambridge
John Jackson’s adult children are energy-conscious and tipped him off to government programs for retrofits in his Cambridge home. Self-described as “of the old school”, John decided it would be a great opportunity to improve the energy performance of his home: “[REEP] told me what we had to do and what we could save. So why not take advantage of it?”
“We don’t have to turn up the A/C—crank it up—to stay as cool. I think my wife wants to set it at 25° now; we used to set it at 21°. I think it’s going to be great.” Furthermore, John had a web-enabled, programmable thermostat from peaksaver installed so that the A/C runs less when they don’t need it and it can be scaled back through Cambridge North Dumfries Hydro on particularly hot days.
In this photo: Along with John Jackson (right) at his peaksaver installation are Ryan Parkinson of Delta Air Systems and Sarah Colvin of Cambridge North Dumfries Hydro.
House Type
1980's, 2 storeys, 2000 sq ft
Retrofits completed
- Replaced furnace and A/C.
- Replaced windows and exterior doors.
- Sealed air leaks.
- Improved attic insulation.
- Two low-flow toilets.
Energy Savings and Grants
EnerGuide rating after retrofits: 75 (from 71)
Estimated energy savings: 13%
Estimated CO2 savings: 1 tonne/year
Customer Profile – The Drapers, Elmira
When Ryan and Melissa Draper were shopping for their first house, they weren’t thinking about energy efficiency. But as awareness of environmental issues spread, the Drapers started thinking about how they could do their part.
"Our plan was to live completely off the grid." But when the Drapers looked into renewable technologies like solar panels and wind turbines, they realized they had other work to do first.
A geothermal consultant evaluated their Elmira bungalow, and he suggested that they start with a REEP home energy evaluation.
Living in the house also showed that retrofits were needed before investing in renewable energy. "The first winter we were here, we realized that our house was so cold because our basement was so cold." They planned to insulate the basement to keep the heat, but first booked the evaluation with REEP to qualify for government grants.
They already had a plan, but it was still useful to get an expert’s opinion. “Our advisor was able to give me insight into where drafts could potentially be coming in and insight into our windows,” said Ryan. “That helped out quite a bit.”
They acted on their advisor’s suggestions and sealed air leakages, replaced 3 windows, and insulated 80% of their basement.
These days, the Drapers are spending less while staying warmer. “We noticed a huge difference. Comfort was a big thing, because my wife was cold in the past. And we noticed it in our gas bills.”
House Type
1970's bungalow, 1150 sq ft
Retrofits completed
- Insulated 80% of basement.
- Replaced 3 windows.
- Sealed air leaks.
Energy Savings
EnerGuide rating after retrofits: 72 (from 69)
Estimated CO2 savings: 1 tonne/year
Customer Profile – The Moffat family, Kitchener
These are some of the responses you are likely to hear if you ask Wayne and Lisa Moffat about their experience with REEP:
“Fantastic and educational”
“The advisor was experienced and very informative”
It’s easy to see why when you look at the improvements they have achieved.
Their house scored an initial EnerGuide rating of just 31 out of 100, but after completing retrofits recommended by REEP they surpassed their potential rating of 66 by two points for a final EnerGuide rating of 68. That’s an improvement of 37 points!
The Moffats own a 1920s era, 3-storey home in Kitchener. During the winter months prior to their 2004 REEP evaluation they could feel the hot air pumping out of the vents and their gas bills were “huge”, yet they were still freezing. Now, after completing energy upgrades based on REEP’s expert advice they do not even notice when the furnace is running and the air is at a consistent temperature throughout the entire house. They credit the home assessment with helping them to design a plan, decide which upgrades would have the best return on investment, and giving them an idea of which retrofits they could tackle themselves.
Home comfort isn’t the only positive outcome of their experience; they have also witnessed impressive reductions on their energy bills. Since completing home retrofits they have seen almost a 50% reduction in their home’s energy consumption!
House Type
1920's , 2-storey, 1400 sq ft
Retrofits completed
- New high-efficiency furnace.
- Insulation improvement to attic, addition and basement.
- Sealed air leaks around windows and doors.
Energy Savings and Grants
EnerGuide rating after retrofits: 68 (from 31)
Estimated CO2 savings: 6.5 tonnes/year
“This was exactly what I was looking for, while upgrading the insulation and energy efficiency of our home. It’s rare to find a presentation which far exceeds one’s expectations so greatly.”
- J.P. Mooney, REEP House tour participant, 2011
“REEP made excellent suggestions for us to consider. We may have approached it differently on our own, thinking that was the best way to invest our money. We are very happy with the results, both financially and environmentally. From beginning to end, we had a very positive experience with REEP.”
- Jennifer Planta, Kitchener, 2010
"We were pointed in the right direction regarding upgrades and they really paid off in improving our energy efficiency.”
- Graham Hudson,
Kitchener, 2010
"Good service, and good information on how to make our house efficient.”
- Albert Ashley,
Kitchener, 2010
"Great info and great work! We had no idea we had so many heat loss issues; once we were aware of them, we could solve most of them.”
- Millard and Maria Meyers,
Kitchener, July 2008
"The evaluation was excellent and provided me with all the information I required to make significant changes to my home. I am looking forward to much lower bills, and am happy that the actions I have taken should make a large reduction in GHG emissions."
- Arvit Gliedt,
Kitchener, August 2008
“The home energy evaluation really opened our eyes to see exactly where the problem areas were in our home, in addition to those we had found on our own.”
- REEP customer,
Waterloo, February 2008
"Thanks for offering this practical every-day, every-home, theory-meets-reality way to help people reduce energy consumption for the well-being of our planet, including the people on it."
- REEP customer,
New Hamburg, June 2008
"Keep up the good work. I will be watching for future seminars, which I found really helpful, and for updates on the [REEP] house.”
- Fred R. Loach,
Waterloo, 2010
"I found the follow-up evaluation very informative.”
- Al Lebedick,
Waterloo, 2010
“Great service. I appreciated getting good advice from a neutral party. Our house is already more comfortable and more efficient.”
- Alison Sutton,
Kitchener, November 2008
“Our experience with REEP was very good, with knowledgeable and pleasant personnel. The findings in the report made us more aware of the importance of insulation with regard to saving on heating costs.”
- Howard Gingrich,
St. Jacobs, August 2008
“The ten page report was very thorough and interesting to me as I am a property manager. It made my wife and me visually realize that air leakage + ventilation problems were a priority, and that they would be mainly simple to fix.”
- Rob Leonard,
Kitchener, June 2008
"Having REEP evaluate was the best money I've spent on my home. My bills are lower today than they were in 2001 thanks to REEP's advice."
- J. Bailey, REEP Customer
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