One family’s journey to energy efficiency & renewables
The Greens have talked about going solar for some time, they knew this was the route they wanted to take. They were used to losing power all the time due to big storms. Once they had children, and one particular storm had left them without power overnight and the house went to almost below zero, they decided they needed an alternative heat source. The owners’ home was equipped with a heat pump that helped to cool during warmer months, however it was not rated for winter time at temperatures below minus 15 Celsius. So they started their journey with a high efficiency fire place (RSF brand, installed by Sunpoke). With a split entry house, the fireplace provides heat for both floors. The fireplace burns wood, while minimizing its emissions. Once the fireplace was installed, they noticed a drastic reduction in their power bill. So they started to look at their habits and where they were spending the most power. Without proper knowledge, it was a challenge at first. Then they started to look at how they could reduce their electricity usage. They bought a generator initially to help with the outages.
