Changing for Climate Series*
(David Dodge of Green Energy Futures worked with the City of Edmonton to produce a 14-part series on people Changing for Climate – we are pleased to present an adapted version of the original story here)
When Darcy Crichton sat at her kitchen table, she could feel the cold air seeping through the outlets on the north wall of her 1969 bungalow.
Darcy and her husband Darren knew they had to do something. Little did they know, 24 years ago, those first steps taken to make their home energy efficient would lead them on a journey to a net-zero home.
Determined to do all the work themselves, Darcy and Darren decided to first tackle improving the insulation in their walls. They painstakingly stripped all the old stucco off and added a new 2 x 4 wall to the exterior of the existing wall. After some hard work and research, they realized they also needed to insulate their foundation walls as well.
“Darcy and I dug down to just above the weeping tile and we ended up putting two inches of Styrofoam on the exterior wall,” says Darren.
“Oh boy. There was a lot of digging, a lot of digging and it was trench digging. So, not a lot of space and lots of lifting the dirt up. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into all our projects, but this one in particular,” recalls Darcy.
They replaced all the insulation in the original walls and filled the new exterior wall with new insulation, carefully air-sealing the entire wall.
Key to success – Always looking ahead to the next project
Before turning their attention to the roof, Darren had researched solar systems and he learned that a standing seam metal roof was good for solar.
The seams would make mounting solar easy and the metal roof offers great protection from increasingly severe weather events.
After sealing the roof, they removed the old wood chip insulation in the attic and added 18 inches of blow-in insulation to complete their building envelope.
Solar powered car
The couple was also in the market for an electric vehicle so their initial solar system was sized to also provide energy to charge the car. They ordered the Tesla Model 3 soon after it was announced and in the process, Darren gave up his 1981 Corvette that he had for 30 years. “It’s an antique, my pride and joy, but after having this car (Tesla Model 3) I decided I’d sell it because it couldn’t hold a candle to this car.” “It wasn’t as fast, it wasn’t as nice and it wasn’t as comfortable, says Darren.
Darren is a bit of a techie so, before having a solar system installed, he installed an energy monitor at the electricity panel in the basement.
Monitoring energy use
By doing this, they became acutely aware of their energy use; “The dryer was using more than 5,000 watts.”
With each project the Crichtons took on, they learned more and more about energy use and climate change stewardship too.
“As you go through the whole process of making your house more efficient and more sustainable and more comfortable, the interesting side effect is that you want to make it more sustainable and more comfortable, and you want to get closer to net-zero. So, it’s kind of a little challenge that you give to yourself to see if you can get there,” says Darcy.
“I really am enamoured with solar power,” says Darren.
So, when the province announced a solar incentive program, they installed a 10.6-kilowatt solar system on their home and garage.
“We charge our car with solar. We heat our house with solar. We heat our domestic hot water. We do everything with solar,” says Darren.
Heat pumps heat and cool the home
Then came the heat dome in the summer of 2021 when temperatures broke records in the high 30s.
“We definitely realized that we were offside, we didn’t anticipate having two weeks of super-hot weather where we couldn’t even cool down the house at night,” says Darren.
The Crichtons had an old, inefficient gas furnace so, after some research, Darren and Darcy decided to install a geothermal system with a ground source heat pump.
They drilled geothermal ground loops under half of their front yard and replaced their gas furnace with a heat pump that runs on electricity, which pairs with their solar-powered home perfectly.
The Crichtons are now ready for climate-changed summers since the heat pump heats the home in winter and provides air conditioning in the summer. The heat pump is very energy efficient, up to 400% for heating and up to 700% for cooling.
The heat pump does this more efficiently and is cheaper than natural gas.
Climate-friendly landscaping
Darcy’s environmental values have also extended into their yard.
“We started about 20 years ago with a real conscious decision to not use water on our landscape,” says Darcy. She completely removed the lawn in the front and replaced it with a beautiful xeriscape, consisting of drought-tolerant native plants.
Darcy also collects rainwater which she only uses in her vegetable garden.
The Crichtons received incentives from Alberta for their solar system and rebates from the City of Edmonton and the federal government for their geothermal system.
The journey continues
Inspired by their own success, since we filmed this story the Critchtons have added 10 kilowatts of solar and have eliminated their gas line and associated bills. After one year their utility bill has a positive balance.
Darcy and Darren have also replaced their gas stove with a nifty energy-efficient induction stove.
The Crichtons now have an amazing, energy-efficient, comfortable home that is ready for a climate-changing world. They didn’t even know what net-zero was when they began their journey, but they made smart choices by always doing their homework and looking ahead to the next step in their Do-It-Yourself journey.
Green Energy Futures CKUA.com Podcast
*(David Dodge of Green Energy Futures worked with the City of Edmonton to produce a 14-part series on people Changing for Climate – we are pleased to present an adapted version of the original story here)
