Saved $1,000 In A Year, No More Hauling Wood: Rural BC’s Retrofit Stories (Video Series)

None of it would have happened without BC’s rebate programs.

Through our Community Energy Program’s work on the ground, we see the positive impacts of home energy retrofits every day. The impacts on people’s lives include energy and cost savings, improved health, safety, well-being, aging in place, and resilience in extreme weather. The benefits are far-reaching, diverse, and unique to each household, and numbers in a report don’t fully capture them.

To offer a glimpse into the experiences of homeowners who, with guidance from our Home Energy Savings Program, accessed financial support through government-supported retrofit programs, we are sharing the stories of seniors, families, and community organizers in a series of short videos.

We hope hearing directly from people will show decision-makers the value of these retrofits and encourage renewed funding so BC residents most in need can access these impactful renovations.

“Without the funding from ECAP [Energy Conservation Assistance Program], I wouldn’t have gotten a heat pump because I couldn’t afford it.” — Carol Woolsey, Quadra Island

Tom saved $1,000 in a year on heating

Tom McCarthy lives in Port Alice, BC, where many of the homes are heated by propane furnaces. Through the CleanBC Energy Savings Program and with help from Ecotrust Canada, he received support and a rebate to retrofit his home heating system from propane to a heat pump, which also cools. Tom said he wouldn’t have made the switch without the rebate program. In just one year, Tom saved $1,000 by switching from propane. Today, Tom is more comfortable at home and saves money on annual heating bills.

Carol, 80, is happy she isn’t relying on wood heat anymore, thanks to her new heat pump

Carol, 80, is happy she isn’t relying on wood heat anymore thanks to her new heat pump. She lives on Quadra Island in a 1970s manufactured home. Her primary heat source was wood, but she worried that hauling wood would become too challenging as she aged. With support from Ecotrust Canada and the Energy Conservation Assistance Program (ECAP), she was able to afford a heat pump system. She’s grateful the program let her keep her woodstove as a backup heating system.

Bianca says having a heat pump has improved her quality of life

Bianca lives with her husband on Cortes Island, where they raised their kids. They were heating their entire home with firewood. A heat pump has improved the comfort in their home. It was an investment in the future because preparing wood for their wood stove took a lot of time and was becoming too physically demanding. As summers got hotter, they wanted to invest in a cooling system so they wouldn’t have to leave home in the afternoons when temperatures were too high. They couldn’t have afforded the heat pump without the rebate they received from the CleanBC Energy Savings Program in British Columbia.

Ben’s family have cut their electricity bill in half after their retrofits

Ben lives on Quadra Island with his wife and daughter. They live in a big, old, poorly insulated home. When they learned about the Energy Savings Program rebate, they ran the numbers and found it was worth retrofitting their home to save on heating bills. Their new heat pump will pay for itself in 2-3 years. Already, they’re finding they have cut their electricity bills in half. They now enjoy working comfortably from home on hot days when they can turn on their heat pump’s cooling feature.

Ester has helped seniors on Cortes Island access new heat pumps

Ester is the Better at Home Coordinator on Cortes Island, BC. Over the past two years, she has helped seniors in her community access new heat pumps. Most of the seniors she’s worked with were heating their homes with baseboards or firewood. Both are expensive; she says the latter is hard to come by. She worked with Ecotrust Canada’s Community Energy team to navigate home retrofits for seniors. Afterward, Ester has heard from seniors that they feel they can breathe better now that they don’t have the woodstove on all the time, and they’re saving money.

Almost none of the seniors who had their heat pumps and insulation installed could have done it without funding from provincial rebate programs.

Margaret switched from oil heat to a heat pump with provincial support

Margaret lives on Quadra Island in a home built in the 1940s. She relied on oil and wood to heat her home, but after doing some research, she wanted to switch to a more efficient heat pump system. Without financial support from the CleanBC Energy Savings Program, she couldn’t have retrofitted her home.

Sadhu on how the Cortes Housing Society is retrofitting homes for comfort and bill savings

Sadhu Johnston said that, as a small, non-profit housing society, they couldn’t have retrofitted their tenants’ homes without the CleanBC Energy Savings Program. Seniors Village residents are happy with their new heat pumps, improved home temperatures, and they’re saving money on electricity bills.