“Deep Energy Retrofit” results at Kurkoski Residence in Warwick

It’s Payback time!

The first winter spent in our “new” house is almost over, and we have some exciting numbers. Besides being very comfortable and warm, we didn’t miss stoking the old wood boiler at all, and the little Fujitsu air-source heat pump did a stellar job heating the house, even in sub-zero temperatures. By the time the winter is really over, we figure we will have used about $200 worth of electricity to provide heat, hot water, and ventilation from Oct – April. That’s not per month – that’s for the entire winter!

On top of that we use about $15/month for the usual lights, fridge, computer, TV, well pump, etc. We hope that the output of our 2.4kw solar system will cover all of our needs.

How did we do it? Through National Grid’s “Deep Energy Retrofit”pilot program, and with technical support from Building Science Inc. The roof, walls and basement were thoroughly air sealed and super-insulated, the windows and doors replaced, and the oil and wood boilers removed. A heat recovery ventilation system now provides fresh air, an air-source heat pump provides heating & cooling, and a future solar thermal system will give us hot water (currently electric) and supplemental heating.

National Grid’s Deep Energy Retrofit Measures for 2013 are now available for homes in National Grid’s electric and/or gas territories in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. National Grid Deep Energy Retrofit (DER) measures upgrade roofs, exterior walls, and basements in existing homes to perform significantly better than current code-compliant new homes. The 2013 DER measures are “Roof-Only”, “Wall-Only”, and “Basement-Only” in order to align with re-roofing, re-siding, and basement fit-out home maintenance upgrades. Projects may pursue multiple DER measures at the same time.

The performance incentive for all DER Measures is $1.75 per cubic feet per minute (CFM50) reduced based on pre-construction and post-construction blowerdoor tests performed by National Grid.

A special “Thank You” goes to Hamshaw Lumber, FastenMaster, and our builders Bick Corsa and Chris Martin. You can still see the house before the “finish” goes on…come on by! 

Home of Steve and Janice after Energy Retrofit Work – 2012