Inefficient Baseboard Heat Home Transformed Bellingham, WA

Inefficient Baseboard Heat Home Transformed In Bellingham, WA

A Solar by Barron Case Study

Katelin and Jonathan O. recently purchased a 1,400 square foot farmhouse in the North County of Bellingham, WA. Built in 1934, the home was solely equipped with electric baseboard heat. Proving to be a very inefficient heat source, their energy usage in the home was at 21,500 kWh per year—unnecessarily high, especially for a home of its size. Monthly electric bills for Katelin and Jonathan were coming in at $180 per month, or $2,100 per year.

Katelyn and Jonathan quickly realized their finances would be stretched because of the high power bills. The Barron Team stepped in to develop a comprehensive plan to reduce power bills and recommended a system that was the most economical option for them. It addressed many things from indoor air quality to a Ductless system and solar array.

We presented the plan and moved forward with the design, focusing first on the attic. By air sealing and insulating the space, we created a barrier to prevent dirty, unconditioned air from leaking into their home. And in turn, sealing the holes and cracks in the attic to prevent conditioned, paid-for air from escaping their living area.

The next step addressed the high electricity usage of the electric baseboard heat throughout the home. Baseboard heat uses much more power than heat pumps, so we replaced all the baseboard heat with a Ductless heat pump system. This would provide comfortable, consistent heat in the winter and cooling in the summer, all while greatly reducing their monthly electric bill cost.

The results were dramatic. The ductless heat pump system combined with sealing and insulating the attic reduced the energy usage for the couple by nearly two thirds, bringing their 21,500 kWh usage down to 7,700 kWh per year.

Now that annual electricity usage was much lower, Katelyn and Jonathan needed a much smaller solar array. The original solar array would have needed to be 3 times as large if we hadn’t reduced their power consumption, and a larger investment. The Solar by Barron Team installed a 7.7 kW solar array to the roof of their barn, offsetting all their annual electricity usage and making them officially net zero.

All of the improvements and costs of this new farmhouse system were financed by one PSCCU loan. Katelin and Jonathan’s monthly payments on the loan are less than their old power bills, and the value of their home has increased considerably. To learn more about our Bellingham solar services, give us a call today!

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