Lynda's Story
As a homeowner living on disability, Lynda faced many challenges, including maintaining an older home on a fixed income.
To mark the Home Upgrades Program’s one-year anniversary in Edmonton, a former HUP participant welcomed the program’s upgrade team, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation, and the City of Edmonton’s Mayor Sohi to visit her home and hear about the program’s impact on her life.
As a homeowner living on disability, Lynda faced many challenges, including maintaining an older home on a fixed income. She shared her experience with her home’s aging furnace, describing how it would fluctuate between overheating the house, then turning off until the house turned cold again, rather than maintaining a stable, comfortable indoor temperature. Adding to the discomfort was her home’s lack of insulation, as well as her poorly sealed front and back doors which allowed cold air to slip in during the winter.
“I remember one night I actually had to put a blanket over the back door, on the inside and shove it up and keep that door out of use for the winter,” she recalled.
To make things worse, Lynda also struggled with debt, which increased her monthly expenditure by an additional $200 a month.
Lynda discovered HUP while researching small business start-ups in Alberta.
“I want to start up a bed and breakfast here you know, because my kids have left home. I've got three bedrooms upstairs and two downstairs. I used to work at [an oilfield] camp. And I know how they work,” she explained. She proceeded to describe her vision to build a homebase for Alberta’s oil and gas workers. “I worked as a chef, and those boys came home tired and hungry. I love to cook, and I’d like to make this place comfortable, and not charge them a whole lot. So, they can come home to a nice home-cooked meal”.
Seeing an opportunity to make her house more comfortable, lower her bills, and save enough to start a bed and breakfast, Lynda applied to the Home Upgrades Program in August 2023. Following her home assessment, the HUP team installed a new high-efficiency furnace, attic hatch insulation, three new windows, and added air sealing.
Having received her upgrades last fall, Lynda was eager to speak about the impact the program has had on her life and energy bills.
“I was just shocked when I found out I qualified, and after they did the upgrades, everything changed in the house; the air quality, the temperatures were more even... it was just better air in the house. And as far as the insulation and the roof goes, they put about 4 inches of insulation all around, and especially where the eaves were... So it was, I don't know, it just seemed to seal the house from the outside,” she explained. “I am looking at my electric bill, and my gas and power bill – and I see a significant drop."
The change in comfort was also noticeable throughout the seasons, thanks to new insulation and energy-efficient double-pane windows.
“[It’s] definitely cooler in the summer. When it’s 30° out there, it’s about 20° in here. It’s a really big difference, you know, you’re not sitting here just sweating away. I know it’s a really old house, but it’s in really good shape, and I plan to pass it on to my family.”
Beyond additional comfort and lower bills, Lynda also expressed feeling safer thanks to the double lock system on her new windows. Her old windows had locks that could easily be unlatched and opened from the outside.
Throughout the day’s conversations, Lynda continuously expressed her gratitude. “I’m so happy,” she said, describing the day she received the upgrades as “joyous.” “I just stood there when Tim [Edmonton’s former HUP construction manager] came in and told me what they were going to do. He said, ‘what’s going on?’, I said, ‘I'm just trying to take this all in.’ They came [to Lynda’s home] so fast, and they did it [upgrade installations] so professionally.”
“This program has got to be the best thing that happened to people like me, who can’t afford these major expenses,” she added. “I think the gratitude just flows out of me. I’m telling all my friends about you.”
After visiting with Lynda, Mayor Sohi addressed members of the media. “I think this program touches on many desires of the community,” he said.
“It makes life affordable, [and] it helps us reduce emissions to make our community more sustainable and clean,” he continued. “There is no other program in Alberta that allows them [Albertans] to have access to the free training and upgrades that are paid for through this program.”
The HUP team extends a huge thank you to Lynda for graciously sharing her experience and welcoming the team and HUP’s partners into her home. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the City of Edmonton and Mayor Sohi for their leadership and commitment to making life more affordable for Edmontonians.
The Home Upgrades Program is available in Edmonton thanks to generous support from the City of Edmonton, as well as other funders including: The McConnell Foundation, Suncor Energy Foundation, and the Alberta Real Estate Foundation.
Read Alberta Ecotrust Foundation’s news release here.
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