In Home Daycare Goes All-Electric!

Delois Grady has been working in daycare for the past 40 years.  YES, 40 years! At 66 years old, it’s hard to know where she can find the energy to keep up with the 11 children in her charge for sometimes 10 hours a day while their caregivers work.

“I’ve seen kids get married, go to college, get jobs, have kids. I’ve seen it all. And I love it! It’s what keeps me going!” Ms. Dee, as the children call her, lives in a 1400 square foot attached home in the Four Seasons neighborhood in the County with her differently-abled 40-year old son who works at Kroger. He also serves as an assistant in helping the kids when he’s not working. She has 9 siblings, 6 of which reside here in Virginia. 

She says one thing that her daycare families really appreciate about her service is that she is basically always open. “I never close,” she tells me. “It’s hard for my families. If I close then I am impacting 11 families, and I don’t like to do that.” But when I ask her how she keeps up with managing a daycare, she laughs and says, “The kids give me energy.”

COVID-19 has impacted her business, but she was grateful to receive a first round of COVID relief funding and hopes that she will be eligible for a second round in early 2021. She would like to use those funds to transform her small outdoor patio into a larger space for the kids: “It’s important for the kids to get outside every day.” 

Delois was extremely excited about participating in C3 and LEAP’s electrification project for financial and comfort reasons. The cost of a brand new system was unnerving for her to think about, especially as she looks to retirement. Her out-of-date natural gas system would make the upstairs “feel like a sauna” while the downstairs was still cold. The unit was also 25 years old and on its last legs.  

In time for the colder winter weather, Air Flow Systems came in to take out the aging HVAC and replaced it with a highly efficient 16 SEER A/C system and a brand new electric water heater. She is so excited to have a more reliable system for her and her son, but also for the kids at daycare. 

“The timing of this has been so wonderful. We are very grateful! This is a blessing!”