The Gift that Keeps On Giving: Energy Efficiency!
Charlotte Terrell welcomes me into her home with a big smile, and we chat in her living room where Christmas stockings of all her family members are hung on the mantel. It’s December and I’m here visiting her home after the installation of a new all-electric, energy efficient new heating/cooling system and water heater as a part of our fuel switching grant project with LEAP. Charlotte’s smile and positive attitude and sprightly gait belie her 66 years as we sit down to discuss their upgrade to an all-electric home.
Charlotte and Ralph Terrell’s modest home on Anderson Street in the 10th and Page neighborhood has been in the family for nearly 100 years. Her husband Ralph, now 70, has lived in the home “since he was in diapers.” The home was passed onto his Aunt and then owned jointly between his brothers, and then Charlotte and Ralph were eventually able to buy the home. They both worked at UVA Hospital (in separate departments) for 34 and 43 years respectively (a combined 77 years between the two of them!) until retirement.
Her daughter, who suffers from epilepsy, lives with her as well as her adopted 13-year-old granddaughter who attends Buford Middle School. Even though she’s retired, Charlotte stays quite busy!
This family of four were excellent candidates for the fuel switching program as the floor furnace residing in the basement was original to the home built in the 50’s and the appliances were also outdated. She tells me that the furnace going out was a concern every storm throughout the winter months. “We had no idea how we were going to pay for a new system since we are both retired, living on fixed income, with four of us to care for.”
The crew at A&J Heating and Cooling were able to take the unit up through the floor, as well as the water heater - a small l-shaped staircase down the basement that renders that pathway inaccessible.
The Terrell’s New Electric Water Heater
She cannot be more excited about the switch out. “I love my new water heater,” she told me. “I really love it!” She says the mini-split system will take some getting used to for Ralph, though, now that they now have remote control heating and cooling in two separate areas of the home. She likes it cooler than Ralph – revealing a married couple conundrum that even the best energy efficiency upgrade might not be able to fix! (wink, wink)
After the installation she told me she called Wilson at LEAP and joked, “Hello Santa, the elves came by and put our new system in!” When I checked back this month with Charlotte to see how things were going, she gave a glowing report. We’re so glad you are enjoying it, Charlotte, Ralph and family!