What a solar-heated Okotoks house cost in 2005
At the April 2005 announcement, a 150-square-metre (about 1,600 square foot) house in Drake Landing was priced at $220,000. The solar heating system could add up to $40,000 to a home, and about $5 million in public money for the pilot kept that cost away from buyers.
Event date: 2005-04-01
The pitch to buyers
Fifty-two single-detached houses were planned in the Okotoks subdivision south of Calgary. A buyer was being asked to treat the heating system as part of the house, much like a roof or a basement. The sticker price was meant to look familiar next to other new homes in the area.
The builder was Sterling Homes, and the houses were to meet R-2000 and Built Green Alberta Gold standards. Room layouts and the show home are covered on the homes page.
Who absorbed the extra cost
The solar equipment was costly and unproven at this scale in North America. Without the pilot funding, the same houses would have sold for considerably more. That is the main reason the $220,000 figure was possible, and it is worth remembering when comparing 2005 prices with later ones. Funders and project partners are listed on the partners page.
Seen from 2026, that subsidy is the detail that frames everything else. The houses were a demonstration, and the price reflected a shared bet by several funders rather than the cost of the hardware.
Payback reasoning
The expectation was that the added $40,000 would be recovered over the life of a house. If natural gas became more expensive, the payback would arrive sooner. The project's own records are the better guide to what households ended up paying.
Each home was to have its own thermostat, just as with any other heating system.
Timeline and outcome
Show homes were due to open in July 2005, with the heating system running by autumn. The Energy Centre came online in 2007. Homes were heated mostly by the sun for years, but the system was wound down from 2024 and most owners moved to natural-gas furnaces. A fuller account sits in the backgrounder.
Quick answers
How much did a Drake Landing house cost in 2005?
A home of about 150 square metres (1,600 square feet) was priced at $220,000 when the project was announced in April 2005.
Why were the homes not much dearer than normal ones?
Roughly $5 million in public money supported the pilot, absorbing most of the solar system's extra cost of up to $40,000 per house.
Do the homes still use solar heat?
No. The community was wound down from 2024 and most homes now use natural-gas furnaces.