Last week we looked at the various environmental and home energy programs that are available today. This week we are going to look into the “Ecoenergy Program”. Nearly ten years ago the federal government introduced a home energy audit program called “Energuide for Homes” and this program, while mildly successful, was the basis for what we now have today. A change in government brought a program of grants for retrofitting homes that has been coupled together with the existing energy auditor’s knowledge and is now packaged as “Ecoenergy”
I recently sat down with Steve Walker. Steve is the Program Manager for Hearthmakers Energy Cooperative, a non-profit organization based in Kingston Ontario. Hearthmakers did over 700 energy audits last year. Steve stated that the recent changes in the program have seen a renewed interest in the energy audit for older homes. Information we obtained states that “17 percent of all energy used in Canada goes towards running our homes. A home that is 25 years old has the potential saving of up to 35% of their energy use. Over 270,000 property owners have used the energy program to date” Steve noted that people are more conscious of their energy use today than ever before including the rising consciousness of everyone’s carbon footprint and what they can do to help.
The biggest question that most people have is “who is eligible for grants?’ While many people think this just for single family homes, this is not the whole scope of the program. Semi-detached, Row Homes, and Low rise residential buildings of three stories or less are accepted. Mobile Homes on a permanent foundation are also permitted under the program.
You must start with an energy audit in order to benefit from the program however. Anything you have done before you have your initial audit is not accepted into the program. The energy audit is actually a two stage process. The first audit takes 2-3 hours and the final audit takes just under an hour. Next week’s column will cover an actual audit being done by Marty Verk, a Certified Energy Auditor. The initial audit costs $350.00-400.00 and the final audit costs approximately $4150.00. This is where the Provincial government support for this Federal Program kicks in, they will rebate you $150.00 for your audit.
Some facts that Steve mentioned may help make the program clear to anyone contemplating an energy audit. You will only be able to apply for the program once per home. After the initial audit your advisor will sit down and go thru his findings and discuss the most cost effective areas to improve. Your auditor will do the application paper work for the grant once you have completed the upgrades. You are under no rush to complete your upgrades however; you have 18 months to finish them. You decide what retrofit and energy upgrades that you wish to do. You don’t have to do everything if time or money does not permit the work within the 18 month period. It is up to the homeowner to hire the contractor and ensure the work is done correctly. Always get written estimates and if extensive work is needed, you should apply for the necessary municipal permits. Your energy auditor does not assess the quality of work done, only the impact of the results from the improvements. Your initial report will show the grants available, they are an extensive list. For example, if you install an EnergyStar rated furnace that has a 92% efficiency or better with a DC variable speed fan you qualify for a grant of $500.00. This gets better when you consider the provincial government matches every cent of the federal grants on qualified upgrades. There is a possibility of receiving up to a ceiling of $10,000.00 in combined federal and provincial grants. There are some qualifications tied to some of the grants however. For example if your auditor recommends that you insulate your crawl space you must insulated 100% of the wall space to receive the $400.00 grant. In the case of your basement walls it is a sliding scale. If you insulate 20% of the basement walls your grant is $100.00. The scale rises in 20% increments to 100% which offers a grant of $500.00. Air sealing around your home helps to reach your energy target, this can add another $150.00 to your grant. One little known fact is that if you exceed your energy improvement target by 20%, then there is a bonus of $150.00.
Steve commented that the majority of homes built in the 50’s that have not seen any major improvements will rank under 50% in their rating and with some reasonable improvements most can reach the 70% mark. If your home is newer, say built in the 90’s, your options are not as great and improvements will not be as noticeable. He felt that 5-10% improvement was the average energy savings for homes of this age. One small area that many people don’t realize is the program also covers some water conservation. Just installing a new 6L toilet will get you a $50.00 rebate. Installing a drain-water heat recovery system can reap another $100.00.
How do your sign up? The EcoEnergy web site is ecoaction.gc.ca. You can call them at 1-800-622-6232. If you live in the Belleville-Cornwall corridor you can reach Steve at 1-866-547-8122.
I am showing my age now; I can remember a program called CHIP. This stood for Canadian Home Insulation Program and it was introduced in the late 70’s during the oil embargo. This program was not thought out; they recommended vermiculite insulation for example. The EcoEnergy Program is probably one of the best I have ever seen for retrofitting a home. Even if you only get the audit done, you now have an “energy blueprint” for your home. The long term effect on your pocket book and our environment will be beneficial for years to come.
