Big Bucks in Big Rebates4 min read

Reading Time: 4 minutesLarry Brydon, LEED AP – Vice Chair – Reliance Home Comfort
Mr. Brydon is currently a Senior Account Executive with Reliance Home Comfort where he supports New Product Development projects within their Builder Markets Group.
He is both a LEED Accredited Professional, and an NRCan Certified Energy Evaluator with the EnergyStar and Energuide programs. In addition to his role as Vice Chair with Sustainable Buildings Canada, he has also served as Chair of the Canada Green Building Council – Greater Toronto Chapter and is a past Board Director for BILD, the Building Industry and Land Development Associations (formerly Greater Toronto Home Builders Association and The Urban Development Institute).
August, 2011.
Big Bucks in Big Rebates
Last month the Federal Government announced the extension of its incredibly successful ecoEnergy Retrofit for Homes program, breathing new life into a program that saw over a half a million homes retrofitted across Canada between April of 2009 and March of 2010.
The program has been extended and will now pay rebates on retrofits where work is completed between June 6^th 2011 and March 31^st 2012.
There have been a number of changes made to the program. Most significantly, there is now a requirement for the homeowner to pre-register with Natural Resources Canada before contacting a Service Provider. There is also now a requirement to provide invoices for all work completed, a move to ensure the program creates jobs and keeps the work out of the underground economy.  Homeowners – with some restrictions – can still do the work themselves but will require receipts for the materials used to qualify.
The process for application once you are registered with NRCan is as follows:

1. Contact a Service Organization and provide them with your registration number provided by NRCan.
2. The Service Organization will send a Certified Energy Auditor to your home to do a pre-retrofit audit and a blower door test for air tightness. It is important that no work begin before this audit is completed as it will not be eligible for the rebate if done before.  Only work performed between the pre and post-retrofit audit and completed between the dates of June 6^th 2011 and March 31^st 2012 will be eligible for new registrants.  Homeowners who had a pre-retrofit audit done under the previous program and who completed retrofit work after the previous deadline are eligible to apply for the rebate under the new program.
3. Once the pre-retrofit audit is completed, you will receive a report that shows where your house needs energy efficiency upgrading.  Homeowners may choose to perform any or all of the upgrade options and are responsible for contracting all of the work and ensuring that they keep all invoices for a minimum of three years following the completion of the work.  The homeowner is also responsible for taking photographs of the work being performed, and will need to turn those over to the Energy Auditor when he returns to complete the post-retrofit audit.
4. Once the eligible work is completed a post-retrofit audit is required. The homeowner is responsible for scheduling this audit with the Service Organization.  In the event the first Auditor is unavailable, the homeowner may choose to use a different Auditor for the post retrofit rebate as all of the information is on file at NRCan and accessible by all Service Organizations.
5. The post-retrofit audit and the signed grant application must be received by NRCan before March 31^st 2012.  Once it is completed and submitted you can expect to see the eligible rebate amount paid within approximately 90 days.  However, be aware that there may be delays in receiving your payment if the program is successful.  The program will continue to accept applications until March 31^st 2012 or until the $400 million earmarked for the program is fully committed.  So, register now and get to work!.

The program pays out rebates based on a prescriptive table of measures, not the invoiced amount for the work.  Examples of rebate amounts and eligible measures are as follows:
92% AFUE furnace – $ 375.00
92% AFUE furnace with ECM – $ 625.00
94% AFUE furnace – $650.00
94% AFUE furnace with ECM  – $790.00
Energy Star Air Source Heat Pump – $500.00
Energy Star 14.5 Seer AHRI listed – $250.00
Heat or Enthalpy Recovery Ventilator – $375.00
Solar Hot Water Heater – $1750.00
Tankless .82 ef – $316.00
Tankless .90 ef – $375.00
Condensing Tank .94 ef – $375.00
Drain Water Heat Recovery 30 to 42%  – $95.00
Drain Water Heat Recovery 42%+ – $165.00
Attic Insulation between $ 125.00 and $ 750.00
Exterior Wall – between $  225.00 and $ 1875.00
Exposed floor – $190.00
Basement insulation between $125.00 and $1,250.00
Air Sealing between $190.00 and $430.00
Windows $40.00 each (per rough opening)
Low Flush Toilets $65.00 per fixture max 4 fixtures
There is a maximum amount of $5,000.00 per home for any combination of eligible grant measures through the Federal Program.  The Ontario Government currently has a complimentary program called Home Energy Audit Ontario that will pay 50% of the Auditor fees up to $150.00
The Ontario Power Authority also has a complimentary rebate program for heating and cooling equipment called Ontario saveONenergy with rebates up to $ 650.00 for replacement of central heating and cooling.  For a complete list of rebate programs throughout Ontario visit the Ministry of Energy’s Searchable Rebate webpage.