Home Energy Improvement Symposium

Do you feel as though the rising cost of living is making it tough for you to make ends meet? Are you worrying about the cost of heating and cooling your home?

We have some good news for you !! There is money available to help you lower your home energy bills. There are 2 forms of assistance:

• Up to $10,600 in grant money in the form of rebates and

• Up to $40,000 interest-free loan

Enbridge Gas and the Canada’s Greener Homes Grant have partnered to provide the Home Efficiency Rebate Plus Program.

The rebates can be used to:

• insulate your home - your attic, your walls as well as windows and doors.

• outfit your home with a highly efficient Heating and Cooling system. Here are some examples of the rebates – up to:

• $6500 for a Heat pump

• $1300 for a Hot water Heat pump

• $2350 for attic insulation

• $6750 for wall insulation

• $325 for windows

• $175 for doors

• $5000 for solar panels

WHAT IS A HEAT PUMP YOU ASK?

Heat pumps are not well-known in Ontario, but they are used all over the world as a less expensive way to heat and cool your home, and there are some heat pumps specially designed for cold climates like ours. They are electric-powered and are about four times more efficient than your gas furnace. Maybe it’s not time to replace your gas furnace yet but you can still benefit from installing a heat pump. It can be used in conjunction with your natural gas furnace in order to reduce your monthly gas bills. A heat pump is poorly named as surprisingly it can cool your house in the summer. It can replace your air conditioner and cut those energy costs as well.

When used in conjunction with a smart thermostat your heating system can choose which form of fuel – electricity or gas – will be most cost-effective to run. For example, if electricity rates are low at night or on off-peak times, the system would choose to heat or cool your home with the heat pump; if natural gas rates are lower during a certain period, the system would choose your gas furnace to heat the home. This way the costs of heating and cooling your home could be dramatically reduced.

Finally, heat pumps are a much cleaner and greener alternative, generating far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than natural gas furnaces because electricity is a cleaner fuel in Ontario.

To qualify for the rebates, you need to complete a home energy assessment with a Registered Energy Advisor before you start your upgrades and after you finish the upgrades. The pre-assessment will help you determine where you are losing most of your heat and where you are wasting your energy dollars. The cost of the assessments is recouped through the rebates.

We know that working with the government and the utilities can be frustrating and complicated. We want to help you through the steps. Wasaga Beach Climate Action Team is organizing a Home Energy Improvement Symposium so you can learn everything you need to know about these savings. We will have expert speakers to explain the programs as well as local suppliers who provide the services you need to earn the rebates and lower your energy costs.

Join us at the RecPlex on October 19:

• 6:00 to 7:00 pm Suppliers will be available for individual questions.

• 7:00 to 8:00 pm Expert speakers will be explaining the programs and answering all your questions. Come out and learn more about these money-saving, energy-saving ideas. We will be serving refreshments and giving away some interesting prizes.

See here for more information and to register for this special event. wasagabeachclimateaction.com/home-energy-improvement-symposium/ More information about the Home Efficiency Rebate Program can be found here. enbridgegas.com/residential/rebates-energy-conservation/homeefficiency-rebate-plus.

Engage with Wasaga Beach Climate Action Team wasagabeachclimateaction.com or info@wasagabeachclimateaction.com

Submitted by Gerard Dusastre