If you're an investor (or even wanting to be one or a home owner); you'll know the expense of having to fix up things to keep your home current. Every water and heat bill adds up. Have you calculated what you spend yearly? There's probably some savings there. One of those ways is to make sure that your home is energy efficient.
The Government of Canada has renewed the popular ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes program. What does this mean? From June 6, 2011, until March 31, 2012, homeowners are eligible to receive grants of up to $5,000 to make their homes more energy-efficient. They say that those who had participated in the program to date have saved 20 percent on their energy bills.
There are two important changes to the program. First, there is a requirement for participants to register directly with the program before booking their evaluation. Second, homeowners will now be required to provide receipts to their energy advisor at the time of the post-retrofit evaluation to confirm eligibility for the grant.
New participants -
If you or a previous owner have not obtained an energy evaluation of the property between April 1, 2007 and June 5, 2011.
Past participants - Homeowners who participated in the program between April 1, 2007 and June 5, 2011, and who did not receive the maximum amount of $5,000 can submit another application for improvements purchased and installed
after June 6, 2011.
Note: If you're an investor and plan to apply for multiple properties, a form must be completed for each one.
Most homeowners receive a grant cheque from the Government of Canada within 90 days after their post-retrofit evaluation. NRCan also transfers data to complementary incentive programs in certain provinces and territories that issue cheques according to their own criteria and deadlines.
Eligible improvements are:
Want to save even MORE money? Depending on what Province you're in, there are also complementary Regional programs with ecoENERGY Retrofit that may also match funds from Provincial, Territorial and Municipal Governments as well as Energy Utilities and non-government. To find out which Territory/Province
click here.Would love to hear your comments if you participated in this or previous programs. Don't delay as there are deadlines and they may get busy getting quotes. Refer online first before you get work or renos done because you have to apply first.
Source: Government of Canada - Natural Resources Site