savings: Couple will foot only $1,930 of $4,400 bill for new furnace thanks to ecoEnergy Retrofit program and other incentives
Randy Ray
Province
Thanks to a new high-efficiency furnace, Dave Malcolm and his wife will save about $700 a year on their gas bill. Photograph by: Wayne Leidenfrost , the Province
David and Linda Malcolm weren’t surprised when an energy assessment revealed the 48-year-old heating system in their Burnaby home was about two-thirds as efficient as today’s furnaces. Nor were they shocked to learn many of their windows were ready for the scrap heap.
Much bigger on the shock scale was finding out that it would cost more than $7,000 to replace their furnace and tackle a handful of other more minor energy efficiency upgrades such as sealing air leaks, adding insulation and beginning to replace windows.
But once they learned federal and B.C. government incentives would help pay part of the cost, the couple decided to spend several thousand dollars in a bid to reduce their gas and electricity bills, which annually suck $3,250 from their bank account.
“When I heard the financial grant numbers I thought it was worth checking out,” says Malcolm, a retired B.C. Institute of Technology business instructor. “I learned that I could get some nice grants and that if I bought a new furnace, I could pay it off in about three years.”
The Malcolms are among thousands of Canadians who are taking advantage of generous incentives to decrease fuel bills, improve home comfort and reduce greenhouse gases. One program alone, the federal ecoENERGY Retrofit-Homes incentive, has helped more than 85,000 homeowners offset the costs of energy-efficiency home improvements in the past two years.
To gain access to grant money, the Malcolms, as required by both the federal program and the LiveSmart BC Efficiency Incentive Program, hired a certified energy adviser who in late May performed an energy assessment of their home and produced an eight-page report showing the best ways to reduce energy use.
At the top of the list prepared by Garry Lowney, president of Vancouver-based The House Whisperers Energy Consultants, was a new furnace, followed by new windows and doors and improved insulation. Days later, the couple wrote a $4,400 cheque for a high-efficiency furnace that was installed in early June.
The new heating system will cost them only $1,930 thanks to a $790 grant from the ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes program, $770 from the LiveSmart BC Efficiency Incentive Program, $510 from Ottawa’s Home Renovation Tax Credit and a $400 “cash card” from the Lennox furnace company, which can be redeemed at Costco, where they purchased the furnace.
And because the heating system has a 95 per cent efficiency rating — compared to 64 per cent for their old unit — they expect to shave $705 from the annual gas bill at their 3,000-square-foot home, which means their portion of the furnace’s cost will be paid for in less than 36 months.
“After seeing the report I came out of the process with my eyes wide open and motivated to make some changes,” says Malcolm, who plans to spend another $3,000 on a programmable furnace thermostat, a new patio door and installation of weather stripping, insulation and some new windows.
The weather stripping, insulation and windows will go a long way toward sealing air leaks in the Malcolms‘ post-and-beam-construction home. Some of that spending will also be eligible for rebates, although it’s too early to determine how much more grant money the Malcolms will receive. Once a second assessment is performed to verify their improvements comply with federal and provincial criteria, they’ll receive separate rebates from the federal and provincial governments.
The total cost for a pre- and post-energy assessment in B.C. is typically $450. The LiveSmart BC Incentive Program covers $150 of the cost directly to the energy adviser. Another $150 is reimbursed to those who complete both assessments, so the total cost to the homeowner is $150.
The federal ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes program has doled out average grants of $1,130 per home, and energy-efficiency improvements have reduced greenhouse gas emissions on average by 3.41 tonnes per house per year, says Kathy Crate, acting chief of existing housing, Natural Resources Canada, which operates the program. “Typical upgrades cost $5,000 to $6,000,” says Crate, “which produce average savings of 30 per cent or $700 a year on a $2,000 heating bill.”
Improving their home’s energy efficiency without having to foot the entire bill is not the only reason the Malcolms are happy. Their new furnace is safer than their former model, which, had it broken down, could have contaminated their interior air with deadly carbon monoxide. And by having the new unit installed, they’re doing their part to help create jobs in tough economic times.
“We’re in a recession and many people are looking for work,” says Malcolm. “There are going to be a lot of guys out there installing furnaces and getting jobs.”
One area where the government programs have created new jobs is home energy assessments. In April 2009, 20,000 initial assessments were performed in Canada compared to 11,500 in April 2008, says Crate, who credits the increase to the federal program and similar programs in most provinces.
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