Is anyone taking advantage of the Government - federal or provincial - promotions of tax savings or grants if you upgrade your home to make it more energy efficient? They mentioned on the radio that homes 50+ years were prime candidates though they didn't even have to be that old. The number one problem has been minimal insulation in the ceiling. Drafty old windows too. And ancient inefficient furnaces. Sometimes a hydro company will give you money for an old fridge. I guess their are lots of grants out there if you search.
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This has been cancelled now in Ontario
We did years ago through Hydro we put in new windows and insulation. They loaned you the money and you paid it back over 5 years on your monthly bill and the interest was very low also we got some sort of rebate i think it was about $1000.
One of my neighbours/friends has gotten on the program (her house is same age as mine). part of it here was Provincial and you had to have the energy assesment first (I'm not even sure the program is still running now... or maybe it's been revamped). I think that cost a bit (maybe $150). She found out quite a bit about her house and what it needs....enough to be totally depressing BTW. For her house it started with all insulation (walls and roof), new windows, doors, furnace, water heater, appliances... I think her floors were okay but that was about it.
Anyway, she replaced her furnace through the program. I think you end up getting maybe 10 - 20% of the cost back (but if you have to do the stuff anyway, it's a nice bonus).
What is handy, but certainly not a goal of the program, is someone like me, knowing how my house would rate, didn't feel it was worth getting the most energy efficient windows when I replaced as there was no point. The windows being more efficient than medium was just silly as all the heat escapes through the walls and ceiling anyway. So that saved me some money and it was directly related to knowing how these houses assess for energy saving.