GOING GREEN CAN SAVE YOU MONEY: Do You Know About New Government Rebate Programs?
March 7th, 2008 Categories: Green Trends, Home Maintenance, Oakville Real Estate News
It’s good to keep abreast of grants that are now available for homeowners going green.
I give regular updates on The Buzz about money-saving energy initiatives so stay posted!
Both the provincial and federal governments have new programs designed to encourage energy reduction. By staying up-to-date on the latest programs, you can save money.
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is offering a new residential energy efficiency assessment service to owners of single family homes, including detached, semi-detached and low-rise multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) that are no more than three storeys high.
Under the ecoENERGY Retrofit program, property owners can qualify for federal grants by improving the energy efficiency of their homes and reducing their home’s impact on the environment.
Energy advisors come to your home to do assessment
NRCan-certified energy advisors conduct a detailed on-site assessment of the home’s energy use from the attic down to the basement. They provide a personalized report, including a checklist of recommended retrofits to improve the energy efficiency of your home and, in some cases, to reduce water consumption. The report also shows the grant amounts for each eligible upgrade that you can receive by carrying out these energy-saving improvements. The maximum grant you can receive for a home is $5,000.
For instance, if you replace an old natural gas furnace with the most efficient unit available (92% AFUE or annual fuel utilization efficiency gas furnace with DC variable speed motor) you could qualify for $1,350 in rebates: $500 (Federal) plus $500 (Provincial) plus $100 from Enbridge plus $250 from the Ontario Power Authority (Cool Savings Rebate). According to the Ontario Ministry of Energy, replacing an old system (63% AFUE) with a new high efficiency condensing furnace (93% AFUE) in an average 1,200 square foot, detached house will result in savings of approximately $450 per year.
Because of its high-tech design, a high-efficiency natural gas furnace squeezes the most heat out of every heating dollar. For every dollar you spend on energy, it produces 88 to 97 cents worth of heat. It could save up to 24% in energy and related energy costs and will also help insulate homeowners from increasing energy prices.
The high efficiency furnace and many of the other retrofits eligible for rebates come with a higher price tag, but environmentally conscious homeowners believe the energy cost savings – and reduced greenhouse gas emissions – are well worth it. Also, from a resale perspective, many potential homebuyers will view “greener” appliances as a desirable feature.
For more information on the ecoEnergy Retrofit Rebate program visit the following sites:
- Natural Resources Canada (Federal) Web site at www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal under residential housing, home improvements.
- Ontario Ministry of Energy Web site at www.energy.gov.on.ca and click on the Rebate update.
- For information on qualifying toilets from the federal and provincial perspective, go to www.veritec.ca under Reports, 11th Edition (test results start on page 16)
- For information on residential rebates from the Ontario Power Authority - Cool Savings Rebate Program, go to www.everykilowattcounts.ca.
- For information on Energy Star appliances go to www.energystar.gc.ca.
- For information on Enbridge rebates, check under Residential, Rebates Incentives and Energy tips at https://portal-plumprod.cgc.enbridge.com.
(Some of the information for this post came from OREA Edge newsletter March 2008)
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Help with Estimating Home Improvement Costs and Payback on Investment
February 22nd, 2008 Categories: First Time Buyers, Home Maintenance, Investing in Real Estate, Mortgages, Economics, Finance, Oakville Real Estate News
Here are two very common questions that homeowners or homebuyers ask me. I wanted to share some websites that have useful information to address these questions:
1) “I am buying a home. How much will it cost to fix/add/renovate X?”
![739101_low[1]](http://www.theoakvillebuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/739101-low1-small.jpg)
Carson Dunlop just released their 2008 estimate of home improvement costs. This is a useful tool when you are looking at a home to buy and want to estimate how much it will cost to repair, improve or renovate something.
Carson Dunlop updates these costs yearly so they provide a useful gauge of current costs, for everything from installing a new furnace, fixing a roof or adding a fireplace.
Click here to access this guide from the Carson Dunlop website, print out and carry with you when house-shopping.
2) “Will I get my money back if I renovate my kitchen/bathroom/or put in a pool?”
A handy tool for estimating payback on home improvement is a renovator calculator provided by AIC, the Appraisal Institute of Canada.
The Appraisal Institute of Canada has developed RENOVA, an interactive web-based guide to the value of home improvements. RENOVA is designed to give consumers a better idea of the return on investment they can expect for a variety of home improvements. It does this by providing a payback value range derived from the cost of the improvement expressed in dollars.
For example, a homeowner might indicate that he or she is considering spending $10,000 on remodeling the kitchen. The calculator will then provide a payback amount of between x and y dollars for that particular renovation. Homeowners can choose from among the 20 most popular renovation improvements, identified by a survey of AIC members.
LOOKING TO SELL THIS SPRING? Now’s the time to consult a REALTOR, call Hilary at 905–599–3311 for expert guidance and advice about the home-selling process.
Like this post? Read also:
Ten Ways to Keep Heating Costs Down this Winter
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DOES YOUR DESK LOOK LIKE THIS?… NOT TO MENTION THE FLOOR AROUND YOUR DESK?
February 4th, 2008 Categories: Home Maintenance, Lighten Up
Ever wonder how the confluence of random threads of thought entering our brain can lead to ACTION?
Well especially for YOURS TRULY, who whether I like it or not is (or is it “am”?) a lateral thinker, not a linear thinker (like my husband Wayne).
Random Thread of Thought Number 1:
A few days ago I notice my desk is starting to disappear under a mountain of piles. Come to think of it, the credenza is also beginning to disappear from view.
Random Thread of Thought Number 2:
My fellow entrepreneur friend Steve Ilott of Decluttering.ca, Therapy for your Home sends me an article he wrote about getting rid of the Clutter Monkey.
Random Thread of Thought Number 3:
I come upon the above cartoon, while surfing the net this morning.
OK, IT’s time for ACTION:
The last thing I feel like doing is clearing everything off my desk and other surfaces in my office, and putting items big and small “in their proper place” but I make a commitment to do it and my readers get to hold me accountable.
Want to check out Steve’s Step by Step Guide to Banishing the Clutter Monkey? Click here.
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10 Ways to Keep Heating Costs Down This Winter
December 18th, 2007 Categories: Green Trends, Home Maintenance
Oakville Ontario Real Estate, Burlington Ontario Real Estate, Halton Region Real Estate
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The huge snowstorm we had on the weekend reminds us here in Halton Region that we have a few months of winter weather to anticipate. (This beautiful photo – Lone Tree in Winter – was taken by my friend Ashley Hockenberry. Not entirely relevant to the topic at hand, but I wanted to share it with you anyway.) Now that winter is here, being wise about controlling heating costs and minimizing wasted energy are a concern for many of us. Here are some ways to maximize warmth in your home this winter, and reduce heating costs. 1. Dress warmly indoors. When I was a child living in Scotland, most people didn’t have central heating. We were in the habit of dressing warmly or wearing a sweater around the house, thick socks or slippers. 2. Adjust your home thermostat. A good rule of thumb: Set your thermostat at 21°C when you’re home awake, 18°C when you’re sleeping and 15°C when you’re out of the house. Consider purchasing a programmable thermostat to reduce you heating bill by as much as 20 per cent. 3. Let the sun shine in: While up to 25 per cent of your home’s heat is lost through its windows, they are also a source of solar warmth. During daylight hours, keep your drapes open and let the sun help heat your home. In winter, open the blinds and curtains on the sunny side of the house (the south-facing side) when the sun is shining and close them as soon as the sun goes down to retain the solar heat. Close curtains on the shady side of the house (north-facing side). 4. If you don’t have curtains, you may consider installing some. Curtains made from heavy fabric with lots of folds (fullness) can prevent cold air from seeping in and warm air from seeping out, which reduces your heating costs. 5. Insulate your windows with plastic window film to reduce heat loss by 50 per cent, For a good source of window film information and installation, contact www.allprotint.ca and chat with Janet Johnson, right here in Oakville. 6. Check to see where draughts may be coming in. Caulk, seal and weather strip around windows and doorframes, baseboards, ducting and electrical outlets, as well as fireplaces to save up to 20 per cent on your heating bill. 7. Remember to close your fireplace flue when you’re not enjoying a fire. 8. Close interior doors leading to hallways or stairways to keep the heat where it’s needed most. Don’t heat areas of your house you don’t use regularly, such as guest rooms. Close heating vents or turn back thermostats in those areas and close the doors for a painless reduction in heating costs 9. Did you know a bathroom fan can suck all the heated air out of the average house in little more than an hour? Over the course of the winter, ventilation fans can increase your heating costs by a surprising amount. Use both bathroom and kitchen ventilation fans more sparingly in winter. 10. Keep your furnace, heat pump, or other heating equipment in top operating condition. Dirty filters reduce the efficiency of your furnace or heat pump. Poorly tuned units are inefficient and use more fuel. An annual maintenance agreement is well worth the money to ensure that your equipment is properly maintained and will last as long as possible. Do you have any other winter energy conservation tips to share? Use the comments button to pass them on! |
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