Canada Greener Homes Grant

[sabad66]

Just read about this new Canada Greener Homes Grant program
https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/homes/canada-greener-homes-grant/23441

I was totally looking forward to getting 5k towards new furnaces but then I read the fine print and it looks like it only applies to heat pumps so that kind of sucks. Are heat pumps even feasible in Calgary? I don’t think I know anyone who has one so just assumed they don’t make sense to install here.

Not sure what else I would want to do that would eligible for this grant. I may do the evaluation to see what they recommend.

Solar panels are eligible in case anyone was planning on getting those. Might as well get the feds to cover some of the cost.

[Darell_n]

Just read about this new Canada Greener Homes Grant program
https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/homes/canada-greener-homes-grant/

I was totally looking forward to getting 5k towards new furnaces but then I read the fine print and it looks like it only applies to heat pumps so that kind of sucks. Are heat pumps even feasible in Calgary?

No, unless you have a large pond on your property or acreage you want to fill with plastic pipe. Then still no. It may work in Toronto and Ottawa where Canada is located, but not on the Prairies.

[cyra1ax]

Link broke, here's one that works:
https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/homes/canada-greener-homes-grant/23441

[killramos]

Saving the world by burning a few hundred million at a time.

[cyra1ax]

Hmm...I wonder if I can get Trudeau to pay for insulating my garage...

[Tik-Tok]

I just ordered 5 windows for my basement. So this is good timing. I was also looking at mini-splits for A/C, so this might work out great.

[suntan]

I just ordered 5 windows for my basement. So this is good timing. I was also looking at mini-splits for A/C, so this might work out great.

Wow that's going to be one kinky sex room.

[prae]

Saving the world by burning a few hundred million at a time.

truly. the inefficiency of this program is astounding. Good news if you're an Energy-Star Certified dork though

[Tik-Tok]

truly. the inefficiency of this program is astounding. Good news if you're an Energy-Star Certified dork though

Government and inefficiency go together like flies and manure.

[cyra1ax]

Government and inefficiency go together like flies and manure.

I can't even log into the stupid website.

[JustinL]

$1000 bucks towards a home battery is something I'd be interested in.

[killramos]

I love it when the government gives taxpayer dollars to relatively wealthy people to virtue signal

[eblend]

No, unless you have a large pond on your property or acreage you want to fill with plastic pipe. Then still no. It may work in Toronto and Ottawa where Canada is located, but not on the Prairies.

You seem to know a bit about this. Bought 4 acres, will be building a home probably next year, geothermal not recommended I take it? I don't have a pond but was entertaining the idea of a ground closed loop system.

[Darell_n]

You seem to know a bit about this. Bought 4 acres, will be building a home probably next year, geothermal not recommended I take it? I don't have a pond but was entertaining the idea of a ground closed loop system.

Geothermal is good for air conditioning homes as it keeps compressor head pressures lower during the summer than possible with traditional air cooled equipment. (use less power). The problem is with heating. I would make an educated guess that a typical house in Alberta uses 10% cooling and 90% heating over a yearly average of total BTUs used. (I’m sure there’s actual data out there). Geothermal is good for lightly warming building but can’t do much in our winters, so you end up extensively using the auxiliary electrical strip heaters and get outrageous power bills. Then the reliability and complexity comes into play. Any mechanically inclined home owner can change a pressure switch or igniter in a furnace, not some much for troubleshooting and repairing a refrigeration compressor with often commercial quantities of refrigerant.

Summmary: heat pumps good in warm climates, stupid in cold climates. Heat reclaim in Alberta would be great, as in capturing wasted heat from a/c in the Summer to heat domestic water / pool, same goes for capturing heat in waste water from showers and major appliances. Solar heating great too for domestic water.

[black_2.5RS]

Just to make sure I understand how this works. In the winter, I replaced two windows and redid my attic insulation due to some potential attic rain issues. I wasn't too concerned about getting a home audit at the time, just trying to make some preventative action. Am I SOL on those since I didn't get an audit before?

[ThePenIsMightier]

Just to make sure I understand how this works. In the winter, I replaced two windows and redid my attic insulation due to some potential attic rain issues. I wasn't too concerned about getting a home audit at the time, just trying to make some preventative action. Am I SOL on those since I didn't get an audit before?

Yes.
*I'm no authority on this direct program, but they are hard enough to qualify for even with a pre audit.

I'd be concerned about your attic doors/hatches not sealing if you experienced attic rain.

[JRSC00LUDE]

Geothermal is good for air conditioning homes as it keeps compressor head pressures lower during the summer than possible with traditional air cooled equipment. (use less power). The problem is with heating. I would make an educated guess that a typical house in Alberta uses 10% cooling and 90% heating over a yearly average of total BTUs used. (I’m sure there’s actual data out there). Geothermal is good for lightly warming building but can’t do much in our winters, so you end up extensively using the auxiliary electrical strip heaters and get outrageous power bills. Then the reliability and complexity comes into play. Any mechanically inclined home owner can change a pressure switch or igniter in a furnace, not some much for troubleshooting and repairing a refrigeration compressor with often commercial quantities of refrigerant.

Summmary: heat pumps good in warm climates, stupid in cold climates. Heat reclaim in Alberta would be great, as in capturing wasted heat from a/c in the Summer to heat domestic water / pool, same goes for capturing heat in waste water from showers and major appliances. Solar heating great too for domestic water.

Someone down the street from me "invested" a significant cost into geo-thermal for their house build and it doesn't get it past something like 12 degrees so that makes sense. Rest is boiler heat. So what you're saying makes sense to me.

[ThePenIsMightier]

Someone down the street from me "invested" a significant cost into geo-thermal for their house build and it doesn't get it past something like 12 degrees so that makes sense. Rest is boiler heat. So what you're saying makes sense to me.

Reminds me of this.
99791

[Xtrema]

$1000 bucks towards a home battery is something I'd be interested in.

UPS consolidation would be nice. With all the emission reduction talks, I'm sure brownouts are coming.

[suntan]

$1K for batteries is a drop in the bucket. If you want to not live like it's 1750 you need at least $50K worth of batteries. Probably closer to $100K.

[JustinL]

$1K is better than nothing, but what kind of batteries are you pricing out at $100k? What brand and how many kwh?

[suntan]

Are you thinking 10 lead acid batteries, some solar panels on the roof and you can tell Enmax to take a hike?

[Buster]

i was planning on doing all of my windows and siding next spring. Can I take advantage of this program somehow? That website doesn't exactly answer all of the FAQ questions quickly.

found it...buried 3 links deep.

[JustinL]

Are you thinking 10 lead acid batteries, some solar panels on the roof and you can tell Enmax to take a hike?
Lithium ion 13.5 kwh to add to an existing 6.3kw solar PV system. https://kubyenergy.ca/blog/complete-guide-to-tesla-powerwall-in-canada

I have no illusions about disconnecting from the grid, but I'd like to save some of the extra juice I collect during the day for when I need it at night. It would also nice to have a system that can run off grid in a pinch.

[ExtraSlow]

peak shaving would be nice. Would go together well with demand-based pricing for residential users as well.

[killramos]

peak shaving would be nice. Would go together well with demand-based pricing for residential users as well.

I know you are a big proponent of this, however I think we are deluding ourselves if we think this will lead to lower overall rates.

[suntan]

Lithium ion 13.5 kwh to add to an existing 6.3kw solar PV system. https://kubyenergy.ca/blog/complete-guide-to-tesla-powerwall-in-canada

I have no illusions about disconnecting from the grid, but I'd like to save some of the extra juice I collect during the day for when I need it at night. It would also nice to have a system that can run off grid in a pinch.

These setups are just toys. In the winter you'll be lucky to get, oh, 15 minutes worth of power.

I think Trudeau wants everybody to be off the grid, or majority off. That's simply not feasible, and a $1K grant is useless.

This Liberal gov't has terrible, terrible math skills.

[ExtraSlow]

I know you are a big proponent of this, however I think we are deluding ourselves if we think this will lead to lower overall rates.Lower prices isn't the reason I like this. I just really like clear market signals that incentivize the desired behavior. The old "electricity rush hour" commercials that were supposed to encourage people to save electricity during the evening drove me nuts. One way or another electricity prices are going up drastically in Alberta. 3x or worse is my guess. So laying the groundwork for a little bit of demand-shifting or peak shaving or whatever, seems like it would reduce some of the issues.

[JustinL]

These setups are just toys. In the winter you'll be lucky to get, oh, 15 minutes worth of power.

Do you have any data to support that claim? I have been running this solar system for a couple years and posted up data on this forum already. As you can see, there's way more than 15 minutes worth of power there.

Here is my system on an admittedly excellent day in sunny Alberta winter (December 30, 2020). Sorry for the pic size, imgur is not cooperating.
https://i.imgur.com/4pMmBwm.png

[killramos]

Lower prices isn't the reason I like this. I just really like clear market signals that incentivize the desired behavior. The old "electricity rush hour" commercials that were supposed to encourage people to save electricity during the evening drove me nuts. One way or another electricity prices are going up drastically in Alberta. 3x or worse is my guess. So laying the groundwork for a little bit of demand-shifting or peak shaving or whatever, seems like it would reduce some of the issues.

All I know. Is it’s much much cheaper for these grid management decisions to be made at scale ( Ie the plant level) than sprinkling little batteries and dinky solar panels at costs with no scale involved and just hoping that smooths things out.

[ExtraSlow]

I think work need to be done at both ends. Demand and supply. Isolating consumers from market pricing isn't really sound long term strategy. Will just lead to shortages (brownouts, blackouts crashes etc.)

[killramos]

Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with the market choosing pricing.

I do however doubt the cost of implementing time based demand pricing makes any economic sense here.

[ExtraSlow]

I'll just remain angry about both the current state of things, and the future potential state of things. That works for me. I'm rapidly approaching old-man-yells-at-cloud territory I swear.

[suntan]

Do you have any data to support that claim? I have been running this solar system for a couple years and posted up data on this forum already. As you can see, there's way more than 15 minutes worth of power there.

Here is my system on an admittedly excellent day in sunny Alberta winter (December 30, 2020). Sorry for the pic size, imgur is not cooperating.
https://i.imgur.com/4pMmBwm.pngAlright fine, an hour's worth of energy.

[JustinL]

Alright fine, an hour's worth of energy.

In my house at average consumption it's 18 hours. Your mind is clearly made up regardless of what data I present to you.

[cyra1ax]

Apparently the inspection companies are already booking 2+ months in advance...

[ThePenIsMightier]

Alright fine, an hour's worth of energy.

21 hours at my place.
Are you Marth?

[suntan]

21 hours at my place.
Are you Marth?

You should be ashamed at your lack of electricity consumption.

[Tik-Tok]

Just found out only two of my 5 new windows will qualify for this. I guess I'll find out how much these evaluation bozos charge before I actually go ahead with the grant.

[ExtraSlow]

Higher energy use is directly correlated to higher standard of living. I feel sorry for you people still struggling to break into the middle class.

[pheoxs]

Anyone heard back about this? I filled out the form and then nada

[Tik-Tok]

Not a word, which isn't surprising considering there's only around 8 companies for all of Calgary.

[cyra1ax]

Nope, didn't hear back about this. I thought I read on Reddit that one of the companies straight up is just ignoring requests to come do this.

[Buster]

I'm doing new windows shortly, and was thinking about getting my $5k. Has anyone seen anything new?

[SkiBum5.0]

I'm doing new windows shortly, and was thinking about getting my $5k. Has anyone seen anything new?

SUb’d for this answer. We had two windows crack lately. Thought it was hail, but I think it’s the house settling (built in 2000 so weird). Kicking around replacing all windows

[cdnsir]

Received an automated confirmation when I signed my folks up back in late May. Not a peep from the program nor the evaluation contractors since.

Alberta's Energy Efficiency program set the bar pretty low last time, but at least they still us an evaluation date even if it's months down the road. This one flat out ghosts you.

[Tik-Tok]

Received an automated confirmation when I signed my folks up back in late May. Not a peep from the program nor the evaluation contractors since.



Same. Joke of a program. Wouldn't surprise me if somehow the inspection company is getting funding from the government for doing nothing though.

[suntan]

They're all still fixing stuff in the NE.

Literally the only way I was able to get my window fixed in a timely manner was the guy was able to get to my house from his house along the way to a big job in the NE.

[cyra1ax]

Got an email from the program overnight, looks like whatever assessment company I had initially picked pulled out of the program and now I have to pick another one.
Too bad that the government took so damn long that I decided to just do my project without the funds...have to figure out how to cancel my application now.

[Buster]

Got an email from the program overnight, looks like whatever assessment company I had initially picked pulled out of the program and now I have to pick another one.
Too bad that the government took so damn long that I decided to just do my project without the funds...have to figure out how to cancel my application now.

i got the same email.

[Tik-Tok]

My windows are being installed in 3 weeks, so I hope someone comes to evaluate our house before then, lol.

[pheoxs]

Same for me as well. Had to pick a new company. Anyone remember who was on the original list? Wondering if any of these are new companies and maybe won't have as big of backlog

[Tik-Tok]

I signed up with EnerSolution. So don't pick them if you are expecting a quicker response


Edit: the original list

Enervision

4 Elements Integrated Design ltd

3D energy limited

Acacia engineering ltd

Verdatech Energy Management And Consulting Inc

CoEfficient Buiding Science

MAP Energy Inc

Amerispec of Canada

EnerSolution Inc

DW Energy advisors

[pheoxs]

Well I just resubmitted with A,eriSpec. Will post any updates

[sabad66]

This feels like an excellent opportunity for someone to build a company up. The demand is there and you can get some free funding from government to get trained up. Shit if I was unemployed and was looking for something new I’d be totally be looking into it.

[ThePenIsMightier]

This feels like an excellent opportunity for someone to build a company up. The demand is there and you can get some free funding from government to get trained up. Shit if I was unemployed and was looking for something new I’d be totally be looking into it.

The Alberta one was staffed almost entirely with Ontario people from when their Socialist Utopia was in power. Auntie Rachel relied on their expertise, for some reason, instead of finding a way to hire Albertans.

[J-D]

Got an email from the program overnight, looks like whatever assessment company I had initially picked pulled out of the program and now I have to pick another one.
Too bad that the government took so damn long that I decided to just do my project without the funds...have to figure out how to cancel my application now.

Can you imagine a program being so poorly run that a company would turn down a whole bunch of free government money?

Radio silence since May for me.

[Kloubek]

So really, another brilliant initiative that appears partially thought through and really only improves optics for the Liberals. And ultimately, one that cannot be realistically implemented.

Wait... what's that smell? Smells like... and election is coming with an attempt to secure a majority, you say?

[Tik-Tok]

Does it improve optics? Anyone trying to get this shit done probably sees it the opposite.

[Kloubek]

Does it improve optics? Anyone trying to get this shit done probably sees it the opposite.

True - though I'm going to guess that if you take the voting public, only a small fraction even knows this exists. If it wasn't posted here, I'd have no idea.

But you can guarantee it will be mentioned during an election push.

[pheoxs]

Amerispec phoned me back and booked in the evaluation for next week. I had called and left a message as soon as the program made me repick a new company. They got my name slightly wrong calling back so I'm fairly sure they called because of my voice message and not my enrollment.

Either way, happy to get it done to start some work this summer.

[tcon]

Got my email back from Amerispec... Are companies just scamming this process now? They say $600 will be reimbursed for the inspection, but of course their initial inspection is $450 then they have a 2nd inspection for $250, conveniently adding up to $700... Are they just going to try to replace my windows or insulation? I was hoping to update my electrical system with UPS and/or prep for solar panels

[cidley69]

Any recommendations for energy audit companies serving Calgary area and are responsive?

[cidley69]

Bueller......

[dirtsniffer]

I used Amerispec and had good luck. And then the government announced they'd lend me the money to do the windows for 10 years interest free. The loan process is just as slow as the evaluation process. Fuck the government. Instead of giving me a $5K subsidy and making 'work' for a bunch of government rejects they could have given me $10k and simplified the whole process.