Canada Greener Homes Grant

[sabad66]

Just read about this new Canada Greener Homes Grant program
https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-effic...es-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]

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Just read about this new Canada Greener Homes Grant program
https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-effic...r-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-effic...es-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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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.

[Xtrema]

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$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.