Home Energy Audits and Rebates

• When you are planning any renovations that involve your furnace, water heater, windows, doors or insulation.
• When you are planning major renovations.
• If your house is hard to heat or your energy bills are high.
• If you want to know the best way to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.
• If you are experiencing poor air quality or are observing mold and mildew.

• The initial audit takes about 2 hours, and the follow up audit takes about an hour. This can vary depending on the size and complexity of the home.
• Energy auditor will measure your home and determine the specifications of all heating equipment.
• The energy auditor will determine the amount of existing insulation in your attic, walls and basement. 
• A blower door will be temporarily set-up in an exterior doorway to measure the amount of air leakage in the whole house.

To book an EnerGuide Energy Audit, fill out our form linked below:

• Home cannot be undergoing any renovations during audit
• If access to the attic is in a closet, remove all belongings and shelves from the closet. Ensure that access to the basement and crawl space is clear
• If you have any wood burning fireplaces or stoves remove ashes and do not use for 24 hours prior to the audit
• Have available your most current copy of one of your gas bills and property tax bill
• Energy Audit Reports with suggested list of retrofits, and EnerGuide rating, will be sent within approximately 2 weeks
• Legal homeowner must be present for duration of audit

A sample EnerGuide Label detailing energy consumption information

• The EnerGuide home evaluation and rating system was designed by Natural Resources Canada to help home and property owners make their homes more energy-efficient and reduce the burden of high energy costs.
• The EnerGuide home evaluation provides a standardized, data-driven, baseline measure of the energy performance of your home. 
• You also receive a personalized renovation upgrade report that includes recommended upgrades, a breakdown of your energy usage, your EnerGuide home rating before and after recommended upgrades, and more tips for saving energy

• $739 is the total cost: $489+HST for the first audit and $250+HST for the follow-up audit
• Provided that you meet the requirements of your energy rebate program, these audits are rebateable up to $600 by the Canada Greener Homes Grant or the Enbridge Home Energy Rebate 
  • Surcharges for larger homes: 3000-3500 sq ft is $50.00, 3500-4000 sq ft is $75.00, 4000-4500 sq ft is $100.00, 4500-5000 sq ft is $125.00  
• If you are not participating in a program, you do not need a follow-up audit, but you will receive no rebate. 

• We service locations in the Hamilton, Halton, Niagara and Brant regions.

• If you are applying for any rebate programs, yes, a follow-up audit is necessary
• If not, it is optional to have one if you are interested in having an upgraded EnerGuide rating and new information on your reduced energy use and CO2 consumption

• We require at least 48 hours notice if you need to change your appointment, and a $75 rescheduling fee is charged should you provide less than 48 hours notice. 

• You can register for the Enbridge Home Efficiency Rebates with the Energy Advisor during your Energuide Home Energy Audit. 
• Have available your Enbridge Account number and your property tax roll number.

Here are the upgrades that are eligible for rebates

• Be an Enbridge Gas (including Union Gas) customer who heats your home with a natural gas furnace and boiler.
• Own a detached, semi-detached, town house or mobile home.
• Complete an energy assessment both before and after renovations. The initial audit must be completed before any renovations or demolition happens.
• Complete at least two energy renovations (three, in the case of furnace replacement)
• Complete all renovations and have your follow up audit done within 120 days – NOTE: this requirement is temporarily suspended.
• Green Venture processes the paperwork on your behalf. 

• You have 120 days from your initial energy audit to complete all renovations and have your follow up audit done.

• It typically takes about 90 days for the rebate to be processed after the follow up audit.

1. Register or login to the Greener Homes program by logging in to your Sign in Partner account (with your online Canadian banking information) or your GCKey.
   • Select “Green Communities Canada (Green Venture)” from the service organization drop down.

2. Reach out to us through email or by phone to let us know when you’re ready to schedule your first audit.

Here is the Grant Table for the Greener Homes Grant

Here is a technical assistance page & Natural Resources Canada FAQ page

• Provide valid proof of primary residence – non-expired government issued ID with address (i.e. Drivers License, Provincial ID, Provincial Health Cards with address, Ontario Photo Card) 
• Provide proof of home ownership with your property tax bill number (this number can be found on your municipal property documents)
• Only one homeowner per residence can apply for the program 
• Homes that are six months old or younger (based on date of occupancy by first homeowner) cannot apply for this program.

• the property must be a housing unit
• you must own the property (either alone or jointly with someone else)
• you or your immediate family members (spouse, children) must “ordinarily inhabit” the property
  • You can “ordinarily inhabit” a seasonal residence even if you only use it during vacation period, so long as the main reason for owning the property is not to gain or produce income

• and you must “designate” the property as a principal residence.

• Owners of small, multi-unit residential buildings, Indigenous governments or organizations, or other bodies that own homes that house Indigenous households can apply for multiple home retrofits.  
• Indigenous governments or organizations, or housing management bodies, representative bodies or Indigenous service delivery organizations with formal partnerships with Indigenous governments or organizations can also apply for the grant, up to multiple homes, as long as the home is owned by the applicant and is home to an Indigenous household.  

• If you conducted an audit before April 1, 2020 – you will need a new evaluation.
• If you conducted an audit between April 1, 2020 and November 30, 2020 – you can use your audit for the program but you won’t be reimbursed for the audit itself. To be eligible, your home retrofits must have been completed on or after December 1, 2020 and be both eligible and recommended by an energy advisor in their report.
• If you conducted an audit after Dec 1, 2020 – you can be reimbursed for both your evaluations and your retrofits if you complete at least one retrofit that is both eligible and recommended by your energy advisor in their report.

• The $5,000 maximum is for all upgrades in total.

Here is the Grant Table for the Greener Homes Grant

1. Home insulation (Up to $5,000)
2. Air-sealing (Up to $1,000)
3. Windows and doors upgrades (Up to $5,000)
4. Thermostats (Up to $50)
5. Heating (Up to $5,000)
6. Renewable energy systems (Up to $5,000)
7. Resiliency measures (Up to $2,625)
8. Water heater (Up to $5000 rebate)

Here is the Grant Table for the Greener Homes Grant

• Both programs are designed to provide custom advice and recommendations on the upgrades, so they must complete an initial home energy assessment before starting any renovation work. Any upgrades that have been completed prior to the home energy assessment are not eligible to apply for either program.
• It is very important that the building envelope be intact so no walls, drywall, windows or doors can be removed.

• For the Canada Greener Homes Grant the home must be the Owners primary residence. Flippers and landlords or tenants cannot use the Canada Greener Homes Grant. 
• However, the Enbridge Home Efficiency rebate program can be used by landlords or Flippers.

• Homeowners can participate in both programs but must confirm at the time of the post-retrofit energy assessment which program they are putting the energy assessment and each upgrade through for rebates (eg. a homeowner can apply for the EnerGuide rebate for their attic and air sealing rebates, and the Greener Homes Grant for their window rebates.)
• For windows, homeowners can apply for EnerGuide rebates and/or Greener Home Grant rebates but not for the same windows (eg. if a homeowner is replacing 10 windows, they can apply for 6 window rebates from the Greener Homes Grant for ENERGY STAR® Most Efficient certified models and 4 window rebates from HER for ENERGY STAR® certified models.)

• The homeowner may only receive one rebate for the home energy assessments, but can utilize the same home energy assessments to meet both the Home Efficiency Rebate and Greener Homes Grant requirements.

• No, the Energuide Evaluation cost is not rebated unless at least one measure is completed (Greener Homes), and other conditions are met (Enbridge).