reasons to renovate

As of about two weeks ago, I find myself in the same position as many of our CAPOFERRO clients - the owner of a house in need of some renovation and repair. My fiancé and I just purchased a 1950’s 1 ½ storey house in East York. Aside from the obvious (tearing off wallpaper and ripping up carpet), our home inspection revealed that, while the house overall has good bones, a few things need updating. In particular, an ancient furnace and hot water tank will need replacing in the near future. This sparked me to investigate, exactly how much help can we get from the government to cover the cost of these upgrades?

Most recent talk has been about the announcement of the renovation rebate. In short, renovations between $1000 and $10,000 can be claimed on 2009 tax returns, with a rebate of 15%, or up to $1350. However, homeowners can benefit even more from the Ontario Home Energy Savings Program. This program provides rebates to homeowners who improve the energy efficiency of their homes. These rebates can total up to $10,000! Here’s how it works.

To be eligible, you must live in Ontario and own a single family home. Your first step is to have your home audited by a certified home energy advisor. The Government of Ontario will pay 50% of the cost of this audit. The advisor will assess your home and its systems, complete a blower test to identify leaks, and provide you with an evaluation report. The report will identify what you can do to improve the energy efficiency of your home.

After the audit, you have 18 months to complete some or all of the suggestions in the evaluation report.

Once your upgrades are completed, call your energy advisor for a post-retrofit audit. Your advisor will re-assess your house, tell you how much in rebates you can expect, and will even apply for the rebates on your behalf.

Some examples of upgrades and associated rebate amounts are:
· Up to $1200 for an energy efficient furnace,
· $1000 for a solar hot water system,
· $60 per Energy Star qualified window or door.

The process is simple, and the rebates apply whether your doing basic replacements or a full blown renovation. Plus, you’ll save even more on your ongoing energy consumption bills. For more information, visit the Ontario Home Energy Savings website at http://www.homeenergyontario.ca/.

kelly