Published on March 02, 2020
Why overpay on your energy bills every month? With a Canada energy audit, you’ll receive invaluable information relating to your home’s current level of energy efficiency. This includes multiple ways that you can increase the energy efficiency of your home to save money on your heating and cooling bills. Further, you’ll live in a more comfortable home all year round.
A Canada energy audit consists of many different components, all specific to finding the true level of energy efficiency of your home. The energy audit determines if your home is operating as efficiently as possible, all while providing valuable insight and recommendations on how you can improve the functionality and performance of your home.
Your Canada energy audit will be conducted by a Registered Energy Advisor. A Registered Energy Advisor, or REA, must pass multiple exams through Natural Resources Canada in order to become certified to complete energy audits. These tests and certifications are important so you can trust that the REA conducting your energy audit is knowledgeable and educated.
An energy audit is a thorough and proper inspection of the energy efficiency of your home. There are a number of elements that determine the overall energy efficiency level of the home, including a blower door test, an EnerGuide rating and label, and an assessment of your insulation levels, HVAC system, air leakage, and more.
A blower door test is carried out during the energy audit. It’s a diagnostic tool used to determine the air leakage of your home. The fan itself is placed in an exterior door (commonly the front main door). Once turned on, the fan will pull the air from the inside of the home to the outside. The inside air is then replaced with outdoor air through the gaps, cracks, or leaks around the home. The blower door test provides critical information relating to the overall efficiency level of the home. Further, it will provide you with an actual number of air changes per hour. The number of air changes per hour, or ACH, is crucial in determining how your home is performing. The higher the ACH, the more leaky the home, which means the more energy your home is losing through the leaks.
After your energy audit has been completed, you’ll be provided with an EnerGuide label for your home. The labels look similar to those on appliances or furnaces, and provides you with a rating of energy efficiency for your home. The labels are a classification provided by Natural Resources Canada, and the Government of Canada, to help consumers make informed decisions based on a product’s environmental impacts. The importance of the house label is that it provides you with a snapshot of how energy efficient your home is, and how efficient it could be. It also shows you where your home uses the most energy, broken down by percentages.
During a Canada energy audit, your Registered Energy Advisor will assess the insulation levels in your home, the HVAC system, and the air leakage throughout. The assessment of these areas is a great benefit to the energy audit because all of these factors will help determine how your home is performing in terms of efficiency.
The insulation assessment is important to the energy levels in your home because insulation is a major factor in a good building envelope. The building envelope is what separates the conditioned space from unconditioned space, and is crucial to keeping your home comfortable throughout every season. Your Registered Energy Advisor will look at the insulation in your attic, exterior walls, and basement or crawl space (if applicable). The insulation in your home will also help pinpoint any air leakage areas, as generally a space that’s lacking insulation will be very leaky. Further, they will inspect the HVAC system to examine the performance of the system and its efficiencies.
Yes, an energy audit is absolutely worth it! The information provided during and after an energy audit, or energy assessment, is invaluable. Your Registered Energy Advisor will evaluate the current energy performance of your home, while also comparing the results to how energy efficient your home could be.
An energy audit can help save you money on your energy bills! Because an energy audit measures the overall energy efficiency of your home, it’s easy to pinpoint where a home may be underperforming. Depending on the upgrades you wish to complete, your home can reap the benefits of a more energy efficient home, including reduced heating and cooling bills. It also means that you’ll find your home has more consistent and even temperatures throughout every room!
Not only will an energy audit help reduce your energy bills, but you could be eligible for even more savings through the Home Efficiency Rebate. The Home Efficiency Rebate is a rebate program put on through Enbridge Gas that offers up to $5,000 for energy efficient upgrades to your home.
In order to qualify for the Home Efficiency Rebate, you must live in a detached, semi-detached, or row townhome. You must also heat your home with a natural gas furnace or boiler, and be an active Enbridge Gas or Union Gas customer.
There are a number of incredible Ontario rebates available, including rebates for insulation, furnaces, water heaters, windows and doors, air sealing and energy audits! All of these upgrades will help improve the overall energy efficiency of your home, and will also help reduce your heating and cooling bills. Lastly, the upgrades will also make your home more comfortable throughout every season!
Get in touch with Barrier Sciences Group to schedule an energy audit by calling our office at 1-866-333-3920, or online by visiting www.barriersciences.com/contact. If you are interested in seeing if you can qualify for any Ontario rebates, you can contact us and we’ll provide you with a free over-the-phone consultation to help determine if you are eligible for the Home Efficiency Rebate program.
If you are eligible for the rebate program, we can help schedule your home energy audit and get you on the way to experiencing energy savings right away!
Homeowners Canada-wide are eligible for the Canada Greener Homes Grant, announced on May 27, 2021. This new incentive offers up to $5,000 in grants for home efficiency retrofit renovations, plus a $600 reimbursement for pre- and post-work EnerGuide evaluations. Eligible retrofit scopes include home insulation, heating, doors, windows, photovoltaic solar panels, resiliency measures, and thermostats.
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