Retrofits Incentives

Through a grant from Natural Resources Canada’s Clean Energy Fund and other funding partners such as BC Hydro, the City of Colwood will be providing incentives towards solar thermal hot water heating systems, ductless split heat pumps, home energy monitoring systems and more. Details of the program are being finalized, and the City hopes to launch the program and begin retrofits in May 2011. The goal is to retrofit 1,000 homes over the three year program.

The incentives will be greatest for those who join the program early. The first ten homes will receive a $3,800 incentive towards the cost of solar hot water heating; the next 200 homes will receive $3,000 each. An energy assessment will help you to identify other energy- and cost-saving retrofits, and the program coordinator will be working to make this process easy for homeowners to take part. http://www.solarcolwood.ca/home-business.php

Ductless Split Heat Pumps

Air source heat pumps are an increasingly common option for homeowners looking to reduce energy costs for heating and cooling their homes. These work well for homes with a ducting system (forced air system). For homes with no ducting system—for example, those with electric baseboard heaters—a ductless heat pump may be a great option. As the name implies, it is a heat pump without ducts. Instead warm (or cool) air is blown into the room where the indoor unit is located. Such a system is ideal for retrofits where installation results in minimal changes to the home. http://www.solarcolwood.ca/clean-energy.php