The new Edmonton Home Energy Retrofit Accelerator program (HERA) is a great tool for folks interested in investing to upgrade their home in multiple ways. While not directly a solar rebate, it does work well with our green building consulting practices and SolarNinjas can help organize and maximize it for you. If you’re aiming for net zero our solar panel installation service and automation controls are a critical part of achieving that.
The Edmonton HERA program can be found by clicking HERE and if you want to go right to the PDF containing the program details and dollars all laid out you can click HERE.
The process is geared towards people planning a whole home renovation, but it would still be worthwhile for someone replacing a few of the basics like furnace, windows, hot water tank, adding attic insulation etc.
To use the Edmonton Home Energy Retrofit Accelerator Program you do a home evaluation (at your own expense) using one of their certified contractors. SolarNinjas can then step in if needed to help organize and prioritize your goals, suggest products and connect you with contractors that you can trust. We may be needed to move circuits for your furnace or add sensors for water tanks etc, but mostly we are there to help you understand and decide as your eyes and ears inside the industry looking out for your interests to whatever extent you need or want.
After the home evaluation you do your work. The more you do, the more they pay you. If you do furnace, hot water, windows and attic insulation for example you can earn bonuses for doing work in multiple categories..up to 20%. If you are doing a whole home this can be thousands of dollars extra. Examples are laid out in the PDF linked above.
A new evaluation is done after your renovation and your records are checked. A rating is given to your house showing the improvement.
A great example would be an older (1950s to 1990s built) home which is getting new triple pane windows, hard foam wrap on the exterior behind the new siding, insulation added to the attic, and an upgraded hot water tank and furnace. If they added a little thickness to the inside walls for more insulation even better if the inside walls need work anyways. An upgraded thermostat would be installed and some automation would be added to help you control and enjoy your home better… With a few minor additional upgrades along the way you can net up to $10,000 in rebates on your project. Adding Solar Power to your home could net you another $4,000 in cash rebate for a $14,000 total. You might spend $80,000 to get there.. but you will also cut all your heat power and water bills dramatically, cut your eco footprint to near zero and increase your homes resale value dramatically. With a $14,000 discount that starts to sound like a pretty good idea.
When your heat and electric bills combine to drop by $200+ per month and you start to enjoy a warm house with no issues of age or leaks…it feels good.
SolarNinjas happy to play a part in this program as your electricians, as your green building consultant, as your interface to good contractors who you can trust to do your job properly. We believe in shared values like education for our client, transparency in our billing, and quality in our work that means none of the usual corners cut and inside our industry we know who to work with for the best results at a fair price. Use those relationships to your benefit, we’re here to help.
