My local utilities company, Horizon, knows this, so they tap into the Ontario government’s SaveONenergy program and its coupons. See here Horizon’s web page promoting the savings (a reskin of a page within SaveONEnergy’s site):

I’ve written about the power of coupons before in this blog – and will continue to bring you news of all the discounts and coupons and grants out there for Ontario homeowners to do the right (green) thing and save the green… the colour of money!

• A review of FIT rates to balance the interests of rate payers while at the same time encourage clean energy investment
• A review of new technologies for possible inclusion in the program
• Assessment of government’s processes; how they can better establish Ontario as a leader in the green economy
• A review of the Renewable Energy Approval process

What Does This Mean for You?

If you already have a MicroFIT contract, a conditional offer or applied on or before August 31st, 2011 then it means nothing for you. If you applied after August 31st or are applying now then you will be “subject to new rules and pricing”.

Get your Application in NOW

The announcement is clear that all applications being recieved now will be time stamped and processed after the two-year review is complete and changes are announced on December 14th, 2011.

Of course there is no way of telling what the new rules will be – but it is almost certain that the current rate of 80.2 cents for roof mount solar PV systems will be coming down. I suspect that after December 14th the government will announce that all applications that have been recieved will be honoured at the 80.2 cent rate but that all new applications after December 14th, 2011 will have a new lower rate.

Sooooo… you need to get you application in now and hold your spot. (Thank goodness my wife and I just did, whew!)

If I’m wrong and the OPA does not honour the old rate then you still have an application in the system and you can then decide whether or not to go ahead based on the new rate. Either way NOW is the time to put your application in to get your solar project started.

As I have said before I work with Solar Logix and we have helped thousands of people submit MicroFIT applications. If you want to submit your application now click here to send me an email.

Make Your Voice Heard!

There are several ways that you can make your opinion heard and find out more:

1. The OPA is holding a webinar with more information about the MicroFIT review tomorrow (Tuesday November 2nd at 10am). To register and participate in the webinar you must register here.

I am going to attend this webinar, and I’ll be blogging about it to keep you in the loop.

2. You can also complete a survey the OPA has set up for feedback on the FIT program by going to the website of the Ontario Ministry of Energy and clicking on the link “Click here to take the survey” (it is about half way down the page).

Stay informed to get the most of this awesome solar energy program in Ontario!

OPA MicroFIT Application

There are two applications that must both be approved before your MicroFIT program can move forward.

1. The Ontario Power Authority – If approved, the OPA application if approved will result in a conditional offer. This offer will convert to your 20 year contract with the OPA once your project is connected to the power grid.

2. A Connection Agreement from your local hydro company (in our case Horizon Utilities) – It confirms that the hydro company is ready and able to connect your system to the power grid. (Here is a sample of a conditional offer from the OPA website.)

It is possible to apply for these both yourself; however, the process is difficult to navigate if you are not familiar with all the ins and outs. Working with a solar installer that has submitted thousands of applications will speed up and simplify the process.

That’s what we did. We filled out a couple of simple forms and authorized our chosen installer, Solar Logix to handle our application on our behalf. It was quick and easy and the only things we had to find was our hydro account number and the legal description of our property (from our tax bill).

Solar Logix is now working with the OPA and our local hydro company to see this project through, they will also handle all permits and schedule all required inspections and hook ups.

Typically it takes about 6 – 8 weeks to get the above approvals. While we wait, Solar Logix will be working on our feasibility study which will give us all the details about our property, the system they recommend and the revenue we can expect from our specific solar installation. Look for more on the feasibility study soon at this blog; it is scheduled for next week!

There are clean and renewable alternatives – and fortunately, the Ontario government is getting behind the green energy movement. (No matter how you voted in the recent provincial election, you’ve got to be happy that their Green Energy policies are still in place!)

Two years ago the Ontario government passed the Green Energy Act (GEA) with the purpose of eliminating green house gas emissions, establishing Ontario as a leader in the green energy sector in North America and the creation of jobs for this province. One of the key components of the GEA is solar energy production under the MicroFIT program.

FIT stands for Feed In Tariff because energy produced by these solar installations is fed into the local power grid and the owner is paid a tariff. Micro as the name implies is for small projects of 10KWh capacity of less. MicroFIT projects are ideal for residential homes, farms and churches.

What would be your reason for joining the MicroFIT solar program in Ontario? What might keep you from doing so? Leave your comments below, or you can email me at doug@ecorenovate.ca.

We the plunge and committed to the Canadian government’s ecoENERGY Retrofit homes program in a big way. As you can see from our previous posts in this blog, we had an eco audit and based on those recommendations we added more insulation, replaced windows and doors and upgraded to a high efficiency furnace and air conditioner.

By doing this we have accomplished what we set out to do:

1. Lower energy consumption (i.e. our September 2011 energy usage was 30% lower than 2010).

2. Increased the resale value of our home by having an EnergyStar rating of 79 (vs. 61 before we start renovated) which is very good for an older home we are told.

3. Maximized government rebates available (total rebates totaled more than $7,000).

The OPA solar program installs panels on your home's rooftop

Now we are moving on to a new eco-adventure in the form of solar power!!

Not only will we be installing solar panels on our roof but I have just started working for one of Ontario’s biggest and most experienced solar installation companies, SolarLogix.

SolarLogix designs, install and maintain roof top and ground mount solar arrays under the Ontario Power Authority’s MicroFIT program, which is:

• Establishing Ontario as the leader in green renewable energy in North America by encouraging individual property owners to install clean energy solutions that feed into the power grid and allowing them to earn 10% or more return on investment
• Is good for the environment
• Is good for the economy (creating tons of Ontario jobs, more on that in a later blog post)
• Is great for Ontario residents who choose to participate.

( Subscribe to this blog’s RSS feed (top right corner) so you don’t miss any updates.

So the direction of this blog will now change slightly. We will keep you up to date on our own solar panel installation as we go through the process, but we will also use this space to inform you about what’s happening in the green energy movement and what you can do to make a difference.

I look forward to your comments – both about solar energy for homeowners, but anything you read here about our own eco renovations!

Call me at 905-512-8500 or email Doug@ecorenovate.ca

The people from the Great Refrigerator Roundup where here today to take away our old chest freezer – living in our backyard for a few months now, removed from its home in our laundry room when we did the insulation there (see right, prior to insulation).

It took about a month to book it but today two guys showed up, and just took the old beast away.

Not only is there no cost and no fuss for us but they even left us a couple of free compact flourescent light bulbs and a night light!

Fridges have to be between 10-27 cubic feet, in working order and and 15 years or older to qualify. Appliances like this can waste between $120 and $150 per year!

I have to admit that we hadn’t ever plugged in that chest freezer, so it wasn’t wasting any electricity, just taking up space.

However, it’s good to know that it is being disposed of properly. As they say on the Great Refrigerator Roundup site, “When we are finished recycling and reclaiming material, very little will be sent to the landfill.”

Honeywell UtilityPRO Touchscreen Programmable Demand Control Thermostat

We recently signed up for a great program that our power company (Horizon Utilities) offers called PeakSaver. The program is a win-win-win.

WE WIN because Horizon installs a brand-new, high-end thermostat (see right) in our home for free (yes we own it – I checked) with zero installation costs! In fact, for participating in the program, we even get a $25 credit on our bill, so they actually pay us!

THEY WIN (the utility company) because the new thermostat allows them to remotely control our heating/cooling system so that – during the warmest summer days when the power grid is overloaded – they can cycle our air conditioner off for short periods. We were told that we’ll hardly notice any change, and the power grid will be more stable as a result.

THE ENVIRONMENT WINS because by putting less strain on the power grid, the utility company can use less “dirty” power sources (such as coal) – which means a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and a positive effect on climate change issues.

Step 1: Removing the old thermostat

We booked an appointment with our utility company and just by accident, it turned out our install was scheduled for Earth Day, April 22, 2010! Matt showed up at the scheduled time to install our new thermostat. He works for Honeywell (the manufacturer of the thermostat) so we know it was correctly installed.

The Whole Thing Done in 40 Minutes

Step 1: Matt removed our old thermostat, which he recommended we keep close to the furnace just in case we ever need an emergency backup. The new thermostat needs power that he learned our existing wiring doesn’t have (only 4 wires, not 5). So…

Step 2: Matt had to install a small device in the furnace to use one of our four wires for power.

Step 2: Installing thermostat module in our furnace

Step 3: Applying Insulation Tape

Step 3: Matt pointed out that it is good to apply a piece of insulation tape over the hole the wires go into. Cold air can circulate in the walls, and if that cold air is coming out through the hole in the wall, your thermostat will think it is cooler than it really is and the furnace will be running when it doesn’t need to.

Step 4: Then he hooked up the wiring to the new thermostat, and attached it to the wall in our main floor hallway.

Matt then gave a quick tour of the features and functions of the thermostat and showed me how to program it. He left me with a Honeywell operating manual for our model – the Honeywell UtilityPRO Series touchscreen programmable demand control thermostat.

Step 4: Rewiring for the New Thermostat

Remote Access

Matt of Honeywell next to our new Peaksaver thermostat

And how 21st Century is this!!… Now that we have the Peaksaver thermostat set up in our home, we can turn our house thermostat on/off from anywhere via our computers, Blackberries, any computer (or we can phone our utility company to ask them to switch heat or cooling up/down, on/off for us when we are away from home.)

We now have a brand-new, high-end thermostat that didn’t cost us anything… how sweet is that!  Thanks to Matt (right) and his employer, Honeywell, and to our local power company, Horizon Utilities, for making this possible!

Have you signed up for the Peaksaver program yet? If so, what do you think of it? If not, what is holding you up?

Canadian TV reno guru Mike Holmes writes about the importance of waiting for the right one – in The National Post. He expects to see a drop in the “grey market” (i.e. paying someone under the table for contracting work) because now folks like us can get the HRTC money back, so there is savings to be had there. He notes, I think wisely, that it was never a good idea to pay cash, but to use a “legitimate” contractor or else…

“That leaves you with the other guy: the guy who works for cash and who’s willing to cut his rate and cut a deal. But don’t kid yourself: Things cost what they cost – and don’t think for a minute any contractor is taking those cash discounts and deals out of his bottom line… That discount is coming out of your job, somewhere.”

Well, considering that Doug and I want a good job to be done on our renos, we are going to opt for the squeaky-clean ‘white’ market and pay by cheque, including the GST (and soon to be Harmonized Sales Tax - but we are going to beat that rap!!)

We want to find the RIGHT man for our eco-reno jobs, and you know what they [women)] say… It’s hard to find a good man!

In the meantime, Doug is taking it upon himself to do reno work:

• It took him 2.5 months (just ended last week) to drywall the newly insulated basement bedroom of his teen son – as well as install the laminate floor, build a large closet and install mirror doors, etc.

• He spent today installing a low-flush ecoEnergy-rebate-worthy toilet in the basement bathroom, which – as the tiles flew up from the floor – will no doubt now lead to the full-on gutting and rebuilt of that room. (We do have the new vanity cupboard/sink, shower stall etc. sitting in the garage the last six weeks!)

Making our home eco-responsible involves more than just maximizing our government rebates.  We are also making some upgrades that we won’t get any money back for.

Our natural gas company, Union Gas, had a display at one of our local malls recently where they demonstrated some tips for making your home more eco efficient. They gave out free “Energy Savings Kits” – which included a low-flow showerhead.

We decided to replace our old worn out and barely functioning shower head in our main floor bathroom. We had given up having showers upstairs, so hopefully the new shower head will make this bathroom more useable and save some water, too.

Step 1: Make sure the water is turned off and use the vice grips to unscrew the old shower head from the neck.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 3: Now screw on the shower head over the pipe tape.  You can start this by hand until snug.

Step 4

Step 5: Turn on the water to make sure that you have a good seal.  If water comes out from around the screws, turn off the water and tighten it a little more using the kitchen towel to again so you don’t scratch the fixtures.  Once you have a good seal you are done.

Step 5

Of course, per usual, we weren’t about to grab just any toilets: we needed to get ones that the government helps pay for!

One of the many pieces of paperwork that came with our Home Energy Audit was a bright-yellow sheet titled “Required Documentation for Grant Eligibility.” We almost forgot about it, but at the last minute, came across it and saw written there:

“TOILETS must appear on the list of ecoENERGY-eligible toilets available at www.veritec.ca. You must show the advisor:

• a receipt that lists the model numbers for both the tank and the bowl; OR
• cut the model numbers from the toilet boxes and give those to your Advisor

Many low-flush toilets do not meet the flush performance requirements. We are required to verify that new toilets are on the list of eligible toilets. If the model numbers are not made available to the advisor, there can be no grant.“

So, we surfed to veritec.ca – the website recommended in the Home Audit Report, to see which brands qualify for ecoEnergy-eligible toilets.

Government-Approved List in our Cellphone

This website is a really bad user experience. Save yourself the headache; just click on the link we provide in paragraph above – it will take you to the right web page to download the report.

My husband Doug downloaded the large spreadsheet (about 15 pages long) from this website. The list breaks down the toilets by Retail Store name.

He highlighted the toilets listed under “Home Depot” and emailed those to his cellphone. Then we took his phone to Home Depot and showed the toilet model names to the customer service dude in the orange apron, who helped us locate them. (We got the brand, Pegasus, dual-flush, shown in the photo above.)

Oh, and as a sidenote: I heard a hilarious conversation between my husband and another male toilet shopper discussing the merits of longer toilet seats; apparently, standard size isn’t quite sufficient for their umm, manliness!! Who knew!?