Daily Home Renovation Tips

Yesterday in Part 2 we looked at the payout and savings data at the end of ecoENERGY Residential Retrofit program’s second year.

Today we look at data surrounding the type of energy efficiency and / or conservation upgrades within the program. Once again, our thanks to the Medial Relations group within Natural Resources Canada for providing us with this data about the ecoENERGY program.  These are quite busy days for this group, so receiving this data from them at this time is greatly appreciated.

OK here we go.

This data is for the 1st two years of the ecoENERGY Residential Retrofit program.

Ever wonder which energy efficiency and / or conservation renovations homeowners have actually made under the program? I mean, a single ENERGY STAR rated replacement window costs (at least it did us) $500 and up, yet the Federal portion of the applicable ecoENERGY grant is only $30, now $37.50 with the temporary 25% increase in all ecoENERGY grants announced at the end of last month.

At the other end of the spectrum a participating household can receive $4,375 from the Federal government (remember, most Provinces and Territories provide their own matching grant) for installing between the first and second energy efficiency assessments (i.e. energy audits) by installing “…an earth-energy system that is compliant with CAN/CSA-C448 and certified by the Canadian GeoExchange Coalition…”.

Now, for this data we are going to compare the percentage of houses which were recommended specific upgrades from the D or first energy audit (based on 279,363 houses) to the percentage of houses which undertook the actual upgrades for those 94,006 home who have had the E or second energy audit:

                                         Recommended                  Undertaken

Basement                                  55%                                  23%

Attic                                            61%                                  28%

Walls                                           28%                                  14%

Draftproofing                            77%                                  87%

Space Heating                          64%                                  64%

Windows & Doors                     63%                                  32%

Notice any interesting data in the above?

Draft proofing was the most popular, possibly because it costs the least amount to do and because draft proofing is also aided by several different upgrades such as ENERGY STAR windows and door, attic insulation, etc.

Space heating was very popular as well, with most of the participating households who received this recommendation on their first energy audit’s report did in fact undertake this upgrade.

Personally, I am surprised of the significant decrease in the percentage of houses which had attic insulation added . Yes, I just checked this percentage again right now. :)  It is unfortunate that many homeowners whose energy efficiency assessment report from the first ecoENERGY energy audit contained recommendation to increase attic insulation chose to not do this. Attic insulation receives between $500 and $750 (plus same again from most Provinces and Territories) ecoENERGY grant where there was R-12 or less rated attic insulation as the starting point.

Based on what it cost us to increase the insulation of the attic in our home, between the Federal and Provincial / Territory ecoENERGY grants and the resultant savings in heading utility bills, for many homes the financial payback for increased attic insulation is one of, if not the, best for any of the ecoENERGY program’s energy efficiency / conservation upgrades.

Another piece of information which you might find useful or interesting is which particular types of energy efficiency / conservation upgrades within the ecoENERGY program were the most popular based on the age of the dwelling.

The older the building the more likely it was to have seen it’s basement, attic, walls as well as windows and doors improved:

• Basement             => Pre-1945 (42%) vs 1990-1999 (  8%)
• Attic                      => Pre-1945 (44%) vs 1990-1999 (  8%)
• Walls                     => Pre-1945 (32%) vs 1990-1999 (  1%)
• Windows/Doors    => Pre-1945 (39%) vs 1990-1999 (17%)

 On the other hand, the yonger the building the more likely it was to have had it’s space heating improved:

• Space Heating     => Pre-1945 (51%) vs 1990-1999 (71%)

So, those vendors / suppliers in ‘the business’, now you too know where you might want to be placing your marketing dollars and focus based on the age of the house.

Next time, we will take a look at the changes in the EnerGuide ratings for those homes which have completed both of the energy audits within the ecoENERGY Residential Retrofit program. Until then.

To continue to the next part in this series and the discussion on EnerGuide ratings results, simply select this link to Part 4.