Affordable Home Insulation with the GreenON Rebates Program
In a concerted effort to make homes more energy efficient, reducing our carbon footprint (and our utility bills), the Ontario Government is offering substantial rebates for increasing or replacing existing insulation. One of these programs is the GreenON Rebates Program offered by the Green Ontario Fund – an agency of the Government of Ontario. Homeowners, landlords and tenants (with written consent from their landlord) who own or live in a detached house, row townhome, or semi, can take advantage of these rebates when upgrading insulation – from the basement to the attic.
With the help of a professional participating contractor, eligible homeowners can receive up to $7,200 in rebates when purchasing and installing insulation. By better insulating areas like the attic, basement, and exterior walls, a home achieves a much higher level of energy efficiency, thus reducing energy consumption, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and saving a substantial amount of money on heating and cooling.
Big savings on home insulation with the GreenON Rebates Program
If you frequent this blog, you may already know that quality insulation and quality workmanship increase the energy efficiency of a home, but there’s a lot more to it. It also makes the indoor air and environment healthier and more comfortable. When combined with proper heating, cooling and ventilation, you are saving yourself and your family from cold, uncomfortable nights during the winter, and hot, equally uncomfortable days during the summer. Plus, increased energy efficiency equals less energy wasted, lowering your carbon footprint, and lowering your utility bills.
Often underestimated, attic insulation is like a protective “blanket” around the home. And when well insulated, the attic plays a large role in both home comfort and energy efficiency. The attic itself has a demonstrable impact on heating, cooling, and ventilation. It, therefore, affects the whole home from top to bottom – and from bottom to top.
While the volume of attic insulation will vary from house to house, the critical thing is to ensure a well-sealed and well-insulated space. Heat tends to rise, so air sealing your attic helps to keep the heat inside during the colder season. Likewise, when you cool your home during the summer, a well-sealed attic will keep the conditioned air inside. That way, winter heat is kept inside throughout the colder season, and summer heat is kept outside during the warmer season. Not losing heating and cooling in your home is energy saved.
Good attic insulation, when professionally installed, provides a number of benefits. It creates an effective air barrier, it provides an efficient vapour barrier, and it delivers thermal insulation (in R-Value) from season to season. All things considered, it helps the HVAC system to work efficiently. All of this makes attic insulation one of the wisest investments.
Properly insulating the basement is not just for indoor comfort. Basement insulation is definitely one of the better home renovations, mainly because of the energy savings from year to year. Done well, quality insulation in the basement will noticeably reduce energy use and increase air quality, resulting in big savings for your bills and your health.
It could be said that basements need good insulation even more than the rest of the house. Similarly to the attic, a well-insulated basement will improve energy efficiency throughout the entire house, allowing the heating and cooling system (HVAC) to better perform, and therefore use less energy in summer and winter.
With a professional installation, upgraded basement insulation stops undesirable airflow and enhances thermal performance (R-Value). The result: more comfort in summer and winter, reduced annual energy usage, and significant dollar savings every season.
Exterior wall insulation
Depending on the age of a home, exterior wall insulation may be lacking or completely missing.
Either way, this is a recipe for poor energy efficiency throughout a home and a substantial waste of energy. This can also be the source of your very high utility bills (winter heating and summer cooling).
For those who are set to retrofit insulation in exterior walls, the results are dramatic. Airflow is blocked from entering/exiting; air moisture is prevented from collecting, and R-Values (thermal performance) are markedly improved. All-in-all, your home becomes significantly more energy efficient.
With a variety of products available, insulating the exterior walls can be undertaken in a number of ways. What’s important, however, is to have the work done professionally, so the right product and best installation approach are employed. The bottom line is a good return on investment.