Reports have recently announced that Canadian officials are eager to help the country’s citizens to use greener ways to heat and power their homes. Over 400,000 Canadian Dollars are being poured in to a specialist water heating program that uses solar panels to store heat. The new green-heating scheme is called ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat and Minister for Natural Resources, Lisa Raitt, made the announcements in partnership with Ron Canan who is an MP for a local British Columbia constituency earlier this month.
Making Green Progress
Talking about the decision to invest in greener ways to heat the Canadian peoples’ homes, Raitt said that the government initiative would help homeowners to reduce their power bills. She described it as giving Canadians more money but also stressed it would be better for the environment. Additionally, she talked about how spending less money on energy could help stimulate the economy; suggesting that the green heating initiative could also create new jobs for people all over Canada.
The program which champions ways of heating homes (and water) using solar technology will be delivered by a company called Fortis BC and experts think it will have a sizeable impact on the amount of clean energy being created in British Columbia. 1,000 Canadian Dollars (of a rebate) are going to be given to those who become new developers of the system and make themselves responsible for installing the solar technology in other peoples’ homes. This incentivises the scheme as a new independent job option.
Meanwhile, homes which participate in the scheme can claim as much as £300 in rebates for having the new solar hot water heating systems fitted. Canadians can also get some other bonuses to help to pay for the solar energy systems, including a special ecoENERGY Retrofit Homes Grant to cover the costs of the work and many people are also eligible for the country’s standard Home Renovation Tax Credit, which can also pay for some of the expense involved in adding the simple solar water heating system to a person’s home.
