MISSISSAUGA, Ontario - The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) recently received the following program policy clarifications with regard to Canada’s ecoENERGY program.

Under the ecoENERGY Retrofit - Homes Grants for Air Source Heat Pumps and Central Air Conditioners policy, if a homeowner has a central air conditioning system present in the home at the time of the initial ecoENERGY evaluation and replaces the system with an Energy Star® qualified air-source heat pump coupled to a centrally ducted distribution system, then the homeowner is eligible for $400 for the air-source heat pump and $200 for the replacement of the central air conditioning system.

A central air conditioning system must be present at the time of the initial evaluation in order for the homeowner to be eligible for the $200. If no central air conditioning system was present at the time of the initial evaluation, then the homeowner is only eligible for $400.

According to the Window Air Conditioning (A/C) Replaced by Mini-Split policy, in cases where a window air conditioning unit is replaced by a mini-split system, the amount of the incentive provided will be the same as the amount provided for replacing it with an Energy Star qualified window a/c unit, i.e., $20 per unit, as per the current grant table.

The Ground/Water-Source HP with A/C policy states that homeowners who install a CAN/CSA-C448 compliant ground- or water-source heat pump system (earth energy system) for heating and cooling will only be eligible for the earth energy system incentive. The Energy Star air conditioner incentive will not be applied on top of the heat pump incentive.

For more information, visit www.hrai.ca.

Publication date:08/27/2007