Canadian homeowners will be big winners now that the federal government has officially launched its ecoENERGY Retrofit initiative, offering financial incentives to Canadians who improve their home's energy efficiency.

Natural Resources of Canada (NRCan) is licensing companies to perform residential energy evaluations that identify how homes use energy and where it is being wasted. Evaluators will show homeowners how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce heating and cooling costs and improve comfort in their homes, while ensuring adequate ventilation for a healthy indoor environment.

To take advantage of the program, homeowners first must complete an assessment by a licensed energy evaluator who will determine the home's current energy rating. The service includes: a detailed energy evaluation of the home, a blower door test to find air leaks, a printed report that shows where energy dollars are being spent, recommendations on what homeowners can do to improve their home's energy efficiency and a energy efficiency rating label that shows how efficient their home is compared to other homes in their region.

Using the report's recommendations, homeowners have 18 months to complete upgrades. Grants of up to $5,000 are available based on individual retrofit initiatives. The average grant is expected to be close to $1,100. Homeowners can expect to receive their cheque within 90 days of the follow-up evaluation.

"Many provinces, such as Saskatchewan and Ontario, have recently announced that they will cover a portion of the evaluation cost and/or offer additional grant monies" said Colin Smyth, Business Leader of AmeriSpec of Canada.

According to NRCan, once homeowners complete their required energy evaluation and make some or all of the recommended improvements; they can expect federal grants such as:

• Furnace upgrades - up to $600
• Install a heat recovery ventilator - up to $300
• Upgrade your central air conditioner to an Energy Star® unit- $200
• Retrofit doors and/or windows to Energy Star® – $30 for each unit

17 percent of all energy used in Canada goes towards running our homes. As many as 140,000 homeowners are expected to benefit from this national and provincial initiative.

"By completing all of the retrofits recommended by an evaluator, homeowners should be in a position to decrease their average annual greenhouse gas emissions by about 4.6 tonnes per year, per house and they should also be able to also reduce their energy bills by 38 percent - a huge win for everyone!" Mr. Smyth added.

This article was provided by AmeriSpec Inspection Services. AmeriSpec Inspection Services is Canada’s leading home inspection company, and was recently licensed by NRCan to perform residential energy evaluations. To book an appointment, or for additional information on the ecoENERGY program, call 1-866-284-6010, or visit the website .