More Rebates for BC Customers: Natural Gas Water Heater

Welcome back! This is the fourth in a series of blog entries telling you how customers in Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Langley, and Surrey can take advantage of home energy rebates from their utility companies. FortisBC and BC Hydro want you to make your home more energy efficient, and they’re willing to pay you to do it. As a result, home improvements — improvements you may well have wanted to do anyway — will be that much less expensive, provided you complete them within the short window remaining on the rebate.

Taking advantage of all of the home energy rebates available from FortisBC can save you thousands of dollars! We’ve already covered rebates for draft-proofing, bathroom fans, and space heating rebates, so it’s time to move on to a big-ticket item: a new, ENERGY SMART, natural gas water heater.

What’s a Natural Gas Water Heater?

No one likes a cold shower, so we all heat the water in our home. That water is heated by an appliance called a water heater, either a storage water heater, or a tankless water heater. The water heater must be powered by some sort of fuel, whether oil, propane, electricity, natural gas, solar, or geothermal power. In BC, most consumers have chosen to use hot water heaters powered by electricity or by natural gas.

What’s an ENERGY SMART Water Heater?

The efficiency of a water heater is measured in EF: Energy Factor. EF is a measure of the amount of energy the water heater used relative to the amount of water heated. A higher EF means less waste; A lower EF means more energy is used to heat less water. An ENERGY STAR non-condensing water heater has an EF between 0.67 and 0.70, rather than a non-ENERGY STAR model, which has an EF between 0.50 and 0.62.

Why ENERGY STAR?

Water heating is one of the biggest energy users in the home, often second only to lighting and space heating. That means it’s a prime target to make cuts that translate into lower energy bills. Water heaters don’t last forever, and a warm, leaking, or corroded water heater may indicate yours is due for replacement anyway. Choosing an ENERGY STAR model now allows you to take advantage of the FortisBC rebate program as well as saving money going forward.

Claiming Your FortisBC Rebate

FortisBC offers a rebate of up to $1000 for installing an ENERGY SMART natural gas furnace., Choose an ENERGY STAR-certified natural gas furnace with the help of your plumber. Then fill out the application for a rebate available at the FortisBC website (PDF) and mail it to:

Home Energy Rebate Offer

FortisBC
P.O. Box 9090
Surrey, BC
V3T 5W4

The water heater must be purchased by March 31, 2015, and the application postmarked no later than April 30, 2015.

Contacting Pro Ace Plumbers in Vancouver

Maybe your water heater isn’t as efficient as it could be. If saving $1000 is something that interests you, Pro Ace has plumbers and technicians that can help you select and install a qualifying water heater. Pro Ace supplies plumbers, electricians, and HVAC technicians throughout Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, Surrey, and Langley.

Contact Pro Ace at 604-293-3770 with any plumbing & hot water heater questions.