Aluden;
Look into Eco Energy $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ busy as heck
Cheers
Thanks Everyone, good food for thought. It is great to have professionals like yourselves that I can bounce these things off. I will give more thought and research before I do anything.
Aulden
What is that.
Gary:
Our Feds have implemented an Eco Energy program designed to assits home owners in upgrading old furnaces, DWH, insulation windows etc.
We do an evaluation of the home’s equipment, windows insulation etc and conduct a Blower Door test to determine the air tightness of a home.
We prepare a report to the home owner making suggestions for improvements and upgrades.
The home owner has 18 months to make any upgrades they wish and a second inspection is conducted when they are done.
The feds and pay the home owners a grant based on what they do (up to $5,000) and our province matches the federal grant.
The evaluators are required to take a 24 hour training workshop, do 7 test evaluations then write an exam (on line). Then you get certified to do the evaluations.
Cost to the home owner is approx $300 for first test and $150. for second test. Province subsidizes half of the first test.
Very busy right now, winter comming ya know 
Cheers
wow. Neat
Hi Doug,
and you can register and or take these workshops where?
Mark:
The Feds have license agreements with several service providers, one of which is Amerispec.
I have a working relationship with the local Amerispec owner and I got the training through them.
Obviously I do Eco evaluations under the Amerispec name.
You might want to check out www.ecoaction.gc.ca for further info.
Maybe you can connect with a licensee
Cheers
Doug
Has this program been extended? Last I heard it was going to be cancelled. I actually attended an energy audit last year I thought it was a good experience.
Mario:
The old program, Energuide for houses was cancelled and the new one Ecoenergy replaced it.
Supposed to go till 2011
Cheers
Thanks Doug!!
In 1997-8 I attended by invitation some of the first meetings the feds had with the provinces on the future energy audit program. (I was certified as a residential energy auditor in the US in 1981 after 7 full days of training; ran an airsealing service using a blower door and a retrofit blown insulation company then) 24 hours of instruction is too little training!!! We butted heads on too many items and I bowed out of the process
The audit program has been running for 5-6 years now and just recently I have finally been seeing audits (have a contract with local gov’t to oversee a residential low income retrofit program) that I would rate as “A” class. Field experience after longer training is what really gets you a good energy auditor. Most of the auditors have never worked in the retrofit field and this is what the program is all about…retrofitting homes.
The program does not test the biggest energy user in most homes- the furnace or boiler. Two years ago, an auditor’s recommendation was to replace the oil-fired boiler ($3500-$4000) without a test…I tested the boiler (I test efficiencies as a regular part of an inspection) and found it to be 81%!! The savings here may be $150 per year for a looooonngg payback. The existing boiler probably had 10 years life left!
Some auditors are doing 4 homes per day…may be possible if they are all similar small boxey bungalows…other than that it’s a money grab because there’s gov’t $$$ available!!
Thanks for your input Brian.
I agree… 24 hrs is a bit slim, however we get better as time goes on.
The grants are contingent on upgrading to Energy Star equipment.
I’m seeing old conventional furnaces, water heaters and AC units with less than 7 seer efficiency replaced, and the savings to the home owners are quite a bit better than your example.
Of course you are entitled to your opinion
Cheers
The Feds have license agreements with several service providers, one of which is Amerispec.
You might want to check out www.ecoaction.gc.ca for further info
Thanks for the info Doug.
Mark:
You’re welcome
Check the right side of the home page for “find an evaluator” Put your postal code in and a list of seervice providers pops up
Giv them a call and see if thay can offer you some of the pie
Cheers
If anyone ever looks back on this post I will update it by saying that I have taken the WETT course and have not regretted it. I have also joined up with a local company part time and have installed well over a hundred wood and gas unit with them. In January I started as a sub contractor and have continued to install units for them. I will be an installer technician in June and have become the authority in this area for WETT. I don’t regret taking the course as it pulled me through last year as inspections simply didn’t cut it.
Aulden:
I have been a WETT certified “Master” since 1988 and worked within the system as a special topics instructor locally, national board member and head of the education committee.
Back in the early days of WETT, most provincially certified masons used to avoid taking the courses due to costs and time lost in the field. This group also thought they “knew it all” since they were certified…but they were never instructed in CSA Standard B365 “…installation of wood heating appliances”
After the first 5-10 years of WETT certified people finding improper installations of wood heating appliances by the certified masons, they started showing up at courses. A few I talked to were basically shocked at the requirements within B365 that they did not know!! In my area now, each masonry firm has at least 1 or 2 WETT certified people on staff.
John Gulland, developer of many/most of the WETT courses also did course development with the US CSIA in the mid-late 90’s also.
Where are you? In BC? Good to here from you. I fully support WETT ideals although I don’t like how difficult it is to take the courses, I have tried to get the site basic and it continues to be cancelled. I also have to travel to Calgary to get it.
I would like to offer some training (not certification) for other inspectors but I am guessing that would just get me into trouble.
I’m in Nova Scotia where it is estimated that approximately 50% of households have a wood heating appliance not including fireplaces.(although not all may be used regularly for heat)
Too bad about the training. Each year we usually have been putting on 3 training sessions of 20-25 maximum persons here in Halifax since I arrived in 1992!!
I am from New Glasgow and have been out in Saskatchewan for about 15 years, maybe I have to come home for the course, good excuse I guess.
Aulden
Have to do some gov inspections (QC on low income homes energy retrofits) in that area in the next 2 weeks.