EnerGuide home evaluation: steps, cost and rebates

What is an EnerGuide home evaluation?

EnerGuide is Natural Resources Canada’s rating system for homes. An evaluation is done by a registered energy advisor who works through a service organization licensed by NRCan. The advisor measures your home, tests how airtight it is and models its energy use, then gives you an EnerGuide rating and a report of recommended upgrades.

Many provincial programs call it a “home energy assessment” rather than an EnerGuide evaluation. In practice it’s the same visit, delivered by an advisor the program has approved.

When rebate programs require one

Programs that pay for envelope work (insulation, windows, air sealing) are the most likely to require an evaluation, because the before-and-after comparison proves the improvement. Single-equipment rebates usually don’t.

What it costs and what gets reimbursed

Where a program sets the fee, it is usually heavily subsidized. Elsewhere, service organizations set their own prices, so ask for a written quote that says whether it covers both visits.

The old federal Greener Homes Grant used to pay up to $600 toward evaluations everywhere; it is fully closed. If your household income is modest, check the free programs first: Nova Scotia’s HomeWarming, Manitoba’s Energy Efficiency Assistance Program, B.C.’s Energy Conservation Assistance Program and Ontario’s Home Winterproofing Program all include an assessment at no cost.

What happens during the visit, including the blower door test

The pre-retrofit visit usually takes a few hours. The advisor will:

• Measure the house and note the construction of walls, attic, basement and windows.
• Look at the heating, cooling, ventilation and water heating equipment.
• Check insulation levels in the attic and wherever else they can see.
• Run a blower door test: a fan in an exterior door depressurizes the house so the advisor can measure how much air leaks in. Many people walk around during the test and feel the drafts at outlets, baseboards and the attic hatch.

Reading your EnerGuide report

You’ll get an EnerGuide rating, which estimates the home’s annual energy use in gigajoules (lower is better), and a renovation upgrade report listing what the advisor recommends. Treat the report as a menu: programs that need an evaluation generally only pay for upgrades on it.

After the work, the advisor returns for the post-retrofit evaluation, re-runs the blower door test and issues a new rating. That second visit is what triggers payment in programs like Nova Scotia’s Home Energy Assessment, which sends the rebate cheque about 90 days later.

Book a registered energy advisor

NRCan’s “find a service provider” directory lists the licensed service organizations in each region. Some provinces route bookings through their own program instead: in Nova Scotia you book with an Efficiency Nova Scotia delivery partner, and Ontario’s assessment track lists approved service organizations on homerenovationsavings.ca.

One order-of-operations tip from Nova Scotia applies everywhere: if you might qualify for an income-tested program, apply for it before you book, so the fee can be waived and the assessment counts for both.

Planning a heat pump rather than a full retrofit? Read heat pump rebates in every province first: you may not need an evaluation at all.