CleanBC Income Qualified Program Rebates for Ventilation

In order to qualify for this rebate, all of the following requirements must be met. Please read them carefully. Contact an Energy Coach if you have questions.

Income qualification requirements

Rebate coverage is based on the combined income of all adults in your home and how many people live in your home, including adults and children.

• Combined incomes less than Income Level 1 are eligible for up to 95% of upgrade costs.
• Combined incomes less than Income Level 2 are eligible for up to 60% of upgrade costs.

Requirements for the home

You must live in an eligible home:

• The home must be a year-round primary residence, that is is at least 12 months old.
• You must have a residential utility account with FortisBC, BC Hydro, or a municipal utility.
• The home must be one of the following types of residential buildings:
  • Single family home (detached dwelling).
  • Secondary suite in a single-family home (detached dwelling), with its own separate utility meter.
  • Mobile home that is permanently fixed, sits on a foundation and is structurally complete with installed and connected plumbing, heating, electrical, water and sewer services; towing apparatus and axle must be removed.
  • Duplex, triplex, row home or townhome, where each unit has its own natural gas and/or electricity meter; utility accounts must be in the name of the resident and/or homeowner. Utility accounts in the name of a strata corporation are not eligible.
• If you currently rent your home, you will need a landlord consent form to accompany your application.
• You must pay your own energy utility bills. Utility accounts must be in the name of the resident and/or homeowner; utility accounts in the name of a strata corporation or landlord are not eligible.
• You must pre-register and receive an eligibility code before completing the upgrade.
• The home must be primarily heated by one of the following:
  • natural gas, propane or oil
  • electricity (hard-wired electric heating systems such as electric baseboards, radiant ceilings, radiant floors, forced-air furnace/boiler, or heat pump).
  • wood or other solid fuels.

Requirements for your contractor

The ventilation upgrades must be installed:

• By an Income Qualified Program Registered Contractor who is approved to install home upgrades for the CleanBC Income Qualified Program, for the trade applicable to the upgrade being installed (e.g. Insulation must be installed by a licensed residential insulation contractor).

Requirements for the upgrade

• You must pre-register and receive an eligibility code before completing the upgrade.
• The new ventilation equipment must:
  • Be installed in association with an eligible CleanBC Income Qualified Program upgrade:
    • heat pump, heat pump water heater, insulation, or windows/doors upgrade.
  • Be a bathroom fan systems or heat recovery ventilators installed to improve air circulation in the home.
  • Bathroom fans must meet the following requirements:
    • fans must be ENERGY STAR® certified and listed on the US Environmental Protection Agency and US Department of Energy’s searchable product list.
    • fans must be ducted directly to the outside of the premises and at least one fan must be installed in the main bathroom, which contains a bathtub and/or shower.
    • fans must have a capacity of at least 85 cfm (40 L/s), at static pressure of 50 pa (0.2” w.c.).
    • fans must be rated for continuous duty and equipped with permanently lubricated motors.
    • fans must be equipped with self-closing backdraft damper to prevent air flow during “off” periods.
    • ducts must be sealed at joints with duct sealer or aluminum duct sealing tape.
    • ducts must be insulated to minimum R4 (RSI 0.75) if exhausting warm air through unheated spaces.
    • duct hoods should be screened with ¼” (6 mm) to ½” (12 mm) mesh, of corrosion-resistant material to shield from weather, birds and rodents.
  • Heat recovery ventilators must meet the following requirements:
    • heat recovery ventilators must be ENERGY STAR® certified and listed on Natural Resource’s Canada’s searchable product list.
    • be installed in accordance with the BC Housing Heat Recovery Ventilation Guide for Houses.
    • emergency replacement of a broken heat/energy recovery ventilator is eligible.
  • Be installed by an Income Qualified Program Registered Contractor who is approved to install home upgrades for the CleanBC Income Qualified Program, for the trade applicable to the upgrade being installed (e.g. Heat pumps must be installed by a licensed residential heating and cooling contractor).