Energy Savings Program ventilation rebates

In order to qualify for this rebate, all of the following requirements must be met. Please read them carefully. Contact an Energy Savings Program 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.

Ventilation upgrades are only eligible for participants who are registered and approved as income level 1 or 2 in the CleanBC Better Homes Energy Savings Program.

Learn more about the income levels that are eligible for rebates.

Requirements for the home

You must live in an eligible home:

• The property must be a year-round primary residence, that is at least 12 months old.
• For participants registering in the program as income levels 1 or 2, the property must have a total assessed value at or under $1,230,000 in the BC Assessment listing for the address of the applicant’s home in the year of program registration.
• If a household meets the income threshold of any of the levels in the table above, but the home is valued at or higher than the property value of $1,230,000, they will be approved as an income level 3 participant.
• You must have a residential utility account with FortisBC, BC Hydro, or a municipal utility.
• 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.
• 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 [318KB PDF] to accompany your application.
• 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, or forced-air furnace/boiler).
  • wood or other solid fuels.

Requirements for your contractor

The ventilation upgrades must be installed:

• By a program registered contractor who is approved to install home upgrades for the CleanBC Energy Savings 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 Better Homes Energy Savings 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.
    • Be installed by a CleanBC Better Homes Energy Savings Program heat pump or electrical contractor.
  • 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 a CleanBC Better Homes Energy Savings Program heat pump or electrical contractor.