Hey Landlords,

I wanted to share my amazing experience with the Efficiency Nova Scotia Program for Multi-Family Affordable Housing. I can only speak to the Nova Scotia program, however, I would recommend searching for energy efficiency upgrades in whatever province or state you reside.

My journey began when I was turning over a unit in a two unit property that was occupied by a long term tenant. You see in this property the upper unit was still heated by oil (I have been paying $750 per year just for insurance on the oil tank) so I wanted to convert the upper unit to electric baseboard heat with a heat pump and add a heat pump to the lower unit (which was already on electric baseboard heat).

I decided the best time to make these changes were while I had a vacancy (which is quite rare). I contacted our regular heating expert (Ryan Backman of Backman Heating & Cooling) He arranged for an electrician to meet with him and his crew to do up the estimate.

I told Ryan my plan was to pay in full for the upgrades, but to finance the heat pumps with Nova Scotia power, I mentioned that I was also going to look into the heat pump rebate program offered by Efficiency Nova Scotia. I had read about this program from information I received from IPOANS (Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia). It sounded too good to be true, I mean 80%, plus they would finance the rest (including the cost of the electric conversion upgrades).

I submitted the online application on the efficiency Nova Scotia website. It was surprisingly easy and I was contacted right away by an efficiency coordinator. She answered all my questions and sent me a pre-approval.

The application was pretty simple.

Summary from the website: “Buildings with 1-3 units are eligible for rebates up to 80% of the pre-tax cost for heat pumps and heat pump water heaters only. The agreement term for buildings with 1-3 units is in effect for 6 years from the date rebates are provided by Efficiency Nova Scotia. The application should be accompanied by a quote for your desired products. Eligible heat pumps can be found here: www.efficiencyns.ca/guide/minisplits/. Eligible heat pump water heaters must have a minimum Energy Factor of 2.3. All upgrades must be preapproved by Efficiency Nova Scotia to qualify for rebates.”

I had the work completed approximately a month later. I sent the final invoice along with pictures of the heat pumps.

I was then sent an agreement with the rebate and loan terms for the other 20% that the rebate did not cover (the other 20% will be paid back over 24 months).

I signed and sent back the paperwork and within 2 weeks I had the full $9200 ($8000 + 15% tax) deposited into my bank account. I paid the HVAC company and just need to honor the terms of the affordable housing grant agreement for the required term.

The whole process from estimates to grant money in the bank was just over 60 days.

I will admit I was skeptical of both the affordable housing requirements and the complexity of the paperwork. To learn more take a look at the agreement requirements.

The bottom-line is that even if you do not think you will qualify for anything, it is worth a try. Often these programs do not get applicants, so the money allocated just sits unused. It was definitely a great lesson learned for me. If you are reading this and live in a different province, state or Country than Nova Scotia Canada, it would be great if you provided links in the comment section to grants available in your area.

Until next time,

Design your landlord experience,

Michael P Currie

Landlord by Design

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