Provincial discounts offered to get Albertans to bring energy efficient products into their homes are not getting a lot of attention say local retailers and renovators.
The NDP government announced the Energy Efficiency Alberta program earlier this year and have been adding more rebated environmentally-friendly products.
Most recently an online $100 rebate for energy efficient refrigerators, programmable thermostats and washers and dryers was introduced, with a limit of two products.
There are also in-store rebates for certain LED lights, timers, dimmers, low-flow faucets, smart power bars and clotheslines.
Stacey Wolfe co-owns the Okotoks Home Hardware with her husband. She said the program was sprung on them.
“We were scrambling trying to get everything into the computers,” Wolfe said.
Many customers don’t seem to have heard about the rebate program, she added.
A few people have called to ask about it, Wolfe said. They have brought in more LED lights, which Wolfe feels will be the most popular of the rebated products.
“I think some people are going to change all the light bulbs in their house,” she said. “It’s a great deal for the consumer.”
The Province is offering in-store rebates of $5 to $8 for LED lights and a $15 rebate for the housing for LED pot lights.
Wolfe said she is currently renovating her kitchen and has installed LED strips under her cabinets and uses LED bulbs in her lamps.
“Your energy bill should go down and it reduces your footprint on the planet,” she says of switching to LED.
The in-store rebates are available until June 11.
Jason Law, owner of Okotoks-based MBL Construction, said the cost savings for installing LED lights is so negligible that he finds most his renovation customers aren’t interested in installing them.
Law said the Province’s other eco-rebate initiatives for triple-paned windows, insulation and tankless water heaters are also not generating interest. In order to get a rebate on insulation, the province has set standards that must be met.
“None of our customers have asked about it,” he said. “I don’t know if they don’t know about it or they are just not that concerned about it. The program doesn’t seem to elicit any response from people out in the market.”
People often don’t see a return in their investment for more than 10 years when it comes to many of the product’s energy savings, Law said.
The tankless water heaters, insulation and triple pane windows also must be installed by a contractor who has been approved to participate in the energy efficiency program, Law explains.
Rob Edwards, owner of Timberwolf Construction and Attic Insulation out of High River, is the only contractor in the Foothills who has signed up.
Edwards said he still needs to learn about the online submission process that allows the homeowner to see how much of a rebate they will receive.
He said he has two customers he is working with to get insulation rebates. The process is a lot of extra work for small business owners, like himself, who have to do the work to get the rebates, Edwards said.
The government is investing $645 million over five years for the program from carbon tax revenue.
“Its coming out of our taxes,” Edwards said. “We are all paying for the program.”
For more information about the Energy Efficiency Alberta program and to see what qualifies for rebates visit www.efficiencyalberta.ca
