Energy Assessment
An assessment with Goldfinch Energy is the first step towards a making your home more comfortable, energy efficient and less reliant on fossil fuels. With Goldfinch Energy it’s not often a stand-alone service but, rather, the preliminary step we take to understand your home. By collecting measurements and details of your home, we can then provide you with a plan to get a heat pump, address the root causes of discomfort or a broader roadmap of improvements you can make in your home to acheive your goals.
What is an energy assessment?
An energy audit with a Goldfinch energy advisor is more thorough than a typical audit-for-rebates. Our team will take the time to carefully measure your home and do our best to establish insulation levels. We specialize in heat pump sizing and the audit can be used to help you understand the costs and best-sized heat pumps.
Our energy assessments take some time to complete but our clients frequently tell us how much they appreciate the quality.
Should I get an energy assessment?
Here are the top reasons we recommend you get an energy assessment with Goldfinch Energy:
Get a heat pump. The first step to installing a heat pump involves taking measurements to ensure that the heat pump is sized properly. We specialize in heat pump sizing and selection and help you understand the ideal options in your home before you start seeking quotes.
Learn more about your home and make a plan for your energy and comfort goals. We specialize in helping with home electrification, deep energy retrofits and net-zero renovations.
Diagnose root causes of discomfort and help you make a plan to improve comfort.
Enroll in the Home Renovation Savings Program - this is the current rebate program. We work with EnergyWerx to help you access rebates.
What’s included in an Energy Assessment?
House Measurements - We take a number of measurements to better understand the levels of insulation, age and efficiency of your heating, AC and hot water, check windows and doors. Often, the most intersting part is the iar leakage test, we block off a door to the outside and run a large fan to quantifu the draftiness in your house.
Thermal Imaging - If it’s cold enough outside we also do thermal imaging which further helps us understand sources of heat loss and potential discomfort.
Ductwork Measurements - If you’re intersted in a heat pump, we’ll measure your ductwork and check the pressure and airflow to help inform contractors of the best sized heat pumps.
Kitchen Table Chat - After we have a feel for your house, we will discuss our findings with you, review your goals and start to discuss recommended next steps.
Roadmap Report - Our reports are customized to your home, goals and needs and includes an assessment of your home “as is”, a prioritized list of improvements with reminders on why each improvement is recommended, a description of how best to accomplish each improvement, cost estimates and recommended contractors.
Heat Loss and Heat Gain Calculations and energy modelling - the report includes calculations based on the measurements we take in your home. Among these measurements is a heat loss and heat gain calculation as per CSA F280 standards which form the basis of ensuring your new heating system can be sized to keep you comfortable all year long.
Electrical Panel Capacity - We’ll look at your electrical panel and also calculate your historical electricity consumption. Most often, electrifying a home doesn’t require a costly upgrade to 200 Amps service, but we check the numbers to be sure.
EnerGuide Reports - If you plan to apply for the rebates, we generate EnerGuide Reports.
“Support from Goldfinch Energy saved us years of time trying to figure out how to get our home to net zero. We’d been trying to do our own research and figure out the best approach given current costs but it was overwhelming and hard to bring together all the information.”
- Homeowners in Whitby
Costs
Energy Assessment: $450*
Add $200 to enroll in the Home Renovation Savings Program. This option also includes access to financing and the required EnerGuide reports. More details on available rebates and financing
*Surcharges will be be applied for homes that are more than 3,000 sq. ft., outside the GTA and are multi-unit residential buildings.