Manitoba · climate zone 7A · prices and rebates checked October 8, 2026

Insulation and upgrade payback calculator for Winnipeg

Winnipeg has 5,542 heating degree-days a year (climate zone 7A), and NRCan recommends about R-80 in an attic here. For a typical detached house of about 1,600 sq ft (149 m²) built between 1966 and 1980 with a gas furnace, mid-efficiency, topping up the attic from R-20 to R-60 saves about $40 a year at $0.236/m³ and costs about $1,200–$1,960; the smallest open rebate that applies (Efficiency Manitoba Home Insulation Rebate) is $960. In an electrically heated house the same attic saves about $150 a year.

Heating degree-days

5,542

NBC climate zone 7A

NRCan attic target

R-80

code minimum for new homes R-59.2

Natural gas, one more m³

$0.236/m³

used for every saving

Open rebate programs

3

Efficiency Manitoba Home Insulation Rebate; Efficiency Manitoba air sealing bonus

Upgrade payback calculator for Winnipeg

Pre-filled for a typical 1966–1980 house in Winnipeg with Winnipeg's climate, prices and open rebates. The insulation levels are typical assumptions for the era, not measurements: change anything you know about your house. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

Your house
Year built
Type
Size (heated floors above the basement)
sq ft
Heating and bills
$

Used for every saving (fixed charges left out).

$

Only used to turn a monthly bill into energy.

Calibrate to your bills (optional)

Based on a typical house

$370saved a year with 6 upgrades

About 1,560 m³ a year less for your gas furnace, mid-efficiency: 46.9 GJ of the 118 GJ of heat the house needs (40%).

Installed cost
$13,550–$21,460 + your quotes
Rebates counted
$1,310–$1,460
Simple payback
62 years to over 100 years for the 4 upgrades with a cost
Saving over 20 years
$7,380

Enter your quote for wall insulation and basement wall insulation to add them to the cost and payback. The 4 upgrades with a cost save about $195 a year together.

Measures overlap, so the total (40% of your heating need) is less than the sum of each one alone (48%).

Add your annual use or a monthly bill to calibrate these numbers to your house. Most rebates need an EnerGuide evaluation before and after the work; their conditions are listed further down this page.

Attic insulation
R-
R-

NRCan recommends R-80 for climate zone 7A; we cap the default at R-60. The building code minimum for a new house here is R-59.2.

sq ft
$
Or cost per sq ft (low – high)
$ – $

HomeStars (updated 21/08/2026): "installation costs range from $1.50 to $2.45 per square foot"; Canadian attic jobs average $1,500–$3,000 including materials and installation.

$40/yr · 5.1 GJ (4.3% of heating) · cost $1,200–$1,960 · $960 rebate · payback 6.0–25 years

Wall insulation
How
RSI

R-12

sq ft
$

We couldn't verify a 2025–2026 Canadian price for wall insulation, so this starts blank. NRCan: on an exterior retrofit the insulation is only about 15–20% of the cost.

$90/yr · 11.4 GJ (9.7% of heating) · cost enter your quote · $945 rebate · payback enter a cost

Basement wall insulation
RSI

R-4

RSI

R-20

sq ft
$

$140/yr · 18.1 GJ (15.3% of heating) · cost enter your quote · no rebate counted · payback enter a cost

New windows
windows
$
Or cost per window (low – high)
$ – $

HomeStars (updated 21/08/2026): $800–$1,000 for a double-hung and $900–$1,200 for a casement window, installed; bay and bow windows $2,500–$4,000.

$83/yr · 10.6 GJ (9.0% of heating) · cost $12,000–$18,000 · no rebate counted · payback over 100 years to no payback

Air sealing
%
ACH50

Leave the cut blank for our default: 20%, or 15% if your house tests under 4 ACH50. The blower-door number is on your EnerGuide report.

Cost (low – high)
$ – $

HomeStars (updated 21/08/2026): air sealing and ventilation "could add $350 to $1,500" to an attic insulation job.

$35/yr · 4.4 GJ (3.8% of heating) · cost $350–$1,500 · $350–$500 rebate · payback right away to 29 years

Thermostat setback
°C
hours a day
$

NRCan suggests 17 °C when you're asleep or away and 20 °C when you're home, and not going below 17 °C. $0 if you already have a programmable thermostat; we couldn't verify a 2025–2026 price for a new one.

$56/yr · 7.1 GJ (6.0% of heating) · cost $0 · no rebate counted · payback right away

Each upgrade on its own
UpgradeSaved a yearCost and rebatePayback20 years
Attic insulationR-20 → R-60 over 800 sq ft $40170 m³ a year $1,200–$1,960rebate $960 6.0–25 years $795
Wall insulationR-10 exterior insulation: RSI 2.1 → 3.9 over 1,580 sq ft $90380 m³ a year your quoterebate $945 enter a cost $1,800
Basement wall insulationRSI 0.7 → 3.5 over 890 sq ft of wall $140605 m³ a year your quote enter a cost $2,850
New windows15 windows: U 2.86 → 1.22 $83355 m³ a year $12,000–$18,000 over 100 years to no payback $1,670
Air sealingA 20% cut in air leakage (NRCan: about 25% of heat loss) $35145 m³ a year $350–$1,500rebate $350–$500 right away to 29 years $695
Thermostat setback3.0 °C lower for 8 hours a day $56235 m³ a year $0 right away $1,110

Savings use the price of one more unit of energy, not your average price. Each upgrade is shown on its own against your house as it is now; the total above accounts for overlap. Payback = (cost − rebate) ÷ yearly saving; the 20-year figure has no price increases or discounting.

Winnipeg at a glance: standard upgrades for a 1966–1980 house

Detached, about 1,600 sq ft over a full basement, two storeys, with the era's typical insulation (attic R-20, walls RSI 2.1, uninsulated basement walls, double-glazed windows). Savings use the price of one more unit of energy; costs are installed ranges where we could verify one.

Gas-heated (mid-efficiency furnace)
UpgradeSaved a yearCost and rebatePayback20 years
Attic insulationR-20 → R-60 over 800 sq ft $405.1 GJ · 4.3% $1,200–$1,960rebate $960 6.0–25 years $795
Wall insulationR-10 exterior insulation: RSI 2.1 → 3.9 over 1,580 sq ft $9011.4 GJ · 9.7% get a quoterebate $945 enter a cost $1,800
Basement wall insulationRSI 0.7 → 3.5 over 890 sq ft of wall $14018.1 GJ · 15.3% get a quote enter a cost $2,850
New windows15 windows: U 2.86 → 1.22 $8310.6 GJ · 9.0% $12,000–$18,000 over 100 years to no payback $1,670
Air sealingA 20% cut in air leakage (NRCan: about 25% of heat loss) $354.4 GJ · 3.8% $350–$1,500rebate $350–$500 right away to 29 years $695
Thermostat setback3.0 °C lower for 8 hours a day $567.1 GJ · 6.0% $0 right away $1,110
Electrically heated (baseboards)
UpgradeSaved a yearCost and rebatePayback20 years
Attic insulationR-20 → R-60 over 800 sq ft $1505.1 GJ · 4.3% $1,200–$1,960rebate $960 1.6–6.7 years $3,000
Wall insulationR-10 exterior insulation: RSI 2.1 → 3.9 over 1,580 sq ft $34011.4 GJ · 9.7% get a quoterebate $945 enter a cost $6,800
Basement wall insulationRSI 0.7 → 3.5 over 890 sq ft of wall $54018.1 GJ · 15.3% get a quote enter a cost $10,760
New windows15 windows: U 2.86 → 1.22 $31510.6 GJ · 9.0% $12,000–$18,000 38–57 years $6,300
Air sealingA 20% cut in air leakage (NRCan: about 25% of heat loss) $1304.4 GJ · 3.8% $350–$1,500rebate $350–$500 right away to 7.6 years $2,630
Thermostat setback3.0 °C lower for 8 hours a day $2107.1 GJ · 6.0% $0 right away $4,210

The house needs about 118 GJ of heat a year here. Walls in this era already hold about RSI 2.1, so dense-packing gains nothing and the table shows R-10 of exterior insulation instead. Wall and basement prices start blank because we couldn't verify a 2025–2026 Canadian cost; the 20-year column shows what each upgrade is worth to compare with a quote.

Rebates for these upgrades in Manitoba

Efficiency Manitoba has rebates for every measure except heat pump water heaters, including a $100 rebate per triple-pane ENERGY STAR window or door and a $400 rebate on the pre-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation.

Attic insulation

Efficiency Manitoba Home Insulation Rebate Open
Attic (open), from R-34 or less to R-50–R-60: $0.03 x R-value added x square feet. Cathedral, sloped or flat roof (R-30 or less to R-28–R-60) and attic kneewall (R-12 or less to R-24): $0.03 x R-value added x square feet.
Conditions: Owner of a home, rental or cottage with active Manitoba Hydro residential service, heated September to May; detached, semi-detached or mobile/modular home on a permanent foundation. Your registered contractor or retailer starts the application and you need approval before buying materials or starting work; 12 months to install; at least 100 sq ft per area; rebate for each area can't exceed the insulation material cost including taxes; insulation added above the final R-value…
Deadline: Install within 12 months of approval.
Program details · official page ↗ · checked October 8, 2026

Wall insulation

Efficiency Manitoba Home Insulation Rebate Open
Wall cavities (between studs), R-12 or less to R-12–R-24: $0.06 x R-value added x square feet. Wall exterior (when re-siding), R-0 to R-3.75–R-15: $0.15 x R-value added x square feet.
Conditions: Owner of a home, rental or cottage with active Manitoba Hydro residential service, heated September to May; detached, semi-detached or mobile/modular home on a permanent foundation. Your registered contractor or retailer starts the application and you need approval before buying materials or starting work; 12 months to install; at least 100 sq ft per area; rebate for each area can't exceed the insulation material cost including taxes; insulation added above the final R-value…
Deadline: Install within 12 months of approval.
Program details · official page ↗ · checked October 8, 2026

Basement wall insulation

Efficiency Manitoba Home Insulation Rebate Open
Foundation walls/joist headers, R-12 or less to R-22–R-24: $0.06 x R-value added x square feet.
Conditions: Owner of a home, rental or cottage with active Manitoba Hydro residential service, heated September to May; detached, semi-detached or mobile/modular home on a permanent foundation. Your registered contractor or retailer starts the application and you need approval before buying materials or starting work; 12 months to install; at least 100 sq ft per area; rebate for each area can't exceed the insulation material cost including taxes; insulation added above the final R-value…
Deadline: Install within 12 months of approval.
Program details · official page ↗ · checked October 8, 2026

Air sealing

Efficiency Manitoba air sealing bonus Open
10% improvement: $500; 20% improvement: $750; 30% improvement: $1,000 (added to your Home Insulation Rebate).
Conditions: Owner of a home, rental or cottage with active Manitoba Hydro residential service, heated September to May; detached, semi-detached or mobile/modular home on a permanent foundation. Your registered contractor or retailer starts the application and you need approval before buying materials or starting work; 12 months to install; at least 100 sq ft per area; rebate for each area can't exceed the insulation material cost including taxes; insulation added above the final R-value…
Deadline: Complete within 12 months of approval.
Program details · official page ↗ · checked October 8, 2026

Windows and doors

Efficiency Manitoba Windows and Doors Rebate Open
Get a $100 rebate on each ENERGY STAR® certified triple pane window and door you install in your home.
Conditions: ENERGY STAR certified with at least triple-pane glass; NRCan reference number (NR####-######-ES#) on the invoice; replaces an existing window between heated and unheated space; primary residence (yours or your tenant's); counted per rough opening; new openings, garages, sunrooms, seasonal homes and apartments excluded; homeowners and landlords.
Deadline: Apply within 90 days of installation and payment in full.
Program details · official page ↗ · checked October 8, 2026

Financing

Manitoba Hydro Home Energy Efficiency Loan Open
Minimum $500; maximum $12,500 for all loans per residence; 6.20% (O.A.C.) for the first 5 years official page ↗

Efficiency Manitoba ground source heat pump payment plan Open
No upfront cost on retrofits up to $38,000; 0% official page ↗

Common questions in Winnipeg

Does attic insulation pay for itself in Winnipeg?

For a typical detached house of about 1,600 sq ft (149 m²) built between 1966 and 1980, going from R-20 to R-60 saves about $40 a year with a mid-efficiency gas furnace and $150 with electric baseboards, counted at the price of one more unit of energy. At HomeStars' $1.50–$2.45 per sq ft (about $1,200–$1,960) and a $960 rebate, simple payback is 6.0–25 years (1.6–6.7 years for an electrically heated house). Attics with less than R-20 save more.

What insulation rebates are open in Winnipeg?

As of October 8, 2026: Attic insulation: Efficiency Manitoba Home Insulation Rebate (Attic (open), from R-34 or less to R-50–R-60: $0.03 x R-value added x square feet) Wall insulation: Efficiency Manitoba Home Insulation Rebate (Wall cavities (between studs), R-12 or less to R-12–R-24: $0.06 x R-value added x square feet) Basement wall insulation: Efficiency Manitoba Home Insulation Rebate (Foundation walls/joist headers, R-12 or less to R-22–R-24: $0.06 x R-value added x square feet.). Conditions apply (most need an EnerGuide evaluation before the work); the calculator counts the smallest amount for each and lets you switch it off.

How much insulation should an attic have in Winnipeg?

NRCan's Keeping the Heat In recommends about R-80 (RSI 14.1) for an attic in climate zone 7A, which covers Winnipeg at 5,542 degree-days. The National Building Code minimum for a new house here is R-59.2 without a heat recovery ventilator. Our calculator caps its default target at R-60.

Are new windows worth it for energy savings in Winnipeg?

Rarely on energy alone. Replacing 15 double-glazed windows with ENERGY STAR models saves about $83 a year in a gas-heated house and $315 with electric heat, against $12,000–$18,000 at HomeStars' $800–$1,200 a window: payback over 100 years to no payback. Replace windows when they fail or for comfort; air sealing and attic insulation pay back much faster.

How much do air sealing and a thermostat setback save in Winnipeg?

Cutting air leakage by 20% saves about $35 a year in a typical gas-heated house here (NRCan: about a quarter of heat loss is air leakage), and turning the thermostat down 3 °C for 8 hours a night saves about $56 a year (NRCan: about 2% per degree over eight hours). Heat pumps should be set back no more than 2 °C.

How we calculate this

1. Heat saved by insulation and windows

heat saved (GJ/yr) = area × (1/RSI before − 1/RSI after) × 5,542 degree-days × 86,400 s ÷ 10⁹ × F

F is a conservative factor: 0.75 above grade (the sun, people and appliances supply some heat, and no installation is perfect) and 0.4 for basement walls (most of the wall is below grade, where the ground stays far warmer than winter air). Windows use U-values instead of 1/RSI.

2. Typical starting points

  • Attic: R-12 before 1966, R-20 (1966–80), R-28 (1981–95), R-40 (1996–2010), R-50 (2011+). Target: NRCan's retrofit recommendation for climate zone 7A, capped at R-60.
  • Walls: RSI 0.7 (empty, before 1946), 1.4 (1946–65), 2.1 (1966–95), 3.0 (1996–2010), 3.4 (2011+). Dense-packing a 2×4 cavity gives about RSI 2.1 (cellulose is RSI 0.63 per 25.4 mm, NRCan Table 3-1); R-10 of exterior insulation adds RSI 1.76.
  • Basement walls: RSI 0.7 before 1981 (bare concrete plus the soil against it), 2.1 for 1981–2010, 3.5 since; target RSI 3.5 (R-20).
  • Windows: 12% of floor area (1.2 m² each), single with storm before 1966, double clear 1966–95, double low-e after.

These starting values are AuditYourHome planning assumptions for a typical house of each era, not survey results: we could not verify a Canadian table of insulation levels by year built. Change them to match your house; an EnerGuide evaluation measures them.

3. Air sealing

Without a blower-door number we use NRCan's statement that typically about 25% of heat loss is air leakage: saving = 25% × reduction × heating need × 0.75. With your EnerGuide result (ACH50), everyday leakage is ACH50 ÷ 20, near the conservative end of the 10–25 range used in the field, and:

heat saved = drop in natural air changes × house volume × 1.21 kJ/m³·°C × degree-days × 24 ÷ 10⁶ × 0.75

We assume a 20% reduction (15% if the house is already under 4 ACH50); rebate programs pay for measured cuts of 10%, 20% and 30%.

4. Thermostat setbacks

NRCan: “A drop of 1°C (2°F) over an eight-hour period can save about 2 percent on your heating energy consumption.” Saving = 2% × degrees × hours ÷ 8. Heat pumps are limited to a 2 °C setback, NRCan's advice, because deep setbacks can bring on backup heat.

5. Caps, overlap and your bills

No single measure may save more than 35% of the heating need, and all of them together no more than 60%. Measures overlap (a better attic leaves less heat for new windows to save), so the combined saving is 1 − (1 − a)(1 − b)…, always less than the simple sum. If you enter bills, every saving is scaled by how your use compares with a typical house (between 0.5× and 1.6×).

6. Dollars, rebates and payback

payback (years) = (installed cost − rebate) ÷ yearly saving at the price of one more unit of energy

Rebates use each program's lowest published amount per unit (per home, per window, per sq ft or per sq ft × R-value added), only for programs open today and only where your heating fuel qualifies; you can switch each one off. The 20-year saving is the yearly saving × 20, with no price inflation or discounting. Where we could not verify a 2025–2026 installed cost (walls, basements, exterior insulation), the cost starts blank: enter your quote.

More for Winnipeg

Heating and hot water costs in WinnipegWhat heating, hot water and air conditioning cost at your local prices, and what each heating system would cost instead.Home health check in WinnipegRadon results, winter humidity and window condensation, smoke and CO alarm rules, well water and mould.Appliance running costs in WinnipegWhat your fridge, dryer, freezer and other appliances cost to run at your local electricity price, and what a newer model saves.
Build your upgrade plan → All home services in Winnipeg Home energy audits in WinnipegAttic insulation inspections in WinnipegBlower door tests in WinnipegThermal imaging in Winnipeg Manitoba rebates and programs

Sources

Prices and programs checked October 8, 2026. Climate: NRCan HOT2000 (Winnipeg International) for heating and ECCC 1981–2010 normals (Winnipeg Richardson Int'l A) for cooling and temperatures.

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