Heating bills feel too high
Winter gas or hydro bills that make you wince — and you're not sure if that's your house or just prices.
What it usually means
- Envelope losses: thin attic, bare basement walls, leaky frame — the house sheds heat as fast as you buy it
- Old equipment: mid-efficiency furnaces burn ~20% more gas than condensing units; electric baseboards cost 2–3× what a heat pump would
- Oversized or short-cycling equipment wasting energy on starts
What an audit measures
- The EnerGuide model splits your bill into envelope vs. equipment losses — so you fix the right one first
- Blower door + thermal imaging quantify the envelope's share
Try first (cheap or free)
- Pull 12 months of bills and note your usage (m³ or kWh), not just dollars — our planner benchmarks it against similar homes
- Set back the thermostat 3–4°C overnight; a smart thermostat automates it
The fix ladder
- Air sealing + attic top-up
- Basement insulation
- Heat pump at equipment end-of-life
Rebates that apply
- HRSP (with assessment) — Up to $10,000 per home ($5,000 if heated with Enbridge gas), including $600 back on your two assessments, for insulation, windows, air sealing and more — if the follow-up assessment is done by December 31, 2026
- HRSP (no assessment) — Heat pumps up to $7,500 ($12,000 ground-source), solar with battery up to $10,000, plus attic, thermostat and appliance rebates — no assessment needed
- Toronto HELP — City loans up to $125,000 (or 10% of your home's assessed value) for energy retrofits, repaid on your property tax bill
Want it diagnosed properly?
A registered energy advisor measures instead of guessing — blower door, thermal imaging, and a written upgrade report priced against rebates.