HRSP (with assessment)
Active · limits applyUp to $10,000 per home for insulation, windows and air sealing, plus $600 back on your assessments — if the follow-up assessment is done by December 31, 2026
Audit required
Regional guide · updated October 2, 2026
The Kingston & Eastern Ontario home energy guide
Kingston's limestone heritage is beautiful and thermally brutal: solid stone walls can't be cavity-filled, which makes measurement — not guesswork — the difference between a transformed old home and an expensive disappointment.
The housing stock, read like an auditor
The historic core runs to limestone and early brick — solid walls, stone foundations, heritage constraints on exterior changes. Around it: post-war bungalows toward the west end, 1970s splits, a large student-rental stock near Queen's with famously leaky envelopes, and rural properties on oil east and north of the city. Lake Ontario wind exposure makes air sealing punch above its weight.
What audits find in Kingston & Eastern Ontario
- Solid limestone walls where interior insulation strategy and moisture care must be designed, not improvised
- Stone foundations needing moisture management before any basement insulation
- Student rentals with the city's worst leakage numbers and cheapest fixes
- Rural oil-heated homes with province-leading conversion paybacks
- Heritage-district homes where invisible fixes (attic, basement, sealing) do the heavy lifting
Tests to ask for by name
- Blower door test — the leakage number that reorders your plan
- Infrared scan — finds the empty walls without opening them
- CSA F280 heat-loss calculation — before any heat pump quote
- Radon test — Health Canada recommends it for every home
Run the planner for the full test list matched to your house — it carries into your audit request automatically.
The rebate angle
Home Renovation Savings applies normally, and heritage owners should note the rebate stack favours exactly the work heritage rules allow: air sealing, attic insulation, basement work, and mechanical upgrades — all invisible from the street. The audit documents pre-retrofit conditions, which some heritage processes ask for anyway. (The City's Better Homes Kingston loan program is no longer accepting applications.)
HRSP (no assessment)
ActiveHeat 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
No audit required
CMHC Eco Improvement
Active25% back on your CMHC mortgage insurance premium after $20,000 of energy renovations
No audit required
Monitor & test in Kingston & Eastern Ontario: air, water, and what's in the walls
Beyond energy, every area has its own home-health checklist — driven by local geology, water sources, housing eras, and weather. Here's Kingston & Eastern Ontario's, each item linked to its full guide. The 30-second screener personalizes this to your exact house.
Radon — limestone city
Kingston's limestone bedrock is exactly the geology that makes radon worth taking seriously — local health messaging pushes testing hard. Start the kit this fall.
Rural wells
Outside the serviced city, wells rule — free bacterial testing through the public lab, chemistry panels periodically, and a documented history that pays off at resale.
Heritage-home materials
Kingston's stone and brick heritage stock almost guarantees lead paint layers — swab-test before restoration work, and treat old plaster and insulation as sample-first materials.
Humid-summer basements
Lake humidity meets old stone foundations: musty basements are common. Diagnose the moisture path before finishing or insulating below grade.
The gear side — monitors, alarms, kits — lives in the gear guides.
Registered advisors serving Kingston & Eastern Ontario
All 7 are NRCan-licensed service organizations — with direct links to their Google, HomeStars, and BBB reviews. Only assessments from the seven HRSP-approved organizations qualify for the $600 Home Renovation Savings rebate; each card says whether the provider is one of them. Full directory view →
Nadeau Energy Solutions
CompanyNRCan-licensed service organization (Green Communities Canada network)
Kingston, Napanee, Gananoque, Prince Edward County, Brockville and the Rideau corridor (Perth and area)
The Energuy
CompanyNRCan-registered service organization
Province-wide Ontario coverage; also active in BC, AB, SK, MB and several US states
Canada Energy Audit
CompanyNRCan-registered service organization
Ontario-wide on NRCan's registry, from a Richmond Hill head office; also active in BC
AmeriSpec Canada
FranchiseNRCan-licensed for EnerGuide since 2001
National home-inspection franchise; EnerGuide services vary by local franchise
Energy Werx
CompanyNRCan-registered service organization
Regional offices across Ontario: Toronto 416-558-8546, Eastern Ontario 613-686-5949, Niagara and Haldimand 289-267-2803, plus Mississauga, Southwestern Ontario, Windsor and the North
The Home Inspectors Group
CompanyNRCan-registered service organization
Ontario-wide from a Markham office, with local lines for the GTA (647-792-0276) and Ottawa (613-417-0432); its own list includes Kingston, Peterborough, Barrie, Waterloo, London, Niagara, Hamilton–Halton and Windsor–Essex
Greenbrain
CompanyNRCan-registered service organization
Ontario-wide on NRCan's registry; also Alberta, BC and Manitoba
Common Kingston & Eastern Ontario problems, diagnosed
Drafts and cold rooms →Heating bills feel too high →Ice dams and icicles →Thinking about a heat pump →
Local questions
Can anything be done about solid limestone walls?
Yes, but carefully: interior insulation on stone must manage moisture or it creates problems. That's why Kingston homes start with the audit — usually the attic, basement, and airtightness work delivers most of the win without touching the stone at all.
I own a student rental — is an audit worth it?
The leakage findings in Kingston's rental stock are routinely dramatic, the fixes cheap, and the assessment path rebates apply to landlords' properties. Lower bills also show up directly in utility-included rent margins.
Plan it properly in Kingston & Eastern Ontario
Tell us about your home and we'll match you with a registered service organization — with the right tests flagged for your situation.
Email us what you’re planning, your postal code and the type of building (a house, a duplex or triplex, or a larger multi-unit building) — we’ll reply with registered service organizations for your area and which rebates apply.
Email dave@clickshift.ca