Heating Guide
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Heating and cooling your home accounts for about half of your energy bill, making it the single largest energy expense for most homes in B.C. Improving your home’s heating is a sound long-term investment: it’s low-risk, it pays dividends through lower heating costs, it improves your quality of life and it reduces your environmental impact. Whether you are building a home, own an existing house, condo or apartment, or rent, there are steps you can take to make your home more energy efficient. Find the improvements you are ready to make. Change is a progression. Challenge yourself one step at a time.

Many of the steps you will take to improve your heating system can also keep your home cool in warm weather. Check out our Home Cooling Green Guide.

Tip		Affordability Affordability High Affordability Low Affordability	Cost Savings Cost Savings High Savings Low Savings	CO 2 Reduction CO² Reduction High Reduction Low Reduction
	Get An Energy Audit & Make Changes. An energy audit is a great way to start making your home more energy efficient.
	Draft Proof Your Home. Wherever you feel cold air coming in around a window or door, you have a leak...
	Choose A Smaller or Efficient Home. Moving to a new home is a great opportunity to make energy-efficient decisions...
	Lower Your Thermostat. One simple way to minimize wasted energy and reduce heating costs, is to heat your home strategically...
	Install A Programmable Thermostat. Lower your heating (and cooling) costs by about 10% with a programmable thermostat.
	Shade Your Windows. Heat loss from windows can account for 10% to 25% of your heating bill in winter.
	Upgrade Your Ventilation. The average family produces 10 to 50 litres of moisture a day...
	Maintain Your Heating System. Tuning up the equipment you have and giving it regular maintenance can go a long way...
	Make Sure Your Fireplace Is Efficient. When you cozy up to a crackling fireplace on a cold day, you might be robbing your home of heat.
	Consider a Heat Pump A heat pump is one of the most energy-efficient heating and cooling systems available today.
	Add and Upgrade Insulation. Upgrading your heating system might make your home warmer, but if it can’t hold the heat in, you will waste energy.

Incentives, expertise make LiveSmart BC a winner

Armed with a war chest of $60-million, the LiveSmart BC Efficiency Incentive Program offers an energy assessment and incentives package that should prove irresistible to British Columbians looking to upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes.
Learn more