Government Rebates & RECs
Government Rebates
The federal government is offering $1,000 to help home owners replace their electric hot water systems (HWS) with a more efficient unit. The Solar Hot Water Rebate will help people save money on their power bills and reduce their household's greenhouse gas emissions. Water heating is the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions from the average Australian home, accounting for around 25 per cent of home energy use (excluding the family car).
Installing a climate friendly hot water system can save a family up to $700 off their energy bills each year.
Eligible systems
To be eligible for the rebate, a hot water system must:
Replace an electric storage hot water system (Exception: if your home was destroyed in the February 2009
Be purchased and installed on, or after 3 February 2009
Be a solar or heat pump hot water system that is eligible for at least 20 Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) at the time and place of installation
Be installed by a suitably qualified person (for example an electrician or plumber).
Eligible households
An owner-occupier, landlord or tenant can apply for the rebate as long as the dwelling where the hot water system is installed is a principal place of residence.
Government organisations are not eligible for the rebate.
The owner-occupier or landlord can apply as long as he/she has not previously received assistance to install ceiling insulation through the Home Insulation Program or the Homeowner Insulation Program at this address.
For more information click here.
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)
When a owner-occupier or landlord purchases a eligible HWS under the Solar Hot Water Rebate Scheme he or she qualifies to collect the RECs created by their purchase.
RECs exist electronically in an internet based registry managed by the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator (ORER). In the context of HWS, each REC represents the equivalent of one megawatt hour of renewable energy generation. RECs have a value determined by the market in which they may be traded.
ANSA Plumbing can provide you with a discount to the value of the RECs for your unit making the costs of installing a new energy efficient HWS much more manageable.
The amount of RECs that you can receive is determined by the efficiency of the unit that you have purchased and your geographical location. The Regulator has determined four zones in Australia based on climate and solar radiation levels. The number of RECs a particular solar water heater model is entitled to create will depend on its installation date and geographic location. The Regulator has determined four zones in Australia based on climate and solar radiation levels.