Cash to make homes warm

Rotorua home owners could be living warmer and cheaper thanks to the Government's new $323 million insulation and heating programme.
About 20,000 homes in Rotorua and 900,000 nationally have substandard insulation and a Government initiative that started yesterday, called Heat Smart, will see home owners being able to get a subsidy of 33 per cent, or $1300, to install ceiling and underfloor insulation. They could also get $500 towards the cost of installing a clean, efficient heating device, like an approved wood burner or pellet burner, a heat pump or a 4-star ACA-rated flued gas heater.
Home owners with a community services card could get 60 per cent of the cost of insulation and $1200 for a clean heating device.
The average cost of installing insulation in a house is between $3000 to $3500.
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) will allocate the Government funding, which is available to all homes built before 2000. There are no income restrictions and home owners do not have to be living in the home to get the funding.
It's suggeste they could get mortgage top-ups to help cover the remaining cost of the installation.
Rotorua Budget Advisory Service advisor Pearl Pavitt said she would be signing up to get her house insulated.
"I think it's an excellent idea. I think it's something all families should look to invest in," she said.
"I know sometimes that I get chills go through my feet from the cold floor."
Although Mrs Pavitt couldn't give an exact number, she said there were many homes in Rotorua with inadequate insulation.
 She regularly had referrals from Work and Income for families whose power bills were more than $1000 per month.
"With this initiative, families in Rotorua will find their homes warmer and their power bills cheaper."
Rotorua MP Todd McClay said up to 20,000 homes in the Rotorua electorate were eligible for the new government funding.
 He said he expected many employment opportunities to be created locally as a result of the scheme and was urging local companies to register to do the installation work.
 The EECA's chief executive, Mike Underhill, said home owners needed to contact a local provider to undertake a free assessment to see what was needed for their property.

There are 11 registered providers in the Rotorua area and it should take 30 days for a quote to be done.
Mr Underhill told The Daily Post about 900,000 of New Zealand's houses had substandard ceiling and underfloor insulation and a big chunk of those would come up to standard in the next four years under the new scheme.
"We're expecting to get through around 27,500 homes throughout the country in the first year and numbers will build up in the following years."