More choice, better access to Rotorua air clean-up scheme
More choice, better access to Rotorua air clean-up scheme
For immediate release: 9 August, 2012
Rotorua home owners now have more choices to upgrade their old wood burners and open fires to cleaner heating methods under Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s Hot Swap scheme.
Hot Swap is an interest-free loan of up to $4600 including GST, paid off over 10 years, to help homeowners and landlords upgrade old solid fuel burners to cleaner heating systems. From 1 July 2012 residents have had a larger product range to choose from, and other changes, including a rates remission policy and subsidies for home insulation, make the scheme more affordable for low-income households.
The Hot Swap
scheme has so far helped 865 homeowners upgrade to clean
heat, which is estimated to have removed more than seven
tonnes of fine particulates from Rotorua’s air.
In
total, efforts by Housing New Zealand and Bay of Plenty
Regional Council have removed about 2100 non-compliant wood
burners in Rotorua since 2005, removing more than 13 tonnes
of fine particulates from the air.
Regional Council
Strategy General Manager Fiona McTavish said the Council had
received feedback that homeowners wanted more choice of
products under the scheme, so more options had been added,
and the scheme was made more accessible for low-income
families.
Home owners can now include costs for disconnecting wetbacks (where the wood burner also heats hot water) in their loan application. When the Hot Swap scheme was launched in August 2010 concerns over liability issues when wetbacks were disconnected meant these costs were not able to be covered under this loan scheme.
“Ensuring low-income households are able to apply for affordable options to upgrade to clean heat is a priority for the Regional Council,” Ms McTavish said.
“To further help low-income households any ratepayer who is eligible for Central Government’s rates rebate (a rates subsidy for low-income homeowners) will have their Hot Swap loan repayment waived for each year that they are eligible for the rates rebate.
“This means that groups in our community such as pensioners could have a clean heat upgrade that is fully funded over the 10 years.”
Home owners and landlords whose tenants
have community service cards may also be eligible for up to
60 percent off the cost of their insulation and up to $2000
towards their heating. Costs for insulation and clean heat
upgrades above these subsidies can be put on the Hot Swap
loan up to the loan limit of $4600.
“Offering
insulation alongside clean heat as part of the Hot Swap
scheme provides great gains for our air quality but also
provides healthier homes,” Ms McTavish said.
Some changes have also been made to some of the service providers contracted to help install clean heating, and some providers have changed the services they provide. The Hot Swap website www.hotswap.co.nz has been redesigned, making it easier for homeowners to find a service provider, product category or product, which now have prices attached.
To request a free home heating assessment call 0800 Hot Swap (0800 468 792), visit www.hotswap.co.nz or call one of the Regional Council’s service providers. More information on rates rebate eligibility is at www.ratesrebate.govt.nz.
Background
information:
What is the
Rotorua Hot Swap?
- An interest-free home
heating assessment and loan of up to $4600 including GST
offered to Rotorua ratepayers in the central city loan zone,
to convert old wood burners and open fires to a clean heat
appliance. A clean heat appliance is an energy star heat
pump, Australian Gas Association-rated flued gas heater,
pellet fire or approved wood burner.
- Loans are
paid off over 10 years.
- The Hot Swap scheme
was launched in August 2010, to help clean up Rotorua’s
air, which regularly exceeds the National Environmental
Standards for Air Quality.
- Poor air quality
particularly affects the young, the elderly and people with
respiratory conditions like asthma.
- The main
cause of Rotorua’s poor air quality is particulates from
inefficient home heating.
- The Hot Swap scheme
is an integral part of the Rotorua Air Quality Action Plan
to meet the National Environmental Standards for Air
Quality.
- To meet the air standards we need to
remove 60 tonnes of fine particulates from Rotorua’s
air.
Attached - Updated Hot Swap service clean heat service providers as of 1 July 2012
ENDS