How our 1:1 debt-to-savings ratio helps you save money

You’ve probably heard that making energy upgrades, such as installing heat pumps or new insulation, can help you save money. However, it can be challenging to know which options will have the greatest impact on your home’s energy efficiency.

On top of that, you might be concerned about whether or not you’ll actually save money and recover the costs of these upgrades. That’s where Clean Energy Financing comes in with a program that helps you figure out what upgrades have the best payback. The goal is for you to save the same amount or more than what you invest in your energy upgrades. Here’s how it works.

What is the debt-to-savings ratio?

Clean Energy Financing uses a debt-to-savings ratio to determine whether the total cost of your upgrades, program fees and borrowing expenses is equal to or less than the estimated energy savings over the financing period.

To begin the process, the first step is to get a Home Energy Assessment. By analyzing the data gathered during the assessment, we can estimate your future energy use and fuel costs for a set of proposed upgrades. We then compare these estimates to your current energy use and fuel costs to determine how much you could potentially save.

We take into account your home’s past energy and heating bills (oil, propane, wood) to gain insight into its overall efficiency. Ideally, we would like to review up to three years of past bills to really understand how your home operates. The 1:1 debt-to-savings ratio incorporates factors such as:

• The cost of each upgrade
• Your home’s current energy efficiency
• Fuel and energy costs

While every home is unique, upgrades that often align well with this debt-to-savings ratio include heat pumps, insulation and solar panels.