The Energuy

I decided to install Solar on my home and was recommended to Energuy for the pre and post retrofit evaluations. No problem getting the person here to do the evaluations but when I wanted to move forward with getting the reports downloaded to my Grant Portal I had to make many calls and emails. They either didn't return my call or at best took about a week to hear from them. They would send me the evaluation report but it seemed to take 4-5 weeks to get them with some calls to get them to download to the Government website. each time I was delayed in limbo waiting for them to do a simple task. Send me the report and send it to the Government at the same time. Sounds simple but didn't happen. At the moment still waiting to hear from them after 5 weeks post evaluation as to when they will send the report.

The evaluator, Brandyn, was very knowledgeable and thorough in his inspection and gave honest recommendations on each area of my home as to how much it would benefit my overall energy efficiency of my home if I upgraded.

Although the staff members at Energuy were pleasant, they were sloppy and uninformed. It was frustrating receiving their constant barrage of phone calls inquiring about the work we intended to complete and finally requested that they stop. This gave a strong impression that Energuy would receive some sort of commission for pushing their clients to complete a certain number of upgrades. And, the incorrect information given was infuriating: from the R-value required for insulation, to insistence to complete certain upgrades for 'large rebates' that ended up being overpriced wastes of time, to incorrect information about deadlines, to flawed information about rebates for certain products installed. Bharath, the auditor took a picture of the utility bill but omitted to include the account number in the picture (a requirement) resulting in the initial report not being processed. As a result it took almost 4 months to receive the initial report and numerous phone calls inquiring as to its whereabouts.

During the initial audit, when I asked questions of the auditor, he did not know the answers and did not give explanations or offer to find the answers. Later, he would claim that had I contacted him during the upgrading process, he would have had all the answers, although throughout the initial and final audits, he could not answer questions. He would also claim that, because of the lost rebates (because of the misinformation from the Energuy staff) he and his superior at Energuy would do their best to get the best possible rebates. As most of his comments, this was evidently an empty, and insincere statement. Once the final test was completed, Bharath replied that the amount of difference was 'exactly what we were expecting', further underscoring the empty statements as they had no clue of all the upgrades planned. When Bharath completed the final audit, he turned off the heat, did not mention it, and forgot to turn it back on resulting in the temperature in the house going down to 14 degrees upon our return home late that evening. Could pipes have potentially burst? He also omitted to take pictures that should have been taken and took pictures of parts of the house that were not part of the audit and, when questioned, could not explain why he did. Later, he would expound that I should call ________ to get a rebate of _______ and then would not return my calls when these frustrating and hot-air filled pieces of advice went nowhere and resulted in wrath from the companies I was instructed to call. Working with the staff at Energuy, Bharath, Bailey, Shirley, Lindsay, among others, has resulted in missed opportunities for rebates, frustration with careless work, uninformed advice and empty claims from staff in many areas of the company.

We selected Energuy to do our Ecoenergy audit. The auditor that came in was thorough in assessing the home and gave us some recommendations on how to improve our score.
The report generated was well-written and was easily accessible on their website soon after the audit was done.
Even though the auditor gave us recommendations, some of the changes we ended up making (especially regarding heat loss) seemed not worth the time and effort. In particular, the auditor suggested we change the weatherstripping around the garage door, front door and door to the cold storage room. He also suggested we purchase the foam backing kits to put behind the electrical outlets. I really don't feel any of those changes made any difference at all. I also would have appreciated a post-audit report but I was told they only give a score and not a full report.

We wanted to finsih our basement. Before starting any work, a visit to the Home Show led us do a Home Energy Evalution. This we did by contracting with the Energuy. The contractors were very helpful and explained the process in detail. They were very courteous. Once the pre evalution was done, we went on to do the project of finishing the basement. Once basement was completed,the Energuy company was called in to do re-evalution. They were prompt to come in again. The rebate papers were also completed by them. Whenever their office was called the answered any question very effectively.

I am giving 6 for this company, i spent for my attic upgrade and air leaks, but i did not get the grant for air leaks, pre audit guy recommended for air leaks so as per his advise i fixed it myself, post audit guy did not bother i kept saying air leaks fixed he did not listen, he did the audit and gone, i did not get the grant for air leaks, these companies they don't care about us getting the grant, they care about their audit report sent to ministry and get our audit fee only, also i did not like their audit report it was very standard , not specific to my condition of the house. its like a copy/paste. they are just doing their minimum duty.

My window contractor hired these guys to do an energy assessment as part of their deal with me. In a nutshell, here's how it should work: You get an energy assessment, you make improvements to your house's energy efficiency (new windows, doors, insulation, air leaks etc.), you get a second assessment to take inventory of the work you've done and the assessor reports back to the ECO-energy program. After 90 days , you receive a grant cheque from the government reimbursing you for a portion of what you spent. My second assessment was done Nov 13, 2010. It is now Feb 28, 2011. I just called National Resources Canada to find out what's going on with my cheque and they say that "The EnerGUY" has not submitted the second assessment to them. I called the EnerGUY and they say that they have no record of a second assessment ever being done. The girl on the phone was very helpful... she said she would forward my complaint to "Sean" and could offer no other information. When I asked, "who is Sean?" she said he's the guy that takes care of these kind of complaints (like it happens all the time).
So... after investing $30,000 in new windows, doors, etc, I may be out of luck for my grant money (which is a sizable amount) because the program ends in March of 2011(tomorrow)and it takes 90 days for the government to process it.
I won't even get into how unprofessional the actual assessment was - it should suffice to say that the guy didn't know how to use his equipment and lacked knowledge of the science behind it.

Update and Rebuttal to The Energuy's Response Below:

They did work with National Resources Canada to straighten out my file (eventually) and I'm told that I can expect my grant to come in the next 60 to 90 days.
Contrary to the reason given in the Energuy's response: I did not have a "First Evaluation" done by another company. Perhaps the previous owner of my home did, I don't know. Regardless, if that is something of importance to them, they should have looked into it as I'm sure that it is not a rare situation to find a home that has already been through this process by a previous owner.
They mention that this was resolved by "hard work and dedication". It seemed to me that trying to get answers directly from "Sean" or "Big Mike" (who apparently is the boss and is only known to the employees as "Big Mike") wasn't getting me anywhere. They did not return my calls. I contacted National Resources Canada and they began a formal investigation.
I stand by my review. This company does not deserve your business.

My contractor had recommended The Energuy for energy audit.First, I was only intersted in getting rebates but after The Energuy Energy Advisor Harry Sarvaiya did the energy audit, I can say confidently _ Rebate is nothing. Get the Energy audit done and save money for life.Harry was very professional, honest and reliable.He has vast experience, engineering background and very truthful.He answered all my questions & worth every penny.Great Job Harry ! Thank you.

This company was referred to me by two separate independent contractors that I was receiving quotes from on the same day. I took their advice and hired them. Their service was excellent, very knowledgeable. I recommended them to a couple of neighbours who also hired them

Frank came and did an energy audit on our townhouse. He was professional and explained all the different options that we had. He was honest and reliable and we will definitely recommend him to our friends and family.