Making the move to cleaner home heating will become easier for Invercargill residents with the start of the clean air loans Invercargill scheme.
Loans will be available to homeowners within the Invercargill airshed who want to upgrade to approved burners or heat pumps and/or improve their insulation. The scheme is jointly funded by Environment Southland and the Invercargill City Council, who have each allocated $500,000 per year for the next three years.
The council had agreed to fund the clean air loans scheme and also to allow low interest loans to be charged to individual ratepayers because, while air quality is important, it is vital people should not suffer during Invercargill’s cold winters.
Awarua Synergy will administer the scheme as service providers for the Southland Warm Homes Trust. Anyone who lives within the Invercargill airshed and has a non-compliant burner or open fire in their main living room can apply if they are an Invercargill City Council ratepayer and don’t have any rates in arrears. You can borrow up to $5,000 which is to be paid back over a five-year period at a 3.95% interest rate.
As part of the application process, the team from Awarua Synergy will work with homeowners to establish the most efficient and effective form of clean heating for their home.
The Manager of Awarua Synergy, Sumaria Beaton said, “It’s important that people are guided to get the best heating for their homes. Every house and every family’s needs and lifestyles are different and we need to find a heat source that will give them the best result”.
Awarua Synergy staff with Tim Shadbolt, Mayor of Invercargill and beside him in the red jacket, Ali Timms, Chair of Environment Southland.