In short
Ontario's Home Renovation Savings Program pays a rebate on a qualifying smart thermostat, either as a code used at checkout or after purchase by uploading the receipt within 60 days. The amount depends on the channel, so check the program page before you count on a figure. Enbridge Gas now sends its customers to this same program, and local hydro utilities run no separate thermostat rebates of their own.
How much you can get
- Home Renovation Savings: code requested before buying, used at checkout See the program page
- Home Renovation Savings: receipt uploaded within 60 days of purchase See the program page
- Enbridge Gas smart thermostat offer Moved into Home Renovation Savings — no separate amount posted
- Utility-run thermostat promotions See the utility's own offers page
- Adding a common wire where none exists Not a rebate — a wiring cost on your invoice
Who qualifies
- The thermostat model appears on the program's qualifying products list.
- The home is heated mainly by a natural gas furnace or boiler on an active Enbridge Gas account, or is on the Ontario electricity grid and heated or cooled electrically.
- The home is a detached, semi-detached, row or town house, or a mobile home on a permanent foundation.
- The household has not already had a smart thermostat rebate, discount or free device from Enbridge Gas, Save on Energy or this program.
- The device is installed, connected to Wi-Fi and configured correctly for the equipment it controls.
- For a claim made after purchase, the receipt is uploaded within 60 days and shows the model, the retailer and the purchase date.
We install a lot of these, and the rebate is rarely the reason anyone should. Treat the rebate as a discount on a device you already wanted, and spend your attention on whether it suits your system.
What the rebate covers and how it is paid
It is one rebate per household on an approved model, and there are two ways to collect it. Request a code on the program page before you buy and the rebate comes off at checkout with the participating retailers. Or buy the thermostat wherever you like, then apply and upload the receipt within 60 days. When we checked the official pages on October 1, 2026, the Home Renovation Savings site showed more than one figure for the thermostat, and Enbridge Gas had moved its own thermostat offer into that program without posting an amount. That is why this page points you to the program page for the number instead of printing one that may be stale by the time you read it.
Your wiring decides whether a smart thermostat will work at all
Nearly every smart thermostat needs continuous 24-volt power, which means a common wire (the C-wire) back to the furnace or air handler. Houses wired in the 1950s and 1960s frequently ran four conductors and no more, and that is the single most common reason a thermostat that looked perfect in the box will not stay powered.
- No C-wire: options are pulling new thermostat cable, fitting an adapter at the board, or choosing a model with its own power arrangement.
- Electric baseboards: these are line voltage, and a standard 24-volt smart thermostat will not control them — you need a line-voltage model rated for the circuit, one per zone.
- Condo fan coils: many use proprietary or two-wire controls, and swapping to a consumer thermostat can breach the building's rules as well as break the coil's control logic.
- Hydronic boilers with zone valves: workable, but each zone needs its own compatible control and the wiring is not the same as a forced-air job.
- Millivolt systems on old gravity units: not compatible without an interface, and usually a sign the appliance itself is due.
Heat pumps and dual fuel need more than a basic thermostat
A heat pump thermostat has to drive a reversing valve (the O or B terminal) and stage auxiliary heat sensibly. On a dual-fuel system it also has to decide when to stop using the heat pump and start using the gas furnace — the switchover or balance point — and that setting is worth more to your bills than any rebate.
Set the switchover too high and you burn gas on mild days for no reason. Set it too low and the heat pump grinds away in deep cold at poor efficiency. We set it against the equipment's published capacity curve, not a factory default.
What a smart thermostat actually does for you
The honest version: scheduling and setback save energy, remote access saves aggravation, and usage reports tell you when something is running longer than it should. What it will not do is fix an oversized furnace, a leaky return, or a room that has always been cold. For that last one, see why one room is always cold.
Where local utilities fit in
Burlington Hydro, Oakville Hydro and Alectra deliver the province-wide Save on Energy programs; they do not each run a separate thermostat rebate. If a utility is running its own promotion at any given time, it will be posted on that utility's offers page — check there rather than taking a salesperson's word for it.
If you want the thermostat done as part of a furnace or heat pump install, we handle the wiring and itemize the thermostat on the invoice so your claim has what it needs — book a visit or read the smart thermostat benefits guide first.
How ZK Mechanical helps
- Check the wire count at the thermostat and at the board before recommending a model, not after buying one.
- Pull new thermostat cable when the run allows it, instead of relying on an adapter as a permanent fix.
- Configure heat pump staging and the dual-fuel switchover to the equipment's actual capacity curve.
- Itemize the thermostat on the invoice so the claim is not held up.
- Say when a programmable thermostat you already own is fine and the upgrade is not worth it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim the rebate if I install it myself?
As the program page reads today, yes. The rebate is tied to buying an eligible model and connecting it to Wi-Fi, not to who puts it on the wall. Check the wiring first, though: a thermostat fitted to a system with no common wire will not stay powered, rebate or not.
Which models qualify?
The qualifying list is maintained by the program and changes as manufacturers release new models, so check it before purchase. Mainstream Wi-Fi thermostats from established brands are the usual candidates.
Will a smart thermostat work with my baseboard heaters?
Only a line-voltage model designed for the job. Standard smart thermostats switch a low-voltage signal and will be destroyed by a baseboard circuit — and you need one per heated zone, which changes the economics.
Do I need Wi-Fi for it to run my heating?
No. The thermostat keeps its schedule and controls the equipment without a connection. You lose remote access, notifications and usage reporting until it is back online.
Is the rebate worth the paperwork?
Yes, because there is very little of it: a code at checkout, or a receipt uploaded afterwards. Just do not let a small rebate pick the thermostat for you, since compatibility with your equipment matters more than the discount.