Skip to content

Direct Energy Water Heater Rental Rate Increase

Direct Energy Logo

UPDATED: I found my local copy of the 2009 Direct Energy buyout schedule. This is more relevant given the recent Direct Energy Rental Terms Change fiasco.

If you currently rent your water heater from Direct Energy, and you haven’t yet received your December 2009 bill, brace yourself. Direct Energy’s water heater rental rates are going up.  In some cases (like mine) – way up.  Currently I am renting a Polaris 34 U.S. Gallons natural gas hot water tank.  According to the pamphlet I received, my rental will be going from about $40/month to $62.34/month.  An increase of approximately $22/month!

Now, I know I have posted a fair bit about the problems I’ve had with my Polaris unit that I rent from Direct Energy. My only guess for Direct Energy’s 55% increase (is it really that much!?!) on my Polaris rental is due to the number of issues that they have had.

Here’s the 2009 Direct Energy Water Heater Rental Rates from their website:

2009 Rental Chart
Water Heater Type & Size Monthly Rental2 Hard Water Monthly Rental2
CV40 40 U.S. Gallons1 $11.64 $12.70
CV50 50 U.S. Gallons1 $13.00 $14.80
CV60 60 U.S. Gallons1 $15.48 $17.65
PV50 50 U.S. Gallons1 $20.81 $24.41
DV50 50 U.S. Gallons1 $20.51 $23.49
PV50 HI PV60 50 & 60 U.S. Gallons1 $22.97 $26.40
PV75 75 U.S. Gallons1 $27.63 $29.68
Electric 60 60 U.S. Gallons1 $10.25
Polaris 34 U.S. Gallons1 $62.34
CombiCor 50 50 U.S. Gallons1 $38.22 $41.55
CombiCor 75 75 U.S. Gallons1 $40.92 $44.45
Rinnai Tankless R75LSIN $33.50

1 Capacity in U.S. Gallons may vary, depending on specific manufacturer. U.S. Gallon = 0.8327 Imperial Gallons = 3.7854 Litres.
2 Rates are subject to change upon one month’s notice. Plus GST.

Ugh! From the same link above, I also found the 2009 Direct Energy rental water heater buyout schedule [PDF – no longer available]. According to that, my ~5 year old Polaris 34 Gallon tank would cost me around $3700 + tax to buy.  Double Ugh!

UPDATED: I found my local copy of the 2009 Direct Energy buyout schedule.

I managed to dig up the following 2008 rental rate information but it doesn’t seem to jive with what I am currently paying.

Direct Energy 2008 Water Heater Rental Rates
Direct Energy 2008 Water Heater Rental Rates

I guess that means I’m stuck paying $62/mon until my whole system craps out and I really have to replace something.  I had a furnace quote a while back and it came in around $8000 to replace my system (including a new hot water tank of some sorts).

Oh look, another shiny penny on the floor!  I should just bend over and pick that up…

9 thoughts on “Direct Energy Water Heater Rental Rate Increase”

  1. Jeff,

    I am in the same situation. I have a Polaris 34 and I lost my mind when I saw the new published prices. I called Enbridge to enquire and they basically told me that my new rate would not be 62.34, but something like 42. Just like your charts above, you and I should be paying $51 for our tanks now, but are only paying $40, and the rates are only going to increase about 2% according to the data on file for me. The justification given to me was that I had some kind of “special pricing consideration” in place.

    Definitely check your Dec bill, but be prepared for a pleasant surprise! (I hope)

    Stacey

    1. Fantastic news Stacey! I haven’t had a chance to call Direct Energy myself (holidays and all) so I’m hopeful I’ll get the same response. Maybe the rates are for new installations and those of us with the units already get grandfathered in to some maximum increase?

      Either way, I’ll probably be blabbing about it on here in a few more weeks. :)

      1. Jeff – check out the Kingston Utilities website (www.utilitieskingston.com). They have a NRCan-sponsored programme which applies throughout eastern Ontario (i.e., not just Kingston) that rents Viessmann wall-hung natural gas (or propane) boilers and Viessmann solar thermal equipment. Even though the units are rented they are elligible for the same NRCan grants under the ecoEnergy programme which usually more than covers the installation costs. I’ve worked with the Viessmann equipment and think they’re very good.

        1. Nic, I just looked at the site and they mention that there is “An allowance equal to $2,500 for a residential solar domestic hot water system is available through the ecoEnergy Retrofit program.”.

          Given your certification, can you confirm that? ;) I looked previously and it appeared the maximum for solar hot water was only $1000 ($500 from Federal and $500 from Ontario).

  2. Hi my name is Paul. I found a company called morEnergy. They are one of the competitors to Direct Energy. MorEnergy does fixed rate rentals on ten year contracts. After 10 years you can choose to get a new tank with them, buy the tank for a good price, or rent the same tank for 50% less. They will bring the Direct Energy tank back to them and put a higher efficiency tank in the home instead. The rental is an average of $5 more per month, but its fixed and since its a better tank you save it back on the gas portion of the bill.

  3. Recenthly I bought house, Can you advice me about what best for water/gas/hdyro?

    I don’t know anything for water/gas or hydro.

    Thanks in advance.

  4. I have a polaris as well and my new rental rate is $62 dollars per month. I plan to call Direct Energy to pick up their tank soon. I will rent with a local company.

  5. Pingback: Direct Energy Public Relations - Ivany

Leave a Reply