VEU Eligibility and How the Discount Works

Who the program is for

The Victorian Government states that all Victorian households and businesses are eligible for a heating and cooling discount through the Victorian Energy Upgrades program, and that private rental properties are eligible where landlords and tenants work together on the upgrade. That covers most of the homes we work in across the Macedon Ranges, from Sunbury and Gisborne to Woodend, Kyneton, Romsey and Lancefield.

Eligibility in practice comes down to three things: what you are replacing, what you are replacing it with, and how the work is done.

What you are replacing

As at our last check, the upgrade must replace one of these: a ducted (whole-of-home) gas heater, a non-ducted gas space heater, an electric resistance heater, or an existing reverse cycle air conditioner. The replaced system must be more than two years old. Central systems such as ducted gas heaters can be replaced under the program even where a home has more than one; hard-wired electric room heaters have tighter limits on how many can be claimed.

For the higher levels of discount the replaced heater is decommissioned so that it is permanently unusable and ready for removal, and the work is documented with date-stamped, geo-tagged photographs and the relevant compliance certificates. That is the installer’s responsibility, and we do it as part of the job. The program’s current settings also include options that do not require decommissioning, at a different level of discount; the written quote states which applies.

What you are replacing it with

The new system must be a high-efficiency reverse cycle air conditioner approved under the program. For a home it must carry a minimum five-year warranty. Ducted and non-ducted systems are both covered, which is how a gas ducted heater can be replaced with a ducted reverse cycle system and a wall furnace can be replaced with a split system.

How the discount is applied

Only accredited providers can apply the discount. It is applied at the time of the upgrade, so the price in your quote already reflects it; there is no rebate to claim afterwards. VEU rebate administration for Macedon Ranges Gas & Air projects is processed under Melbourne Gas & Air, another trading name of the same legal entity; the accreditation details that apply to your job are shown in your written quote. The size of the discount depends on the type and capacity of the new system, what it replaces and the program’s current settings, all of which change. For that reason we do not publish amounts on this page. We confirm the figure for your home in writing at quote time.

What we check before you commit

1. Whether your existing heater or air conditioner is a covered type and meets the age rule.
2. Whether the home suits the upgrade you want. A gas to ducted reverse cycle conversion always gets new, correctly insulated ductwork designed for the new system; see the gas to electric page for why.
3. Which approved systems suit the home’s heat load, zoning and budget.
4. The current discount for that system and that replacement, confirmed against the program rules on the day.

If any of that rules the upgrade out, we tell you before you have spent anything, and we tell you what the alternatives are.

Keeping this page honest

Program rules and amounts change. The accuracy note on this page shows when we last checked the official sources, and we re-check before every update. If you have seen a different figure or rule elsewhere, ask us; the answer for your home is the one that counts.