As a homeowner, heating and cooling your home efficiently during the summer and winter months is one of the most important concerns. Energuy believes that home heating and cooling should be easy, reliable, eco-friendly and cost effective. When you consider a heat pump as an option for your home, you check these important boxes.
What is a Heat Pump?
A heat pump is a home heating and cooling system that operates in a unique manner. It is ultimately an electrically driven device that takes heat from a low temperature place and moves it to a higher temperature place in order to moderate home temperature levels. Since this system functions on an electrical model versus running heating systems by oil, natural gas or propane, it proves to be an advantageous alternative.
There are two main heat pump systems that homeowners will benefit from:
Air source heat pump
An air source heat pump draws and rejects heat from the outside air in order to heat or cool. It doesn’t even need to be a warm temperature outside for a heat pump to work effectively. As more energy than one might expect is available in the colder temperatures. Meaning that your home will be fuelled for your temperature needs throughout all seasons and circumstances. Air source systems are currently the most common heating and cooling system on the Canadian market. There are over 700,000 installed units across Canada and counting.
Ground source heat pump
A ground source heat pump uses the earth, ground water, or both as the source of heat in the winter. And in the summer it removes heat from the home acting as a reservoir to reject heat removed from the home. When comparing the ground source heat pump to the previously mentioned air source heat pump, they are less common. Nonetheless they are becoming more widely used across the provinces. The primary advantage of this specific system is that they are not subject to extreme temperature fluctuations. As the ground is a constant and reliable temperature source. In turn, the ground source heat pump is the most energy efficient type of heat pump.
Benefits of Upgrading the Heat Pump System
Switching to a reliable heat pump system can improve the energy efficiency at your home and save you money on your utility bills.
- Heat pumps do not use oil or environmentally depleting resources. So while you heat and or cool your home efficiently, you lower your carbon footprint
- Upgraded cooling and heating systems often come equipped with more advanced thermostats that allow you to better control the temperature in your home, reducing waste and improving energy efficiency
- An upgraded system can improve air flow throughout your home, which can help to distribute heat and cool air more evenly and reduce energy waste
The Canadian government has begun a green initiative in the past years to promote switching to more eco-friendly home systems. Resulting in programs such as the Canada Greener Homes Grant, and more recently the Home Efficiency Rebate Plus program (HER+). These programs offer rebates for homeowners who want to save money while making their home more energy efficient.
How to Get a Rebate for Switching to a Heat Pump
Taking advantage of a home energy assessment is the first step you must take when looking to participate in the rebate programs. Both types of heat pumps mentioned above are eligible for rebates. You can confirm if your model is eligible by speaking with a contractor or turning to the NRCan approved list. This is exciting for homeowners as home energy assessments not only cover an evaluation of your home heating system but they detail any other potential problems in the home that are worsening your home’s efficiency.
