HEAT PUMPS PAY OFF: UNLOCKING LOWER-COST HEATING AND COOLING IN CANADA

Source: | · CLIMATE INSTITUTE CANADA · | June 24, 2024

Heat pumps are the lowest-cost option for heating and cooling most homes in Canada.

Reducing climate pollution from Canada’s building sector will require a big switch from fossil fuels to clean electricity. That means a significant increase in highly-efficient heat pumps to heat and cool people’s homes, keeping them safe from extreme summer heat. 

The good news is that heat pumps are already the lowest cost way to do so in most cases. 

New research from the Institute shows that heat pumps are less costly than gas and air conditioning in most cases in Canada. 

The report — Heat Pumps Pay Off: Unlocking lower cost heating and cooling in Canada — provides a detailed picture of heating and cooling costs. It compares different heat pump configurations against gas furnaces and air conditioning. The analysis looks at different building types and ages in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Montréal, and Halifax.

Heat pumps come out ahead on costs largely because they’re two to five times more efficient than gas furnaces, providing substantial savings on energy bills, and because they provide both heating and cooling in a single appliance.

HEAT PUMP CALCULATOR: CRUNCH THE NUMBERS FOR YOURSELF

To accompany the report, the Institute has launched an online calculator comparing the different costs of heating and cooling systems in the five cities from the report. Visit www.heatpumpcalculator.ca to try it for yourself.