Here's why more residents in Waterloo region are making the switch to heat pumps

Local HVAC companies are busier than ever installing heat pumps in Waterloo region.

Heat pumps are an alternative way to heat and cool your home that experts say will save your home and the environment.

According to a description on the Natural Resources Canada Website, "a heat pump is an electrically driven device that extracts heat from a low temperature place (a source), and delivers it to a higher temperature place (a sink).

There are rebates available for Canadians to save thousands of dollars when making the switch from a traditional AC or furnace to an electric heat pump.

HYBRID HEAT PUMPS

A Waterloo home owner said she is excited about her new hybrid heat pump system that’s being installed. Her old AC and furnace were about 30 years old.

“It wasn’t broken, but I knew it wouldn’t last much longer,” Jessie Leffering said.

The company doing the install, Able Air Conditioning and Heating, said a hybrid heat pump is a good option for those who aren’t necessarily ready to fully commit to an electrically driven device.

“You're still maintaining a traditional furnace. But the furnace is only used part time when the heat pump is not able to keep up,” said Martin Kulcsar, from Able Air.

WHAT ABOUT THE COSTS?

Leffering said the idea that Canadians can save money was her main motivation to make the switch.

While there are upfront costs, Able Air said it almost balances out when you factor in rebates.

“The upfront costs are significantly less now thanks to the rebates because the price of a hybrid or an electric heat pump works out to be about the same price,” said Kulscar.

Canadians can expect about $6,500 in rebates from the Canada Greener Homes Initiative for installing a heat pumps. Experts said you can also be eligible for local rebates, but it depends on what city you’re in and what utilities company you’re with.

Able air said those who choose hybrid heat pumps can still get rebates.

ENERGY SAVING

Kitchener resident Ian Graham’s home runs on solar panel, and so does his cottage.

“Since then, it has provided me a lot of freedom,” Graham told CTV News.

While he was at the cottage, Able Air installed a fully electric heat pump at his place.

Able Air installs a fully electric heat pump in a Kitchener home on August 15, 2023. (CTV Kitchener/Heather Senoran)The outside unit looks similar to a traditional air conditioner.

Experts said it can do both jobs as an AC and a furnace. For heating in the winter, it can keep you warm using a heat kit.

“It is going to be your backup. So if it drops below -15 in the winter, you'll have this still, which will work just as good as a gas furnace will,” said Alex Baker with Able Air, while holding the heat kit he is about to install.

Graham said it’s important to him to have live as environmentally friendly as possible.

“We're literally a speck of dust that's floating in the universe, and there's no other planet that we know that we can go to,” Graham said.

UPTICK IN USERS

Able Air said before the Greener Homes Grant launched in 2021, they would install about six heat pumps per year in Waterloo region. The number of heat pump users locally keeps going up. Last month they installed more than 50.

Jim Bolger from Waterloo Energy Products & Mechanical has been in the business for 20 years. He said he’s noticed the shift to heat pumps as well.

“It also has been driven by acute awareness and desire to do something about climate change [and] carbon emissions reductions,” Bolger said.

Bolger said it’s worth it to make the switch.

“From an operational perspective, with your day to day operating costs, if your current system is gas, you would have maybe a five to ten per cent savings – compared to what it would cost you to heat your home with gas. If you’re a home that currently heats with propane or oil or straight electric, the cost savings could be 60 to 80 per cent,” Bolger said.