A heat pump is one of the most economical ways to reduce costs and improve energy efficiency and comfort in your home or office, as it uses much less energy to produce heat. Heat pumps are far more efficient when compared to conventional HVAC methods and could reduce your heating costs by up to 50%.
How Does it Work?
When it’s cold outside, a heat pump extracts outside heat and transfers it inside. When it’s warm outside, it reverses directions and acts like an air conditioner, removing heat from your home. The advantage of a heat pump is that it moves heat instead of generating heat, which is more energy efficient.
Refrigerators and air conditioners are both examples of heat pumps operating only in the cooling mode. A refrigerator is essentially an insulated box with a heat pump system connected to it.
An air-source heat pump absorbs heat from the outdoor air in winter and rejects heat into outdoor air in summer. It is the most common type of heat pump found in Canadian homes at this time. However, ground-source (also called earth-energy, geothermal, geoexchange) heat pumps, which draw heat from the ground or ground water, are becoming more widely used, particularly in British Columbia, the Prairies and Central Canada.
The Benefits
Heat pumps are safer and require less maintenance than systems based on combustion, and are more affordable to run than oil and gas boilers. They reduce your carbon emissions and have an efficient conversion rate of energy to heat. One of the biggest advantages of a heat pump over a standard heating ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) unit is that there’s no need to install separate systems to heat and cool your home. They have a very long lifespan and are extremely reliable.
Incentives and Rebates
BC Hydro and FortisBC often offer grants and rebates for energy efficient upgrades to your home, including heat pumps. We’ve seen rebates of $800 from BC Hydro for the installation of a ductless air-source heat pump as well as many others! Island Energy carries a list of Incentives and Rebates on their website and has been a leader in Victoria’s heating and air conditioning field for over 25 years.
Don’t wait for the winter weather to make the call.
Rob, Island Energy