Heat pump popularity is increasing, but how well do they work on the Prairies?

This story was originally published on Nov. 12, 2023.

Catherine Gibson hopes she and her husband can age in place in their south Regina home.

That'sone of the main reasons she installed an air-source heat pump this past summer.

"I had been hearing about heat pumps and how they were the thing of the future," said Gibson. "We had an old furnace and we had an even older air conditioner, so it seemed like a no-brainer."

Gibson uses the electric-powered heat pump along with anatural gas furnace she purchased in 2022 to heat her home in the colder months. It also cools her home, like an air conditioner, in the summer.

A heat pumpcools a home by absorbing the heat inside and releasing it outside, butreverses that process in winter extracting heat from air outside, even when the temperature is well below zero, and transferring it inside.

Gibson says she noticed a drop in her power and gas bills with the new gas furnace, and she's hopeful they'll continue to drop now that herpump is carrying part of her heating load.

Simon Landsman, a salesman with Regina Plumbing and Heating, has also noticed the growing popularity in the pumps. He estimates he's sold about two dozen so far this year.

WATCH | Heat pump popularity in Saskatchewan:

Heat pumps becoming more popular in Saskatchewan

10 months ago

Duration 2:47

More Saskatchewan residents are turning to heat pumps to warm and cool their homes.

"A lot of people want to go greener [and get] a little bit better savings on your energy bills," he said."It's just clean energy."

Landsmanthinks their popularity will only increase, especially since the outside units are smaller than an air conditioner.

Pumps can work in Prairie winters, say experts

In a statement to CBC, the Saskatchewangovernment says it won't offer rebates through SaskPower and SaskEnergy for heat pumps because "they simply do not work as a primary heat source in the climate across the Prairie provinces."

The government of Canada which offers up to $5,000 in rebates for pump installationand now up to $15,000 for those switching from heating oil notes onits website on heat pumps thatnewer models can provide heating intemperatures as low as15 C to 25 C.

"Below this temperature, a supplemental system must be used to provide heating to the building," it says.

WATCH | Here's how a heat pump works:

How heat pumps can cool a home in the summer and provide heat in the winter

1 year ago

Duration 2:01

Peter Messenger with A1 Air Conditioning and Heating and University of Calgarys Sara Hastings-Simon explain how heat pumps work.

But Sarah Riddell, a policy researcher in clean heat at Efficiency Canada, says laboratoryand real-worldstudies have foundnewercold climate heatpumpmodelscan heat to around 30 Cbecause of improvements in technology. Even if the temperature drops further, theirbackup resistance heating will kick in.

"You'd still have a completely warm home that can heat to really any temperature that you'd ever see in Canada," said Riddell.

• This week on Cross Country Checkup, our Ask Me Anything segment focuses on heat pumps and whether they're an affordable and sustainable option for you. Fill out the details onthis formto get your questions in early.

There won't be an immediatestrain on electrical grids fromheat pumps, she said, because around 40 per cent of homes in Canada already use electrical heating through baseboards and boilers and heat pumps won't be installed all at once.

Martin Luymes, a vice-president with the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute, agrees heat pumps are an effectivereplacement for any other source of heating.

"To suggest that we cannot heat a home without natural gas or oil is false," said Luymes. "Really, every household in the country should be at least contemplating purchasing a heat pump."

Greenhouse emissions would increase in some cases: study

But in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Luymes said heat pumps may bea "less attractive" option partly because electricity in both provincesis generated from fossil fuels.

A 2022 Natural Resources Canadastudyusing data from 2020 found greenhouse gas emissionswould actuallyincrease ifa two-storey home builtafter 1980 in cities like Regina, Calgary and Edmonton switched from natural gas heating to a cold climate air-source heat pump.

Despite this, Riddell points to a 2022 report from the International Energy Agency that shows heat pumps still reduce emissions by at least 20 per cent worldwide compared to gas and up to 80 per cent in countries with cleaner electricity.

The Natural Resources report noted reductions in greenhouse gases are possible if Prairiehomes switched to heat pumps from other electric heat sources (a reduction of up to11.2 tonnes per household a year) and oil (2.7 to 12.2 tonnesa year).

The report also notes yearly savings of over $3,000 on energy bills when switching to a heat pump from oil in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Cost was front of mind for Jake Dingman, who lives on an acreage near Saltcoats, Sask.

Hemade the switch this fall from oil heating to a heat pump.

He was paying nearly $4,000 a year to heat with oil.

WATCH|Do heat pumps work in the Prairie climate?

Digging into claims heat pumps wont work during prairie winters

10 months ago

Duration 2:05

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has claimed heat pumps arent viable in his province because it gets too cold, but some experts say newer models work in lower temperatures even if a backup is encouraged.

"I looked at natural gas but it's about four miles to get it trenched in here, which was going to be $100,000 plus," said Dingman. "I just decided to go with the [heat pump]because I figured at least the price would be flat once I have it in."

After paying$45,000 to have his pump installed with help from a federal government loan he believes itwill cost him $100 to $200 per month on his electricity bill.

Savings with a heat pump compared to a natural gas furnace are not high on the Prairies, since a unit of energy for gas ischeaper compared to electricity, according to the Natural Resources report.

"West of Quebec, the estimated costs of operating heat pumps and gas furnaces are approximately equal," the report says.

A cold-climate heat pump would savehomeowners in most regions$50 to 150 per year compared to gas heating, it says.

ACanadian Climate Institute report released earlier this year found a heat pump with a gas backup was about $100 cheaper per year than gas heating alone for single homes and townhouses in Edmonton built around 1980.

Gas was still the cheapest heating option fora 20-unit building built around the same time.

The same report found upfront costs for air-source heat pumps across the countryrangefrom$5,000 to $19,000, while an air conditioning unit is around $5,000.

The cost for a natural gas furnace is between $4,000 and $6,500, according to a survey of customers on FurnacePrices.ca.