Climate Friendly Homes

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An air source heat pump is a key component to making a home climate friendly. It takes heat energy from one place and moves it to another, just like a refrigerator. In the summer, it moves heat out of the house, and in the winter, it moves heat into the house. Heat pumps transfer heat using a process of evaporation and condensation using a refrigerant that cycles between the indoor and outdoor units.

Heat pumps provide a lot of benefits:

• year-round comfort: a heat pump takes the place of both an air conditioner and a heating system
• maximum efficiency: when properly installed, a heat pump uses half to a third as much energy as electric baseboards or a gas furnace
• climate friendliness: for an average home, switching to a heat pump reduces your carbon footprint by about the same amount as not driving your car for nine months of the year
• better indoor air quality: most heat pumps provide airflow and dehumidification with options to add enhanced air filtration
• great versatility: central heat pump systems can use your home's existing ductwork, whereas ductless mini-spit systems do not require ducting
• affordable: in most cases, heat pumps cost less to operate than gas furnaces, especially when combined with other energy efficiency measures

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For most homes in Victoria, an efficient hot water heater will meet any household’s water needs. For homes with the right configuration, a heat pump water heater is the most efficient way to heat hot water with electricity. It is the most climate-friendly form of water heating available in B.C.

To heat water, the heat pump pulls warmth from the ambient air and compresses it to increase the temperature. The heat flows through a condenser coil inside the hot water system to transfer heat to the water. Some models have a backup electric heat element to help meet demand during periods of high use.

Benefits of heat pump hot water heaters include:

• energy savings: they use dramatically less energy than all other types of water heaters
• climate friendliness: heat pump water heating systems provide a clean-energy alternative to natural gas
• reliability: provides the same reliable hot water you are accustomed to with other systems
• smart controls: adjust operating modes to find the setting that best meets your hot water needs

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Cooking over a blue flame not only produces greenhouse gasses, it releases harmful pollution into your kitchen. Compared with natural gas, induction cooktops are faster, safer, healthier and more heat-responsive. An induction cooktop uses electromagnetic fields to heat cookware directly, leaving the surface around pots and pans cool to the touch. Professional chefs are increasingly switching to induction because it is safer and results in a cooler kitchen.

Benefits of induction stove tops include:

• speed: induction cooking heats food much quicker than a blue flame because the stove heats the pan directly, not the burner
• safety: induction stove tops have no open flame and leave the surface cool
• health: an induction cook top produces zero pollution
• efficiency: induction cook tops are about 95 per cent efficient, while conventional electric cook tops are about 80 per cent efficient
• temperature control: an induction cook top is more temperature responsive than gas
• comfort: induction cook tops do not release excess heat into the kitchen

Note: Aluminum and copper cookware will not work on an induction cook top.

Although separate from each other, your insulation, heating and cooling systems, windows, doors and ventilation make your house operate as a multi-component system. This means that energy retrofits to one component of your home can impact other components in unintended ways.

Before improving the efficiency of your home with one retrofit, it is a good idea to get professional advice. This makes sure that your investment in home energy improvements meets your expectations and won’t cause new issues. Planning your retrofits with a 'house-as-a-system' approach will provide you with a long-term home energy improvement plan.

To get personalized advice to improve your home's efficiency, schedule an EnerGuide Home Evaluation with a qualified Energy Advisor. Getting a home energy evaluation is a necessary step to access rebates offered through the Canada Greener Homes Grants.