On this page you’ll find the CAFES Heat Pump Consumer Guide, links to other heat pump experts and resources like OREC and Electrify 613, and more.
What is a Heat Pump?
Heat pumps are a proven and reliable technology. They work year-round by providing cooling in the summer, and heating in the winter — even Canadian ones! So-called “cold-climate heat pumps” are designed to go to -30 degrees Celsius. So how do heat pumps work?
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).
To understand this process, think about a bicycle ride over a hill: No effort is required to go from the top of the hill to the bottom, as the bike and rider will move naturally from a high place to a lower one. However, going up the hill requires a lot more work, as the bike is moving against gravity.
In a similar manner, heat naturally flows from places with higher temperature to locations with lower temperatures (e.g., in the winter, heat from inside the building is lost to the outside). A heat pump uses additional electrical energy to counter the natural flow of heat, and pump the energy available in a colder place to a warmer one.
When energy is extracted from a source, the temperature of the source is reduced. If the source is your home, thermal energy will be removed, resulting in a cooler home. Inversely, as energy is added to a sink, its temperature increases. If the home is used as a sink, thermal energy will be added, heating your home. A heat pump is fully reversible, meaning that it can both heat and cool your home, providing year-round comfort.
How does a heat pump draw heat from outside during the winter? It turns out that there is a lot of energy even in cold air that can be extracted and used to warm your home. Natural Resources Canada states, “the heat content of air at -18°C equates to 85% of the heat contained at 21°C. This allows the heat pump to provide a good deal of heating, even during colder weather.” Natural Resources Canada also notes that air-source systems are the most common in Canada.
There are also ground-source heat pumps, which use the earth, ground water, or both as the source and sink for heat. This means taking warm energy from the ground during the winter, and putting warm energy in the ground during the summer.
Investing in a heat pump is the most efficient way to get off a gas furnace for heating, and can also very efficiently replace air conditioning systems for cooling all in one machine.
Consumer Guide
CAFES has researched and compiled a concise Consumer Guide based on the experiences of over 70+ heat pump owners in Ottawa. You can use it to find feedback on different installers, feedback on heat pumps, and more information.
Are you already a heat pump owner? You can click the button below and help contribute to the consumer guide! Please share your experience with installers and heat pump models with your community.
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Resources to Learn More
- Join the Ottawa Renewable Energy CO-operative (OREC) network and gain access to the OREx community exchange tool where you can hear from OREC members about green energy resources. You can search by resource category–EV, heat pump, solar and more–and filter by type, brand, location, installation date, etc.
- Join the Electrify613 community and contribute to their mission to fully electrify 1,000+ homes in Ottawa. Electrify613 runs a slack channel. If you have any tricky technical questions about what your specific heat pump solution can look like, these folks will answer your questions.
- Check out the Heat Pump Calculator to see if a heat pump makes “cents” for you.
- Better Homes Ottawa provides a list of potential incentives to install equipment like heat pumps in your home including low-cost loans!
- Hydro Ottawa has also put together a set of resources explaining the science behind heat pumps, the economic benefits, and much more!
- Listen to Angela interview Aaron Sadhankar of Fern Comfort about heat pumps on our CKCU radio show!