Residential and small commercial Space Heating and Cooling

Heating with natural gas, propane or oil is responsible for 1/3 of Ontario’s GHG emissions, , with approximately 4 - 10 tonnes of greenhouse gas (mainly CO2) emitted annually per house. This is a similar level of greenhouse gas emissions to driving a gasoline powered SUV 20,000 km.  To get to near zero GHG by 2050 virtually all homes will require energy efficiency improvements and natural gas, propane and oil heating systems will have to be converted to electrically powered heat pumps (most will be air to air heat pumps) using electricity from a low carbon grid.  By about 2050 we will need to stop using natural gas for space heating.

• The Federal Government Home Energy retrofit program is no longer accepting new applications although if you have already had your home audited, you can still claim a rebate, but do it soon, the program will eventually run out of funds. There is no certainty that after a next federal election that the program will restart.

• The environmental impact of using electricity for powering heat pumps varies by province due to electricity generation mixes. For modern cold climate air-source heat pumps on Ontario’s low carbon electricity, annual GHG emissions are in the range of 1 tonne using a heat pump versus the 4 - 10 for non-heat pump systems. If Ontario reduces the carbon intensity of it's electricity system, heat pumps will have an even lower carbon footprint.

• An air-source heat pump offers air conditioning too, so consider the switch to a heat pump when you need a new furnace or central air conditioner.

• Many people are retrofitting their old resistance electricity, oil and propane (and some natural gas too) heating systems to air-source heat pumps. A conversion to an air-source system typically costs between $7k to $20k.  Conversions from electricity, oil, or propane will save the owners several thousand dollars a year in heating fuel costs.  If converting from natural gas, the annual energy cost will be about the same, but with about 1/5 the GHG emissions.

• Air to Air “cold climate” heat pumps have the best heating performance. For non experts, finding a trusted HVAC contractor is necessary to lead you through vast array of products to the final choice of a suitable heat pump.  Choose a contractor who takes the time to educate you to your satisfaction. 

• The environmental impact of using wood for heat requires knowing how the wood is harvested. It may be from a sustainably harvested wood lot, but even then it is not a pollution free option; wood combustion produces many harmful particulates.  Wood heating, although used in tens of thousands of rural homes in Canada, is not a feasible low GHG solution for the other millions of Canadian homes, especially urban ones where the nasty pollutants from wood fires (even good EPS rated stoves) are not acceptable.