Anyway, on the selective exemptions for former liberal dominated ridings in Maritime Canada, here’s a news story about Heat Pumps:
In light of colder temperatures and recent debates over government-imposed pollution pricing, Canadians’ choices on how to stay warm and heat their homes have come to the forefront.
apple.news
They work in some places, and work well as A/C units it sounds like. No so much where there’s winter though.
Tish Jonsson of Winnipeg, Man., said that despite making the switch at her cabin and putting two heat pumps it was “useless for heat in the prairies and northern Canada.".
“Went to the cabin on a Friday evening. Overnight low was -20 C. everything was fine. Next night, it went to -30 .... woke up freezing. The units were off and had to turn on back up baseboards and ceramic heaters. After hours of troubleshooting. Found out that the units don't work past -25 and a few are rated -30,” Jonsson wrote.
Steve Huffman of Courtenay, B.C. said he’s had a heat pump since 2009 and although it works great in the summer with central air conditioning, said winter’s temperatures prove to be a challenge.
“As winter approached and temps dropped to a range of 5 C to -5 C or colder on occasion the heat pump’s efficiency dropped exponentially with it. For each degree the temps dropped below 5 C the (heat pump) ran longer and longer to try and keep the selected 20 C on the thermostat,” Huffman wrote, and added that it took a strain on the heat pump compressor.
Huffman said with heat pumps it’s important to factor in a home's insulation and the max amperage of a home’s electrical service.
Colleen Fisher of Deep Cove, B.C., said she made the switch to a heat pump earlier this year but didn't anticipate a pre-inspection was required in order to qualify for a $5,000 rebate—which was one of her reasons for switching, among environmental and comfort factors, she said in her email.
“They refused to provide me with the rebate. The total cost of my heat pump installation was $27K, so I was really counting on receiving the $5K rebate,” Fisher wrote.
John Murrell of P.E.I said in his province's government has a free heat pump program, but he ran into issues with the system.
“Once the weather turned cold below -10 C, the unit failed to produce heat, and went into frost mode. We ended up with all the plumbing in the house frozen solid and even the toilet. Then we had to get electric heaters as back up and the January electric bill was $850," he said.
“So now we have had to buy another heat source, and turn off the heat pump when the cold sets in. So, trying to be green and save money has cost $3,000 of borrowing for a biomass stove."
Anyway, more at the above link. I’m assuming that the technology will improve to better units that currently don’t exist, & I’m assuming the prices will come down to be even in the same zip-code as the other options…but it would be nice to have those factors in place before we’re eventually forced to adopt sub-standard units for our climate and wallets.
Then there’s this from the frigid wastelands of the United Kingdom:
