24 June 2014

HEAT PUMPS IN THE CANDADIAN RESIDENTIAL SECTOR

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This paper presents a market overview of the current residential heating and cooling market in Canada. Through the use of air or ground as a renewable energy source, heat pumps can
have a large impact in this sector offering up to four times the efficiency compared to conventional heating systems. This paper presents an analysis conducted on the Canadian
1980’s construction housing market to compare the annual energy savings, greenhouse gas emission reductions and economics that heat pumps can obtain in various Canadian regions
compared to the conventional heating and cooling systems. It was shown that heat pumps can achieve up to 66% secondary energy savings and up to 84% in greenhouse gas emission reductions. While annual utility costs can be reduced up to 50%, simple payback periods varied depending on the region, ranging between 2 years to greater than 40 years. Cold climate air source heat pumps were shown to be the most economical in the eastern
provinces having the lowest 20 year life cycle cost, while the low natural gas rates make it challenging for heat pumps to be cost competitive in the western provinces.