Heat pump technology better for local residents than natural gas, local group to tell council
At the April 9 committee of the whole meeting, Seniors for Climate Action Now (SCAN) will be making a deputation to council regarding the Enbridge pipeline extension that will bring natural gas to Omemee and Bobcaygeon in the near future. SCAN is concerned that the city is going the wrong direction by expanding the use of natural (methane) gas for home heating, and that heat pumps powered by clean electrical energy provided by solar and wind is the direction the city should be heading instead.
Local SCAN members Moya Beall and David Rapaport will be making the deputation which they hope will educate and possibly change some minds regarding the Enbridge extension which the city first expressed support for in 2017, and whose construction is expected to begin this spring.
“Enbridge’s own information says the extension will increase methane emissions,” Beall told the Advocate in a telephone interview.
“The world has changed a lot since 2017,” Beall added. “Heat pump technology has improved significantly. The local climate is very conducive to heat pump usage and we wonder why the city hasn’t taken a more recent look at their 2017 decision.”
Beall points out that incentives exist through the federal government for people to convert to heat pumps and that she wishes the provincial government, which is pushing for expanded usage of methane gas, “would stop making bad energy choices.”
Beall and her group think local initiatives, like a wind turbine project built near Norwich, Ontario by the county of Oxford that produces 100 per cent clean and renewable power for local residents, will be a key to a cleaner energy future.
Beall believes the city needs “to put the brakes on” the pipeline expansion and make sure “residents have the data they need to make an informed choice between heat pumps and Enbridge gas.”
Councillor Pat Warren is very interested to hear what the deputants have to say.
“I look forward to hearing the deputations regarding methane gas expanding to Bobcaygeon and other areas,” Warren said. “I understand many people are choosing heat pumps instead of methane gas furnaces, to both save money and reduce pollution.”
Warren agrees that there needs to be “more education for the public to understand the true financial and environmental costs…so households can make informed choices.”
When asked for comment whether supporting an expansion of methane gas usages squares with the city’s strategic plan that prioritizes a healthy environment, Kawartha Lakes CAO Ron Taylor spoke of the city’s need to balance all municipal priorities.
“Council decisions require balancing all of our strategic priorities – Healthy Environment, Exceptional Quality of Life, Vibrant and Growing Economy and Good Government,” Taylor said. “While every decision may not check all of the boxes, the municipality is working hard to meet our Healthy Environment goals by encouraging more active transportation, developing a climate change strategy, transitioning to a greener municipal fleet, implementing a source separated organics program, and by protecting and preserving our natural areas. Energy sources and approvals remain the responsibility of the provincial government. The city has taken the position to-date that energy supply must be reliable and affordable to support Kawartha Lakes residents and businesses. Ideally, this would be accomplished through sources that minimize our local carbon footprint.”
If the main concern of SCAN is that residents should have an informed choice, why not ask the City to offer us a referendum on the subject, to collect data via the City website, with a painless lean and green poll?
Let the people decide.
I’ve done my own home work on heat pumps from people who already own them. Most if not all owners of heat pumps regret getting them. When using a stand alone heat pump for heating their heating costs are at least 30% more than what they were paying before. Heat pumps struggle with temps of -10c or colder. Causing them to run almost constantly. A proper heat pump system needs to be combined with a regular oil, gas, propane furnace to be economical with Canadian winters. Most rural homes and most homes in Kawartha Lakes are older and under insulated. Increasing your homes insulation and or replacing old windows will do more for a home owners wallet than changing heat sources. Heat pumps have improved but not enough for a stand alone heat source. Do your own research and you will see all the unhappy heat pump owners across Canada!
Our house was built in Lindsay in 1984. It was built with a forced air electric furnace and a heat pump. We have replaced the original system one with another furnace and heat pump. We also heat our pool with a heat pump. Hence, we have been carbon free for 40 years! In those 40 years, our costs have risen marginally and we find it is a clean, economical and very efficient way to heat and cool a home. Wouldn’t consider any other method to do so. To be fair, it is not as efficient at the -10C mark but our back up furnace engages at that point and the thermostat displays which unit is supplying the heat. I would not likely consider a heat pump unit alone but with a back up furnace we are as cosy or cool as we decide, economically and environmentally friendly.
Terri Armstrong—–Now there’s some typical ‘greenie’ logic ! Instead of having 1 gas furnace, get a heat pump AND a gas furnace ! This is the same logic people use when espousing the wonders of EVs. Everyone I’ve ever met who owns an EV, has the EV to show us all how environmentally conscious they are , AND a vehicle with a gas engine to drive on longer trips! How economical !!! This is the type of logic we hear from Trudeaus Minister of climate change, Steven Guilbeault. (the same genius who said we shouldn’t build any new roads in Canada). Just so I fit in with the “greenies” logic, I want everyone to know that I have no furnace in my house at all. I am proud of my ‘green’ way of life and I look down on all you climate killers that have furnaces. Now, full disclosure, I have a back up gas furnace in my house that I only use when necessary . But I only turn it on when the indoor temp drops below 26 degrees celsius. Also, I own several fuel efficient vehicles, as back ups, so I don’t need to drive my Toyota Tundra all the time. I have a fuel efficient Honda Accord to drive on longer trips. I have a fuel efficient motorcycle to drive when its nice out. A fuel efficient ATV to drive around in the woods to enjoy nature ,and a fuel efficient snowmobile to ride when it snows. Quite often I don’t drive any of my vehicles though, because I fly over to Europe twice per year, on fuel efficient jet liners, and I take 2 cruises per year on very environmentally friendly cruise ships. Ah. its good to be green. Why can’t everyone do what I do? I guess you all hate our planet.
My back up furnace is electric forced air not gas! We decided to install this system when our house was built in 1984 due to fact that gas was not available on our street and I did not want baseboard heaters. Be careful when you make assumptions…..you may not be correct. So the rest of your argument is not worth reading since your original premise is faulty.
We installed a heat pump in 1987. It was able to heat the house to about -5 before the backup electric furnace took over. At the time it saved over a fully electric furnace but was not less to operate than gas. But it was better for the environment. Today we have a new cold climate heat pump that provides all the heat we need, requires no separate back up furnace and is 30 percent cheaper to operate than gas. We love it.
Technology has improved, the climate crisis is indeed a crisis and we need our decision makers to take all those facts into consideration.
Hurry Ginny – get over to China and tell them all that.