EPaper

HEAT PUMPS

MARK NIELSEN

Do they work in Northern B.C.?

A heat pump in every home?

Whether that will happen will depend on how warmly households respond to the efforts of not only BC Hydro but the provincial and federal governments to adopt the technology.

By now you have probably seen Dave and Jacklyn, otherwise known as the faces of the BC Hydro’s campaign in support of all things energy efficient and more environmentally friendly.

But they are only part of the promotion.

As an incentive, the Crown corporation is offering up to $3,000 in rebates for switching from a fossil fuel based system, which can be combined with provincial and federal rebates for a total savings of up to $11,000 on cost and installation. Up to $2,000 in rebates are available for customers switching from electric baseboard heating.

In its most-recent budget, meanwhile, the B.C. government exempted heat pumps from the provincial sales tax while also increasing the PST on fossil fuel heating equipment to 12 per cent, effective April 1.

The intention, according to a Ministry of Finance backgrounder is to help “fund the cost of a new incentive to make heat pumps more affordable for rural and northern communities.”

In a statement emailed to The Citizen, the B.C. Ministry of Environment further says the PST exemption will translate into as much as a $500 reduction in the cost of the equipment, “making heat pumps a more affordable heating and cooling option.”

Moreover, the most-recent provincial budget includes $16 million over three years for additional incentives for northern and rural heat pump installations, the ministry says. Nonetheless, the move has sparked an outcry in some quarters that the provincial government has once again introduced a policy that may work well in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island but is impractical for anyone “living beyond Hope.”

After all, while heat pumps might be effective in the summer and Hydro is promoting them as a viable alternative to air conditioning, but what about in the winter, particularly when the temperature drops to -40 C, making a reliable home heating system essential?

In the opinion of Prince George-based energy advisor Rod Croome that concern is a bit overblown.

“That is kind of a valid statement, although I’ve been involved in several projects that use cold climate heat pumps,” said Croome, the owner-operator of Prince George-based Hometech Energy Solutions Inc. since 2007. “A cold climate heat pump will efficiently generate down to -30 so in those homes, they do need some electric backup for those short periods that it might be -40.”

Perhaps the bigger concern is finding someone qualified to retrofit an existing home with the system. Starting July 1, the work must be done by contractor who has met the standards set out by the Home Performance Stakeholder Council for a homeowner to qualify for the rebates.

At present, nothing for the Prince George and Fort St. John region pops up in the “find a contractor” feature of the HPSC website.

But there still is time yet and, according to HSPC spokesperson Tanya Ratzlaff, four companies who have indicated they service Prince George are in the registration process “and we have ongoing outreach efforts to increase this number.”

As it stands, it appears the biggest emphasis is being put on new homes. Heat pumps are already a common sight at the Aboriginal Housing Society of Prince George development off the corner of 17th Avenue and Winnipeg Street and will be a key feature in more projects going forward.

A key driver will be the so-called BC Energy step code, a graduated process that by the end of 2032 will see new homes be 80-per-cent more efficient than those that were built to the 2018 B.C. Building Code.

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2022-05-12T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-12T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://princegeorgecitizen.pressreader.com/article/281505049812749

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