Is it your time to consider going Carbon free in your home?
By Stephen McGann Cedarwood
With the new federal incentives recently announced many homeowners are looking for carbon reducing solutions to heat their homes and provide hot water solutions. Is this the right time for you and your family? Everyone is seeing the need to reduce their carbon footprint and make responsible choices regarding their energy uses. But is the technology ready for our Canadian climate and do our HVAC providers have the skills and ability to support these new products?
Going carbon free or reducing your footprint is very possible and responsible HVAC providers can help consumers make the right solutions for homeowners wishing to make responsible upgrades.
Want to go completely fossil fuel free? There are free air heat pump systems that can completely replace your older gas furnace and provide reliable heating and air conditioning for your family throughout the entire year. The technology has come a long way from when I first started out in the HVAC industry in 1980. The systems today are extremely efficient compared to those older style heat pumps. Ground source heat pumps are more than a buzz word. However, if you are in an urban environment installation can be extremely tricky and very expensive. It is why we look at air source solutions for our urban customers.
What about hot water solutions for your domestic (showers, bathing, laundry, dishwashing) needs. Free air heat water heating solutions have been around for a long time but traditionally worked best where the ground water temperatures were mild (think of the lower states in the USA). Canadian average ground water temperatures have been a challenge to meet due to the lower temperatures and the desired delivery temperatures. Fortunately, the technology has been developed to handle our lower temperatures. We have installed many systems so far and demand has jumped since the new incentives have been launched. We are very proud to be experts in this area and have found a manufacturer that builds quality hybrid heat pump water heaters for our customers.
If fossil free is your desire, we can walk you through all the steps to ensure you receive a properly sized and installed unit and make sure all the steps are followed to receive your government rebates.
Now what if you’re not quite ready to make the full jump? Don’t worry many people are in the same boat and there are many options you can do to be responsible and reduce your carbon footprint. First thing to look at is your furnace. How old is it? We still see an incredible number of furnaces that are not high efficiency units. Want to do your part but not ready for heat pumps? A professional HVAC company can correctly size and install a new high efficiency furnace with an efficient ECM blower motor. It will greatly improve your comfort (i.e., you can lower your thermostat a bit) and save lots of energy. Most units that are older than 15 years of age have older non-efficient blower motors. Changing out your furnace can make a huge improvement.
For your water needs, we suggest replacing that old can of a hot water heater with a very efficient condensing tankless water heater. Why pay for hot water standing by because you might need it? We have the expertise to properly size and install a new tankless heater.
Bottom line there are many choices, and it should start with a quality and qualified professional HVAC company. We are proud to celebrate our 40th anniversary in 2021.
