Heat pump popularity is increasing, but how well do they work on the Prairies?

One of the main reasons Mr. Gibson installed an air source heat pump last summer was because he had heard about heat pumps and how they could be something of the future. He had an old air conditioner and an even older HVAC system, so installing a heat pump seemed like a no-brainer to him. Gibson uses the electric heat pump - along with a natural gas furnace he purchased in 2022 - to heat his home during the cold months of the year. He also cools his home in the summer, just like an air conditioner.

The heat pump works by absorbing heat from inside the house and releasing it outside, effectively cooling the home. But in the winter, it reverses this process - extracting heat from the outside air, even when the temperature drops below freezing, and transferring it inside. Gibson says he has seen a significant reduction in his electricity and gas bills since installing the new gas furnace and he hopes that with the use of the heat pump, his heating costs will continue to decrease. Simon Landesman, a salesperson at Regina Plumbing and Heating, has also noticed the growing popularity of heat pumps. He estimates that he has sold about two heat pump units so far this year. "Many people want to move towards using green energy and save on their energy costs to some extent," he says. "It's just clean energy."

Landesman believes that their popularity is only increasing, especially since their outdoor units are smaller than an air conditioner. Heat pumps can work in very cold winters, according to experts from the Saskatchewan government, who stated in a statement to CBC that SaskPower and SaskEnergy do not offer discounts for heat pumps because "these pumps do not work as the primary source of heating in cold climate provinces."

The Canadian government - which offers up to $5,000 in discounts for heat pump installations and now up to $15,000 for those transitioning from oil heating to heat pumps - mentions on its website that newer models of heat pumps can provide heating in temperatures as low as -15 to -25 degrees Celsius. "Below this temperature, a supplementary system must be used for heating the building," it says.

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