Related! Federal climate program to phase out oil furnaces has seen only 80 homeowners convert to greener energy nationwide. Cabinet cited program as justification for a billion-dollar #carbontax break for Atlantic voters.
Related! Federal climate program to phase out oil furnaces has seen only 80 homeowners convert to greener energy nationwide. Cabinet cited program as justification for a billion-dollar #carbontax break for Atlantic voters.
Those durn things are much more trouble than an ordinary furnace. And that’s before the storm causes the electricity to go down, rendering them useless.
If we had more global warming we wouldn’t have snow.
Sarc
nothing like a gas fire , either heating your air or heating your circulating water.
oh its forty below , got a heater in my truck and ………….. cuz im off to the rodeo
Didn’t the Liberal Cabinet just have a three day retreat in Atlantic Canada to the tune of $300,00? That’s pretty expensive for taxpayers to cough up, especially since its all borrowed money. One could question if some of that money somehow went to Atlantic Canadian Liberal supportors to help buy their heat pumps.
cryptic
It was $485,000, which includes $52,000 for catering.
I don’t know if booze was included in the above.
My area of Vancouver Island is being mandated (that word again) to install heat pumps and we don’t have the electrical infrastructure to support them. Oh, and we are supposed to remove furnaces entirely so no back-up supply of heat. Don’t you just love “green” governments?
What are they going to do, come to your house and take your furnace? Doesn’t seem legal, somehow.
They can mandate heat pumps in new construction through the building code, but can they simply command you to change your furnace? (It’s a real question, after 2022 I’m not going to assume they can’t.)
They just have to change a code or two and when the inspector arrives, voila furnace is gone or no checkmark for you.
They could turn off the gas or fine you for using it. All of course for the public good. As a backup heat source, you can burn all the wood you want after all, the CO2 it releases doesn’t matter because it’s from a renewable source. Just don’t use a gas powered chainsaw to cut it up /s
That’s nice, Aviator. At least you get the satisfaction (when your power goes out) that someone more important than you can charge their battery powered car to escape from the bad weather.
And given a choice of SURVIVAL versus green dreams about how things should be, how many of your neighbours are likely to vote “don’t kill me” in the next election? That’s why I’m an Albertan now, i didn’t trust my neighbours to vote for steady (or any) power.
Telling them to f*** off is an option.
This could be the end of a substantial portion of those units
What happens is the defrost cycle melts snow, then refreezes. It builds a solid block of ice around the outdoor coil, especially the bottom passes. The ice crushes the copper tubes, and can split the line and blow the refrigerant charge.
This is a common issue with these things, and manufacturers would put thicker pipe in the bottom passes.They don’t anymore, trying to squeeze efficiency and cost, and they won’t survive.
Turn it off, dig it out, melt all the ice with hot water. Restart it. If it doesn’t produce heat, turn it off, and call a serviceman. There may be no warranty; this is usually regarded as an installer error.
The landfills will be full of these over the coming weeks.
‘blow the refrigerant’ … what about the ozone layer!
I thought the idea was to have a gas furnace WITH a heat pump. In the coldest times of year, gas heats house. From early spring, the heat pump does the heating. That is, no one would have just a heat pump alone?
Thats what I have – heat pump with NG furnace and wood as a backup- the HVAC guy thought I was crazy.
When the power goes out my small gas generator will run the NG furnace all day long.
I run the heat pump on weekends and nights when OAT permits
Here in N.CA … where energy is too expensive to purchase … the immigrant families put hibachi bbq’s in the middle of their living rooms to heat the space. Yes, many die from carbon monoxide poisoning … or burn their houses to the ground … but at least they didn’t die owing $thousands to PG&E
What happens if a moose or a buck punctures the heat exchanger with “his” or “her” horns?
Does the manufacturer blame climate change or the real female that is waiting in “heat?”
You do have to be ready for anything these days!!
First off, these should never be mounted at ground level, they should be on a stand. When these units do blow-back to clear the coils there is a lot of moisture dripping to the bottom of the unit. Don’t need snow to freeze them, they will do it to themselves. During an average winter in Ottawa, mine will easily have a foot of ice under it at times.
I have a heat pump and oil furnace combination, there are stretches where the temps drop well below the operation specs of the heat pump. We also get a few power interruptions, 4 in the past two years. My backup generator easily runs the oil furnace and 90% of the house (all 240vac on a separate panel). We use 200-250 ltrs of oil in a year. 1K ltr double tank on site.
Heat pump is a good AC in the summer too.
I have installed a cold climate heat pump off the ground about a foot and a half. This is my main source of heating and cooling. I have a 10 kw heat strip installed if HP can’t keep up. That has never been required to date. I have a propane (no NG available) fireplace as backup in case of HP breakdown or loss of electricity. I have a backup portable generator to power crucial appliances like my sump pump.
Heat pumps can work very efficiently in certain areas of Canada. My monthly electricity cost in winter is slightly more than NG. HPs have to be installed properly or the efficiencies don’t materialize. They also are more expensive than NG furnace to install. Since I live in the most southern portion of Canada my setup works very well. If there is a snow storm than you just have to go and brush off the snow to keep the HP clear. You would have to do the same for a gas furnace intake and exhaust pipe. I know this for a fact.
HP can work very well if the situation fits.
I never have to go outside and brush the snow off my furnace vent. Good thing too since it is located on my roof which is covered with ice and snow.
Clearly heat pumps require heating 🙂
Yes ….. and so do wind turbines
Yes, they do.
When the radiator fins freeze up, the system will start to cycle house heat through the circulation to defrost. Lots of steam and moisture dripping, then the fan kicks in and blows it all away. This will occur several times a day when it is cold and moist.
If the unit is sitting on the ground surrounded by snow, where does this moisture go?
The freezing rain here a couple of weeks ago flooded my raised HP by freezing up the drip holes, furnace kicked in. Took the heat gun to the fan blades and the bottom of the unit for about 10 minutes, HP kicked up just right.
Ha! Ha! Ha! When I first read the blurb, I thought it said 80 PERCENT had changed! NO! Eighty! 8×10! 4×20! Less than 100! WTF, Over! There is hope for the intelligence of the consumer! Wocka! Wocka! Wocka!
Crap. I wore out my exclamation key.
Heat pumps are fine until it gets really cold.. It’s not a one size fits all solution.. More inconvenient, impractical government harassment.. As if winter isn’t harsh enough .. As if bills are not high enough .. As if I dont have better things to do than dig out my heat pump on a cold January night.. Only to wake up cold, so I can do it all again..
Saving the world are we?.. I don’t think so..