Heat Pumps in Sherwood Park | How Heat Pumps Actually Work and Save You Money
Hey, hey. We’re back again with Adrien Hinse from Hinse Brothers Mechanical, and today he’s going to be telling us all about heat pumps in Sherwood Park: why they’re good, all the pros and cons about heat pumps, and yeah, let’s just get started. So, Adrian, heat pumps. How long have you at Hines Brothers been installing these heat pumps?
So, heat pumps have—we’ve been installing for roughly about 6 years now. They’re becoming more popular in Alberta, I guess you could say. They’re not—they’re re—they’re not super popular because they don’t provide full heating capacity to your home typically, but some of the great things that come with a heat pump are the sound. They’re a lot quieter. Okay, it’s a better technology. So, the cooling will actually work in lower ambient temperatures. You’ve got better pressure sensors on them. They’re higher efficiency as well. And variable capacity is also a great reason to get one, so you can multi-stage cooling—have multi-stage cooling in your home.
Nice. And so you’re not just blasting your hair back, you know, when the AC turns on. It’s not freezing your leg or something like that. When it’s maintaining temperature, it’ll basically run on low or high speeds. Yeah. Provided you’ve got a multi-stage furnace to go with it.
So, with heat pumps in Alberta, like are they—are they a decent investment? Like what are—what are some of the pros about investing into a heat pump?
The Benefits of Heat Pumps
So, the good thing about a heat pump is it will heat in mild temperatures, and it’s not like your basic electric heat or your baseboard electric heaters or electric furnace or anything like that. It’s basically using the same power—similar power—to what you would be using for air conditioning. Okay? So, it’s using a compressor. It powers up the compressor. It’s basically your air conditioner running in reverse. Okay? Right? So, it take—extracts heat from the air outside down to certain temperatures, like they’ll operate down to about minus 30 for a cold climate air source heat pump, and efficiently down to about like -15, maybe -20. Right? So, once you start getting super cold outside, basically you want to have it set up so your dual fuel system—that your gas furnace—will actually take over for the heat pump in the colder temperatures.
Right. So let’s talk about that. So, anybody who is in Edmonton or Sherwood Park, anywhere in the greater Edmonton region who needs—who’s looking for a heat pump—maybe talk a little bit about, like, the necessity or the importance of having a dual fuel system.
Yeah. So, with our climate—and, you know, we’re often below minus 20, down, you know, -40, things like that—the heat pumps actually struggled to produce heat below -30, right? So, it’ll produce some, or at minus 30 it just won’t be enough to warm your home up. So, a heat pump doesn’t have the same capacity as a gas furnace. So, it will—you know—often times people upsize their heat pump, so it’ll provide a little bit more heat for the home. I have the system at my home. I’ve got a dual fuel system. So, where I’ve got my heat pump set to heat down to 0° is kind of what I’ve set it at currently. And the furnace will kick in anything lower than that. Right. Right.
So, right now, if it needs to heat up a little bit in the morning when I wake up, if it’s cool in the evening, it’ll do that. And it’s a super quiet operation.
Nice. So, what it sounds like is you can have actually better control over your heating and cooling in the house. So, making it more comfortable year-round. Is that accurate?
Heat Pumps Make Your Home Comfortable Year Round
Yeah, that mostly is because of a dual stage. Like, I’ve got a dual stage heat pump, so it’s got the low and high fan speeds, right? And that really increases the heat, but it’s also ultra quiet. Like, I can’t really hear the system. You can’t hear the burners on the furnace going when it’s running. Basically, just the refrigerant lines, and the outdoor unit is 54 dB. So, really quiet, right?
And I used to have an old air conditioner. It was about 10 years old, right? And it’s about 75 dB. My—you know—my neighbors love to sit on their deck, and they—so they’re always hearing this compressor turn on and off, on and off. Never said anything. But when I changed it for the heat pump, they thought I had gotten rid of my air conditioner. And then I bump into them, and they’re like, “Wow, you guys—you got rid of your air conditioner.” I was like, “Oh no, actually I switched it out for a heat pump.” It’s like, “Oh wow, you know, maybe I should pay half of that for you,” he says, because it made such a difference in his life.
That’s awesome. That’s great. So, improving neighbor relations by getting a heat pump. Who’d have thought it, right? So, let’s talk about the greener—greener homes. I believe it’s a loan. Greater greener homes loan.
Yep. The Greener Homes loan. Believe they’re taking applications for this year. It’s the federal government pushing to help people get into the heat pump market. So, you’re, you know, not producing the combustion gases is their idea, right? So, they will actually give you up to $40,000 on an interest-free loan, payable within 10 years.
Information About The Greater Greener Homes Loan
Okay. So, how that works is you get an assessment done—an energy efficiency audit. There’s several companies throughout the—throughout the area that’ll actually perform these audits for anywhere from $600 to $800; depends on the home, I guess. And they’ll give you some suggestions. You know, you can get a heat pump, you can increase insulation in your attic, or change your windows, or this type of thing, and whatever’s on that list. Due to—sorry—it has to get approved through the process, but theoretically you could actually get a loan interest-free to pay for some of those items that are on the list. They have to be on the list, and you do have to pay for that assessment and then an inspection when it comes back. But if you’re looking to finance, you could save some—some good dollars on interest.
There’s also the Clean Energy Improvement Program. Okay. And that’s city—through the city—through some of the municipalities. That’s kind of a newer one, and I’ve got a couple of clients using that. They get a reduced interest rate. And it’s basically tacked on to their property tax. Okay? Right? So, they pay their loan with their property tax. I don’t know the exact details of it, but it’s a lower-interest loan. If you’re looking to finance—to get—you have to replace your furnace or your AC, it’s a good time to look at putting in a heat pump instead. It does make it so you’re able to get access to some of these loans, right? So, you have access to different options out there as opposed to just straight-up financing.
And, of course, you guys could provide financing for people who maybe don’t qualify for those low-interest or zero-interest loans.
Yeah, we also provide financing as well.
Nice. Do you—owning a heat pump yourself—what was the deciding factor? So, like, for people who are watching this in the Edmonton region, Edmonton, Sherwood Park, Beaumont, Leduc—so you’re an owner of one. What was the deciding factor for you that said, “Hey, you know what? I’m going to, you know, get a heat pump instead of my furnace,” like, what—what caused you to pull the trigger on that?
Multi-Stage Cooling Systems
I’ve always kind of wanted a multi-stage cooling system for my home. I’ve already got a multi-stage furnace, so I replaced the furnace about four years ago. I put in a high-end Lennox multi-stage. Actually, it’s a modulating furnace. So, kind of higher end furnace for Linux. And they came out with this little bit more affordable model multi-stage heat pump. It’s an elite series EL18 KSLV, and ultra quiet, space-saving. I really like those options, as well as high efficiency up to 19.2 SER 2 efficiency. So, quite high efficiency, and the multi-stage is what really got me. And it’s the new refrigerant—454B refrigerant.
Okay. So, I also wanted my team to come and—and install it, you know, and, you know, get—get a little experience with the new refrigerant and that. Right. Right. And so—multi—I always like to test new products at my own home. Okay, for sure. Yeah, why not? You know, wife doesn’t always like that very much. But I said, “Hey, if I’m selling them, I should have it. I should know exactly why.” That’s right. Why do I have this is because I increased level of comfort, and she’s not complaining about the comfort level in the home. Yeah. Awesome. That’s great. Yeah, she’s happy.
So, when it comes to heat pumps for the Edmonton region, what is something that homeowners should know about getting one—or if they’re on the fence about, you know, switching from a traditional, you know, gas-fired furnace to a heat pump—what—what advice would you have for them?
So, my advice is you—you do have to keep that gas-fired furnace as well, or we go with an electric, which is not—not ideal. They’re not efficient. But if you’re looking to get an air conditioner, this is a great time—or change your air conditioner—that’s a great time to put in a heat pump. If you want, you can just use it as an air conditioner and still have the benefits—added benefits—of low ambient temperature outside cooling. So, if it’s the shoulder seasons and it’s, you know, 10° out or 5° at night, it can still cool efficiently in the home. So, if you want to bring your temperature down in the evening, you know, you don’t have any—run any—risks hurting your air conditioner or anything; the heat pump will handle air cooling down to, like, minus 20. Basically, it’s replacement for an air conditioner with the added benefit of being able to heat with electricity.
Should You Get Solar Panels?
So, if you’ve got solar power—if you’re planning on doing solar in the future—it’s also great, because you’re going to be able to heat your house for majority of the year, like through the summer, let’s say fall and spring, you can basically use the heat pump to heat the home.
Okay. So, you’re using less natural gas, using more electricity. So, depending on what the rates are at the time, you could be—could experience some savings.
Yeah, some savings, especially if you’ve got the solar power, right?
Okay.
Yeah.
So, there you have it, folks. There’s a lot of pros and cons about having a heat pump. It seems like they’re—they’re great technology. And if you’re interested in getting a quote, talk to Adrien Hines at Hines Brothers Mechanical. And your website address is hinsemechanical.com. All right. HinseMechanical.com. There you go. So, go to hinsemechanical.com and get a free quote today. We’ll talk to you later. I’ll see you on the next video.