Reflections on 2022

It’s been quite a year when it comes to fighting climate at home.

This year we worked directly with over 300 homeowners (309 exactly). These homeowners received an energy audit which with Goldfinch Energy means a conversation about their home, where it’s loosing heat, opportunities to reduce energy consumption and of course the merits and recommended options for climate-fighting heat pumps. We’re so grateful that homeowners trust us to help them with big decisions on their home.

Of those we worked with this year, 84 installed heat pumps (30% kept the gas as back-up while the remainder are using their heat pump to comfortably heat their home throughout the winter). We helped 24 homes disconnect their gas services entirely by removing gas hot water tanks (see this blog post about our two favourite gas-free hot water options). They also removed their gas fireplaces and gas stoves. These homeowners are all leading the way in cutting off their home’s reliance on fossil fuels and are saving by no longer paying the monthly gas delivery fee.

Trish and Sarah also took action on our own homes by getting rid of our gas furnaces and gas hot water tanks. Since both of our furnaces were relatively new we both retrofitted the furnace’s air handler (the fan that blows around the air) and connected it to a new heat pump. The gas for our furnaces is no longer connected. We’ll blog about this system soon, but it’s the most affordable way to switch to a heat pump if you have a gas furnace that’s newer and are ready to get off of gas for heating.

Trish’s heat pump getting installed.

Trish stands proudly in front of her home that is now heating with a heat pump.

Trish is also in the process of starting an HVAC company (which operates independently of Goldfinch Energy) that has the most talented heat pump installer in Toronto. Mike Holm is the only person (to our knowledge) that can help people who have radiators switch from a gas boiler to an air to water heat pump. We’re grateful to Mike Holm for working with our clients and making it possible for the many homeowners across Toronto to have an alternative to gas for home heating.

A few reflections from homeowners who made the switch to heat pumps are:

“In terms of the air to water heat pump. I would say it actually provides a nicer more even heat and works even better for the heated floors in our basement and addition. Nice surprise!”

“The air flow from our ductwork is so much more gentle than before making us more comfortable when we’re next to our vents.”

“My bills are lower this year than the last. I know that this will continue to be the case as gas prices continue to rise faster than electricity.”

Our work does not exist in a silo and we’ve enjoyed working with several community organizations who are also advocating for people to take climate-action at home. The PocketChange Project (nestled in Toronto’s east end) kicked off fall 2021 and has 22 homeowners in the process of retrofitting their homes. Goldfinch Energy is priviledged to be working alongside the fantastic volunteers who make PocketChange a reality and for our partnership with green architect Paul Dowsett (also a Pocket resident and one of the 84 mentioned above who installed a heat pump). Paul would want us to mention that at the time of writing this blog he is one gas fireplace away from cutting off his Enbridge account.

Harbord Village launched their bulk discounts offering reduced rates for heat pump hot water tanks, induction stoves and e-bikes. Along with the discounts they’ve been busy discussing the benefits of heat pumps, solar panels and insulation through many in person events and webinars.

At the city level, Toronto launched their zero-interest Home Energy Loan Program (HELP) which was so popular the loans were quickly allocated to many climate-motivated homeowners.

Looking forward, we are excited to meet the growing demand with our newest energy advisor Anne Hogarth and plan to continue to grow by bringing on at least three more energy advisors in 2023. We’re happy to share that there are even more rebates for heat pumps as Enbridge is now topping up the $5,000 rebate from the Greener Homes program (this is all part of a new program that is called HER+).

We look forward to growing our impact as we feel the climate urgency even more with increasingly unpredictable weather in 2023.

One of Sarah’s children Eli, poses in front of their house. Eli, seven, is great at noticing heat pumps and solar panels in the neighbourhood.

Heating water without heating the planet

It’s been two months since Trish and I began heating the water in our homes without gas. We both previously had gas hot water tanks that were particularly inefficient and posed a risk from carbon-monoxide in our homes, as they exhaust through the chimney. Trish was smelling gas in her mechanical room and attributed the odor to her gas hot water heater. With both of us deeply committed to helping others get their homes off of fossil fuels we were both eager to practice what we preach with our water.

Trish opted for a heat pump hot water tank. Heat pump hot water tanks are the slick cleantech of water appliances. They extract heat from the surrounding air (using the same technology as a fridge, AC or a heat pump) and transfer it to the water. Their efficiency is around 400% (one unit of electricity to power the heat pump generates four units of heat) making them the most cost-effective water tank second only to solar hot water. Since heat pump hot water tanks need to be installed in a mechanical room that’s at least 10’ by 10’ or with vents on the door (so that there’s enough warm air for the heat pump) they were a good fit in Trish’s mechanical room.

Cost: $5,500+HST (Trish opted for a more costly model to test it out for other clients)

Rebate: $1,000 (Greener Homes program)

What Trish installed: Stiebel Eltron Heat Pump Hot Water tank

Size: 50 US gallons (181 litres). Since the recovery time can be around 50% slower than a gas hot water tank we recommend sizing up so that there’s more hot water to go around.

Sarah is currently undergoing a basement renovation and chose an electric tank and drain-water heat pump recover system. Given her smaller basement size, Sarah opted for an electric tank which is quieter than a heat pump hot water tank. Modern electric hot water tanks are much better insulated than older versions reducing the amount of electricity used to keep the water hot. To make her system more efficient, she also installed a drain water heat recovery system which is a simple copper pipe that extracts around 60% of the heat as it flows down the stack and out of the house. This heat is transferred to fresh water that goes into the tank reducing the amount of electricity used to heat the water. With an electric tank, we also recommend a timer that only allows the hot water to reheat overnight (when the cost of electricity is lowest). This was not necessary for Sarah since her home also has solar panels (offsetting the cost of electricity).

Cost: $3,600+HST (the drain-water heat recovery system cost $1,000)

Rebate: none

What Sarah installed: PowerPipe (drain water heat recovery system) + AO Smith Electric Hot Water tank

Size: 40 US gallons (151 litres). Her family got used to a tiny 20 gallon tank while her basement was being underpinned so going back to a 40 gallon tank felt luxurious. The drain-water heat recovery system makes the hot water last a little longer too.

Currently, these two systems represent the two best alternatives to gas for hot water heating. We’ve got our eye on the heat pump hot water heater that has an external unit, but for now, the heat pump hot water heater (that is one unit that goes in the basement) or an electric tank with an off-peak timer (and ideally a drain-water heat recovery system) are what we are helping homeowners install in their homes.

PS While solar thermal is really amazing, it ends up being quite expensive and we usually recommend that folks use their precious roof space for solar panels.

Reflections on 2021

As the year winds down and the beginning of winter (and unfortunately, the omicron variant) encourages a form of hibernation, we’re all drawn back into our homes.

This time of year always prompts in me a more mindful and reflective state of mind, one I often wish I could sustain throughout the year.

In spite of a turbulent year caused mostly by COVID, I am proud of how far we have come. Just over 2 years ago, Goldfinch Energy wasn’t even much of an idea and if you were to ask, there were only a handful of homeowners in Toronto who could say they’ve reduced their greenhouse gas emissions. Today’s landscape looks very different, with new growth and fast progress across many homes.

With my own home, my partner and I are about one third of the way with our plans (you can read about them here). Our efforts are not just about reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also driven by a need to have more space (the basement renovation was driven by a desire to have more than 1 bathroom in a house with 5 people) and a desire to be more comfortable at home (before we insulated the attic and flat roof and sealed our ductwork, the second floor wasn’t very comfortable in the summer or winter). I continue to believe that reducing greenhouse gas emissions at home doesn’t need to be the single goal that drives home renovations and that every homeowner’s path to getting their home off of fossil fuels is unique to their family’s goals and realities.

I’m happy to share that this year we addressed the top of our house. Our attic and flat roof are now well insulated and support enough solar panels to offset our electricity consumption  both now and in the future when we switch our heating, stove and hot water to electrically-powered appliances. Next year we’ll tackle the bottom of our house with the basement renovation.

Across the city of Toronto, neighbourhood and community groups have taken tremendous steps to bring together, motivate and educate each other in the importance and possibility of taking climate-action right at home. Trish and I are honored to have been invited to support several of them. Most notably the The Pocket Change Project and Harbord Village’s Net-Zero Project. All of the many groups and its members have demonstrated the power and potential of collective action that links both advocacy work and individual action.

Just last week, Toronto City Council adopted the TransformTO Net Zero Strategy which outlines a path for the city to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. The strategy, linked here, contains a lot of ambitious goals and a focus on existing buildings (which represent over half of Toronto’s greenhouse gas emissions). The most exciting aspect of the strategy (to Goldfinch Energy) is the goal to phase-out the use of natural gas in buildings by 2040. That’s a big deal! 

At an individual level, many members of the above-mentioned groups have (or are in the process of) taken big steps to reducing their home’s greenhouse gas emissions. Goldfinch Energy is fortunate to have worked with many fantastic homeowners this year and helped support six homeowners to get their homes entirely off of gas for heating (photos of a few are below). We also supported dozens of homeowners who made big reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions by switching their heating to a heat pump and have worked with hundreds to help them with an energy audit and cleantech assessment so that when their furnace or AC breaks or they are planning a renovation, they too will reduce their home’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

It’s been an incredibly rewarding year and we are also grateful to the many like-minded business partners we’ve met. We look forward to building upon in 2022.

Ramona lives in a beautiful semi in the west end of Toronto. She made some big decisions this year. We met in June. By September she insulated her attic and made her home more airtight. By October she removed her gas furnace and replaced it with a heat pump. She also removed her gas hot water tank and replaced that with a heat pump. To offset the electricity consumption, in December she installed solar panels. It was a pleasure working with her to slash her home’s greenhouse gas emissions from 6.7 tonnes/year to ZERO.

She is featured (above) next to her heat pump and (below) pointing at the inverter which converts the electricity generated by the solar panels to AC current for Toronto Hydro’s grid.

Bye-bye AC, hello heat pump

Heat pumps have an unfortunate name because half the benefit, the cooling part, is left out. If you live in a warm climate you’d buy a heat pump mostly for the cooling. In a moderate climate you’d buy it for both. There is some speculation, fueled by Elon Musk, that Tesla may come out with residential heat pumps. However, I imagine it will have some swish name as even calling it Tesla HVAC is an improvement over Tesla Heat Pump, especially in California.

Many homeowners are switching off of natural gas (methane) completely for home heating. It’s not inexpensive to replace both your heating and cooling system at once. A proposed federal rebate should help, but there’s another option for ducted homes if your AC is nearing the end of it’s life and your furnace is on the newer size. It’s simple, just replace your air conditioner with a heat pump. That’s what Goldfinch clients Eli and Ashley have done.

Heat pumps are just fancy air conditioners that also work in reverse. They move heat outside a house in summer and move it inside in winter. They can even work down to -27C. Ashley and Eli recently bought a home and hired Goldfinch to prepare a Cleantech Roadmap, a 10-year plan to improve efficiency and decarbonize their home. As the home came with a brand new furnace, replacing it didn’t make sense so instead they’ve opted to replace their non-functional air conditioner with a heat pump.

Broken AC

New heat pump and a new baby!

Through our HVAC installation service, Goldfinch ran calculations using a new tool from Natural Resources Canada. We focused on finding the best size for both heating and cooling, as well as the efficiency of various models. We also brought in a trusted installer.

We’re estimating their heat pump will cover all their heating from 5C and above, which is a significant amount of time their gas furnace won’t be running from now on. We can’t wait for next winter to analyze the results, but in the meantime, Eli and Ashley will enjoy the financial savings. Their heat pump has much higher efficiency than most air conditioners and, in the shoulder seasons, heat pumps typically cost less to operate than gas furnaces.

Heat pumps are an old technology (our fridges are heat pumps too) but in the past decade their application has exploded. Part of the reason it’s speculated that Tesla will get into HVAC is that they put heat pumps in their newest cars to help in colder climates. As EV owners in Canada know, electric cars don’t give off tons of heat the way gas cars do, so in winter it uses up the battery to defrost and warm them. Switching out a radiant heater for a heat pump heater in the newest Teslas, saves more of the charge for driving and improves winter range.

We applaud Ashley and Eli for prioritizing carbon emission reductions in their home and thank them for choosing Goldfinch. We wish their family of four a wonderful summer in their more comfortable home.

The heat pump is also whisper quiet!

Goldfinch clients convert to a heat pump

Meet Chris and Tierney. Last summer when they heard about Goldfinch Energy, and our mission to help decarbonize homes, they got in touch right away for a Cleantech Roadmap. They were relatively new homeowners and their purchase inspection had flagged that their 26-year-old furnace would soon need replacing. And, like many of us, they are climate concerned and want to do their part to cut carbon emissions. Goldfinch was thrilled to help them out.

Goldfinch started by listening to their goals and figuring out how they could be more comfortable in their home. Tierney is an avid gardener and last spring and summer she converted much of the front and back yard into vegetable plots. We noticed when visiting that all the windows were open and they were enjoying the fresh air. The house didn’t have any air conditioning, which wasn’t a problem except on really warm nights in the summer. We took all this information away, did some research, and delivered them a custom Cleantech Roadmap.

In order to achieve their goal of getting off fossil fuels, switching from a gas furnace to an electric heat pump was an easy decision. The harder decision was whether to stick with a centrally ducted system or go with the newer style of ductless heating and cooling. Central heating is great when it distributes air evenly but sometimes it results in too hot or cold rooms that can’t be remedied by a central thermostat. Likewise central air conditioning is perfect for some homes, but if you like the windows open much of the time, and you don’t like a cold basement in the summer (especially when your Covid office is there!) it can be uncomfortable.

Goldfinch Energy helped Chris and Tierney by interviewing four and meeting with two of our trusted installers. We also did a heat load calculation as part of an energy audit to ensure they would purchase the right sized equipment. After careful consideration, they decided to go with a ductless system. This means they now have three wall-mounted indoor heating/cooling units in their home, giving them complete zone control. Each zone has its own thermostat so in the winter the heat can be adjusted in each area. In the summer, it’s even more flexible. The air conditioning can be off in the basement where they don’t want it, on or off on the main floor depending on whether the windows are open, or, only the master bedroom can be air conditioned so it’s comfortable when it’s time for bed. In this way they’ll use a fraction of the energy central air conditioning would require. 

With a highly-efficient, zone-controlled heat pump Chris and Tierney’s home is the epitome of climate responsibility. They also choose not to own a car so their carbon footprint is officially tiny. The only fossil fuel appliance left in their lives is their water heater, and we can’t wait to see what smart decision they make on that front. Whether it’s solar, electric, hybrid heat pump… we’ll be sure to blog when their gas meter can be removed completely. 

The most important question you can ask your contractor

“What are good alternatives to my gas furnace?” 

In the summer, a homeowner named Karen reached out to us with that very question. We leapt for joy because although we do many things to help homeowners upgrade to a low-carbon home, the biggest step is fuel switching. Fuel what? Fuel switching means replacing equipment so your home doesn’t burn fossil fuels. 

Our homes have a great many culprits when it comes to fossil fuels. Usually our homes have a gas stove, a gas-fired hot water tank and a gas furnace. The biggest emitter of all is our furnace which accounts for up to 80% of our carbon emissions. Second on emissions is hot water, so if you aren’t ready to part with your gas stove - don’t worry about it!

When Karen asked about alternatives to her gas furnace we were elated. She not only asked the right question but also at the right time. Her hundred-year-old Toronto home was undergoing a renovation with a fantastic design and build company. Goldfinch Energy worked with her to help her understand her options when it comes to alternatives to natural gas. Better educated, she took the advice and brought it back to her builder and requested a heat pump. 

Most people have the vague sense that our gas appliances aren’t great but we don’t think about them very much. It’s usually only when they break that we think about them.

What was special about Karen was that she thought to connect with Goldfinch Energy during her renovation. It’s an excellent time to install a heat pump as she would have needed to install a new piece of heating anyway (this is common during big renovations as the size of the heating equipment needs to adjust to meet the newly renovated home).

Hats off (and gas cap on!) to Karen for her laudable choice and excellent timing!

Sue Dexter: Harbord Village’s community champion

When it comes to climate change we’re all in this together, yet most of us have experienced feeling paralyzed by our inability to make a difference. Sue Dexter, a long-time resident of Harbord Village, is a Net Zero trendsetter who knows how to drive change. Net Zero, in this case, means a home that produces as much energy as it consumes. Not only is Sue’s community-based approach to Net Zero more impactful than doing it alone, it’s also more fun to share experiences and celebrate successes as a team.

The outdoor unit of Sue’s new heat pump is whisper quiet and mounted off the ground so snow doesn’t block the fans.

Sue’s latest Net Zero adventure was to replace her gas furnace with a heat pump. Heat pumps aren’t new (our fridges and air conditioners use heat pump technology), but only recently have technological advances made them ideal for heating and cooling homes in colder climates like ours. They use electricity so they don’t produce carbon emissions like burning natural gas in a furnace does, and they’re far more efficient than baseboard heating.

Sue’s new centrally-ducted heat pump, a Mitsubishi Zuba, is providing plenty of warmth as the weather gets colder. It will also deliver more efficient cooling in the summer. An added benefit is that she no longer needs to maintain both a furnace and an air conditioner, just the heat pump. 

The heat pump’s indoor unit was installed horizontally from the ceiling to accommodate the lower basement ceiling in Sue’s home.

Thanks to some help from the City of Toronto, Sue had some cost projections before embarking on the project. Sue thinks her heat pump will cost about the same to run as her gas furnace did but in a worst case scenario it could be $200 more during the heating season. To her this represents good value because she is cutting her carbon emissions by more than 85%. And in fact, as a cleantech trendsetter, it won’t surprise you to learn that Sue installed a solar array in 2007, so much of her electricity is essentially free.

Sue’s solar array isn’t large, only 3 kilowatts, but it paid for itself in 12 years and has been generating a profit since. Sue also made a smart move by installing solar thermal hot water. The sun largely heats her water but she has on-demand gas backup for when it isn’t sunny. In the summer Sue’s gas consumption charge is less than $5/month.

Adopting the latest cleantech is always fun but the most important part of Sue’s project is that she’s not doing it alone. A long-time volunteer with the Harbord Village Residents Association, Sue was instrumental in starting its NetZero Committee. A number of volunteers on this committee have been educating themselves about cleantech options for their own homes and are available to the broader community as a resource. They’re also working on ambitious plans to reduce the carbon footprint of the entire neighbourhood.

If you’d like to make deep cuts to your household emissions (and utility bills!), the best way to get started is with a plan. And better than doing it alone, find others in your community who want to do it with you. We can’t all replace our cars and heating equipment overnight, but we do tend to replace these things every 5-15 years. In 10 years time, many people in your neighbourhood could have zero household emissions from home heating and transportation. 

Try reaching out to your community association to see if they have or want a NetZero Committee. Failing that how about pairing up with a neighbour or friend? Make a joint 10-year pledge to get off fossil fuels and share your experience and learnings with each other over the years. Change is easy when you do it with your friends, and the multiplying effect is far more rewarding than doing it alone.

Sue may be the first in her neighbourhood to fully switch off gas for home heating but there’s no doubt she’s spot on the next cleantech trend. Heat pumps are going gangbusters in Europe and California. And the next major hotspot thanks to a community approach... Harbord Village!

Phil and Pegi: Riverdale Renovation

This past summer we had the pleasure of meeting Phil and Pegi on their lovely front porch. From there we learned about the key components of their low-carbon retrofit: better exterior cladding and two new heat pumps. 

A lot of people instinctively think their homes are leaky because of their windows but houses have a lot more wall than window. An energy audit can precisely determine both the biggest culprits for heat loss and the best fixes. Phil, a long-time advocate of energy efficiency, had an audit done for precisely that reason. He wanted to know which upgrades would most improve his building envelope.

Phil next to his newly insulated exterior wall and heat pump

The east side of Phil’s home was in need of repair but instead of just replacing the siding, Phil made the wise decision to add 2 inches of rigid foam insulation underneath new stucco. This widened his home by 2 inches but it looks great and blends perfectly with the front of the house. The result is a great looking wall that provides way more insulating value.

Most of us are familiar with adding insulation to the inside our homes but it’s even more effective when it can be placed on the outside. Inside, insulation is constantly interrupted by wall studs, outlets and more, whereas outside it can run almost continuously.

On the west side of Phil’s home, proximity to the neighbour’s house prevented adding exterior insulation but his home has interior wood framing so the walls could be insulated from the inside using a method called “drill and fill”. It required repainting but it greatly improved the building envelope. In addition to insulating both sides of his home, Phil also upgraded some of his windows.  

With the building envelope fixed, the next step was to improve the heating and cooling. Phil’s home has cast iron radiators but the heat was unevenly distributed. His home was also too warm on the upper floors in the summer. The perfect solution was to install a cold-climate heat pump because it would provide both heating and cooling. In fact, Phil installed a first heat pump with two indoor heads and it worked so well that he soon purchased a second heat pump so the rest of the home would be as comfortable.

With heat pumps now servicing Phil’s home for both heating and cooling, the gas boiler is getting much less use. It’s still needed during the coldest months because it services the basement and a few other areas, but burning less gas overall means fewer carbon emissions. The other advantage to using the heat pumps is that each head has its own remote thermostat. This means that everyone in Phil’s home gets the right temperature, not just the person with the lucky room, which used to depend on the season.

In doing this project, Phil and Pegi had a little help from the City of Toronto. Toronto H.E.L.P. loans can be a good idea for homeowners taking on efficiency and solar projects. These loans are attached to the property tax so that if you move, the outstanding balance is transferred to the new owner. It’s a great solution if you want a solar array but worry you might move before it’s paid off. 

Goldfinch has Phil to thank for inspiring our tagline: Comfort and cleantech under one roof. When we first interviewed Phil about his project he told us he never imagined how much more comfortable his home could be. Now, improved comfort and reduced emissions is our goal on every project. Change is easy when it’s win-win.

Bob: Etobicoke’s Cleantech Maverick Offers Rooftop Tours!

Nestled at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in Etobicoke, it’s not immediately obvious that Bob’s home has been kitted up with some killer cleantech. Originally built in 1965, Bob and his wife moved in just over 40 years ago and raised their two sons here. More recently, thanks to a clever set of upgrades, the home has a new responsibility. Bob’s home is a shining example of how older Toronto homes can be retrofit to achieve close to net-zero. (A net-zero home produces as much energy as it consumes.)

As the former owner of one of Toronto’s largest HVAC companies, and a long-time energy efficiency advocate, Bob is an expert at designing mechanical systems for optimal comfort and efficiency. As a parent and grandparent that is worried about the climate crisis, Bob decided to roll up his sleeves and design a home heating system that everyone could love.

Knowing the HVAC industry, Bob was keenly aware that for a solution to be adopted at scale, it needs to be cost-competitive to operate. Bob’s solution was to install a heat pump with gas back-up provided by a high-efficiency condensing boiler. Having tested this system over two winters now, Bob has proven that by using just a bit of gas for auxiliary heat during very cold weather, his heat pump configuration can operate for less than heating with a gas furnace.

In addition to purchasing and installing the heat pump himself (at 79 years young!), Bob also invested in a rooftop solar array. When he bought the home in 1979 he probably wasn’t eyeing the flat roof for anything except potential leaks, but years later that south-facing flat roof would prove to be absolutely perfect for generating electricity.

To say Bob loves his solar array is an understatement. I've toured the roof (it’s fun and safe!) and I’ve seen some of his summer hydro bills showing he’s in a credit position. Because Bob’s electricity is pretty much free now that he’s purchased a solar array, he didn’t really need to install gas backup for his electric heat pump, but again he wanted to design a system that would work in every home and was irrefutably low-cost to operate.

Indoor heat pump unit

Bob designed a “hybrid” heat pump solution which refers to using gas for backup. Knowing he also wanted to use gas for hot water, Bob purchased a boiler that could perform double duty. His boiler now provides on-demand hot water and it helps the heat pump in only the coldest weather.

So how does the boiler boost the heat pump? The boiler provides hot water to a hydronic coil that is mounted in the upper section of the heat pump’s indoor air handler. Inside the air handler is a heat exchanger that transfers heat from the hot water to the air that is about to be circulated through the home. This hydronic heating coil is large enough to heat the entire house but as Bob’s goal is to minimize carbon emissions, he only uses it sparingly.

Bob’s new heat pump is a 3-ton Mitsubishi Zuba Central, sort of the “Tesla” of heat pumps. It’s outdoor and indoor fans are incredibly quiet and it provides heating at temperatures as low as minus 27◦C. Inside his mechanical room is the Mitsubishi air handler that is boxy like most furnace and air conditioning equipment. Like all heat pumps, the Zuba provides Bob’s home with both heating and air conditioning. In the fall and spring, heat pumps are generally cheaper for heating than gas, so Bob only needed a cost-competitive solution for the coldest days when gas is still the cheapest.

This wall-mounted boiler provides domestic hot water and provides back-up heat for Bob’s home on the coldest of days.

Bob’s system is designed so that the gas heating coil and the heat pump automatically sync their operation with each other. Based on the outdoor temperature, they each peform as needed to minimize emissions and keep Bob’s heating costs low.

Bob’s heat pump provides about 80% of his home heating and the gas-fired heating coil provides the remainder. This means he’s reduced his annual carbon emissions by an estimated 5-6 tonnes annually. From the outset, Bob has been carefully tracking his energy use and costs so his system’s efficacy is well documented.

Another brilliant part of Bob’s solution is that it only requires two pieces of equipment for a home: a heat pump and a boiler. Most of us with central air have three pieces of equipment: a furnace, an air conditioner and a hot water heater. Over time, Bob’s capital costs should be lower than the rest of us because he’s replacing less equipment.

There are other “hybrid” (heat pump/gas) configurations out there but they aren’t nearly as slick as Bob’s. A common approach is to keep your furnace and place a heat pump on top where the air conditioner used to go. However this is an all or nothing situation because only one appliance, either the furnace or the heat pump, can be on at a time. This means once you turn on your furnace, you only use gas for heating, even on warmer winter days when your heat pump would have cost less and emitted less. However, there are switching technologies that are coming along. The other problem is that you’re typically sizing the heat pump for fall and spring use only, so you’ve entered a cycle of probably buying another gas furnace down the road, plus whatever you need for hot water on top of that. In Bob’s hybrid configuration, he can stop using gas for home heating whenever he wants, no problem (except that would mean cold showers, unless he electrifies his hot water too!)

Speaking of hot water, I left out one additional job Bob’s boiler does. Not everyone likes instant/on-demand water heaters because you wait longer for hot water than if you had a tank. Bob’s workaround is that his boiler also heats a small auxiliary tank of hot water for immediate domestic use. It’s about ⅓ the size of a regular tank and highly insulated for efficiency. If this little tank drains down a bit, say during a shower, the boiler kicks in to provide uninterrupted hot water for as long as it’s needed. On-demand hot water is pretty common but Bob’s system is luxurious because you don’t have to wait for it.

Sadly not all of us get to live with an HVAC wizard (I haven’t even mentioned his zoned temperature controls!) but the next best thing is available. Bob is happy to provide advice and tours if you want to see his heat pump and solar setup. Just contact Goldfinch and we’ll put you in touch. A smart system like Bob’s makes switching to a heat pump an easy decision that everyone can get behind.

Barbara: Getting Off Gas in The Danforth

Barbara lives in a beautiful 2 ½ story home just north of Danforth Avenue in Toronto. A lawyer by trade, she also has one son and one nephew, both of whom were constantly reminding her about the climate crisis and how awful natural gas is.

Three years ago she decided she needed to do something (if only to keep her son & nephew quiet!) and started figuring out what to do. It wasn’t easy, a lot of HVAC companies predominately install gas furnaces and many tried to dissuade her from making the switch from a gas furnace to heat pumps. However, Barbara persisted and is glad she did as she’s discovered that heat pumps are a really versatile and cost-effective way to heat (and cool) a home.

I recently visited Barbara’s home (while wearing a mask) to learn more about her fuelswitching experience.

Before fuel switching from a gas furnace to electric heat pumps, Barbara also wanted to understand her home’s overall efficiency so she hired an energy advisor. The advisor visited her home, ran some tests and provided her with an EnerGuide (an energy audit program run by NRCan) to guide some efficiency upgrades. Although people tend to think of replacing windows to reduce heat loss, Barbara had some wise advice to look at her walls instead. If you replace glass windows, sure you end up with less leaky windows, but they’re still glass openings. If you instead think about insulating your walls, it’s like adding a cozy thermal blanket around your home. To improve her home’s thermal envelope, she removed some of the old walls and built new framed walls that could be insulated behind the drywall. Barbara also installed a new, airtight front door. 

Although heat pumps can be centrally ducted, just like furnaces, Barbara’s home warranted a different approach. To free up precious ceiling space in her basement (that was being taken up by her ductwork) she went with “ductless” technology which places indoor units in various rooms of the home. Ductless systems are incredibly advantageous because each indoor unit has its own remote thermostat. For Barbara’s home, with four adults living on four different floors, this means no fighting about the temperature. Everyone gets the freedom to set their heat pump to the temperature they like, ensuring perfect comfort in each room, year round. 

Shown on the left is one of the indoor units and to the right is one of the outdoor units. Electrical, controls and refrigerant are all run via cables between the indoor and outdoor units. Finding the right HVAC installer is important as the location of both outdoor and indoor units is critical.

The baseboard heating in Barbara’s bathroom.

As an early adopter, Barbara wanted some back-up heat just in case (the city also required it for her basement apartment). Barbara purchased some electric baseboard heaters from her local hardware store for $60. Even though the baseboards are there, she and her roommates have found that the heat pumps provide more than enough heating even during the coldest days in winter.

As for the bills? Barbara’s costs have gone down. Thanks to her insulation strategy, Barbara saves about $100 a month, uses a quarter of the gas (she still uses gas for her hot water and stove) and is far more comfortable. Best of all, her son and nephew are proud of her for slashing her home’s emissions. 

Goldfinch Energy keeps finding that smart home retrofits like Barbara’s go hand-in-hand with improved overall comfort. Contact Goldfinch for expert advice on a heat pump configuration that makes sense for you and your home.