Considerations

• Do you have enough power? Does your electrical panel have enough room for a condenser, air handler and electric heat strips.
• It is cheaper to operate, right? An all-electric heat pump may be cheaper to operate than fossil fuels such as propane or oil as well as very low efficient natural gas equipment. Although, in 2022 prices a natural gas modulating furnace is cheaper to operate than a heat pump. Many HVACR mechanics have calculated heat pumps to be 4.3x more expensive to operate than a 99% modulating natural gas furnace.
• What is in your home? The owner of North Shore Plumbing & Heating has a Lennox SLP99 Modulating Gas Furnace, with a Lennox XP Modulating Heat Pump. He sets his ‘balance point’ to 5C; meaning below five degrees Celsius the heat pump is locked out and only the furnace operates.
• Are you a maintenance person? Heat Pumps required annual maintenance from a HVAC company and can cost roughly $500. The filter is required to be changed every three months. Many homeowners hose off the outdoor unit prior to cooling season or winter season. Is the condenser located near trees and debris? Dust/debris is the enemy with heat pumps.
• Does your strata/municipality allow Heat Pumps, and if so are they allowed on the side of the house? Many areas heat pumps are only allowed to be installed in the backyard of a home.
• Does your stratum allow heat pumps and partitions in the exterior walls? Many buildings require the homeowner to provide an engineering document allowing a 2.5” hole to be drilled into the exterior wall. This often needs to be provided for approval from the building.
• Heat pump’s capacity is determined by the existing ductwork; does your home have enough ductwork for a heat pump? Often North & West Vancouver existing homes have low static ductwork designed for fossil fuel applications, whether oil, propane or natural gas. Often in standard homes the ducting system lacks return air ductwork (due to designed for fossil fuel), or a return air on every floor (Basement at one time was unfinished). Therefore often large ductwork modifications could be required for a heat pump installation.
• Does your home have other sources of emergency heat (Fireplace, electric baseboards)? As per building code, the home requires enough emergency heat for the full heat loss if the heat pump fails. If your home does not have another heating source, often a homeowner requires a large electric heat strips which requires a large breaker and is costly to operate. Heat strips can be programmed many ways although they are more expensive to operate then gas furnaces in 2022 costs.
• Has North Shore Plumbing & Heating installed Heat Pumps? We have been installing air sourced heat pumps for years. Our crew has done many dual-fuel applications such as propane back up as well as all electric back up. NSPH has a custom sheet metal shop, therefore we are often able to make nice turning fittings to optimize airflow for heat pumps.