Hybrid Heating in Kawartha Lakes
Radiant heaters. Boilers. The ever-popular furnace. These are the traditional options that come to mind when you’re in the market for a home heating solution in the Kawartha Lakes area.
But there’s another option that’s becoming increasingly popular: hybrid heating. As the name suggests, it’s a combination between two home heating devices, furnaces and heat pumps.
While more expensive to implement than traditional systems, hybrid heating will end up saving you money in the long run. It’s estimated that hybrid heating solutions shave 30% to 50% off your energy expenses each month and pay themselves off in approximately 3 to 5 years. Plus, you’ll be doing the environment a favour!
How Does It Work?
First, we’ll take a look at the two heating components: heat pumps and furnaces.
You can think of heat pumps as a heat transporter. In chilly temperatures ambient heat outside is transferred to the coil located in your ductwork, which then heats up passing airflow. When the weather is warm this process is reversed, making the heat pump a good weather-modulator during most seasons.
While heat pumps offer substantial energy and cost savings, they have one major drawback: they struggle in extremely cold temperatures because they can’t ‘create’ heat in the way that furnaces and other heating solutions do. Depending on which model you get they can offset temperatures as low as −25°C to −30°C, but efficiency is greatly reduced at this point. As a result, they aren’t a very effective option year-round in extremely cold climates. Less than 10% of Canadian households have them at this point in time.
On the other hand, over 75% of Ontarians use a forced air furnace. They traditionally work by burning energy sources like gas and propane, though electric models are also available and growing in popularity. They offer a very reliable way to heat your home during the chilliest of temperatures. The drawback? They take a lot of energy, and they aren’t very environmentally friendly.
In hybrid systems, the energy-efficient heat pump is backed by a furnace. Once the temperature drops below a certain point the furnace kicks on and takes over, relieving the heat pump of duty. While it’s more expensive to implement than a single heating unit, it comes with some notable benefits:
Reduced carbon footprint
Decreased monthly energy bills
In select situations, you may also be eligible for tax rebates or credits
Moving Forward
If the thought of implementing a hybrid heating solution in your Kawartha Lakes home interests you, give our team a call at 1-888-308-5904. We’d be happy to discuss how it works in further detail and will let you know if it’s a good option for you and your family. A full service HVAC company, we’re also happy to provide unit selection, installation and ongoing maintenance services.