Heat Pumps
Heat Pumps,Honestly Assessed
They work better than their reputation and worse than the marketing. Which of those matters depends on your house.
The Part of the Sales Pitch That Is True
A heat pump does not make heat, it moves it, which is why it can deliver more energy into a house than it consumes. That is a real advantage and it is not marketing. Modern cold-climate units also keep working well below freezing — considerably below the point where the older generation gave up, which is where most of the scepticism about them in Alberta comes from.
The part that gets left out is what happens at the bottom of our range. As it gets colder, output falls and efficiency falls with it, and Alberta reliably reaches temperatures where a heat pump alone cannot keep up. That is not a defect; it is why they are almost always paired with a backup heat source. A heat pump sold to you as a complete replacement for a furnace in this climate is being oversold, and you would find that out in January.
How We Handle Heat Pumps
We would rather talk you out of one that does not suit your house than install it and have you regret it for fifteen years.
An assessment before a quote
Insulation, existing heating, ductwork, electrical capacity and what you actually pay for gas and power. Those decide it, not the brochure.
Dual-fuel and hybrid setups
Heat pump paired with an existing or new furnace, with controls that hand over at the point where the switch actually makes sense.
Ducted and ductless
Whole-house systems, and mini splits for additions, garages, shops and the room that has never been comfortable.
Service and diagnostics
Units not heating properly, icing up, running constantly, or never delivering what they were sold as delivering.
The cooling side
A heat pump cools as well, which for a lot of houses here is the part that gets used most and justifies a fair share of the cost.
Realistic running costs
What it will and will not save, based on your bills rather than a national average from a different climate and a different power price.
When a Heat Pump Is Worth Considering
Some of these make one a strong idea. Others are the situations where we would suggest spending the money elsewhere first.
- You are replacing an aging furnace anyway and the timing is already open
- You want cooling in summer and would otherwise be buying air conditioning separately
- There is an addition, garage or shop with no good heating option — often a mini split case
- One room has never been comfortable and running new ductwork to it is impractical
- Your house is well insulated and reasonably airtight — which matters more than the equipment
- Your power and gas prices make the running-cost arithmetic work, which is worth checking first
- An older, draughty house with poor insulation — usually better served by fixing that first
- An existing furnace with plenty of life left — a hybrid setup later may suit better than replacing now
What Decides the Cost
Heat pumps carry a higher installed cost than a furnace and the case for one rests on running costs, cooling, or both. That makes an honest assessment worth more here than on any other page of this site, because the payback arithmetic is genuinely house-specific and it does not always come out in favour.
Rebate and incentive programmes for heat pumps exist and they change. We will point you at what is current when you enquire rather than quoting a figure on a page that may be out of date by the time you read it.
- Ducted whole-house system, or one or more ductless mini split heads
- Whether the existing ductwork and electrical panel can support it as-is
- Whether it is paired with an existing furnace or a new one as part of a hybrid setup
- The house itself — insulation and airtightness change what size unit is needed
What You Should Expect From Us
A real answer about the cold
Including the temperature at which yours would hand over to backup, and what that means for your bills in a hard January.
No payback figure we cannot show
If we give you a running-cost comparison, it is built from your bills and your rates, and you get to see the arithmetic.
We will say no
If your house would be better served by insulation, or by keeping the furnace you have for now, that is the advice you will get.
How We Approach a Heat Pump Enquiry
- 01
What are you trying to solve
Running costs, cooling, a cold room, or replacing something that is failing. The answer changes the recommendation completely.
- 02
Look at the house
Insulation, existing system, ductwork and electrical capacity. The building decides more than the equipment does.
- 03
Honest arithmetic
What it would cost, what it would likely save, and where the backup heat takes over. Including if the answer is that it is not worth it.
- 04
Size and specify
Oversizing a heat pump costs you comfort and efficiency both. It gets sized to the house.
- 05
Install, commission, explain
Including how to run it, which is different from a furnace and where most disappointment with them starts.
Heat Pump Questions
Will a heat pump actually heat my house in an Alberta winter?
For most of the heating season, yes. A modern cold-climate unit keeps producing useful heat well below freezing. But Alberta reaches temperatures where output drops below what a house needs, which is why they are paired with a backup — a furnace or electric heat — that takes over at the bottom of the range. Anyone telling you a heat pump alone will carry your house through a Central Alberta January is selling rather than advising.
Will it save me money?
Sometimes substantially, sometimes not at all, and the deciding factors are your gas price, your power price and how well your house holds heat. Where you are also getting cooling out of it, that shifts the arithmetic considerably because you are not buying an air conditioner separately. We would rather work it out from your actual bills than quote you an average.
What is a mini split, and do I need ducts?
A ductless mini split has an outdoor unit and one or more wall or ceiling heads, with no ductwork between them. That makes them well suited to additions, garages, shops and rooms your existing system has never reached properly. For whole-house heating in a home that already has good ducts, a ducted system usually makes more sense.
Why does my heat pump ice up outside?
Some frost on the outdoor coil in cold, damp weather is normal, and the unit runs a defrost cycle to clear it — during which it may briefly blow cooler air indoors and steam outside. That is the system working. Ice that builds up and stays, or defrost cycles running constantly, is not, and that is worth having looked at.
Our Other Services
Thinking About a Heat Pump?
Tell us what you are trying to solve and what you heat with now. You will get a straight assessment, including if the answer is that your money is better spent elsewhere.