heat-pump / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

SEER v HSPF v COP (& SCOP) - understanding heat pump ratings Many people are considering making the switch to a heat pump, for a variety of different reasons, including the heat pump grants available in Canada and the USA to offset the cost and the potential cost savings of buying and installing a single unit that ...

There are many manufacturers of heat pump water heaters on the market, which, rather than heating water with an electric coil as a normal electric hot water tank does, employ an evaporator to extract heat from the air (either interior or exterior) and use it to make hot water. The byproduct of an air-to-water heat pump...

Financial assistance for heat pumps in Quebec right now 2025 is an exceptional opportunity for Quebec homeowners to invest in an air-source, geothermal, or hybrid heat pump. Not only do these energy-efficient heating and cooling systems lead to substantial savings on electricity bills, but they are also a sustainable s...

2026 heat pump water heater buyers guide: a homeowner's and pro's guide Heat pumps for home heating has become a very common choice, and hot on their heels are heat pump water heaters. The low temperature performance of heat pumps today compared to what they offerered a decade ago makes them an increasingly smart choic...

As a seasoned construction professional with lots of HVAC experience, people often ask me whether it's a smart move to go for a heat pump, taking into account the cold weather performance, sustainability and financial factors. With recent strides in cold climate heat pumps getting the nod from the Environmental Protect...

  The Merino Mono: The first through-wall plug-and-play heat pump The Merino Mono installs quickly and easily with very little disruption to your home, and nothing to install on the exterior. This is such a game changer in the world of heat pumps that it is hard to overstate how this may impact the accessibility and af...

2026 heat pump buyers guide: a homeowner's and pro's guide The landscape of home heating and cooling has shifted dramatically as we enter 2026, with heat pump technology now serving as the primary mechanical solution for both new construction and deep energy retrofits. This guide provides an authoritative roadmap for h...

What's the best way to heat a slab on grade home foundation?  A slab on grade is a very cost-effective, durable and low-impact foundation for a home. You get to live above grade, your home won't flood, and concrete slab floors pair perfectly with radiant under floor heating. So what is the best type of under floor heat...

How do the best heat pumps work? A heat pump works very differently than other home heating systems, in that it doesn’t ‘generate’ heat the way a furnace, boiler, radiator, oven or even a toaster or hair dryer would; instead, it collects heat from one place and transfers it to another. Think of your refrigerator as an ...

Our previous update covered aspects of the building envelope, which allowed us to reduce the annual heating requirement to about the Passive House standard of 15 kWh per square meter. Windows are a part of that but they are also part of our energy performance strategy. The house is laid out south facing to maximize pas...

Having a backup heat source that can operate without electricity should be an important consideration for many homeowners in colder climate zones, especially those who rely on a heat pump or electricity as their primary source of heat. In this guide, we will explore the various factors that can influence the need for a...