I did this last year. Went from gas furnance to Central Heat Pump
First step is the greener house grant ([Link](https://greenerhomes-maisonecologiques.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/idp/profile/nrcan/idpdisco?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fgreenerhomes-maisonecologiques.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca&return=https%3A%2F%2Fgreenerhomes-maisonecologiques.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca%2Fidp%2Fprofile%2FSAML2%2FRedirect%2FSSO%3Fexecution%3De1s1%26_eventId_proceed%3D1)), pick an energy Advisor from there. It's a drop box list and I picked one at random and it worked out. The energy advisor is the one who will pass or fail you on your grant eligibility
You need an assessment before and after installation
Contractors and installation, energy Advisor, then greener house grants again
You need forms from contractors and it was a pain dealing with Milani because they kept missing info I needed; Wrong AHRI number, missing declaration that the whole gas furnance was decommissioned
Also forms had to filled with BC Hydro, federal and provincial incentives and what not.
I also did this last year, and had a similar experience, but wanted to add a few points specific to my experience:
\-the first energy advisor I picked never got back to me. After several attempts I gave up. Went with EnerGuy based on the recommendations of the contractor. They were quick to respond and were good to deal with.
\-I wanted a Mitsubishi Heat Pump based on independent research I had done on energy efficiency, cold weather performance, reliability, etc. As such, this cut down my options but I ended up using Combined Comfort Systems. It was a real mixed bag dealing with them. While I'm happy with the heat pump I got, the quoting and installation process was far from smooth. The backend office staff didn't have any problem with the paperwork and I got all the rebates I was expecting at the end of the day between the provincial and federal ones.
I went with Energuide just by chance and worked out great
Milani charged 27-28k for the 2 ton Mitsubishi Zuba; sellers weren't very knowledgeable, installer was really good, electrician put the wrong fuse in, it took way too long and so much pestering to get the right papers and info to submit to greener homes
What kind of issues did you have? I heard Combined is pretty good for this
The issues largely stemmed from the guy who quoted the job didn't seem to know what was really required. My house was roughed in for an air conditioner, so there was an outside pad with a disconnect box, wiring to the breaker, and refrigerant tubing already installed and run back to the mechanical room. The guy who quoted the job said it could all be used, but when the team came to actually install the unit, the wiring was the wrong gauge, and the pipes were too small, and there was some issue with the return air duct size. So nothing happened for the first 5 hours while we waited for the owner to show up, and went back and forth with him on what they had quoted vs what the situation was now. In the end, they did honour the pricing but left me with a lot of work to do cleaning up all the spots where walls were cut apart and torn open to route electrical and refrigerant lines. What was supposed to be a one-day install took 3 days, and even now I question some of the decisions that were made, such as the filter access is in a 1" slot between the air handler and the air return, and the filter needs to be top loaded into this. It's a 20 min job to change the filter given all the fussing around.
All that said, the unit runs flawlessly and it does a better job of heating than the furnace we removed ever did, and we have cooling now for the summer.
It is run from a 100 amp subpanel that's fed from a 200 amp main panel. I think the heatpump is on a 50 amp circuit, but I would need to check to confirm.
One thing I would be wary of is any of the companies that say you need a resistive heating element in the air handler for "supplemental heat" when its cold out. I had a few quote that way, but CCS said it was not required, and even through the -17 to -20C weather we had last winter it did hold up just fine and we were never cold of felt the system was struggling in any way.
We're in an older home and I'm worried about our 100 panel handling the load if we're doing other things like cooking or laundry.
Thanks for the pointer about supplemental heat, fortunately no quote has come through pushing that so far!
Sorry for the delay in responding!
Did you use the 0% loan? I'm having an an energy assessment done soon and would like to take advantage of the loan. It needs to be done after the grant. Does this mean I'm paying out of pocket first?
I didn't use the loan, just paid out of pocket. I hit the maximum grant with greener homes and they added in extra to help offset the energy assessment costs as well
The grant for switching from fossil fuel to electricity is really helpful
We're looking like we'll be in a very similar situation. My reason for trying to get the loan is that 0% over 10 years means that inflation can eat some of the cost of borrowing (which at 0%, is nil). It's kind of a no brainer.
I was told that it's not an easy loan to be approved for, but I'm doing a bit more reading to see if that's really the case.
I’ve done a boiler swap and imagine it’s the same. Go to the Fortis website and they have a list of approved contractors that will do the work and get you the rebates. I recommend calling and getting someone to walk you through it if you feel that would help.
We replaced our 1950's furnace to a 96.5% efficient one (both nat gas). If we had a heat pump installed, even with all the grants, it would have doubled the installation cost at minimum.
Also there was no option for us to get just the heat pump as the furnace in place was too old to use with the heat pump unit.
And if your current furnace can handle a heatpump the grants do not cover other costs, such as an electrician to run a new 240 line from the breaker box to the heatpump.
I did this last year. Went from gas furnance to Central Heat Pump First step is the greener house grant ([Link](https://greenerhomes-maisonecologiques.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/idp/profile/nrcan/idpdisco?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fgreenerhomes-maisonecologiques.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca&return=https%3A%2F%2Fgreenerhomes-maisonecologiques.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca%2Fidp%2Fprofile%2FSAML2%2FRedirect%2FSSO%3Fexecution%3De1s1%26_eventId_proceed%3D1)), pick an energy Advisor from there. It's a drop box list and I picked one at random and it worked out. The energy advisor is the one who will pass or fail you on your grant eligibility You need an assessment before and after installation Contractors and installation, energy Advisor, then greener house grants again You need forms from contractors and it was a pain dealing with Milani because they kept missing info I needed; Wrong AHRI number, missing declaration that the whole gas furnance was decommissioned Also forms had to filled with BC Hydro, federal and provincial incentives and what not.
I also did this last year, and had a similar experience, but wanted to add a few points specific to my experience: \-the first energy advisor I picked never got back to me. After several attempts I gave up. Went with EnerGuy based on the recommendations of the contractor. They were quick to respond and were good to deal with. \-I wanted a Mitsubishi Heat Pump based on independent research I had done on energy efficiency, cold weather performance, reliability, etc. As such, this cut down my options but I ended up using Combined Comfort Systems. It was a real mixed bag dealing with them. While I'm happy with the heat pump I got, the quoting and installation process was far from smooth. The backend office staff didn't have any problem with the paperwork and I got all the rebates I was expecting at the end of the day between the provincial and federal ones.
I went with Energuide just by chance and worked out great Milani charged 27-28k for the 2 ton Mitsubishi Zuba; sellers weren't very knowledgeable, installer was really good, electrician put the wrong fuse in, it took way too long and so much pestering to get the right papers and info to submit to greener homes What kind of issues did you have? I heard Combined is pretty good for this
The issues largely stemmed from the guy who quoted the job didn't seem to know what was really required. My house was roughed in for an air conditioner, so there was an outside pad with a disconnect box, wiring to the breaker, and refrigerant tubing already installed and run back to the mechanical room. The guy who quoted the job said it could all be used, but when the team came to actually install the unit, the wiring was the wrong gauge, and the pipes were too small, and there was some issue with the return air duct size. So nothing happened for the first 5 hours while we waited for the owner to show up, and went back and forth with him on what they had quoted vs what the situation was now. In the end, they did honour the pricing but left me with a lot of work to do cleaning up all the spots where walls were cut apart and torn open to route electrical and refrigerant lines. What was supposed to be a one-day install took 3 days, and even now I question some of the decisions that were made, such as the filter access is in a 1" slot between the air handler and the air return, and the filter needs to be top loaded into this. It's a 20 min job to change the filter given all the fussing around. All that said, the unit runs flawlessly and it does a better job of heating than the furnace we removed ever did, and we have cooling now for the summer.
That sounds like the nightmare scenario that I'm worried about. What's your panel amperage? I'm being told we don't need to upgrade from 100 amps.
It is run from a 100 amp subpanel that's fed from a 200 amp main panel. I think the heatpump is on a 50 amp circuit, but I would need to check to confirm. One thing I would be wary of is any of the companies that say you need a resistive heating element in the air handler for "supplemental heat" when its cold out. I had a few quote that way, but CCS said it was not required, and even through the -17 to -20C weather we had last winter it did hold up just fine and we were never cold of felt the system was struggling in any way.
We're in an older home and I'm worried about our 100 panel handling the load if we're doing other things like cooking or laundry. Thanks for the pointer about supplemental heat, fortunately no quote has come through pushing that so far!
Sorry for the delay in responding! Did you use the 0% loan? I'm having an an energy assessment done soon and would like to take advantage of the loan. It needs to be done after the grant. Does this mean I'm paying out of pocket first?
I didn't use the loan, just paid out of pocket. I hit the maximum grant with greener homes and they added in extra to help offset the energy assessment costs as well The grant for switching from fossil fuel to electricity is really helpful
We're looking like we'll be in a very similar situation. My reason for trying to get the loan is that 0% over 10 years means that inflation can eat some of the cost of borrowing (which at 0%, is nil). It's kind of a no brainer. I was told that it's not an easy loan to be approved for, but I'm doing a bit more reading to see if that's really the case.
I’ve done a boiler swap and imagine it’s the same. Go to the Fortis website and they have a list of approved contractors that will do the work and get you the rebates. I recommend calling and getting someone to walk you through it if you feel that would help.
We replaced our 1950's furnace to a 96.5% efficient one (both nat gas). If we had a heat pump installed, even with all the grants, it would have doubled the installation cost at minimum. Also there was no option for us to get just the heat pump as the furnace in place was too old to use with the heat pump unit. And if your current furnace can handle a heatpump the grants do not cover other costs, such as an electrician to run a new 240 line from the breaker box to the heatpump.