Introduction to Heat Pumps

Many of us rarely think about the systems that bring comfort to our homes. Warm air in winter, cool air in summer, hot water available whenever we want it .  Yet for most homes, these comforts come with a heavy price for climate.  Homes contribute roughly ⅓ to our personal carbon footprint while buildings in general are responsible for nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In most cases, it is the fossil fuels that we burn to heat our spaces and water that is the biggest problem.  

Fortunately, there is a solution. Modern heat pumps can heat our water and condition our living spaces many times more efficiently than conventional systems such as furnaces and baseboard heaters. In geographies such as Ontario, where the electricity supply is largely decarbonized, heat pumps that run on electricity are one of the best technologies available to cut emissions from our homes and other buildings.  Governments everywhere are increasingly looking to heat pumps as a means of addressing emissions from buildings: you are likely to be hearing far more about heat pumps in the coming years. We invite you to learn more about heat pumps and how they can be great choices for your home and for our climate.

What Are Heat Pumps

Heat pumps are mechanical systems that use electricity to move heat from one place to another. They are very efficient, using far less energy to heat a space than it would take to generate the same heat by burning a fuel. And they can move heat in either direction, to cool a space in summer and to heat it in the winter. ...Heat pumps have also been around for a long time: the first heat pump was built in 1857 and Geneva’s City Hall in Switzerland installed a heat pump in 1928 that is still in use today. The technology keeps getting better: homes that use modern heat pump systems are very comfortable in all seasons even in Waterloo Region’s climate, and they can also go a long way toward reducing our carbon footprints.

As our community, our province, the nation and the world transition off of fossil fuels to prevent catastrophic climate change, heat pumps will play an increasingly important role in our homes. ...Indeed, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Energy Agency (IEA) and other energy experts have been recommending a switch to heat pumps for quite some time. Today, most government climate action plans promote heat pump adoptions as a means of cutting greenhouse gas emissions from buildings.

How Do Heat Pumps Work?

Heat pumps are mechanical systems that use electricity to move heat from one place to another. They are very efficient, using far less energy to heat a space than it would take to generate the same heat by burning a fuel. And they can move heat in either direction, to cool a space in summer and to heat it in the winter. ...Heat pumps have also been around for a long time: the first heat pump was built in 1857 and Geneva’s City Hall in Switzerland installed a heat pump in 1928 that is still in use today. The technology keeps getting better: homes that use modern heat pump systems are very comfortable in all seasons even in Waterloo Region’s climate, and they can also go a long way toward reducing our carbon footprints.