Luise Cox is upgrading her 1960s bungalow in Mississauga, Ont., this week by tearing out and hauling away the old air conditioner and natural gas furnace. Instead, crews are replacing those units with a brand new heat pump (and some extra insulation in the attic, too).
“We needed to upgrade, and environmentally it’s better,” the 85-year old said. “We’re spending a lot on heating and cooling, so hopefully this will help.”
Heat pumps, which have been promoted for years, have failed to gain traction with the public. But that’s starting to change with rising temperatures, improved technology and government rebates, among the reasons why.
HVAC specialist Peter Messenger says they’ve gone from 10 per cent of his company’s installations to about half almost overnight.
“I’m surprised at how quickly the general public’s mindset has changed on heat pumps,” said Messenger, owner of A1 Air Conditioning and Heating in Oakville, Ont., west of Toronto. “I always knew it would happen, I just didn’t know it would happen this quickly.”
Luise Cox and her husband chose to install a heat pump at their Mississauga home to reduce their environmental footprint and utility costs. (Spencer Gallichan-Lowe/CBC)
Sales are growing so quickly that Messenger said he wonders whether heat pumps could even wipe out the sales of new air conditioners in homes in a few years and put a significant dent in the number of natural gas furnaces.
A heat pump often looks like an air conditioner and can function the same way. They cool a home by absorbing the heat inside and releasing it outside. But unlike an air conditioner, they can reverse the process in winter — heating a cold house without the need of a burner like a furnace, by transferring heat from where it’s not needed to where it is: inside.
“We won’t sell air conditioners. Everything will be a heat pump” in a few years, Messenger said. “People may still keep their gas furnaces, but as time goes on, I think we’re going to see less and less gas meters on people’s homes.”
Peter Messenger, owner of A1 Air Conditioning and Heating, says government rebates are helping to reduce the cost of a heat pump, allowing people to install a much better, greener heating and cooling system for the same amount of money as a new furnace and air conditioner. (Spencer Gallichan-Lowe/CBC)
‘Perfect storm’
Heat pumps existed for decades, and more than 400,000 were installed in Canada in 2000, but that number has doubled in the two decades since. However, a confluence of factors is driving a spike in sales this year.
The federal government’s $2.6-billion Canada Greener Homes Grant can help reduce the purchase price by $5,000, while other provincial, municipal and utility rebates in some parts of the country can help cut the installation cost further.
There is a growing familiarity with the technology, companies say, and a growing interest by homeowners to reduce their environmental footprint. Supply chain problems in recent years no longer exist.
“It’s just the perfect storm of the right factors that are driving some of this,” said Greg Donahue, product manager with Reliance Home Comfort, which operates in five provinces between Ontario and British Columbia.
This year, the company’s heat pump sales are up to seven times higher compared with 2022, he said.
“At the end of the day, if you are looking to get a new heating and cooling system in your home, you will get a better, more efficient heating and cooling system if you do a heat pump — and you’ll get it for the same or oftentimes lower cost to the homeowner,” Donahue said.
Reliance Home Comfort, which operates in five provinces between Ontario and British Columbia, says its heat pump sales are up to seven times higher this year compared with 2022. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)
Technology improving
The wildfire smoke and record heat waves in parts of the country are also motivating more people to buy a new cooling system, just as heat pump technology has improved to the point where it’s much more effective and efficient in a Canadian climate.
In Edmonton, increased demand for heat pumps is reducing the number of new air conditioners being installed, said Collin Goodyear, general manager of Romaniuk Heating and Air Conditioning.
But not everyone is ready to fully switch. Goodyear said people living in colder climates on the Prairies are often choosing to install heat pumps while keeping their furnaces as a backup for those extra frigid days.
“There still are those lower temperatures where the gas furnace is required, partly due to electrical costs. We still find it beneficial,” he said.
About 40,000 heat pumps have been installed or approved as part of the federal government’s Canada Greener Homes Grant, which launched in 2021.
Government subsidies are still essential to make heat pumps economical, although those in the industry say the price tag should continue to fall in the years ahead as manufacturers increase production. The price tag of a heat pump can vary. The average cost to purchase and install a system can range from about $6,000 to $14,000, depending on the size of the home.
Another challenge can be installing heat pumps at multi-family buildings, like an apartment complex, depending on the existing heating, cooling and ventilation system.
WATCH | How does a heat pump work?:
How heat pumps can cool a home in the summer and provide heat in the winter
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Peter Messenger with A1 Air Conditioning and Heating and University of Calgary’s Sara Hastings-Simon explain how heat pumps work.
Climate goals
Heating and cooling buildings is responsible for about 13 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. The federal government’s goal is to cut those emissions by 37 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, with an overall goal of reaching net zero by 2050.
The sharp rise in heat pump sales in Canada is mirrored by what’s happening in some other countries around the world, said Sara Hastings-Simon, an associate professor in the department of geoscience and the school of public policy at the University of Calgary.
“There’s a significant amount of infrastructure that has to change over to get to this net-zero target,” she said.
Sara Hastings-Simon of the University of Calgary says it will take time for a big shift in how buildings are heated and cooled, but each new heat pump is a step in reducing emissions. (Mike Symington/CBC)
It will take time for a big shift in how buildings are heated and cooled, but each new heat pump is a step in that direction and reducing emissions at the same time, Hastings-Simon said.
“It’s not just the silver bullet technology that comes about, but it’s actually that combination of the technology is ready, there’s a real strong case for a consumer and there’s some kind of government support — whether that’s incentives or policies that help to support that install,” she said.
Heat pumps are electric devices that can reduce a household’s environmental footprint if you’re replacing or reducing a heating unit that uses natural gas, propane or furnace oil, or a less efficient air conditioner.
The savings can add up fast. Replacing an oil furnace can save a homeowner up to $3,500 annually, according to a Natural Resources Canada study about the cost-effectiveness of heat pumps, depending on the region and type of home.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
