By Francesco Lo Presti
During our Heat Pumps Technical Training Day, we hosted a panel discussion on selecting the best heat pump technology. This panel discussion featured Michael Ridler, owner and general manager of Eden Energy Equipment; Sonny Pirrotta, vice president of sales at TCL HVAC Canada; and Nathan Horton, president and CEO of 1Click Energy Solutions. The discussion was moderated by our editor, Leah Den Hartogh.
Our panellists provided insights on how contractors can help determine which heat pump is best for the customer, home, and job. Below are some highlighted questions and responses from the discussion.
Question: What is the first thing a contractor should do when helping a homeowner choose the best technology for their heating system: new build or retrofit?
Ridler: Understanding the why. If someone is having a heat pump installed, it always starts with why. The why, then, leads to the what, or rather, which kind of heat pump. Then the question of who is important, because you need to know the contractor will install the technology correctly.
Horton: As Ridler highlighted, you need to understand the customer’s needs analysis. You need to consider what the existing system is and what its goals are. Everyone is going to have a different motivation or reason for installing a heat pump, but you need to understand what the customer’s needs are. This doesn’t mean forcing a specific technology.
Question: How does the region impact which heating solution is best for a home?
Ridler: From the standpoint of what kind of technology is available, if you look at Ontario, roughly 10 per cent of homes are heated with hydronics. On the East Coast, the number of homes using hydronic heating is closer to 60 per cent. Again, it comes down to the who, what, and why components I mentioned earlier because you can’t assume that heating, cooling, and domestic hot water are done the same way.
Also, when we look at regions, we typically consider outdoor air temperatures. What I would strongly suggest is that there is no application where a heat pump can’t do it. You do need to ask: Is it the best option, or is a hybrid option better?
Pirrotta: Adding to that, I believe there is a heat pump application for every new build or retrofit, but it depends again on the region and the customer’s needs. As Ridler highlighted, in Ontario, we have a small percentage of hydronic heating but a lot of natural gas. So dual-fuel solutions are a very good retrofit solution.
From the new build perspective, you need to sit down with the builder developers from the region and have the who, what, and why conversations. Keeping Ontario as the example, if the developer is comfortable installing a furnace or air conditioner, we need to try to educate and inform them on how and why a dual-fuel or all-electric solution could be the better option.
Horton: When I’m looking at this from the customer perspective, I’m taking into account the climate zone and fuel source. To Pirrotta’s point, customers may not be looking at the most green solution because they are focusing on putting food on the table. They are most likely looking for the most cost-effective solution.
For example, in places like Newfoundland or Nova Scotia, removing oil adds substantial value to customers. So, going full electrification makes sense because the return on investment is there. Now, in Toronto or Ontario as a whole, if a customer has natural gas, they are more likely to go with an a-coil. It’ll still save them money and be better than installing an air conditioner, but if you’re looking for cost savings, natural gas is still cheaper.
Ridler: Understanding the fuel source is really important. We shouldn’t have a 100 per cent heat pump mindset because we can’t introduce energy poverty. For example, if we go into 10 per cent of homes in Northern Ontario and install a dual-fuel hybrid strategy and reduce gas consumption by 50 per cent, that’s a good thing.
Our objective is to provide heat for these homes. To Horton’s point, if we add $1,000 to the customer’s bill, we are making it unaffordable for the customer.
Question: How would you educate a contractor on the difference between a cold-climate heat pump and one that is not directly identified as one?
Pirrotta: I’ll preface this by saying that there are a ton of rebates around the country, which drive a lot of the heat pump sales. If you have a heat pump that isn’t identified as a cold-climate model, you are going to have a hard time selling it. If it doesn’t have that capability, it will be hard to propose it to the end user or customer.
In the last two weeks, I’ve had different conversations which have left me amazed at how rebates drive sales. What’s being looked at now is whether you’re on the rebate list. If you’re on the list, you’re in the game. As manufacturers, we need to provide contractors and wholesalers with the right equipment for the market. But the term cold-climate will always come into play, as heat pumps need to meet certain specifications.
Ridler: Going in a slightly different direction, nobody on this panel is the heat pump police. The best way to get on the wrong side of a contractor is to walk in and immediately try to educate them on what to do. What I mean is that contractors are part of the discussion, and they are the ones out in the field fighting for us. Contractors don’t want to do bad work.
We also need to make sure we keep our promises. When I say promises, I mean the equipment does what it’s supposed to, the contractors are properly trained to install, and whatever policy is developed supports the contractor and manufacturer. At the end of the day, the manufacturer isn’t accountable for the community; the contractor is. The education component is so important, but so is the listening component.
Horton: For my company, we won’t sell non-cold-climate units. I was taught to train on value, not price. If you’re going into a customer’s home and the conversation is focused solely on future savings, I feel that is a disservice to the customer. So going in with a product that won’t serve them for the entire winter isn’t the best idea.
Outside of Victoria Island, there are not many places in Canada that won’t see -15 C, -20 C, or -25 C temperatures. If you’re going to install a system to operate in our country, my suggestion would be a cold-climate system.
Chat question: There was a problem with the Greener Homes Grant program: air-to-water heat pumps weren’t eligible on the NRCan list.
Ridler: This question sets us up perfectly for the topic of education. Again, it’s not about us going in and lecturing people on heat pumps; it’s more about finding a way to communicate with NRCan why this was a missed opportunity.
In this case, NRCan conducted a research study that showed that if we deployed thermal energy storage, we could trim 20,000 megawatt hours from the peak grid. Do you know how this could be done? By not ignoring air-to-water heat pumps. We’ve reset the conversation, and now, when the question is whether to do an air-to-water to air-to-water, it starts with what is in your home right now. If you have a gas boiler, NRCan wants you to use an air-to-water system because they recognize the value of thermal energy storage.