'The future of heating globally': Do heat pumps work in Saskatchewan?

The debate around heat pumps is heating up across Canada as the federal government pitches it as a greener alternative to furnaces.

Heat pumps work by taking thermal energy from the air-- even in cold temperatures, and moving it into the home. Heat pumps also work in reverse in the summer, to keep homes cool.

Heat pumps can be thousands of dollars more expensive than a traditional furnace.

To alleviate these costs, the federal government is offering rebates of up to $5,000 on the purchase of a heat pump.

Over time, this price is expected to lower, according to Martin Luymes, with the Heating and Refrigeration Institute of Canada.

"The part that throws people off sometimes is how is it possible to extract thermal energy or heat from outside air when its 10 degrees below zero. Fact is, there is thermal energy in the air right down to zero degrees kelvin," he said.

In Saskatchewan, there are a number of obstacles standing in the way of widespread implementation.

Heat pumps are only as green as the electricity grid they are attached to. In Saskatchewan, just over 80 per cent of electricity is sourced from natural gas and coal.

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The most state of the art heat pumps struggle to work in temperatures below -30 C, requiring an alternative heat source on the coldest days of the year.

The University of Saskatchewan (U of S) is aware of these issues and is working to solve them.

Amirreza Mahmoudi is a doctorate student in the Engineering program at the U of S.

"Here we are working on issues such as getting heat pumps to work at excessively low temperatures, also the issue of frosting we have in a climate such as Canada. We're working on those technical issues with cost in mind," Mahmoudi said.

Mahmoudi is unable to speak more specifically to the program, as it remains under wraps. However, he is confident in the technology.

"I actually see it as the future of heating, globally,” he said.

With -30 C temperatures in the forecast, heat pumps in Saskatchewan will be put to the test with the year’s first cold spike.