About Heat Pump Check

What this site is

Heat Pump Check is a calculator and a small library of reference articles. The calculator estimates whether a heat pump would save you money based on your specific home, your local climate, and the heating fuel you currently use. The articles answer the questions that come up when people start shopping: how the equipment works, how to read a spec sheet, what sizing rules to expect a contractor to follow, and when a heat pump is not the right choice.

Every article cites its sources. The calculations are based on the same formulas that appear in CSA F280 and the ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals, simplified for homeowner use. The rebate information is gathered directly from official program websites and verified before each major update.

Who runs it

Heat Pump Check is built and maintained by a Canadian homeowner. The site started as personal research when I went looking for clear answers about whether a heat pump made sense for my own home and found mostly contractor marketing or American content that did not match Canadian climate, rebates, or electricity rates. I built the calculator I wanted to find, then added articles to explain the things I had to learn the hard way.

I am not a licensed mechanical engineer or a Registered Energy Advisor. The content here is general reference, not engineering advice for a specific home. For your particular install, you need a contractor's written CSA F280 heat load calculation and a sealed quote. The calculator on this site is not a substitute for that.

If a topic on the site sounds wrong or out of date, please tell me. I do my best to verify every number against official sources, but programs change, standards get updated, and mistakes happen.

How the site makes money

The site is supported by display advertising. If the site ever adds affiliate links to home service marketplaces, those will be clearly disclosed. The site does not accept paid placements from heat pump manufacturers, contractors, or utilities. No one pays to be mentioned or to influence the calculator's results.

Clicking an ad helps keep the site running. It does not change the verdict the calculator gives you or what the articles say.

What this site does not do

Heat Pump Check does not sell heat pumps, install heat pumps, or partner with anyone who does. It does not run a contractor referral business that picks winners based on payment. It does not publish sponsored articles disguised as editorial content.

If a contractor or manufacturer reaches out asking to be featured, the answer is no. If the site mentions a brand, a contractor, or a program, it is because the reference is useful, not because anyone paid for it.

How the calculations work

The calculator uses the standard residential heat load formula: Q = UA × HDD × 8.64 × 10⁻⁵ gigajoules per year, where UA is the home's total heat loss coefficient in watts per degree, HDD is annual heating degree-days at base 18°C, and the constant converts to gigajoules. This is the same physics used in CSA F280, simplified by using house-archetype UA values per square metre rather than calculating each building surface separately.

Climate data comes from the Environment and Climate Change Canada 1991 to 2020 climate normals. Electricity rates come from current utility tariff sheets in each province. Fuel prices come from Natural Resources Canada's weekly survey of consumer prices and provincial regulators. Greenhouse gas factors come from the ECCC National Inventory Report. Rebate information is gathered directly from each program's official website.

The savings estimate is calibrated to your actual annual heating cost rather than relying on the archetype prediction alone. If your bill diverges substantially from what the archetype model would predict for your home, the calculator displays a calibration warning explaining the possible reasons.

Sources the site cites most often

• Natural Resources Canada: Office of Energy Efficiency publications, including the heat pump guides, EnerGuide Performance Verified database, and energy statistics handbook.
• Canadian Standards Association: CSA F280-12 (residential load calculation) and CSA SB-44 (cold-climate heat pump rating).
• ASHRAE: Handbook of Fundamentals and Handbook of HVAC Systems and Equipment.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada: Climate normals and the National Inventory Report.
• NEEP: Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, particularly the Cold Climate ASHP product list.
• Provincial utility tariff sheets and program documentation.

Corrections

If you find an error (a rebate amount that does not match what is on the official program page, a calculation that does not match what your contractor's report says, a source that has been misrepresented), please get in touch. Articles get updated when programs change, when standards are revised, and when readers point out errors.

Contact: hello@heatpumpcheck.ca

What this site is not the right place for

• Specific contractor recommendations in your city.
• Real-time pricing on equipment.
• Help with rebate paperwork or appeals.
• Engineering advice for unusual situations (radiant floor retrofits, complex zone control, ground-source loop design).

For those things, find a licensed contractor who is HRAI-certified and active on your provincial program's contractor list. The calculator's results give you a baseline to compare quotes against, but no online tool can replace a site visit and a written F280 report for a specific home.