Energy Efficient Solutions

Green HVAC Choices for Ottawa Homeowners

Green Home HVAC Simplified

Helping Ottawa homeowners find the most energy efficient solution is a goal that drives us a company. Energy efficiency can help you save money, reduce your climate impact, and make your home more comfortable. When you look at your whole home as a system, there are many ways to improve the overall energy consumption levels.

One of the best ways to determine what can improve the energy consumption in the home, is to perform an energy audit. Energy audits will give you a clear picture of different measures that will make a drastic difference in your utility bills and comfort levels.

As a community leader in energy efficient solutions, we believe in educating our clientele and giving them options that can make a difference!

Get Started With A FREE in Home Green Efficiency Evaluation!

Energy Efficient Heating

Our climate in Ottawa can be very cold! Having a heating source that is energy efficient is very important and can account for up to 60% of your overall utility bills. Every home is different, and every person’s values and goals vary. We have many options that can help your carbon footprint and/or drop your utility bill.

New High Efficiency Furnace

If your furnace is 10 years or older, chances are the newer models will help you save on energy! There are furnaces that are 99% efficient, many of the old, outdated units run at 80% efficiency. Furthermore, all new furnaces in Canada come equipped with a DC volt ECM blower motor for further energy savings.

The bottom line is that a new furnace will significantly increase your HVAC system’s efficiency and reduce your utility bills!

Humidity Control

It is easy to overlook the importance of humidity control in relation to saving energy. Did you know that if your humidity is kept at optimal levels, you may be more comfortable at a lower temperature?

Homes that control the humidity tend to run the furnace/heat pump at a lower temperature, leading to energy savings and utility savings.

Cold Climate Heat Pumps

Replacing your air conditioner with a heat pump is a great way to save on your heating bills and reduce your carbon footprint. Rebates are often available making a heat pump more affordable than ever!

Cold climate heat pump technology has come a long way, and we now have access to heat pumps that can run almost 4 times more efficiently than standard baseboard heaters! For the ultimate in zoning control and efficiency, ask us about ductless heat pumps!

Removing Oil or Propane

Oil and propane are common fuels utilized in rural areas for heating. These fuels can be very expensive and oil furnaces are specifically notorious for lower efficiency levels.

Removing these fuel sources or supplementing with heat pumps is a great way to lower your bills and your carbon footprint.

Energy Efficient Cooling

Modern cooling methods such as heat pumps often combine heating and cooling into one efficient products. These have been extensively tested in the Ottawa area. The ideal setup for Ottawa homeowners is a heat pump with a backup systems such as a furnace, boiler, or baseboard heating.

Highly Efficient Air Conditioners

Air conditioners are rated on efficiency by a SEER2 rating. This rating allows you to determine how much electricity the unit will need to cool your home.

Many old air conditioners operate at SEER2 levels below 10! Newer units can reach levels up to 22 SEER2, making them more than twice the efficiency of older AC’s!

Utilize Heat Pump Technology

Most heat pumps, especially those that qualify for local rebates, operate at very high efficiencies in cooling mode.

Utilizing one of these units can help you save energy in both heating and cooling mode! Furthermore, utilizing ductless heat pumps allows for full zoning of the home and even higher energy savings.

Ductwork and Home HVAC Efficiency

Zoning

Zoning is a technique that allows you to control certain areas of the home independently to others with a thermostat. A series of automated dampers will be installed to open and close sections of ductwork. With one of these systems, you can keep certain areas of the home at different temperatures allowing you to save energy compared to a standard ductwork system.

Sealing

Most ductwork in Ottawa homes is incredibly leaky. A large amount of energy can be wasted as it leaks into floor/wall spaces and not the desired location. Having your ductwork sealed from an HVAC contractor or a company like Aeroseal can increase your comfort while decreasing your energy usage.

Proper Sizing/Distribution

Having your ductwork designed and installed properly can make a major difference to your energy usage. Properly sized ductwork/equipment allows your HVAC system to work as designed, which will allow the system to run at the desired efficiency levels.

Air Quality

Having super clean air does not need to cost an arm and a leg. We offer the most efficient HRV/ERV solutions in Ottawa.

HRVs and ERVs bring outdoor air into the home while exhausting stale indoor air. Their heat exchangers recover part of the heat that would otherwise leave with the exhaust air, reducing the energy needed to condition the incoming air. They do not eliminate ventilation heat loss, and their fans also use electricity. An ERV transfers moisture as well as heat; the right choice depends on the home’s ventilation and humidity needs.

Water Heating

Gas tankless water heaters heat water on demand instead of keeping a storage tank hot. That can reduce standby energy use, but the savings depend on the models being compared, hot-water use and energy prices. Compare the selected units using the same efficiency measure and a suitable capacity category. A combustion or thermal-efficiency percentage is not interchangeable with a whole-system rating such as Uniform Energy Factor (UEF). Gas storage, electric storage and heat-pump water heaters also have different operating characteristics, so there is no single efficiency percentage that represents every tank.

Heat pump water heaters have gained popularity in recent years. Compared to a typical electric water heater, these units are very efficient and can drastically help you reduce your energy consumption.

Tips for Ottawa Homeowners to Save Money and Energy

Maintenance

Having an annual maintenance on your HVAC equipment is a great way to ensure you are not using more energy than you need to. Having clean and properly operating equipment will not only prolong the life of the equipment but also keep energy bills in check.

Utilize Window Films/Drapes

Installing and using your drapery/ window films is an amazing way to keep heat out of your home in the summer time. It is surprising the amount of savings and energy drop you can experience when properly shading your home!

Thermostat/Scheduling

Smart thermostats are a great way to dial your HVAC systems energy usage. Whether you are utilizing schedules to take advantage of ultra low billing periods or you are using eco modes to create energy saving algorithms. Most smart thermostats will allow you to save money on your utility bills and get the most out of your HVAC equipment.

174 Colonnade Rd #27, Ottawa, ON K2E 7J5