Unexpected Heating Solutions from Sears
By Doug
At our local mall recently, Sears had a special display focusing on eco renovations. They had representatives there from Union Gas handing out Free Energy Saving Kits, as well as independent energy consultant Gayle Lawlor (shown, right, holding a foam insulation on a pipe) demonstrating tips for making your home more eco-efficient.
For Sears’ part, they where promoting their furnaces (and their own home energy audit services). I talked to the Gary Long, a Sears Canada sales rep, and he had some interesting perspectives – but not what I expected.
His main focus was on selling furnaces. He was quick to point out that with the Home Renovation Tax Credit and the ecoENERGY Retrofit grants that there is no better time to make this investment in your home. The Sears top of the line furnace is 97% efficient and would normally cost about $3,500 installed.
With the various rebates available from the federal and provincial governments, this furnace could cost us only about $2,000 (even less if you are replacing an older furnace than ours).
Our old furnace and water heater
Our natural gas furnace is about 15 years old, we think, and we rent a water heater (the 50-gallon tank variety), see both right.
What surprised me were the upgrades that Gary did NOT recommend to me – even though it would have meant more sales for Sears!
Pros/Cons of the Heat Pump
For example, he did not recommend a heat pump to use heat from the air to heat our house during the fall and spring. His reasoning was that if you have already upgraded to a 97% efficient furnace that there is little if any savings with a heat pump.
In addition, since the heat pump uses more electricity than the furnace and electricity is more expensive than gas this mitigates some of the savings. For the few months of the year that we would actually be using the heat pump, we wouldn’t likely see any savings.
Tankless Water Heater: Worth the Extra Money?
Gary also did not recommend a tankless water heater. I was shocked to find out that this type of water heater costs in the range of $2,000 to $3,500! That seems like a lot of money, to me, for what it does. They even cost about $35 a month to rent – compared to about $18 a month for the old tank model we have now.
A tankless water heater heats your water as it comes into the house and only when you turn on the hot water. Because it is not constantly heating and re-heating water in your tank it is a more efficient system.
Gary of Sears’ point was that, even though it is more efficient, probably a tankless water heater is not going to save you the difference of $17 per month that it would cost.
This Sears salesman was very helpful, and I like that he was not just trying to make a sale but was recommending what he would do for his home. However, Gary was only interested in the economics of the issue and our home renovation is based on two goals 1) to save us money now and for the future and 2) to make our home as efficient as possible to minimize our impact on the environment. It’s this second issue that Gary wasn’t concerned with.
What is your heating system like right now? Have you considered a heat pump and/or a tankless water heater? Leave your comments here!
Joe
9 Jan, 2010
Nice blog – enjoyed reading about your work!
I have owned and operated an air source heat pump for the past 13 years and can offer the following comments:
A “high end” ASHP can be less expensive than gas providing it is properly specified and installed. I have the data available to back this up and could email it to you if your are interested.
As a bonus, the heat pump will also function as your central air conditioning – while providing really high efficiency numbers and low cost of operation.
My home (in Belleville ON) has 2400 sq feet of heated space and costs me ~$850 per year to heat, which is less than several neighbors (same home types) running high efficiency natural gas furnaces.
Yes, electricity is more expensive than gas however the
heat pump uses “coefficient of performance” or COP ratings to it’s advantage. A heat pump with a COP of 4 at an outdoor temp of 47deg F will put out $4 worth of heat for every dollar of electricity input to it.
This efficiency will drop as the outdoor temp falls.
There are several things to watch for if choosing an ASHP including:
–always purchase a high end unit with the best specifications and features
–the unit must be correctly sized for the home
–the forced air ductwork must also be sized for the unit
–correct installation is crucial to performance and long term reliability
–backup or secondary heat source is required, and needs to be properly implemented to get the best performance and comfort levels.
–I would always recommend purchase of extended warranty
(10 years on both parts and labor)
Tankless Water Heater
From what I have seen, there is not a good payback on them as they are only saving you on standby heat losses and the purchase price is quite high.
I think if you already have natural gas in the home, then that is the way to go, because of the relatively low fuel cost.
If you will not have gas, (like if you went with a heat pump) then a high efficiency electric tank is the better option. You can purchase your own tank and avoid rental charges. Sears have a model that has a 12 year warranty and is insulated to R24 – very low standby cost to operate
Cheers – Joe
Heather
9 Jan, 2010
Joe, thanks for the terrific information and feedback. Please email us at heatherecorenovate.ca with data on the ‘high end’ air source heat pump.
Sheena Curran
14 Jan, 2010
Hi Heather
We also looked into converting from an electric tank to a gas tankless water heater. We also wanted to reduce costs and be more eco friendly. But beyond the immediate cost considerations we found out that there are several other factors to consider. 1. What kind of home do you live in? As an end unit townhouse we were not allowed to install a gas furnace vent into a common area ie. the mutual driveway. 2. How many people in your household? As empty nesters we are only heating and using water for two people (not having a teenage girl living at home makes a big difference to our consumption)and, we were told, the gas tankless would make very little difference to our energy use!
Heather
14 Jan, 2010
Hi Sheena,
We live in a 1/5 storey detached home, there are 5 residents – but only 2 full-time (me and my husband). Our three kids live basically half time with us, having other parents to also reside with. And boy, do I hear ya re: teen girl use of water!! That is a real drag re: not allowed to vent into common driveway! We are lucky we don’t have that issue. And yeah, I am beginning to understand that going tankless is not a worthwhile investment to make.
Jamie
27 Jan, 2010
Have you considered a drain water heat recovery unit? They save energy by using the hot water running down your drain (ie. from the shower) to pre-heat the cold water running back into your hot water tank (and your ‘cold’ faucet in the shower) so you use less hot water and less energy to replace the hot water you do use. They are supposed to be very good products and there is a $165 + $165 ecoEnergy rebate for them. I just ordered mine from Home Depot this week.
Heather
27 Jan, 2010
No we haven’t considered a drain water heat recovery unit – because we hadn’t heard of it before. We will check it out; thanks for the good info, Jamie!