P.E.I. homeowners ditching furnace oil for heat pumps as prices soar
CBC
Demand for heat pumps on P.E.I. is heating up as Islanders look for alternatives to heat their homes this winter, fuelled by the recent spike in furnace oil prices.
"It's booming, definitely the oil going up has a huge impact," said Nic Laplante, general manager for Greenfoot Energy on P.E.I.
"Most times we see our peak season being spring, people reaching out mainly for cooling ... and then as fall goes on usually we'll start to slow down toward winter. This fall has been crazy."
Laplante said his company has expanded to eight crews, and five sellers, working across the Island.
He said many customers are looking to get off oil entirely, worried about where prices are going.
"People, instead of doing just one heat pump at a time, they're looking at a full heating solution," Laplante said.
"It cost them much more money last year to heat their house, if they're on an oil system. People are afraid that they won't be able to put the fuel in the tank, and then pay for it."
Laplante said one positive change is the availability of heat pumps, compared to the last couple of years.
"With COVID, the broken supply chain, everybody knows there was some challenges," Laplante said.
"But we're in good shape for our stock, for pretty much all our brands that we carry."
The president of PACE-Atlantic, Julian Boyle, said getting off oil and switching to more efficient-energy sources is "a no-brainer."
His company is the program administrator for the Charlottetown Switch program, based out of Halifax. The program was also offered in Stratford, P.E.I., until the loan money ran out because of high demand.
"The biggest project type that we have is heat pumps, and I think that's predominantly related to the high use of oil for heating on the Island," Boyle said.
"I think everybody is really concerned about the cost of oil. The heating season hasn't kicked into full gear, and there's a good chance prices for heating with oil could be three times last winter."
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