Tired of Relying on Oil Heating?

For those currently using oil for their home heating needs, keeping your home comfortable during the winter gets more expensive every year. The cost of furnace oil is growing, causing many homeowners to worry. So many that some home heating oil providers are extending 10-month budget plans to 12 months to ease their customer’s financial pain.

The price of home heating oil in Ontario is sky-high this year. Add in rising inflation, and keeping your home warm in the winter becomes a serious issue for those who cannot afford it. There are a variety of factors that impact the price, from the war in Ukraine to carbon taxes.

Sure, you can do things like improve your home’s insulation to use less oil, but there is a better way –get off oil completely. While not everyone has access to natural gas in their area, you can make the switch to a cold climate heat pump.

Heat pumps are one of the most efficient and cost-effective home heating solutions available. Cold-climate heat pumps are engineered for the colder temps faced by those living in Eastern Ontario and elsewhere in Canada. Heat pumps are a proven and reliable technology in Canada, capable of providing year-round comfort control for your home by heating and cooling it and, in some cases, heating hot water for your home.

The federal government recently announced a program to make switching from oil heating easier. The Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Grant is designed to help homeowners relying on oil heating improve their home’s energy efficiency by upgrading to a heat pump.

This program is still being finalized, but applications are set to open in early 2023.

“We already know that making the switch from oil heating to a heat pump is beneficial, both environmentally and economically. The Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Grant will help Canadians who are currently heating their homes with oil make the transition to affordable electric cold-climate heat pumps.”

The Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Grant is worth up to $5,000 and is to be used to cover the costs of changing your oil heating to a heat pump. These costs include:

• The purchase and installation of an eligible cold climate air source heat pump
• Electrical upgrades required for the new heat pump
• Safe removal of the oil tank

The grant money will be made available before your new heat pump is installed.

Here’s who qualifies for the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Grant:

• Those whose household qualifies as being low to moderate-income after tax, as defined by Statistics Canada’s Low Income Measure Threshold
• Those whose home is heated by oil as of January 2023
• Those who are the owner and primary resident of the home

When applying, you’ll need to make sure that your current address is up to date on your government-issued ID and that you have copies of your oil fuel bills from the last 12 months.

The Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Grant can be stacked with other government programs. Eligible homeowners can combine the grant with funding from existing federal, provincial, territorial and utility programs. However, you must not have already received money for a heat pump through the Canada Greener Homes Grant when applying.

Unlike the Canada Greener Homes Grant, no home energy evaluation is needed to qualify for the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Grant.

According to the federal government, “on average, homeowners who switch from oil to cold-climate heat pumps to heat their homes would save between $1,500 and $4,700 per year on home energy bills. Making the switch can lead to hundreds of dollars per month in energy savings.”

If you are considering making the switch from oil heating and want to learn more about cold-climate heat pumps, Atel Air can help! Atel Air is your local family HVAC service provider, trusted by residents of Kemptville, Greely, Russell, Embrun, Manotick, Cornwall, Brockville and beyond!