Heat pumps are an amazing new technology that is invaluable in our struggle to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and make our planet liveable for our children and grandchildren.
In our 2021 Diocesan Synod in the resolution on climate change we committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 in our churches and in our personal lives to strive to reduce our carbon footprint.
As individuals we have control over emissions in four main sectors: our buildings, transportation, the food we eat and our consumption (clothing and other material goods). In each of these sectors there are a few basic choices for us to focus our efforts.
For our buildings the advent of the cold weather heat pump has been the quantum leap forward in reaching our goal of emission reduction.
It can be cold outside, with the temperature at zero or 20 below zero, with the wind blowing snow around our face. When we pass by the outdoor heat pump compressor unit, we hear a gentle hum from the fan as it exhausts air. And if we pause, we might notice the temperature of the exhausted air is colder than the outdoor air. But when we go inside the cozy warmth of the indoor temperature will embrace us as heated air is blasting from the registers. The cold climate heat pump is able to extract heat from that cold outside air and move it inside. The amount of heat moved can be 3 to 4 times more than the equivalent energy used by the heat pump motors.
The heat pump has become an affordable proven technology for helping us to meet the challenge of reducing our climate footprint of buildings. Many people in our diocese will be heating their homes this winter using only the heat pump for the entire winter.
Some churches in our diocese have hot water heating systems and require a boiler. Heat pumps are available that will heat water to a high temperature to replace a fossil fuel boiler. However, cold weather heat pumps that replace boilers are an emerging technology and are usually not readily available by local installers. They use staged or cascading compressors using more than one refrigerant to bring water to higher temperatures (180 or 190 degrees) necessary for radiant heating at a competitive cost. Read about high temperature heat pumps here: https://www.hitachiaircon.com/uk/magazine/discover-high-temperature-heat-pumps-advanced-heating-solutions.
Another advantage of the heat pump is that it can be used as an air conditioner. With a heat pump our churches can provide cooling centres for our communities, providing comfort and relief during heat waves. They would also make our churches more attractive for use by the community.
Some will argue that heat pumps don’t reduce emissions where the electricity is produced with fossil fuels. This is not just misleading but is completely false when the 3 to 4 times efficiency of the heat pump at extracting heat is factored in.
The heat provided by a heat pump is gentle and continuous. The humidity is healthy, unlike the dryness of wood heat and the high humidity of gas. From indoors they are almost silent, and outside there is just a soft humming sound. In the summer they are much quieter than window air conditioners.
Because there is no combustion, there is no risk of fire, and no smoke or fumes created, so heat pumps are the safest option. They definitely save on heating and cooling bills.
Heat pumps can help us meet our diocesan objective of 50% reduction in carbon emissions for our buildings by 2030. This reduction is also within Canada’s Climate Action Plan of 40% reduction for buildings by 2030.
Please get in touch with us if you would like more information, or perhaps we could help you plan a heat pump information session. Also let us know if your parish already has a heat pump. We would love to feature it on our Facebook page or on our website.
Email: [email protected].
Heat Pumps Green Group
Heat pumps are an amazing new technology that is invaluable in our struggle to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and make our planet liveable for our children and grandchildren.
In our 2021 Diocesan Synod in the resolution on climate change we committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 in our churches and in our personal lives to strive to reduce our carbon footprint.
As individuals we have control over emissions in four main sectors: our buildings, transportation, the food we eat and our consumption (clothing and other material goods). In each of these sectors there are a few basic choices for us to focus our efforts.
For our buildings the advent of the cold weather heat pump has been the quantum leap forward in reaching our goal of emission reduction.
It can be cold outside, with the temperature at zero or 20 below zero, with the wind blowing snow around our face. When we pass by the outdoor heat pump compressor unit, we hear a gentle hum from the fan as it exhausts air. And if we pause, we might notice the temperature of the exhausted air is colder than the outdoor air. But when we go inside the cozy warmth of the indoor temperature will embrace us as heated air is blasting from the registers. The cold climate heat pump is able to extract heat from that cold outside air and move it inside. The amount of heat moved can be 3 to 4 times more than the equivalent energy used by the heat pump motors.
The heat pump has become an affordable proven technology for helping us to meet the challenge of reducing our climate footprint of buildings. Many people in our diocese will be heating their homes this winter using only the heat pump for the entire winter.
Some churches in our diocese have hot water heating systems and require a boiler. Heat pumps are available that will heat water to a high temperature to replace a fossil fuel boiler. However, cold weather heat pumps that replace boilers are an emerging technology and are usually not readily available by local installers. They use staged or cascading compressors using more than one refrigerant to bring water to higher temperatures (180 or 190 degrees) necessary for radiant heating at a competitive cost. Read about high temperature heat pumps here: https://www.hitachiaircon.com/uk/magazine/discover-high-temperature-heat-pumps-advanced-heating-solutions.
Another advantage of the heat pump is that it can be used as an air conditioner. With a heat pump our churches can provide cooling centres for our communities, providing comfort and relief during heat waves. They would also make our churches more attractive for use by the community.
Some will argue that heat pumps don’t reduce emissions where the electricity is produced with fossil fuels. This is not just misleading but is completely false when the 3 to 4 times efficiency of the heat pump at extracting heat is factored in.
The heat provided by a heat pump is gentle and continuous. The humidity is healthy, unlike the dryness of wood heat and the high humidity of gas. From indoors they are almost silent, and outside there is just a soft humming sound. In the summer they are much quieter than window air conditioners.
Because there is no combustion, there is no risk of fire, and no smoke or fumes created, so heat pumps are the safest option. They definitely save on heating and cooling bills.
Heat pumps can help us meet our diocesan objective of 50% reduction in carbon emissions for our buildings by 2030. This reduction is also within Canada’s Climate Action Plan of 40% reduction for buildings by 2030.
Please get in touch with us if you would like more information, or perhaps we could help you plan a heat pump information session. Also let us know if your parish already has a heat pump. We would love to feature it on our Facebook page or on our website.
Email: [email protected].
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