Gas furnace vs heat pump for Calgary winters - what did you pick?

I had to make a choice last fall between replacing my old gas furnace with a new high efficiency one or putting in a heat pump system. The gas furnace people said heat pumps are useless when it hits -30, but the heat pump installers showed me specs that claimed they work down to -25 with backup heat strips. I went with the gas furnace because my house is older and drafty around the windows, and the install cost was $4,200 versus $7,500 for the heat pump. So far this winter my gas bill is running about $180 a month, which feels alright but I keep wondering if I made the wrong call with rising carbon taxes. Anyone else in Alberta face this choice and regret which way they went?

2 comments

2 Comments

baker.holly7d ago

OH man, this is exactly the kind of rabbit hole my neighbor fell into last year! He spent three months testing both systems during our cold snap and ended up just buying a bunch of space heaters anyway.

jakeb817d ago

Funny you mention that, @baker.holly. I once spent way too long comparing two different heat pump models and ended up with a space heater setup that looks like a robot octopus in my living room. My cat loves the warm spots though, so I guess that's a win. The whole ordeal taught me that sometimes you just have to pick one and hope for the best.