Get pumped for a Tour of Heat Pumps! 

Get pumped for a Tour of Heat Pumps! 
By Della Wilkinson and John Humphries

The Glebe Community Association’s Environment Committee invites Ottawa residents on a Tour of Heat Pumps in the Glebe on Saturday, May 10.
Who hasn’t heard of heat pumps by now? Everywhere you go people are talking about them and many Glebe residents have installed them in their homes. If you are like me, living with a gas furnace getting close to the end of its days, you are probably paying more attention to heat pumps and have many questions. How does the magic happen − pulling heat out of a -20 ⁰C winter day to warm my home, or cold out of my hot house during the summer? Are there still rebates and incentives to help with the costs? How will our electricity grid handle a mass movement towards heat pumps? As with most changes, there are many questions to answer, which is why the GCA Environment Committee decided to arrange a tour so that residents can get their heat pump questions answered!
The Tour of Heat Pumps in the Glebe will take place on Saturday, May 10 from 1 to 4 p.m. Several Glebe homeowners who have installed heat pumps in their century-old residences are willing to share their experiences and knowledge. The types of homes include a row house, houses with multiple apartments and single-family homes. The heat pumps include a range of manufacturers from Fujitsu to Mitsubishi, as well as from standard models to cold-climate models.
The tour will run from 1 to 3 p.m. with attendees assigned a starting house after registering on Eventbrite. The tour ends with a Q&A session over a cup of tea at the Glebe Community Centre in the Multi-Purpose Room from 3 to 4 p.m. Representatives from Electrify613, Envirocentre and Hydro Ottawa have volunteered to answer your questions on anything from installation tips to current heat pump rebates and incentive programs and how Hydro Ottawa is preparing for an electrified future.
In contrast to the popular Glebe House Tour, the homeowners on the Tour of Heat Pumps in the Glebe will be present at their house. Some homeowners have invited their suppliers/ installers to be present. Attendees will be able to view the exterior heat pump unit, see pictures illustrating the interior set up, and ask questions about the homeowner’s experience relating to selection, installation and operation. Volunteer guides will be present to accompany attendees on a suggested route which will include at least three houses. If you prefer to take a self-guided tour and see as many locations as possible, the guides will provide details of other locations including walking times between locations and the Glebe Community Centre.
Please don’t procrastinate as the Q&A session has a maximum capacity of 75 attendees. Register at Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/tour-of-heat-pumps-in-the-glebe-tickets-1280169534539?aff=oddtdtcreator.

Della Wilkinson is volunteer chair and John Humphries is a member of the Glebe Community Association’s Environment Committee.

What is a heat pump? 
A heat pump is a device that consumes energy (usually electricity) to transfer heat from a cold heat sink to a hot heat sink. Specifically, the heat pump transfers thermal energy using a refrigeration cycle, cooling the cool space and warming the warm space. In cold weather, a heat pump can move heat in from the cool outdoors to warm a house; the pump may also be designed to move heat from the house to the warmer outdoors in warm weather. As heat pumps transfer heat rather than generating heat, they are more energy-efficient than other ways of heating or cooling a home.