With warmer weather upon us, British Columbia homeowners now have another great reason to retire their aging furnace and replace it with an electric heat pump: Air conditioning!

That’s because an electric heat pump can cool a home as easily as it warms it. Those who install central heat pump systems also breathe easier in the hotter months with air filtration, which is especially important when wildfire smoke drifts our way.

These two pics—submitted a year ago by one of our Switch It Up BC pledgers—tell the story. On top, the digital thermometer records a sweltering outdoor temperature of 37 C in East Vancouver. Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall (bottom image), the indoor temperature is 23 C.

 

   

 

Then there’s the air quality. On one particularly bad day last August, Vancouver had the worst air of any major city in the world—in large part due to hundreds of wildfires burning in B.C.’s Interior and neighbouring Washington state. A central heat pump not only chills outdoor air before distributing it through your home, it filters it, too.

If you’ve been thinking of switching up to a heat pump, summer is the perfect time to do it. You don’t want to get caught out in the middle of January when your furnace finally fails.

Have you switched up your furnace to a heat pump? Share your story and tag us at @switchitupbc!