HEAT DOME DELUXE: The Government of British Columbia has been investigating providing air conditioning units to residents as medical devices for use during extreme heat events. A reported 619 people died from heat-related causes in one summer week during 2021.
“Air conditioners are a key strategy for saving people’s lives and keeping them well during heat events,” one professor from the UBC School of Nursing told CBC. According to one Vancouver policy analyst “After the heat dome happened in Oregon … by the next summer, they had air conditioning distribution programs for poor people.”
STUDY BUDDY: FortisBC’s Residential Hybrid Heating pilot program is offering up to 100 homeowners as much as $1000 in incentives for participating. According to the utility’s website with the support of participating households their Innovative Technologies team “Runs pilot programs to test new technologies for saving energy in homes and businesses across BC.” If your residential heating system uses a dual-fuel hybrid model (such as an electric heat pump combined with a gas furnace for additional warmth) FortisBC may want to partner with you.
BEST FRIEND: Your home’s carbon monoxide (CO) detector may be the winter BFF your family never knew they had. In recent news Alberta’s Calgary fire department cited working smoke/carbon monoxide alarms as instrumental in saving at least one family from tragedy this winter.
Be sure to safety-check your home’s CO detector (including replacing batteries) to ensure good working order at least once per year.
GAS IS BACK: FortisBC’s manager of heat pump technologies calls their Gas Heat Pump pilot program “An incredible step forward in learning more about this technology and how it can integrate into the existing gas system to support significant energy and cost savings for homeowners.” According to a 2022 press release gas heat pumps demonstrate a “Potential to cut the energy needed for space and water heating by up to 50 per cent, lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, operate in colder winter conditions and exceed 100 per cent efficiency.”
Greater Vancouver knows Canadian Care offers top-rated residential and commercial HVAC services. Contact us today and discover our professional approach to efficient and ethically priced solutions.