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For our new house, we ordered a Carrier cold-climate heat pump, which can provide heat at ambient temperatures down to -30 degrees C. At colder temperatures, a backup heat source is required, so we requested a furnace with electric heating elements that would kick in as needed. Unbelievably, the HVAC contractor told us that the heat loss calculations indicated that an electric furnace was not adequate, and that a higher level of insulation would have been required to accommodate electric heat. This ridiculous argument went back and forth for some time, until we finally gave up, since we were told the house would not pass inspection without a natural gas furnace. Ugh!

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Hi Rob. Sorry to hear this. Sound like a lack of experience and knowledge by HVAC folks, local officials and insurance companies. A small electric furnace for extremely cold days (if we even get them anymore) would have been fine.

But then the province of Ontario is doing everything it can to prop up the fossil gas industry. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-natural-gas-overrule-1.7122606

Most homes in Norway and Finland have heat pumps, plenty cold there. With any luck you'll never have to fire up that fossil gas dinosaur

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Here's a nice piece to pass on to the HVAC contractor and others:

"18 misleading myths about heat pumps"

https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-18-misleading-myths-about-heat-pumps/

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Thank you Stephen for your continued efforts to share pertinent information that shapes our future on this beautiful blue planet. I love that I can quote you with confidence to the naysayers and fence sitters. I appreciate your research and desire to contribute to the chaos of information with a sane voice !!

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Thanks for this Gail. And kudos to you for all you do to help us on our low-carbon journey.

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the only problem in this whole article is the statement that the US could be among the next countries to go 100% renewable. --- That depends on who is elected to be president of the US in 2024.

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100% Agree. Voting climate-responsible people at all levels of government is very important. "It’s our responsibility to leave behind a world that’s safe and livable for future generations.” See https://leahy.substack.com/p/later-is-too-late

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