What would it take to get you to stop burning fossil fuels in your home?
Natural gas has good press. A recent survey in the U.S. showed that natural gas is viewed with overwhelming positivity, both by people who use it as their home’s primary heating source and those who do not.
So it might be surprising to learn that heating with a natural gas furnace, even an efficient one, is most likely a home’s largest source of carbon pollution.
There is also mounting evidence about the risks of combustion inside homes.
Gas stoves produce nitrogen dioxide which is harmful to human health, and high levels have been detected hours after cooking, even in the far reaches of homes.
An increasing number of Canadian homeowners are opting to get rid of all gas-burning appliances in their homes.
Madeleine Pengelley and David Pritchard moved into their East City home about two-and-a-half years ago.
Their electrification journey began as part of other renovations they were doing to the home to improve it and make it livable.
“Both the furnace and air conditioner were coming to the end of their life,” explains Pengelley. “The house was not comfortable — it was either way too hot, or way too cold, and the furnace was really noisy.”
They opted to install an electric heat pump with electric backup, eliminating the need for gas in their home altogether.
“We went with the all-electric system in part because we didn’t want to have to maintain an account with Enbridge just for a backup system that we’d only use on occasion,” adds Pritchard. “The electric auxiliary heat can work together with the heat pump, when needed.”
Pengelley and Pritchard were able to get their gas meter removed and the gas line capped off at the road.
In addition to the heat pump, the couple have also installed a heat pump hot water heater, an electric vehicle (EV) charger, and are in the process of putting solar panels on their roof.
“We’ve taken all combustion out of our home. We don’t have to worry about carbon monoxide at all,” Pengelley says. “The heat pump is just so much better than the old furnace — it’s comfortable and quiet. It’s fabulous.”
In terms of cost, with the savings from eliminating their Enbridge bill, the operation of the house is lower than it was before.
“And this has been a really cold winter, so it’s not really fair to compare it with last year,” adds Pengelley.
Canada’s Home Electrification Toolkit was published in 2024 by Heather McDiarmid with Building Decarbonization Alliance as a practical guide to help homeowners ditch fossil fuels for clean electricity.
The guide offers suggestions and guidance for electric alternatives for common fossil-fuel burning equipment. Here are a few:
- Furnaces. Electric air source heat pumps are highly efficient alternatives that can work in almost any home.
- Stoves. Electric induction stoves use electromagnets to heat up cookware. They adjust temperatures very quickly, with none of the air quality issues associated with gas stoves. They are being adopted in many homes and commercial kitchens.
- Water heaters. Heat pump water heaters extract heat from the indoor air of a home to efficiently heat up your water using electricity.
- Fireplaces. Electric fireplaces can provide the same warmth and ambience as a gas fireplace, without the pollution.
- Vehicles. EV technology is rapidly improving. Newer EVs have long ranges and are much cheaper to operate than gas-burning vehicles.
GreenUP’s home energy team can help you in your journey to achieve whole home electrification. Visit greenup.on.ca/home-energy/ to learn more, or email energy@greenup.on.ca.
GreenUP would like to congratulate author Clara Blakelock, home energy program manager, for receiving the “Single Deepest Energy Retrofit” 2024 Energy Advisor Award from Green Communities Canada for helping a homeowner save the most energy. Clara’s work helped the home reach a point where it now produces as much energy as it consumes.
