The unofficial end of summer is now upon us. A new school year has begun, vacations are over, and the traffic has increased. With the onset of fall, the home heating season will soon begin in HRM. Heating your home in our climate is one of the largest expenses for a homeowner, so we thought creating a brief guide to the pros and cons of the main systems available can help you make an informed decision for what option is best for you and your family.
Oil
Oil heat is one of the most popular methods of heating for an estimated 50% of homes in Nova Scotia. Oil is safe to use, and modern furnaces can be up to 90% efficient. Oil heating is a versatile, affordable, dependable and easy to maintain heating choice. Oil creates heat very quickly and is an excellent option for our cold and damp winter. One of the downsides of oil is price volatility due to market conditions such as supply, production, natural disasters, and global conflict.
Electricity
A large number of homes are heated with electricity, which is a very reliable alternative that is rarely affected by outages or power surges. Electricity requires very little maintenance and is easy to use, whether heating your whole house or just a select area. Pricing is a drawback, making electric heat one of the costliest ways to heat homes today. Electric heat will not warm a room as quickly as oil or gas.
Gas
While gas has been in use in much of Canada for decades, heating homes with natural gas is only now becoming more common in HRM, with the growth of gas line installations making it an option for more and more homes. Gas heating is reliable and can also be a fuel source for home appliances such as ranges and clothes dryers, which can be a cost advantage over electricity. Some of the disadvantages of gas heating can be lack of availability to many areas, perceived safety issues with potential leaks, and possibly less efficiency in colder temperatures.
Heat Pumps
Heat pumps have grown in popularity over the last few years due mainly to their double duty as air conditioning in our warm and humid summers. Heat pumps can be very efficient and cost-effective, using less electricity to create heating or cooling than some alternative choices. They can also be quite easy to install by qualified technicians for either ducted or ductless configurations. The downside of heat pumps can include the need to have a back-up heat system like oil or electric baseboard when temperatures drop, the requirement for maintenance to keep filters and main units clean, and that they may only last 10-15 years compared to an oil furnace’s lifespan of 25 years or more. Initial capital costs of setting up your entire home with a heat pump system can also be much higher than other traditional heating options.
So, there you have it. We hope this brief explanation has been helpful. If you’d like to get more information about this blog or to discuss new advances in oil heat technology, we’d love to talk to you. You can reach us through our website at https://scotiafuels.com/contact-us/ or even better, by calling one of our full-time friendly employees at 902-453-2121.