TO: Napa County Climate Action Committee
FROM: Brian D. Bordona, Director of Planning, Building, and Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Ryan Melendez, Planner II - Sustainability
SUBJECT: Climate Education Video: Can Heat Pumps Handle Canda’s Coldest Cities?
RECOMMENDATION
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PRESENTATION: Video - “Can Heat Pumps Handle Canada’s Coldest Cities” - The Weather Network
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California
Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.
BACKGROUND
Video: “Can Heat Pumps Handle Canada’s Coldest Cities” - The Weather Network
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebCvlTkbBDo&list=PLBoopqPhzJXwVbmvx59ZldgKrqzAHsS9t&index=1>
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Heat pumps have been around for over 150 years. According to the MIT Technology Review, heat pumps were invented in the 1850s and have been used in homes since the 1960s. In recent years, heat pumps have entered the spotlight of ultra-efficient home appliances which can be used for heating AND cooling homes and can also reduce climate emissions. However, there is often a claim that heat pumps don’t work well in very cold weather. This claim is mostly false, although there is a bit of truth to it - heat pumps can be less efficient in extreme cold. As outside air temperature drops significantly below the inside air temperature, heat pumps will have to work harder to gather heat from the outside air and disperse it into the room, so efficiency reduces.
But even if heat pumps aren’t running at peak efficiency in colder climates, “they work everywhere,” according to Sam Calisch, head of special projects at Rewiring America, a nonprofit group focused on electrification. Heat pumps can work efficiently even in the coldest places (about 60% of buildings in Norway are heated with heat pumps, along with 40% in Sweden and Finland). But choosing the right heat pump, and the correctly-sized heat pump is key to making sure it works well when temperatures drop. Some heat pumps won’t be equipped to warm a room when it’s below zero, but there are models that work efficiently in colder temperatures. Small space heaters can help provide backup for cold snaps, but if you choose a well-sized system, you shouldn’t need them.
In this video by The Weather Network, residents of some of Canada’s coldest cities - like Manitoba - explore how heat pumps work to keep their homes warm enough during winter temperatures as cold as -35° to -40° C (-31° to -40° F).