Heat pump, installed with EcoTrust Canada's help, sitting on the exterior of a house overlooking the ocean
Housing

Saturday, May 2: Ecotrust Home Energy Workshop at Mansons Hall

Ecotrust Canada will be giving a home energy workshop at Mansons Hall on Saturday, May 2, at 1 PM. 

Max Thaysen, from the Cortes Climate Action Network, explained,  ”We’ve got some folks coming over from Ecotrust to talk about heat pumps and help people get some rebates going so they can potentially get 100% of heat pump install and purchase costs covered by some grants that are available. You can just contact them if you want, but if you want to learn about the program and see if it’s a good fit for you,  there’s an in-person meeting coming up.”

Michael Anthony Lutfy, Ecotrust’s program manager for our area, emailed that since last year, “We have worked with over 50 Cortes Island households, in large part thanks to our Cortes Island partnerships.”

Michael Anthony Lutfy – submitted image

He went on to list the organizations that were either involved or are provided funding: Cortes Climate Action Network, Cortes Housing Society, Cortes Community Forest Cooperative, Cortes Community Foundation, the Support Our Seniors Society Better at Home Program, the Cortes Community Health Association Family Support Program, and Strathcona Regional District (SRD).”

How Ecotrust works

In a previous interview, Lutfy said, “Once you register for our program, you’ll get an email from me asking for very basic information about your home, like the age of your home and the heating system you have, After that, you will receive a phone call from me and we’ll go through more questions about your home. You explain what your desires are, what challenges you’re experiencing around your energy bill, and then I can help guide you toward the right rebates and the right renovations or retrofit so that you can achieve that goal.” 

Areas where homes use energy – courtesy Ecotrust

“We support households from the beginning of the process all the way to the very end when it comes to selecting contractors, following through with the rebates, ensuring that they received what was expected from the contractor. And we do financial planning, reminders, everything and anything a household needs to complete the process.” 

Question: Are you selling anything? 

“We do not sell anything. Our objective is just to ensure that people are making an informed decision. I do not receive commission. I do not receive any form of financial compensation from contractors, and we do not provide leads to contractors either. We are working for the households while we help connect you with the right contractors because there are eligibility requirements around the rebate system with which contractors are allowed to use.”

van on a ferry looking back to land
Aerotherm van heading for Cortes Island in 2022 – courtesy Aerotherm

Heat Pumps

 Max added, “One of the reasons why we’re excited about heat pumps is that they can help people transition off of other more polluting forms of heating. So it’s great to do all the things, make your house really efficient. From a climate perspective, which is where I’m coming from, the most important thing is switching from dirty forms of energy to cleaner forms of energy.”

While Lutfy did not state that all of those 50 Cortes households purchased heat pumps, most presumably did. 

This is not the first time heat pumps have come to the island.  In partnership with the BC Lung Association, the Strathcona Regional District was offering $300-$750 rebates to homes transitioning from wood stoves to natural gas, pellet sources, or heat pumps in 2021-22. Ashley Zarbatany of Climate Hope was encouraging everyone to purchase electric heat pumps. Tyler Woodward, of Aerotherm Solutions said his company made close to 30 installations in 2021. A number of heat pumps were installed over the next four years. 

Thus it seems likely that more than 10% of the homes on Cortes now use heat pumps.  

Max said, “ I’d like to invite everyone to come down for the Home Energy Workshop on Saturday, May 2nd at Manson’s Hall. 1:00 PM. Think about climate change. It’s an emergency situation and we’ve got a limited amount of time to prevent really terrible outcomes. So get involved, get in touch, and get a heat pump.”

Speaking as someone who had a heat pump installed four years ago, I (Roy Hales) found it to be a less expensive option than heating with either a baseboard heater or purchasing firewood every year. 

Links of Interest:

Top image credit: Heat pump installed on Cormorant Island – courtesy EcoTrust

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