Air conditioning…expense or savings? | La Presse

The bills are piling up, and we start to wonder where the money is going. Is the air conditioner weighing heavily in the balance? Before resigning ourselves to being warm to save money, we must take the time to study the question. Because it could well be that on the contrary, air conditioning saves money… provided we make effective choices.

More and more Quebecers are acquiring air conditioning units. “There has been an increase over the years. From 2006 to 2018, the rate of air conditioning distribution in Quebec in the residential sector increased by 20%,” emphasizes Cendrix Bouchard, spokesperson for Hydro-Québec.

By 2023, three-quarters of the Canadian population had access to air conditioning at home, according to Statistics Canada. With hot days on the rise and retailers’ order books overflowing, we can expect these numbers to continue to rise.

In terms of energy consumption, this comfort comes with a lower bill than one might think.

On average, air conditioning costs represent 5% of the annual bill for people who live with air conditioning, according to Hydro-Québec data. This is therefore a rather marginal consumption item, especially when compared to space heating (55%) and hot water (20%).

Hydro-Québec was unable to provide us with a dollar estimate of the cost of monthly use of an air conditioner. In British Columbia, BC Hydro estimates that using a central air conditioning unit costs around $20 per month if the reference temperature is set at 25 degrees. You have to count on a few dollars more for every degree less.

Air conditioners are almost no longer sold

Where there are real savings to be made is if we turn to heat pumps. These devices, which provide air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter, are only used by 7% of Canadian households, according to Statistics Canada. But they are gaining so much popularity that ordinary air conditioners are almost no longer sold at specialty retailers.

“One in ten customers who call us for an air conditioner will stick with that idea; we’ll convert the other nine to a heat pump,” explains Enviro Confort’s marketing manager, Paul Pocquet. “Often, it’s because people don’t know about it, but when we explain all the benefits of a heat pump, they end up deciding to go for it.” In this Lévis company, more than 90% of customers opt for a heat pump.

At EXPAIR in Quebec, it’s the same observation: around 98% of customers choose a heat pump, says the assistant director of operations, Raphaël Beausoleil.

And we don’t have to trust the promises of sellers. Hydro-Québec notes the same thing.

Replacing baseboard heating with a heat pump can save up to 40% on your heating bill, which is the key to reducing your hydroelectricity bill.

The grant

With its LogisVert program, Hydro-Québec offers a grant of up to $6,700 for the purchase of a heat pump. The amount obtained depends on the power of the heat pump, which is measured in British Thermal Units (BTU).

Be careful, however: this does not mean that you should automatically opt for the most powerful model you can find.

“Some people want to go all out and have an 18,000 BTU heat pump installed in a four-and-a-half, for example, but it’s much too big and won’t work well. Some entrepreneurs can take advantage of this because it’s more profitable to sell big machines, but in the long term, for the consumer, it’s really not a winner,” warns Raphaël Beausoleil of EXPAIR.

Of course, you can also turn to classic window air conditioners, which are much less efficient, but only cost a few hundred dollars. This is not optimal from a comfort point of view, but for renters or people who do not suffer too much from the heat, it can make a big difference.

The swimming pool, a big consumer

There is one culprit that weighs more heavily on electricity bills than air conditioning: the swimming pool.

The energy consumption related to this is much greater than that used in air conditioning. There are significant gains to be made there, Cendrix Bouchard points out.

This consumption is mainly linked to the water heater as well as the pump and filtration system.

There are solutions: a solar blanket can save up to 45% of water heating costs. And for unheated pools, you can use a timer so that the pump only runs for 6 to 12 hours a day, which can eliminate up to 45% of pump usage costs, while still having good water quality.

The price of a heat pump

Central heat pump

In a home that already has ducts to transport heated and conditioned air, a central heat pump is generally chosen. You should then budget between $9,000 and $15,000* for the purchase and installation of the unit, depending on the model chosen. As for maintenance, the filters should be changed about three times a year. This operation is easy to do yourself, and you should budget around $150* in filters per year.

Wall-mounted heat pump

Wall-mounted heat pumps consist of a condenser outside the house and one or more units distributed inside it. For a wall-mounted heat pump with a single head, you should expect to pay $4,000 to $5,500* for a basic model, or $8,000* for the highest-end model. Add a few thousand dollars more per head. For maintenance, you have to clean the plastic filters once a month by rinsing them with water, which costs nothing. You can have a deep cleaning done every five years to prevent dust build-up and mold formation. You should then budget around $300* for the operation.

In a condo

For a condo, you can expect to pay a little less than $4,000* to install a heat pump. But be careful, what may complicate the process is the co-ownership charter, which often does not allow the installation of heat pumps. In this case, you can opt for a regular air conditioner, which sells for around $3,500*, and which is not covered by subsidy programs.

*Price ranges come from data collected during interviews with professionals in the field. They may vary depending on needs and regions.