Heat pumps a hit with owners of manufactured homes
Cash-strapped seniors elated to get heat pumps through BC Hydro program
Sue and Rick Ring spent the summer of 2023 scrambling to try to cool their modular home in Qualicum with portable air conditioners set up in various rooms. Meanwhile in Saanich, where record high temperatures were set as early as May of that year, Margaret Martin braved the swelter by taking cold showers and escaping to the mall.
“It felt dangerous, really, in these mobile units,” recalled Martin. “It’s like living in a tin can, and so I was just trying to find shade or going to a mall for the air conditioning. It’s quite a dangerous thing for elderly people.”
In a dramatic turn, the Rings and Martin are now fully prepared for our increasingly hot summers. Both their homes have been equipped with free heat pumps – courtesy of a BC Hydro program aimed at helping income-qualified households with energy efficiency upgrades – that provide energy savings and year-round comfort, including air conditioning.
“It was really nice in our place this summer,” said Sue Ring. “Last year, we had portable air conditioning all over the house, and it was a real challenge to keep everything cool.”
Martin, meanwhile, now finds herself as an unofficial ambassador for the manufactured home heat pump program.
“I'm the envy of the trailer park,” she says. “Everyone’s asking me where I got it.”
Program is designed to help mobile homeowners at an ‘energy disadvantage’
A 2021 BC Hydro report found that most retirement-age British Columbians living in manufactured homes are at an energy disadvantage compared to other homes, with higher costs and discomfort that can carry health risks. Data showed that manufactured homes use, on average, 50% more electricity per square foot than the average single-family home.
Although 75% of manufactured homeowners surveyed said they were interested in conserving energy and saving money, many were concerned about how much it will cost to make these changes or didn’t know where to start. We have heat pump rebates of up to $2,000. But for those who qualify by income, the Energy Conservation Assistance Program (ECAP) offers everything from free energy saving kits to free products, installations, and energy coaching.
Manufactured homeowners living in B.C. climate zones 4 and 5, in homes heated by electricity, can apply for a free heat pump.
“I filled in all the application forms, sent in the information and crossed my fingers,” says Martin. “And then I won the lottery – the BC Hydro lottery. I’d just like to thank BC Hydro for this opportunity – it’s amazing. I still can’t believe that it happened.”
After the heat pump installation last fall, her first winter bill was 38% lower than the year before. Despite another hot summer in which she used the new heat pump to cool her home, her electricity bill savings are down 29% over her first year with the heat pump.
Martin also joined Team Power Smart and started a 10% Reduction Challenge during last winter’s double-the-reward offer (which is back again this year), so she’s in line to collect a $100 reward rather than the usual $50 for cutting her electricity use by 10% or more.
Owners report ease of installation, plus comfort even at the height of winter’s chill
It was a windy and rainy day in December when Qualicum-area contractor, CLEAResult arrived at the home of Sue and Rick Ring to install the heat pump.
The Rings’ 1,500-square-foot, three-bedroom was built in 2004 and had been heated by the combination of an electric furnace and electric fireplace. They had heard that heat pumps were great, but weren’t sure if they could handle the challenge of the coldest winter days. But they were convinced when mid-January 2024 temperatures hit record lows of -10° C and colder and they were warm and comfortable.
“The heat pump worked really well,” says Ring. “We have an electric furnace, and when it got really cold, it would cut in, but maybe just once or twice in that time. We use the furnace as a backup because we had heard that heat pumps didn't work when it got too cold, but this one seemed to work just perfect.”
Their favourite things about the heat pump? It “looks nice, works fantastic, and is quiet”. And the couple’s electricity bills are lower.
“We’re on an equal payment program, and we just heard from BC Hydro that our monthly payment amount is going to be lowered again,” says Sue Ring, who is spreading the word about the program to other family members in manufactured homes.
“I told my daughter and her husband about [the program],” says Ring. “BC Hydro has just come out and put insulation in their roof and dropped off a real nice little air conditioner for them. And it’s the same with my sister. They’ve given her a little air conditioner, and helped upgrade their homes, testing for air leaks and making it more comfortable.”
Learn more about the Energy Conservation Assistance Program, including free heat pumps and insulation offers for manufactured homes
Related:
Residential energy efficiency programs and information
Residential rebates and free programs