Skip to content

Let’s Talk Trash: Heating rebates increase energy efficiency

Nothing is so quintessentially west coast in the winter as cuddling up on the couch with a book next to a roaring fire. The dreamy picture can go up in (black) smoke, however, when we notice how inefficiently our wood stove is burning.
Let's Talk Trash Powell River
Getty image.

Nothing is so quintessentially west coast in the winter as cuddling up on the couch with a book next to a roaring fire. The dreamy picture can go up in (black) smoke, however, when we notice how inefficiently our wood stove is burning.

If you’re thinking of an upgrade to your current heating system, there has never been a better time to get to it. Whether you’re replacing a wood stove with a gas fireplace, a gas fireplace with a heat pump, or any number of other combinations, it’s worth looking into your eligibility for a discount.

For the second year in a row qathet Regional District (qRD) has joined the wood stove exchange program, funded through qRD and the BC Lung Association, and is encouraging residents to remove non-EPA certified wood stoves to replace them with cleaner options. The old stove needs to be destroyed and rebates offered are on a first come, first serve basis.

Replacing a wood stove with a gas, pellet, or propane stove or insert, or an electric heat pump receives a $550 rebate, while replacing a wood stove with a certified EPA wood stove receives $400. Participating in upgrading home heating means we are caring for the planet, our community and ourselves. Contact Let’s Talk Trash to prequalify.

Regardless of what wood stove you have, there are a few quick tips to getting it to run hot and efficiently, creating lower emissions.

Smoky fires mean wasted fuel. Wood should ideally be dried for six months and then stored under cover prior to burning. Chopping pieces to 10 to 15 centimetres in thickness makes best use of your labour intensive fuel. Avoid burning glossy paper, driftwood, treated wood, garbage or plastic, no matter how “pretty” the colour display. All of these pollute the air both in and outside of your home along with compromising the health of your smoke stack.

Fear not if your main heating source is fossil fuel based (gas, oil, propane stoves and furnaces), as there are rebates available for upgrading to a heat pump. Double the usual rebate amount, in fact, is now being offered (as of October 1 and until December 31). Up to $8,000 is available, for instance, to a household installing a heat pump combination for both space and water heating.

Incentives for upgrading from electrical baseboard heaters to a heat pump are as great as $2,000. FortisBC is also offering rebates of up to $2,400 for households upgrading their natural gas heating source to a high efficiency model. If you have a few friends interested, too, there are even bonus rebates for groups. For more information, go tobetterhomesbc.ca/rebates/double-the-rebate.

What’s better than being toasty all winter long? Doing it without burning as much money or pollution of Mother Earth.

Let’s Talk Trash is qathet Regional District’s waste-reduction education program. For more information, email info@LetsTalkTrash.ca or go to LetsTalkTrash.ca.