Every new home we design in Vancouver is heated by a heat pump — partly because low-carbon rules require it, mostly because done right, it's simply better living. Here's the honest picture: performance, costs, and the two design details that separate great installs from noisy ones.
Why Vancouver went electric
Vancouver's building policy requires zero-emission space and water heating in new low-rise homes, and the BC code is following. In our mild coastal climate this is no sacrifice: modern cold-climate heat pumps keep full capacity well below freezing — and Vancouver winters rarely test even that.
What it costs to run
The two details that matter more than the brand
An oversized heat pump short-cycles: noisy, inefficient, uneven. We size from the energy model, not from habit — smaller and steadier wins.
Outdoor units belong away from bedroom windows and property lines, on isolation mounts. Quiet is a design decision made on paper.
A Step 4–5 envelope shrinks the heating load so far that a modest, whisper-quiet unit carries the whole house.
We'll model your heating loads and operating costs at feasibility — real numbers for your actual design.
✱ Representative planning figures for Metro Vancouver, mid-2026 — assembled from municipal permitting schedules, the BC Energy Step Code framework and Armacan project records. Every lot and scope is different: treat these as orientation, not a quote, and confirm against your property in a free consultation.
