Transcript:
‘Tis the season for haunted houses and horror movies.
But for Brendan Haley of Efficiency Canada, what’s truly scary is the idea of people struggling to pay their energy bills.
So two years ago for Halloween, he dressed up as a heat pump.
Haley: “It was basically just a box, a kind of a fan on the end of the box, the Energy Star logo on the side of the box.”
Because they’re so energy efficient, heat pumps can lower people’s heating and cooling costs.
For years, Haley’s group has pushed for policies to make heat pumps and other energy efficiency upgrades available to low-income households.
Haley: “We had people meeting with their politicians, we had petitions, we had letter-writing campaigns.”
And now they’re celebrating a big win.
Canada’s government recently launched the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program, which will pay for heat pumps and efficiency retrofits for qualifying low-income households.
Haley says it’s an important step forward.
But there’s always more work to do – and fun to be had – to raise public awareness about energy efficiency.
Haley: “I was thinking of dressing up like a heat pump hot water heater this season … so, you know, mixing it up slightly.”
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
