What would it cost to heat this home each way?
Choose the closest city and type of house, or enter your heating load, then your energy prices. The prices shown are only examples: use your own bills.
Your estimate
What the calculator assumes.
Method. Natural Resources Canada’s formula: price per unit divided by the energy in that unit, times the heating load divided by the system’s seasonal efficiency. Energy content: natural gas 37.5 MJ/m³, propane 25.3 MJ/L, oil 38.2 MJ/L, electricity 3.6 MJ/kWh. Efficiencies are the middle of NRCan’s ranges: a 1970s gas furnace 60%, a condensing gas furnace 93.5%, a condensing propane furnace 91.5%, a new oil furnace 82%, electric heat 100%, and heat pumps 170% (air-source) and 260% (ground-source). Heating loads by city and house type are NRCan’s typical figures, not a measurement of your home. Source: NRCan, Heating with Gas (revised 2012).
Not included. Fixed monthly charges you pay anyway, the cost of buying and installing equipment, backup heat a heat pump may need in deep cold, and water heating. Your own bills give a better load: divide last year’s heating cost by the price per unit, then work back with the same formula. Plan the replacement with the home maintenance planner, and check what upgrades qualify for in the renovation tax credits guide.