Author: Josh McCulloch

Heating and cooling your home is no small expense. It’s estimated that more than 60% of your home energy costs are associated with keeping your home cool in the summer and warm during the winter.

However, installing a heat pump could be the answer to driving down your heating and cooling costs and saving you hundreds of dollars every year. Heat pumps offer an efficient alternative that can replace both your heating and cooling systems (some can even replace your water heater!).

From saving you money on your bills, to decreasing your carbon footprint, and reducing maintenance costs, the benefits of heat pumps make them a great choice for your next home energy upgrade.

What is a Heat Pump?

Heat pumps are devices that move heat from one location to another. Simple right? But how do they work?

While many different types of heat pumps are available, the basics remain the same; they are a heat transfer device. By moving, or transferring, heat from one location to another rather than burning fuel, heat pumps can operate at a much higher efficiency (up to 600%!) than other HVAC solutions.

In simple terms; a heat pump will transfer heat from the outside air to heat your home or transfer heat from inside your home back outside to cool your home.

Benefits of Heat Pumps

We’ve put together a list of some of the benefits of heat pumps to help you decide if installing a heat pump makes sense for your home:

Heating and Cooling Savings

Let’s get this one out of the way: do heat pumps offer savings over traditional HVAC systems? Yes!

Heat pumps can reduce the cost of electric heating by up to 50%. For homes heated with natural gas, heat pumps can still lead to yearly savings of more than $100 (and rising).

Lower Maintenance

Compared to traditional HVAC systems, heat pumps have the benefit of a much less grueling maintenance schedule. Regular yearly maintenance can generally be accomplished by the homeowner, with professional check ups recommended every 3 to 5 years.

As a bonus, heat pumps often replace two systems; your A/C and furnace, decreasing the need for maintenance even further!

Rebates and Loans

While the benefits of heat pumps are obvious, the installation cost can be a hurdle for many homeowners. However, with many local and federal programs in place to help retrofit your home, you may be eligible for grants, rebates, and/or low-interest loans to make a heat pump more affordable.

Increased Efficiency

For the environmentally conscious, heat pumps offer a massive opportunity to reduce your personal carbon footprint. Recent numbers show that heat pumps can reduce your carbon consumption for heating and cooling by between 20% and 70%.

Safe Choice

With no internal combustion, heat pumps offer a safer solution for your home. Switching to a heat pump can help make furnace fires and carbon monoxide leaks a thing of the past.

Is a Heat Pump Right For Me?

Heat pumps are a great solution for most residential spaces, but aren’t ideal for everyone. To find out if a heat pump is right for your space, check out the Durham Greener Homes program and book a free consultation with a Home Energy Coach.

Your Home Energy Coach will help you determine if a heat pump is right for your home, what other energy efficiency upgrades you could benefit from, and help you find rebates and low-interest loans to make your home retrofit affordable.

Oshawa Power is dedicated to helping build the next generation of innovators across the power and utilities sector. Through our paid co-op and internship programs, we enable students from across Ontario to gain real world experience directly related to their area of study.

Whether the next generation of talent ends up at Oshawa Power or works elsewhere in the industry, we know that providing hands-on experience is key to solving the problems of tomorrow and building a sustainable electrical system.

We spoke to some of our students about their experience with Oshawa Power:

Jonel Reglos

B. Eng – Electrical Engineering at Ontario Tech University

Why did you want to join Oshawa Power for your co-op term?

I wanted to join Oshawa power in order to gain experience in the electrical utility sector. Beyond that, the City of Oshawa is continually expanding and I believed that I would be able to work on exciting projects that would help facilitate the City’s growth while learning more about the energy sector.

What is the biggest takeaway from your experience that will help you build your career?

At school, I learned more about theory, while here at Oshawa Power I am able to apply that theory and develop an in-depth knowledge about what goes on at an electrical utility. This knowledge has helped me build a foundation that will allow me to take the next steps in my career.

Do you have any tips for future generations of students at Oshawa Power?

Yes! Make the most of your experience at Oshawa Power. There is so much to learn and it is up to you, as an individual, to seek out and grasp that knowledge.

Rahman Mohammed

B. Eng – Electrical Engineering at Ontario Tech University

Why did you want to join Oshawa Power for your co-op term?

When it was time to start looking for co-op opportunities, I found that electric utilities are the best place to start for electrical engineering students. As a mid-sized LDC, I thought Oshawa Power would provide an exciting opportunity for cross-departmental learning and developing an understanding of the different day-to-day needs across both residential and commercial services.

What is the biggest takeaway from your experience that will help you build your career?

One of the biggest takeaways for me is just the understanding of how much goes into delivering electricity across the city. From transmission lines, to substations, and eventually the transformers at a smaller neighborhood level, it gave me a new perspective on how I view roads, neighbourhoods, and urban planning.

Do you have any tips for future generations of students at Oshawa Power?

Always ask questions! I found that asking questions when you are unsure goes such a long way. The people here understand that we are learning and are always open and respectful when it comes to answering our questions. Even if they didn’t know the answer, they would always point me in the right direction to find the person who could help me solve the problem.

Niranjan Shrestha

MASc – Electrical & Computer Engineering at Ontario Tech University

Why did you want to join Oshawa Power for your co-op term?

As an international student with an electrical engineering background, I had always wanted to gain experience at a power utility company in Canada. Oshawa Power stood out as a diversified and innovative company with a rich history. Having such a long history and still remaining at the forefront in innovation and renewable energy solutions, Oshawa Power stood out to me as a great place to acquire experience.

What is the biggest takeaway from your experience that will help you build your career?

With such supportive and helpful colleagues, I’ve learned that proper communication is so important within an organization. Effective communication with your colleagues, supervisors, managers, etc. is essential to gain a level of trust that allows work to be completed efficiently. Developing these communication skills make it easier to work with all kinds of people in order to work effectively.

Do you have any tips for future generations of students at Oshawa Power?

Be confident in the skills and knowledge that you already have. Try to leverage your experience in a way that is beneficial to both yourself and the company.

---

Thank you to this year’s group of co-op students for all of the amazing work they contributed to Oshawa Power. We are excited to see what the future has in store for this group of talented individuals.

Are you interested in experiencing our co-op program?

Head on over to our careers page to view current openings or join our Talent Network to stay in touch about future roles.

Careers Page ➤

For our first ever customer photo contest, we asked you to share the places that represent Oshawa to you and you delivered!

With more than 120 photos submitted, your photography helped showcase some of Oshawa’s most beautiful and historic locales. From family fun at Lakeview Park to the bustling Ontario Tech campus, and everywhere in between, your submissions helped shine a light on all the amazing spaces Oshawa has to offer.

Congratulations to Merle Cole, Todd Murrison, Freida Smit, Kathy Rifkin, and James Dawson, who’s winning photographs are showcased below.

These winning photographers will receive a $100 gift card to a local business of their choice, and a custom calendar featuring their photographs.

With so many outstanding submissions, we chose an additional five honorable mentions who’s photographs will also appear in our calendar. Each of these photographers will receive a copy.

Thank you to all who participated in our #CaptureOshawa contest and helped make it such a success!

To further celebrate the beautiful images you captured, we put together a full gallery featuring more than 120 stunning photos of our City.

View Gallery ➤

Let us know your favourites and share more photos of your favourite places on Twitter by tagging @oshawapower and using the #CaptureOshawa hashtag!

A safe and reliable supply of electricity to our homes is something we often take for granted. We wake up, turn on the lights, start the coffee maker, and go about our day without thinking twice.

But did you know that the electrical equipment in your home and around our city can be very dangerous?

To help you stay safe and maintain peace of mind, we’ve gathered 12 important electrical safety tips. Follow these electrical safety tips to ensure you avoid potentially life changing electrical hazards.

🏠 At Home

Don’t Mess with Meters

The electrical meter attached to your home is not just used to measure your consumption. This is also a critical point where electricity passes from the grid into your home.

Touching your meter or meter base could lead to a dangerous electric shock. If you notice your meter is loose or damaged, give us a call and we will have it repaired by a pro.

Test Your Devices

After a power surge, it is important to check on your electronic safety devices to ensure they are still in working order.

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs) and Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCIs) are important safety devices to protect you from shocks and electrical fires. Locate the test or reset buttons on your devices to ensure they are working after a surge.

If your home has hardwired smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, it is important to test these devices after a surge. A device failure could have dire consequences.

Stay Safe During Outages

Despite our best efforts, power outages are inevitable. Follow our Emergency Preparedness guide to keep your family prepared in the event of an outage.

When outages occur, it is important to immediately shut off any cooking appliances. Once power is restored, these devices may turn back on, causing a serious fire hazard if they have been forgotten.

Tame the Tangle

As our dependence on electronics continues to grow, more and more devices need to be plugged in around our homes. It is important to manage these devices without overloading outlets or power bars. Power bars and extension cords should never be plugged into each other.

The stress created by overloading a power outlet can lead to electrical fires and cause serious property damage, severe injury, or even death.

Replace Frayed Cords

With electrical injuries accounting for more than 20,000 visits to emergency departments per year in North America, it is important to do our best to avoid one of the most common hazards.

Frayed wires and power cords are a common and often overlooked issue in Canadian households. Locating frayed cords and replacing them could help prevent electric shock and/or fires.

Hire a Pro

There is no such thing as an amateur electrician. Do-it-yourself electrical work can be extremely dangerous and lead to serious injury or death.

We recommend hiring an Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) licensed electrician to complete any electrical work around your home. Use the ESA’s Contractor Locator tool to find a licensed electrician near you.

🌇 Around Our City

Call Before You Dig

Before taking on an outdoor project at home or around the city, contact Ontario One Call to ensure it is safe to dig.

Contact with underground electrical infrastructure can not only present a significant risk to your safety, but you could be held liable for any damage you cause.

Get Off the Green Box

Pad mounted transformers (informally known as green boxes) contain high voltage electrical equipment.

For your safety, avoid making contact or tampering with pad mount transformers and never allow children to play on or near electrical equipment.

Look Up, Look Out

Powerlines and pole mounted transformers can cause deadly shocks. When working outdoors, always look up and look out, so that you know exactly where overhead electrical equipment is.

You don’t have to touch this equipment to get a deadly shock. Electricity can jump or “arc” to you or your tools if you get too close. Always remain at least 3 meters from overhead electrical equipment.

Stay Clear of Substations

To ensure safe and reliable electricity across Oshawa, we operate 9 individual substations. These locations contain dangerous high voltage equipment and should never be entered.

If you lose something inside a substation or notice something unusual occurring at or near a substation, contact our team to inspect the area.

🚗 On the Road

Stay Back, Stay Safe

If you come across a downed wire on our City streets, always assume it is a livewire and remain at least 10 meters (the length of a school bus) back. You are encouraged to help keep others away from the wire(s) and clear of the area.

These wires can be extremely dangerous and should be reported to both Oshawa Power and 9-11 immediately.

Remain in Your Vehicle

If you are in a vehicle and a powerline lands on your vehicle, do not attempt to remove the powerline. Remain in the vehicle and encourage any observers to stay at least 10 meters back.

Immediately contact 9-11 and Oshawa Power and do not exit the vehicle until a utility worker informs you that it is safe to do so.

If you must exit your vehicle due to a fire or other emergency, follow the ESA’s guide to safely exiting your vehicle.

Don’t Be Shocked

Electrical hazards are dangerous, but most can be avoided by practicing simple electrical safety. Following these electrical safety tips can help keep you safe from potential hazards at home, outside, and on the road.

For more electrical safety tips, visit the Electrical Safety Authority’s website.

To find more home safety tips from industry experts, click here.

Bring Electrical Safety to Your Classroom

Are you or someone you know a local educator looking to bring electrical safety knowledge to the classroom? Reach out to our team to request a visit!

Contact Us ✉

With Labour Day behind us and children of all ages heading back to school, we’ve put together a list of back to school energy saving tips to help you keep conservation top of mind and save on your power bills.

From lunch prep tips, to taking advantage of having an empty house, here are 7 of our favourite back to school energy saving tips to help you manage your power bill this school year.

1. Adjust the thermostat before you leave

An empty home presents a big energy savings opportunity. If your home sits empty during the day while your family is at work or gone to school, you can adjust your thermostat to help save on energy costs during the day while giving your HVAC system a much needed break.

When it comes to home heating and cooling, small changes can make a significant impact. Adjusting your thermostat by a single degree could save you 1-3% on your energy bills.

2. Embrace natural heating and cooling

Don’t rely on your home HVAC system to do all the work. When it comes to heating and cooling, sunshine can make a big difference to the temperature of your home.

Combining a thermostat adjustment with controlling the level of sunshine entering your home can lead to significant energy savings. Turning down your thermostat and letting the sunshine in, or turning up your thermostat and using blinds to keep the sunshine out can keep your home at the right temperature while saving you money.

3. Keep the fridge closed during meal prep

When prepping lunches, building the habit of limiting yourself to two fridge openings. Open once to take out your ingredients and once to place them back in.

The average fridge is only actively cooling about 10% of the time and relies on insulation to keep your food cool. The more you open the door, letting cool air out and warm air in, the harder your fridge has to work on cooling, driving up your energy usage.

4. Use MyOshawaPower to track your energy use

Tracking your energy use can be a simple way to understand which habits are costing you money and which habits are helping you save on energy bills.

Sign up or login to your MyOshawaPower account to view your daily usage, compare pricing plans, and find more tools that can help you keep your energy costs low.

5. Charge your electronics overnight

Charging electronics to a full charge overnight can help customers on a Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing plan save significantly on power bills.

By limiting charging to between 7p.m and 7a.m., you can take advantage of Off-peak energy rates. Currently, Off-peak rates are approximately 31% lower than Mid-peak rates and 69% lower than On-peak rates, giving you the opportunity to find significant energy savings by shifting your usage. Click here to view current TOU rates.

6. Turn out the lights

The most basic energy saving tip is still an important habit to keep in mind. While increases in lighting efficiency have helped reduce the overall cost of lighting, it still accounts for nearly 4% of total energy use in Canadian households. Before you leave in the morning, walk around the house and turn off any lights that are left on.

7. Be aware of standby power

Did you know that many of your electronics still draw power when they are turned off?

This phenomenon is known as standby power and can account for up to 10% of the average Ontario energy bill. Consider installing smart power bars or plugs to combat standby power used by unused electronics.

Keeping these 7 simple back to school energy saving tips in mind can help you keep your energy costs down this school year and beyond.

Looking for more simple tips to help decrease your energy costs? Click here to find more low-cost ways to save.

Plug ‘N Drive CEO Cara Clairman sits down with Oshawa Power’s Ivano Labricciosa to talk about Ontario’s EV future.

According to IHS Markit reports, battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales increased more than 50% in Canada during Q1 of 2022, while the overall new vehicle market saw a nearly 10% decrease in sales volume. With the number of electric vehicles in Ontario surging, we set out to uncover why more and more Canadians are choosing to drive electric. From buying used EVs in Ontario to rising fuel prices and improving charging infrastructure, Oshawa Power President & CEO Ivano Labricciosa sat down with Ontario’s foremost EV expert, Cara Clairman, to understand the future of electric vehicles in Ontario.

---

Labricciosa and Clairman discuss Mobile Electric Vehicle Education (MEET) Trailer events across the country, and talk about how the Plug ‘N Drive team helps combat the myths surrounding EV ownership.

Ivano Labricciosa

Hey, the [MEET] trailer is here! We’re going to run it from July 21st to August 14th in Durham Region here. We’re happy to host it at Oshawa Power with Durham Region sponsoring it and you folks are here with four different makes and models.

From your perspective in running this roadshow, you know, this one came at the heels of you guys being out in New Brunswick! You’re right across Canada. What are you hearing? What are you guys hearing at these things? What are the most common questions you’re getting?

Cara Clairman

So people are still concerned about price. I mean, price has always been a factor and what we really have to help people understand is sort of that concept of pay now but save later, which not everyone can do, right?

I mean, the vehicles still are a little bit more expensive up front, but we know, especially with the current price of gas, that electricity is running at about one sixth the price of gas. So when the average consumer is paying almost $2 a liter, us EV drivers, we’re paying about the equivalent of $0.30 a liter. So over time you are going to save. It’s just a matter of doing some math. And honestly, what we have found is consumers don’t do math before they buy a car. That isn’t something they had typically thought about, so this is something that we have to still spend some time on.

Then, of course, just figuring out which vehicle is available, which vehicle suits their budget, and I would say the environmental benefits, of course, it’s a big plus, but it sort of comes after price and range. People are very happy to do something good for the environment, but it’s usually not the driving factor.

Labricciosa

Well, that’s an interesting point, and I love the way you characterized it. I mean, we’re all vehicle buyers, right? And certainly prices that, you know, the sticker on the window is the one sort of element. After you fall in love with the make and the model, you kind of look at the number, you go, “Well, what can I do to tweak that number?”

But certainly on the EV side, there’s some different pieces that factor into it. And certainly it’s not the acquisition price, but the total ownership cost, as they say in that world.

Clairman

Exactly, and we have this amazing tool on our website called Find Your EV Match and you can enter in your current vehicle, your gas car, every make and model is in there, no matter how old, and compare it to any EV on the market that you’re interested in and it will produce a graph for you of your monthly savings and you can see based on your own driving patterns when you’re going to hit that sweet spot where you’ve paid off any upfront higher price you might have paid and you’re sort of “in the money.”

Labricciosa

That’s a great tool.

Clairman

It’s really helpful to people because sometimes people just don’t believe it! That they’re going to save that much money. And those of us who drive EVs, we know it’s true, but it still takes some convincing.

Labricciosa

If you hang on to it for that breakeven point, you go, “Okay, from here on in, I’m saving money.”

Clairman

It’s basically driving for free!

Labricciosa

Yeah, exactly. I love that thinking.

Clairman

You have to remember too that the maintenance on these vehicles is extremely low. Now the oldest EV, as we were just talking about, is about 11 or 12 years old. The Nissan Leaf, maybe a Mitsubishi i-MiEV, so we don’t have tons of data.

What we are seeing based on the oldest cars is that the maintenance is so much less than a gas car based on the fact that there are so few moving parts. There’s just about 20 to 30 moving parts in an EV and about 2,000 in a gas car. So that’s just what breaks and we’re seeing extremely low maintenance costs and that doesn’t even get factored into the savings most of the time.

Labricciosa

Hey, as an electrical engineer it makes me really proud to say, “Hey, we got it in 30.” The moving parts, you know, versus the mechanical engineers for the ICEs.

Clairman

It’s a bargain! I like to tell a little anecdote; I bought a 2011 Nissan Leaf. I was one of those first Leaf buyers and I owned it for seven years before I sold it and upgraded to a bigger battery car. And those first six years, I changed my wiper blades. That was it!

Transcript edited for clarity. Full conversation available on YouTube.

Have you thanked a Lineworker lately?

If you haven’t, you can do so as part of National Lineworker appreciation day, celebrated yearly on July 10.

Severe weather events across the country are increasing in numbers and demonstrate the importance of Lineworkers and their role in keeping our lights on and restoring power safely and efficiently to Canadians across the country.

A perfect storm surprised most of Ontario, on Saturday during what is considered the first unofficial long weekend of summer. What Durham region presumed as a severe thunderstorm, was later confirmed as a Derecho ― defined as a string of thunderstorms that affected the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor.

Oshawa Power teams are long-standing members of the community and are no stranger to storms – remember the ice storm of 2013?

The Q&A below highlights the impact and contribution of line workers during and after severe weather systems. According to Mike Weatherbee, Manager, Distribution Construction, his amazing team quickly assembled and formed a storm response plan to assess the damage, and get the city back online, with enough time left over to help fellow utilities afterwards.

Q&A

Q: What was different about this storm?

A: This storm was fast and furious – with winds up to 100km/h in the region and several tornadoes, this storm created extensive damage along a path that extended across the 1,000-kilometre corridor. The storm brought down power lines and trees across the region and left many upset and with damage unseen in the region for decades.

Q: What made the difference in your storm response?

A: The trickiest part of this storm was that it happened very quickly, and different impacts were felt across the affected regions.

Thankfully, we have a well-documented process in place to assess the damage. A senior team member activated the protocol as soon as the weather network alert went out and we immediately sent out teams to assess the damage and begin prioritizing vulnerable areas first (hospitals and seniors’ facilities) and then we work on populations with the largest amount of affected outages, mostly residential neighbourhoods.

Q: Did Oshawa have the same impact as other areas in Durham?

A: Oshawa had about 1/6 of its customer base out – roughly the same percentage of customers as other towns and cities. Thankfully, we have been actively updating our infrastructure to withstand severe storms, so our infrastructure was not as heavily damaged. As storms become more apparent, we are already preparing our grid for the future and consistently working to minimize outages with our Capital Rebuild Plan and Tree Trimming plans to keep areas safe.

Q: What are some things that residents can do to prepare for any of the dozen storms that are forecasted for this summer?

A: Preparation is the key to planning for emergencies and was key to our success for Oshawa Power and its residents to get back online quickly. Here are a few tips we use ourselves:

Resist the urge to move things. We understand that it can be jarring to see your property damaged after a storm, and the first instinct is to move trees off wires and cars. It’s dangerous. Leave it to the experts – call us. We work with tree contractors to move fallen trees.

Prepare for the stormy season. With climate change, meteorological predictions for storms are increasing. As a team, we all subscribe to weather network alerts – it’s fast and is a trigger to activate our storm response teams. It’s also important for everyone to have an emergency preparedness plan – visit our emergency preparedness site for ideas to develop your own plan and preparedness kit.

Trust that we are working as fast as we can. We know it never feels fast enough, but trust in the fact that the Oshawa Power teams are working as fast as they can, in a safe manner. Weather events such as this recent storm require multiple stakeholder collaborations including, municipalities, contractors for tree trimming and relief support, first responders and our own small number of crew members. During these events, our crews are working long and grueling 16-hour shifts in difficult conditions.