How to read your result
Yearly savings is your current heating cost minus what the heat pump would cost to deliver the same heat. We work out how much heat your home actually uses from your fuel use and your furnace's seasonal efficiency, then divide by the heat pump's seasonal efficiency to get the electricity it needs, priced on BC Hydro rates.
Payback is your cost after rebates divided by yearly savings. The 10-year net is ten years of savings minus that cost; a positive number means the switch has paid for itself within ten years. We do not add fuel price changes, maintenance, cooling or the value of air conditioning, so treat this as a starting point.
Homes coming off oil or propane usually see the biggest savings because those fuels cost more per unit of heat than electricity used by a heat pump. Baseboard homes save because a heat pump moves more heat than it uses. Natural gas homes often save less, and keeping the gas account for a stove or water heater means the basic charge stays. A higher HSPF2 rating lowers the running cost.
How we calculate this
- Energy content: oil 38.2 MJ per litre, propane 25.3 MJ per litre, electricity 3.6 MJ per kWh. Furnace seasonal efficiencies from NRCan Table 1 (old oil 60%; newer oil 78-86%, we use 82%; mid-efficiency oil 83-89%, we use 86%; gas 60%, 78-84% and 89-97%, we use the midpoints; propane 62%, 79-85% and 87-94%, midpoints). NRCan, Heating with Oil, checked October 8, 2026.
- Heat pump seasonal COP = HSPF2 divided by 3.412 (a unit conversion). Default HSPF2 8.5 is the Energy Savings Program minimum. Program requirements, verified October 7, 2026. HSPF2 is rated for a colder climate than Victoria, so this is conservative.
- BC Hydro: Step 2 14.08 cents per kWh, flat rate 12.70 cents per kWh. We price all heating kWh at the rate you choose. BC Hydro tiered rate and flat rate, verified October 7, 2026.
- Heating oil default: 256.2 cents per litre, Victoria, August 2026. Statistics Canada table 18-10-0001-01, verified October 7, 2026.
- FortisBC natural gas: $12.601 per GJ (delivery, storage and transport, cost of gas) plus $0.4216 per day basic charge, before GST. FortisBC rate summary, effective July 1, 2026, verified October 7, 2026. BC's carbon tax was eliminated April 1, 2025.
- Propane price: you enter it. We did not find an official current Victoria propane price.
- The heat pump is assumed to cover all of the heat your current system delivers. No price inflation.