Dual-Fuel (Hybrid) Heat Pump Rebates in Ontario

In short

A dual-fuel heat pump qualifies for Ontario's Home Renovation Savings Program. In a home heated by Enbridge gas the rebate is $500 per ton up to $2,000, whether the furnace stays as backup or is removed. The furnace itself earns nothing and may be new or existing. A propane-heated home pairing a heat pump with its propane furnace is paid $1,250 per ton up to $7,500.

How much you can get

Heat pump paired with a gas furnace, Enbridge-heated home $500 per ton, up to $2,000
Full-electric heat pump replacing the gas furnace in that same home $500 per ton, up to $2,000 — no increase
Heat pump paired with a propane furnace, propane-heated home $1,250 per ton, up to $7,500
The backup furnace, new or existing No rebate
Rented hybrid heat pump $500 per ton, up to $2,000
Oil furnace kept as the working backup Does not fit the oil sizing rule — see the program page

Who qualifies

The rules allow the heat pump to run alone or alongside a backup system such as a natural gas furnace or electric resistance heat.
In gas and propane homes the furnace in the pairing can be the one already installed or a new one.
Only the heat pump is a rebated measure; the furnace, the thermostat wiring and the gas work are your cost.
An active residential Enbridge Gas account and a gas furnace or boiler as primary heat place the house in the gas tier.
The house cannot already have a heat pump for space heating, so a home with a central air conditioner qualifies and a home with an older heat pump does not.
Rated heating capacity at 8.3 °C is the figure the per-ton amount is calculated from.
Approval of the pre-installation application has to be in hand before the outdoor unit is set.

A hybrid system is the layout most gas-heated houses in Halton and Hamilton end up with: the heat pump carries autumn, spring and the milder part of winter, and the gas furnace takes over in deep cold. Here is how the rebate treats that pairing, what it leaves out, and how to decide whether the furnace stays.

How the Home Renovation Savings Program treats a heat pump with a gas furnace

It qualifies. The program's eligibility rules say the heat pump can work as a standalone system or together with a backup heating system, and they name a natural gas furnace as an example. The same rules add that the backup system is not eligible for the rebate, so the cheque is calculated on the heat pump alone.

The arithmetic is $500 multiplied by the tons of rated heating capacity at 8.3 °C. A 2-ton heat pump earns $1,000, a 3-ton earns $1,500, and the $2,000 ceiling is reached at four tons.

Hybrid or full-electric: the rebate is the same in a gas home

The tier is set by how the home is primarily heated when you apply. A house with an Enbridge gas furnace is a gas-tier house, and removing the furnace as part of the project does not move it into the $1,250 per ton tier. That higher rate is for homes whose existing heat is electricity, oil, propane or wood.

So the choice between hybrid and all-electric should be made on engineering and running cost, not on the rebate. Full-electric means the heat pump and its electric backup must carry the coldest night of the year, which often means a panel or service upgrade inspected by the ESA. Hybrid leaves the furnace to cover that night and usually fits the electrical service the house already has.

Propane homes are the exception that pays more

Propane is in the higher tier, and the rules allow a heat pump paired with a propane furnace, new or existing. A rural house in Caledon, Kilbride or Flamborough that keeps its propane furnace as backup is therefore paid $1,250 per ton, up to $7,500. On a 3-ton system that is $3,750 against $1,500 for the identical equipment on a gas street.

Oil is different. The program requires an oil-heated home to size the heat pump and any electric resistance backup to fully offset the oil heating load, so a design that leans on the oil furnace in cold weather does not match that rule. Read the oil section of the program page before planning one.

Keep the existing furnace or replace it at the same time?

Keep it if it is under ten years old, has a clean heat exchanger and a blower that can move the airflow the new coil needs. Replace it with the heat pump if it is past fifteen, because the coil, the refrigerant lines and the controls all sit on top of that furnace and would have to be disturbed again later.

Heat pump added to a furnace that stays: $6,000–$16,000 installed before rebates, depending on capacity and electrical work.
New furnace installed in the same visit: adds $3,500–$7,500, and it earns no rebate.
Gas-tier rebate on a 3-ton hybrid: $1,500.
Any new gas furnace must meet the 95% AFUE federal minimum regardless of the pairing.

The control setup is what makes a hybrid work

The heat pump's coil sits in the air stream above the furnace, so the two do not heat at the same moment. An outdoor sensor and a dual-fuel thermostat or control board lock the heat pump out below a set temperature and bring on the furnace. Set that point too high and you burn gas the heat pump could have covered; set it too low and the house falls behind on a windy night off the lake.

The gas side of the job is done by a TSSA-licensed gas technician under the CSA B149.1 code, and the refrigerant side by a technician holding an ODP card. Ask who is doing each part before you sign.

When you call, we check the furnace model and age, the panel, and the duct static pressure before quoting. Our hybrid heat pump service page describes the install, the heat pump rebates in Ontario page sorts every program by heating fuel, and the rebates hub has the rest. To have the tonnage and switchover point worked out for your house, book a free assessment.

How ZK Mechanical helps

Inspect the existing furnace and tell you plainly whether it is worth building a hybrid system on.
Match the indoor coil to the furnace's blower and check duct static pressure, so the airflow is right in both modes.
Set the switchover temperature from the heat-loss calculation and the heat pump's capacity table at -15 °C, then revisit it after the first winter.
Do the gas work with TSSA-licensed technicians and arrange the ESA notification for the new electrical circuit.
Show the furnace and the heat pump as separate lines on the quote, with the rebate applied only to the part that earns it.

Frequently asked questions

Is the rebate bigger if I remove the gas furnace entirely?

No. In an Enbridge-heated home the heat pump earns $500 per ton up to $2,000 whether the furnace stays or goes, because the tier is set by the home's primary heating fuel when you apply. The $1,250 per ton rate is reserved for homes that already heat with electricity, oil, propane or wood. Decide on comfort, electrical capacity and running cost instead.

Can I add a heat pump to the furnace I already have and still qualify?

Yes. The program states that in natural gas and propane-heated homes either a new or an existing furnace can be used in the pairing. What matters technically is that the furnace's blower and cabinet suit the new indoor coil. We check the model number and airflow before promising it will work, and say so if it will not.

Does replacing my central air conditioner with a heat pump count as a hybrid install?

It does, and it is the most common way hybrids get built. The outdoor air conditioner and its coil come out, a cold-climate heat pump and matched coil go in on the same furnace, and the thermostat is changed for dual-fuel control. An air conditioner is not a heat pump, so the first-installation rule is still met.

What temperature should a dual-fuel system switch from heat pump to furnace?

There are two answers and the lower one usually governs. The capacity balance point is the outdoor temperature where the heat pump can no longer hold the house; the economic one is where gas becomes cheaper per unit of heat than electricity. We set the first from your heat-loss calculation and adjust toward the second once a winter of bills is in.

Does the new furnace in a hybrid system get any rebate of its own?

No. The Home Renovation Savings Program says the backup heating system is not eligible, and it has no separate gas furnace measure. The older HER+ program that once paid for furnaces has ended. Our furnace rebates page covers what is left for furnace-only projects, which is very little, so budget the furnace at full price.

Official sources

All Ontario HVAC rebates Hybrid heat pump installation Enbridge heat pump rebate Furnace rebates in Ontario All rebate programs