Planning capacity at −41°C
9.6–16.0 kW
32,755–54,592 BTU/h
This is a band around 8 watts per square foot, widened by 25 percent either way. Those watts per square foot are this tool’s bins, not a code table.
Illustrative installed cost
$17,000–$27,000
Before any rebate. An average envelope at 1,600 square feet is illustrated as $17,000–$27,000. This line is that band scaled to the area and envelope above. Most installs the contractor who maintains this guide sees are under $32,000. Above that is an outlier, not the usual job. Not a quote, and not a surveyed Yukon average. The published Whitehorse total of about $36,000, including electrical work, sits on that outlier side. allyukon.ca CBC News
How to read the capacity number
The band is heat loss at Whitehorse’s January 2.5% design temperature of −41°C, with indoors at 22°C, which is the indoor condition in Yukon’s definition of a primary heating system. NRC tables Terms Yukon’s dual-fuel rebate does not require the heat pump to cover this whole number. It requires a balance point of −20°C or colder, and a non-electric backup for the rest. Buying a heat pump “equal to the design load” and buying one that holds −20°C are different purchases.
What the backup fuel changes
A oil system can be the non-electric side of a dual-fuel setup, including one that is already installed. That does not prove eligibility. Dual fuel in the Yukon terms is for buildings that are primarily electric today, or new homes that would have been. A house that is already heated with oil as its primary system is a different stream — usually the Good Energy heat pump rebate, keeping that oil system as backup.
A designer should take the next step in NRCan’s air-source sizing toolkit, or an equivalent CSA F280 calculation. Toolkit
Related pages
- 21 Whitehorse costs
What published Yukon examples do and do not tell you about a Whitehorse install.
- 22 Yellowknife and the NWT
A separate page. Yukon rebates do not travel with you.
- 23 Northern British Columbia
Climate is related. Programs, rates, and contractors are not the same as Yukon.
- 24 Defrost cycles
Why the outdoor unit steams, and when that is normal.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from the documents below. If a later official update conflicts, the official update wins.
- NRC climatic tables
Whitehorse January 2.5% design temperature −41°C. The capacity band is estimated at that condition, with indoor 22°C taken from the Yukon definition of a primary heating system.
- Yukon terms
Dual-fuel balance point of −20°C or colder. That is a different target from meeting the full design load. Indoor design condition cited as 22°C.
- NRCan sizing toolkit
The tool a designer should use after this screen. This page does not replace it.
- CBC News, December 22, 2025
One Whitehorse project reported at about $36,000 including electrical work. That total is above the usual range described below.
- Contractor who maintains this guide
Field experience, not a price survey: most installs are under $32,000. A total above that is an outlier. This is not a quote and does not decide a rebate.