Three setpoints, not one
NRCan distinguishes the thermal balance point (the heat pump can no longer match the heat loss), the economic balance point (the backup fuel is cheaper), and the cut-off (the machine stops). NRCan A control that only knows “heat” will fire electric strips or the furnace whenever the room drops, including during a recovery from a deep setback. A control that knows an outdoor temperature can hold the backup off until you actually want it.
Setbacks
Dropping the setpoint overnight saves energy in a house with extra capacity. In a northern heat pump it can also create a morning recovery the heat pump cannot do alone, so the backup runs hard through the hours you had hoped to save. If you use a setback, keep it small enough that the heat pump, not the strips or the furnace, does the recovery. There is no universal degree amount in the Yukon terms.
Auxiliary lockout
Lockout means the backup is not allowed to run above a chosen outdoor temperature, except sometimes during defrost. Set the lockout warmer than the balance point and the house will be cold on days the heat pump could have handled. Set it colder than the unit’s cut-off and you are asking for heat from a machine that has stopped. The number comes from the balance-point calculation, not from a default in the thermostat menu.
Utility programs
For Good Energy and the Affordable Heat Pump Program, an electrically heated house has to enroll the electric backup in Yukon Energy’s Peak Smart Home program, or have reliable non-electric backup. A new home on the Good Energy heat pump path needs a Peak Smart eligible thermostat. Proof of enrollment is part of the file. Terms Dual fuel is the other way of getting through a peak: the non-electric system carries the house when the grid is tight. Peak Smart is a Yukon Energy program; confirm the current equipment list with the utility before you buy a thermostat for it. A territorial page is the rebate rule. The utility page is the device rule.
British Columbia’s dual-fuel rebates set their own switchover temperatures. Those are not Yukon rules. They are on the northern B.C. page.
Related pages
- 11 Best heat pumps for the North, 2026
A criteria-first comparison. Not a ranked shopping list.
- 12 Log home reality check
What changes when the envelope is logs: load, air leakage, and where a heat pump struggles.
- 13 Retrofit vs new build
Why the same machine is a different project in an existing house than in a new one.
- 14 Oil-to-heat-pump conversion
For houses that still heat with oil after the federal grant window closed.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from the documents below. If a later official update conflicts, the official update wins.
- NRCan heat pump guide
Thermal balance point, economic balance point, and cut-off temperature as three different control ideas. Supplementary heat during defrost.
- Yukon terms
Electrically heated Good Energy and AHPP homes: enroll the electric backup in Peak Smart, or have non-electric backup. New Good Energy homes: a Peak Smart eligible thermostat. Dual fuel is about the non-electric system, not a particular thermostat brand.