What is actually different
A log wall can be massive and still leak at the corners, the chinking, the window bucks, and where the roof meets the top log. Those leaks are heat loss. NRCan’s instruction is to calculate the load with a method such as CSA F280-12, which takes the envelope and the leakage, not the marketing category of the house. NRCan
This guide did not find an official blower-door average that applies to Yukon log homes as a class. Publishing one would be invented. What Yukon does publish is a rebate aimed at measured leakage: for a home at least five years old, air sealing that takes a tested result from 3.0 air changes per hour at 50 pascals (or higher) down to 1.5 or lower, with a qualifying heat-recovery ventilator. Terms, air sealing That is the right kind of number: a test on the house, before anyone picks a heat pump.
Why the same machine struggles in one log house and not the next
- Design temperature. Whitehorse is −41°C at the January 2.5% condition. NRC tables A leaky envelope at that temperature difference is a large load, even if the logs look thick.
- Where the heads can go. Long line sets and a great room with a high ceiling are a distribution problem, not a refrigerant problem.
- Backup. A functioning wood stove may already be the non-electric side the dual-fuel rebate allows. It still has to meet the wood-appliance rules if you want it counted, and a stove alone is not a “primary” system under the terms unless it is sized as one. Most stoves are not.
- The balance point moves when you seal. Tightening the house after the heat pump is installed makes the same machine able to hold a lower outdoor temperature. Doing the math on the leaky house and then sealing is the honest sequence.
No log exemption
The rebate tests do not have a log-home column. An air-source unit still has to be a row on the Manitoba-and-Yukon list: HSPF2 at least 6.6, SEER2 at least 15.2, at least 70 percent capacity maintenance at −15°C, and COP at least 1.8 at −15°C at maximum capacity. NRCan Dual fuel still wants the heat pump sized for the whole building and a balance point of −20°C or colder. Primary heat, in the Yukon terms, means holding 22°C at the NBC January 2.5% design temperature. A wood stove that is not sized to that test is not the primary system. Terms
NRCan’s own heating guide treats supplemental heat as part of a cold-climate installation, not as a failure of the idea, and it still requires the load calculation before the equipment is chosen. The logs do not replace that step. NRCan
Related pages
- 11 Best heat pumps for the North, 2026
A criteria-first comparison. Not a ranked shopping list.
- 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.
- 15 Heat pump vs furnace vs boiler
A plain comparison of what each system does in a northern winter.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from the documents below. If a later official update conflicts, the official update wins.
- Heating and cooling with a heat pump
NRCan requires a recognized load calculation, CSA F280-12, which includes the envelope and air leakage. Square footage is not the method.
- Yukon terms
Primary heat is defined against the NBC 2.5% January design temperature. Air-sealing rebate: homes at least 5 years old, from 3.0 ACH50 or worse down to 1.5 ACH50 or better, and an HRV that qualifies.
- NRC climatic data
Whitehorse January 2.5% design temperature −41°C. The same leak costs more heat here than in a milder city because the temperature difference is larger.
- How products are listed
Cold-climate bar used for an air-source rebate: HSPF2 at least 6.6, SEER2 at least 15.2, capacity maintenance at least 70 percent, COP at least 1.8 at −15°C. No log-home exemption is published.