According to Paul M. Eldridge :

Hi Chris,

In addition to the geothermal option, I might recommend looking at one
(or more) Fujitsu ductless heat pumps. The operating costs would be
slightly higher than a geo-exchange (but not by much) and it wouldn't
provide DHW (perhaps its biggest drawback if your household uses a lot
of hot water), but the upfront costs would be far lower and the
installation a whole lot simpler. Generally speaking, these units are
a good choice for energy-efficient, open concept homes such as your
own.

It sounds about perfect. Will definately have to look into them. Your
friend's Montreal home will be almost the same climate as ours - we're
(rural Ottawa area) a little colder, but less snow.

Hey, neat, I can run 'em off the existing baseboard wiring!

Our house is situated amongst heavy tree cover, so, A/C tends not to be
necessary more than a few days per year. Because of the way the
house is designed, a single 12000 BTU "window type" (actually
mounted through the wall) A/C is more than enough. T'would be nice to be
rid of the ugly thing - it's at least 17 years old, and it has to
die someday. Probably soon.

The trees also aid with heating, because there's less loss due to
wind cooling.

I don't think we're particularly heavy DHW users, so, that's not
as important. The dishwasher and clotheswasher are both very
low water consumption units, and we only do showers.
--
Chris Lewis,

Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.