Heat pumps are admittedly sexy technology, inspiring neighborhood envy. Before making that investment, though, weatherize your home. Air-sealing–insulation, albeit less visible, is the most cost-effective endeavors to improve your home’s energy use and comfort.
Benefits include:
- Reducing heating/AC air from leaking out cracks and crevices.
- Saving money and emissions from wasted energy.
- Improving comfort by diminishing drafts and outdoor noise.
- Slashing energy load, necessitating smaller heat-pump systems to meet your needs.
Older homes often lose 50% or more warmth/coolth through poor insulation, etc.; newer homes frequently lose 10-20% needlessly. New homes can be built to be Net Zero.
An energy audit guides the project work, connecting with state/local/utility incentive programs.
- Federal: 30% of project cost up to $1,200.
- State-locality-utility: Go to this link and enter your zip code. Filter (on the right-hand side) for Residential > Technology > Energy Efficiency > Building Envelope > All Building Envelope.
- Or contact your State Energy Office.
Programs for landlords and low-income residents are also available through the www.DSIREUSA.org link.
Some caps and restrictions apply.
Planetarily,
Laura & Gil
Our friends Laura & Gil Richardson are, in their own words, “imperfect” but they are much further down this Planetarian path than anyone I know. They are a treasure trove of sustainable living inspiration and we’ve asked them to share one simple swap per week that they’ve made (and the products they love) in hopes it might inspire you to make them, too.
