Category: Heat Pump

Get advice on heat pumps, electric cars, etc. From Green Energy Consumer Alliance

1/22/2023

The team at Green Energy Consumers is offering advice on heat pumps, electric cars, and more at their upcoming webinars. For specific Wellesley information (rebates, assistance, etc. watch this first).

Heat Pumps: what, where and how much webinar is being offered at several dates & times over the next 2 weeks:
Tuesday, 1/24 at 7pm
Wednesday, 1/25 at 12pm
Tuesday, 1/31 at 7pm
Wednesday, 2/1 at 12pm OR 7pm with Mothers Out Front
& don't miss us talking heat pumps on Boston Public Radio, Wednesday 1/25 at 12:30pm!
Let's Get a Clean Heat Standard Policy
Thursday, January 26th at 12:00-1:30 PM
Electric Vehicles 101
Tuesday, January 31st at 12:00 PM
The New Electric Car Tax Credit
Thursday, February 9th at 12:00 PM
Electric Cars Coming Soon
Tuesday, February 21st at 12:00 PM

Webinars are free and open to the public.

Insider Scoop: They Renovated & Now Only Pay $10/Month For All Electricity (Car Too!)

7/13/2022

We realize it's the summer and ironically we are talking about ice dams. Many of us have unfortunately experienced them, including Teri and Jamie Ebersole here in Wellesley. Over the last several years, they did piecemeal projects to protect themselves from recurring ice dam damage. However the dams highlighted to them the increasing severe weather due to climate change. Thus, when they decided to renovate their kitchen, they took a hard look at the resiliency of their home. In the end, they spent a fair amount of their renovation budget on aspects of their home that will make their family home more resilient.

What does that mean? Climate resilient buildings are built, or retrofitted, to withstand severe storms and natural disasters. The Ebersoles wanted their 1940 colonial – gone farmhouse – home to withstand extreme weather. They interviewed a few architects and builders and went with Wellesley’s Kraus Associates. After much research, and discussions with Abode and other energy efficiency experts, the Ebersoles now have a beautiful renovated, healthy and resilient home they are proud of.

This all turned out to be a valuable investment as well. The last 2 months they have only paid $10 a month for all of their electric cooking, heating/cooling, driving, laundry needs!
How are they doing this? They moved to electrical, high efficient systems, and fully insulated and weatherized their home:

Added insulation to attic; sealed ductwork
Removed existing radiators and central air conditioning
Installed ducted electric air-source heat pump for the whole house (2 central units that are entirely ducted, 1 that handles the 2nd floor)
Exchanged their Viking gas range for an induction stove
Exchanged gas dryer for electric dryer
Purchased plug-in minivan which they LOVE
Installed drip irrigation everywhere possible after construction
Installed 12.41 kWh solar system. Although their home was not considered highly solar suitable, it currently covers 98% of their energy use for all of the above so far! Full disclosure, one family member was not really interested in solar during the start of the project but by the end is thrilled with the payback, and is checking the app to see “how much did the solar produce today?”
Added a bulkhead for emergency egress from basement

They still have their gas-fired tankless water heater, since it was newish at the time of renovation, but that is the only gas in their home. They will likely replace it with an electric air-source heat pump water heater at its end of life. Since they have a family member with lung challenges, they are very happy to minimize the amount of unhealthy natural gas in their home.
“We love our house and want to stay here a long time, so it made sense to make it healthy, resilient and sustainable for the long-term.”

Curious who they used? See below:

Architect and Builder: Kraus Associates
Heating and cooling: T&K Mechanical
Solar: Sunbug Solar
HVAC Consultant (free, made available by Wellesley MLP): Abode
Energy Efficiency Experts: Sustainable Energy Analytics

Reach out to us to learn more.

Get advice on heat pumps, electric cars, etc. From Green Energy Consumer Alliance

Insider Scoop: They Renovated & Now Only Pay $10/Month For All Electricity (Car Too!)

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