greener ENERGY
Going all-electric does not, of course, mean the energy supplying a house is totally fossil-free. Electricity is mass-generated from any number of sources, from coal to nuclear power plants. Encouragingly, energy generated by “clean” sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric now makes up better than 10 percent of the U.S.’s energy needs. At the household level, eliminating fuel oil, and LP gas and propane use, typically means not only a smaller carbon footprint, but significantly lower energy costs.
Since inverter heat pumps
transfer heat from one place to another rather than generate it through combustion of fossil fuels, they’re up to four times more efficient than a natural-gas
furnace. They usually come with higher upfront equipment and installation costs, up to three or four times the cost of simply replacing a furnace or boiler. Still, the U.S. Dept. of Energy estimates a lowtemp heat pump can save a homeowner hundreds of dollars a year.
and Shuchman, the benefits were many.
Not only did they get a substantial tax rebate from the state of New York (rebates can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars, depending on location), but also the new setup supplies air conditioning as well as heating. For years, Christiansen had laboriously installed and removed five window air conditioners each season, plus two floor units. “We both work from home so this should be a great improvement over those,” he says.
As part of the system upgrade, he swapped out an existing 60-gallon water
heater for a 65-gallon combination boiler that can supplement the air-source heat pump. He’d previously installed solar panels on the roof, which had already significantly cut into power bills.
Although Christiansen and Shuchman have spent less than a year with the new system, they can tell that it’s saving them money. And “summer comfort has been outstanding,” Christiansen reports.
As for the existing, historic radiators in the house, the couple decided to keep them as a decorative nod to the past. The five window air conditioners are nowhere in sight.