What happened when a couple tried to decarbonize their home

[Tradd]

Very interesting article

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...olar-heat-pump

[catherine]

Obviously, this article is of great interest to me, living outside of Burlington and also having purchased heat pumps and having received quotes for solar in the past year. Thanks for posting. I'm going to read it more carefully. This quote hit me: "My wife found her limit when we were forced to choose between cutting emissions or cutting trees."

It is a very complex issue. We rejected solar panels because we would have had to cut down a big maple and utilize both our roof and the yard where we have vegetable gardens for solar panels. There was no way! I object heartily to using arable land as viable space for solar panels. Yes, I am big on climate change, but I really lean toward the principles of the Deep Greens in that capitalism and industry are fundamentally incompatible with sustainability. And so my personal preference for solutions to climate change are cutting back on consumption all around, and demanding more of corporations in terms of making them accountable for the costs of environmental externalities in their business practices. And I also am against "green" mandates that create hardships on the regular working people.

It all makes home life decisions very complex. There are pros and cons to every decision. This article aptly points that out. Thanks for sharing.

[Tradd]

Glad it was of interest!

I rent so I’m extremely limited in what I can do. Gas forced air furnace that was 40 years old was replaced two years ago with same, but of course, much more efficient. Gas water heater replaced last year. That was over 20 years old. Landlord paid for replacements. This is a rented small condo. Stove and clothes dryer are already electric.

I’ve read plenty of articles about the UK and EU wanting people to replace existing gas fired heating with heat pumps, but the cost is high.

I was happy to see solar panels are starting to show up on roofs in townhouse developments locally.

[jp1]

I’ve bookmarked the article for when I have more time to give it the consideration it deserves. My initial comment though is that our heat pump has been great. This winter we never had a gas/electric bill over $300. Last year we had several months of $400+ bills. And both gas and electric rates were over 15% cheaper last year. And the environmental impact is even better. Our utility doesn’t use any fossil fuels so switching to electric heat makes a huge difference for our impact as far as that goes.

[Tradd]

I’ve bookmarked the article for when I have more time to give it the consideration it deserves. My initial comment though is that our heat pump has been great. This winter we never had a gas/electric bill over $300. Last year we had several months of $400+ bills. And both gas and electric rates were over 15% cheaper last year. And the environmental impact is even better. Our utility doesn’t use any fossil fuels so switching to electric heat makes a huge difference for our impact as far as that goes.

You don’t live where it really gets cold, though. Just like EVs, heat pumps in really cold climates might not be the best solution.

[catherine]

You don’t live where it really gets cold, though. Just like EVs, heat pumps in really cold climates might not be the best solution.

They are getting much better. The companies up here in VT are doing a bang-up business in heat pumps. We used ours exclusively this winter and it kept up fine with the cold temperatures, but next year we're going back to using more of the wood stove as a complementary heat source, just because we missed it this year, and we also learned that the cost of a cord of wood + the heat pump is cheaper than the increase in the heating bill of JUST the heat pump. However, the heat pump is definitely more efficient and cost-effective than the old baseboards that we used to use.

DH wants a new stove, but he wants a gas stove. I am going to fight hard against that decision, because we would have to use propane--there are no natural gas lines where I live. I am going to start him thinking about induction. Our current electrode stove is terrible and our options are very limited for the size we need--20-24 inches wide.

As for solar, I've considered one of the community solar programs we have here, but haven't really done any work on that yet.

[Tradd]

In cold climates like yours, I’ve heard of people having electric bill shock when they switched from natural gas to a heat pump. In many urban/suburban parts of the Midwest, natural gas is king and cheaper than heating with electricity.

I have a 15 yo basic, glass top electric stove that was installed not long after I moved into this rented condo. It’s been more than 15 years since I cooked on gas. I have no problems with it. Induction stoves are expensive and you may have to replace your cookware. Would a newer electric stove fit the bill? One that’s not induction, I mean.

[catherine]

Would a newer electric stove fit the bill? One that’s not induction, I mean.

Regarding the natural gas vs heat pump, it would be hard for me to compare my old natural gas heating prices in my NJ home with my heat pump prices here because my home here is 1/3 of the size of my NJ home. I think if you live in a house that's considered midsized today (1800-2500 sq ft maybe?) it might be higher than natural gas but I don't know so I can't argue with what you've heard from others.

Regarding induction vs electric--I am fine with electric even though our specific stove is a piece of crap. I'm trying to appease my DH who thinks Gordon Ramsey is God. Gas is the medium of great chefs, according to him. I'm trying to sell him on the wave of the future and the benefits of induction in terms of accurate and fast heat.

[Tradd]

Yeah, the foodies are the ones I hear gripe about gas be electric.

[nswef]

The only problem I had when switching from gas (growing up) to electric in 1970! was that I burned things by not taking pans off the heat. With gas is stops, with elec. it stays hot still. No problems since I learned that lesson! We to would have to use propane and I am not doing that! don't they make little induction hot plates that you could experiment on before investing in a big new stove?