So, you want to decarbonize your HVAC?
I'm starting a new series about decarbonizing your HVAC. If you've been following along, you know that 42% of America's carbon footprint problem (and thus the solution!) has to do with the machines in our homes and the cars in our driveways.
If you want to decarbonize your life, this 42% is where you can make an impact. Your car is 50% of the equation and HVAC is 50% of the remainder, after electrifying your car. So we need to get really good at heat pumps. Here's how Ric is doing it.
Ric's goal is to decarbonize his life and he was gracious enough to let me help him do it. Ric is super smart, works in IT, and has a background doing some energy audits (long ago).
Even though he could have done it himself, he agreed to work with me to iron out this electrification coaching process. What a guy! He was going to get this done eventually. I just helped him do it a little faster and better.
Also, for a little color, he loves jazz and he's nearing retirement.
RIC'S HOUSE
Ric is currently the only resident of his ~4000 square foot home in Grand Rapids. He's already done building shell upgrades (air sealing and weatherization).
He wanted to really knock it out of the park; really fix his personal carbon footprint. He knew he was primarily looking at getting solar, a heat pump, and a heat pump water heater.
Relatively quickly we got him a new roof, solar panels, and a heat pump water heater. But, he wasn't done.
WHAT NEXT?
Ric hadn't made any "mistakes" yet; roofs, solar panels, and water heaters are pretty straightforward.
Without an electrification coach and an action plan, I think he likely could have done one of three things next.
He could have called a general contractor. He may have received an expensive whole-home project... possibly new windows. Windows typically offer a terrible ROI!
He could have called an HVAC company. He may have got lucky with a good company and a properly sized heat pump. More likely he would have been talked into a highly efficient furnace and he'd be right where he started in terms of his personal carbon footprint.
He could have called an energy auditor for something like a DOE Home Energy Score. Heck, he could have called me for a DOE Home Energy Score! The result of this would have been a number between 1 and 10 to "score" his home. (Seriously, nothing against home energy scores, but they are more of a starting point.)
Pop quiz: Based on Rics goal, did he need any of these things?
New windows,
A highly efficient natural gas furnace, or
A Home Energy Score on a scale of 1-10
(If you guess "no," go to the head of the class.)
Ric just needed a heat pump!
RIC WAS WORRIED
... and rightly so. Ric knows enough about heat pumps to know that sizing is really important. The HVAC industry doesn't worry too much about sizing, curiously. Free quotes are the norm, and you can't spend 1-3 hours with a customer if you're in HVAC sales and you have to meet with four leads. It's a free quote appointment, and you're going to get a "like for like" replacement offer.
You just can't do proper sizing and customer education during a free quote appointment.
So what did he need and how did I help him? More to come in our next installment.