 Did you know that 90% of households in New York State use fossil fuels to heat their homes? Imagine using the benefits of home electrification that run everything from your car to your heating unit, your hot water heater to your stove! Don’t think it’s possible to electrify your home AND save money? Read on to find out what you can do to save money, reduce your carbon footprint, and eliminate your home’s use of fossil fuels. Step 1: Improve Your Home’s Building Envelope 56% of the average NY resident’s energy consumption goes to space heating, and air leaks in the average American home may squander 15-25% of the heat our furnaces generate in the winter. Air leaks also account for the same amount of unwanted heat our homes gain in the summer. Remember the “ABCs” of building envelope improvement needs with “A is for Attic, B is for Basement, and C is for Conditioned Space” to improve your home’s energy efficiency. This “A-B-C” ordering is helpful, since A-attic insulation/sealing is more important/energy saving than B-basement insulation/sealing, which is more important/energy saving than C-conditioned space (walls). Thus, if you have a limited amount of money to spend on insulation this year, you’d want to focus on A, the attic. Step 2: Install Heat Pumps Do away with your inefficient, costly, and environmentally disastrous fossil fuel-fired heating system. Replace your old heating system with a semi-renewable heat pump. There are two types of heat pump, ground-source and air-source, and you can read more about the differences and how they work here. Heat pumps are semi-renewable heating and cooling systems, since they are run on the electricity of the home, meaning if the home gets its electricity from a renewable source of energy, such as solar or wind, the heat pump system is entirely renewable. And since 56% of a NY resident’s energy use goes to heating the home, think of the reduction in carbon emissions! Heat pump incentives are also available for both ground-source and air-source heat pumps. Added bonus - heat pumps also provide air conditioning! Step 3: Heat Pump Hot Water Heater. A heat pump hot water heater uses the energy of an inner heat pump to convert cold water to hot water, for your home’s domestic hot water needs. Heat pump hot water heaters are 3x more efficient than traditional gas-fired hot water heater, with lower operating costs and NYSEG incentives are available! Step 4: Induction Cooking. Top chefs the world over are raving about precision induction cooking! Cooking on an induction stovetop is significantly more efficient than cooking using gas or propane, since food being cooked with induction will receive 90% of the heat generated, as opposed to only 40-55% for gas. This will keep your kitchen much cooler and more comfortable as you prepare your meals. Induction stoves are also safer and very easy to clean. Step 5: Go Solar. 3 ways to go with solar:
Now that you have all the facts, please reach out to HeatSmart for any questions you may have regarding your home’s needs. By enrolling with HeatSmart Tompkins, you could also get any or all of our four trained, professional installer partners to assess your home’s energy efficiency, improve your home’s building envelope, and install heat pumps if desired. Enrolling in HeatSmart is absolutely zero obligation, and the home assessments from our installer partners are completely free. If you’d like to know more about fossil fuel reduction and increased energy efficiency, here are our most recent webinars.
0 Comments
 Note: To power your home with renewable energy, see the most recent Subscription Community Solar update and 100% Renewable Electricity update. Your monthly update from HeatSmart volunteer and Energy Navigator Gerri Wiley: I virtually meet many people seeking to help green the New York State electricity grid, yet missing some key points on how their choice of electricity supply is so influential. The focus this month is on Community Choice Aggregation (CCA)...a powerful tool in greening the grid. CCA (Community Choice Aggregation) If you live in a municipality that is part of a CCA that chose 100% renewables as its default plan on behalf of residents and small businesses, make sure you are enrolled in that plan. In the Southern Tier, those municipalities are: Town of Union, Village of Owego, Village of Elmira Heights, and Village of Horseheads. Look on your NYSEG bill and/or call Constellation at 1-833-866-9637. If you live in a municipality that is part of a CCA that chose a fossil-nuclear mix, opt up to the 100% renewable plan by calling Constellation at 1-833-866-9637. In the Southern Tier, those municipalities are: Village of Delhi, Town of Dickinson, Town of Owego, Village of Newark Valley, Village of Spencer, City of Elmira, City of Hornell, Town of Horseheads, Village of Burdett, Village of Montour Falls, and Town of Canisteo. Why is this important? Because a CCA's ESCO must purchase New York State-generated renewable energy. The more NYS energy is purchased, the more renewable infrastructure will be built and the quicker we'll meet our goal of 70% renewable electricity here in New York. What if I don't live in a municipality with a CCA or the price seems too high? That's ok too. You can sign up for one of the two ESCOs on my attached chart. Did I say two ESCOs? YES! I've added Clearview Energy to this month's listing because the price is right and they purchase NYS hydro-electricity to cover kWhs their NYS customers use.  So you’ve made the switch to an air-source heat pump (ASHP). Now what? Here to answer some of your most pressing air-source heat pump questions is Jon Harrod, President and founder of Snug Planet, one of our four trusted installer partners. Heat pumps operate differently than fossil fuel heating systems. We’re all used to conserving energy and reducing our heating bills by turning down the heat at night and then up again in the morning during the cold months, but did you know that it’s actually more effective to just “set it and forget it” when it comes to your heat pump? Read on to uncover this and more truths and answers to some of the most important ASHP-related questions to get the most out of your new heating and cooling system.
Why don’t you recommend setting back the temperature or programming a schedule? Heat pumps operate most efficiently with a “set it and forget it” approach. If you are leaving your house for several days, you can set the temperature back several degrees—just remember, it may take several hours to reach your target temperature when you return, which is why it’s best to just leave it at a particular temperature to most efficiently and effectively heat or cool your home. The temperature on my remote doesn’t match my room thermostat. Why is that? Your heat pump senses temperature at the indoor unit itself, not at the remote. The temperature there will often be a few degrees different than the temperature where the thermostat is located. Find a setpoint at which you’re comfortable, even if it’s a few degrees different than what you’ve used in the past. What maintenance do I need to do? To clean the filters, first turn off the indoor unit. Pop open the front cover by pulling the tabs on either side of the unit. Remove the two filters and gently clean them using a vacuum attachment brush. Put the filters back in place, snap the front cover closed, and turn the unit back on. Depending on unit location, pets, and other dust sources, we recommend cleaning filters every 2-6 weeks, or when visibly dirty. This routine filter cleaning will prolong the life of your ASHP and improve your home’s air quality. When should I call for professional service? We recommend that your heat pump gets a thorough cleaning and check-up annually to maintain efficiency, longevity, and warranty coverage. All the HeatSmart installer partners offer annual maintenance contracts to keep your heat pump system running smoothly. And if anything ever doesn’t seem right, or you have any questions about your system, your installer welcomes your call! A special thank you to Jon Harrod of Snug Planet for creating such a helpful resource for this blog post. Check out this air-source heat pump informational page, a Mitsubishi MSZ-FH Heat Pump Quick Guide and FAQ sheet, created by Snug Planet.  During October and November, HeatSmart Tompkins and Building Performance Contractors’ Association (BPCA) of New York will build on earlier success and again offer three webinars and a hands-on workshop featuring varying topics covering air source heat pump installation guidelines, best practices, and marketing insights for selling the benefits of this leading edge technology to homeowners.
“In 2018, clean energy employment in New York increased 4.8% to nearly 159,000 workers, while increasing 2.7% nationally,” said Brian Eden, chair of HeatSmart Tompkins (Solar Tompkins). “While the pandemic has considerably slowed down clean energy projects, support from New York State for the clean energy industry and its workers will help them to bounce back.” To address the shortage of trained heat pump installers, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has committed nearly $70 million over the next 10 years to help clean energy businesses with recruiting and training new employees, upskilling existing workers, and establishing a talent pipeline to reduce businesses cost of attracting and hiring new workers. Join experienced contractors, entry level technicians, and those looking to expand into this emerging field to get the latest scoop on trending clean energy topics sweeping the industry. The training features regionally renowned experts. This workforce training is offered free of charge. For more information and to enroll, go to heatsmarttompkins.org/workforcetraining. Schedule of programs: Wednesday, October 14 | 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Webinar #1: Why Every Home WILL Eventually Need a Heat Pump Register Wednesday, October 21 | 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Webinar #2: The Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) as an Integral Part of an Energy Efficient and Comfortable Home. Register Wednesday, October 28 | 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Webinar #3: Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) Installation Without Call-backs Register Saturday, November 7 | 9:00 am - 4:30 pm Location in Ithaca, NY: Address provided after registration Hands-on Training Event; Strategic Installation “Best Practice” Guidelines for Air Source Heat Pumps. Note the hands-on training is limited to 8 participants. An additional training in downstate New York is being considered. Register  The HeatSmart team knows that there's nothing like touring a HeatSmart home, experiencing the comfort, touching the heat pump, and talking to a happy homeowner for inspiring confidence in this still unfamiliar technology. Covid-19 makes home tours impractical, so this fall, we're bringing home tours to you, virtually.
Join us on Tuesdays at 12:30 this fall for a series of virtual home tours. You'll watch a short video, get briefed on the latest incentives, and meet the homeowner and the installer. We'll have plenty of time for your questions! #GetHeatSmart  With the dog days of summer falling to the wayside, the chilly return of fall is almost upon us. Upstate winters are often unforgiving; don’t get stuck in the frost! This year, install a new heat pump system to heat your home in the winter, provide air-conditioning in the summer, and keep you and your family comfortable year-round.
There are several different types of heat pumps available for installations, and there isn’t a “one-heat-pump-fits-all” type of mentality that comes with installing a new heat pump system. Getting in-touch with one or more of our trusted, highly rated, and rigorously vetted HeatSmart Tompkins installer partners is the best way to determine which heat pump system could be the right fit for your home and family’s needs. Air-source and ground-source heat pumps are both semi-renewable, meaning they provide heating and cooling with the use of electricity and can use electricity generated from a renewable source of energy, in this case making them entirely renewable! Many people with solar panels on their homes choose to run their heat pumps off their renewably sourced solar energy. One of the greatest benefits of heat pumps – besides the cleaner, greener energy – is the cost-savings. Did you know that 70% of total home energy consumption goes to home heating in our region? Homeowners on propane, the costliest form of heating available, can and do save up to thousands of dollars on their total annual heating bills after making the switch to a semi-renewable heat pump. Heat pumps provide some of the most efficient, comfortable, and clean heating energy available to homeowners, and many systems also provide air-conditioning for the warmer months. This additional cooling has the added benefits of dehumidification and air-quality improvement for the spring and summer allergy seasons! Don’t wait for your current heating system to fail this winter. Look into a new heat pump system for greener and more efficient energy, a more comfortable home environment, and energy cost savings! Complete a short and simple form to enroll in our program today. Also, watch our recent webinar series to learn more about the various types of heat pumps, cost and energy savings, and our trained HeatSmart Tompkins installer partners.  Members of the HeatSmart team and board held a small, outdoor gathering in honor of Jonathan Comstock's retirement.  HeatSmart Tompkins, a home-grown community non-profit which helps residents access the benefits of heat pumps and energy efficiency, has named a new program director to administer a $200,000 grant which will help the organization continue its mission for another two years. HeatSmart Tompkins, founded as Solar Tompkins, is a grassroots organization committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through implementation of clean and renewable energy technologies such as heat pumps, solar wind and increased home insulation and sealing.
Tompkins County has been a leader in the adoption of energy efficient air and ground source heat pumps thanks in part to the outreach and education provided by HeatSmart Tompkins. Heat pumps use refrigeration technology to capture the free solar heat in the air or the ground and use it to heat or cool buildings. These systems are 2-4 times more efficient than the most efficient fossil furnaces and are considered one of the key technology solutions for transitioning off fossil fuels to curb climate change. According to the “New York State Decarbonization Pathways Analysis”[1], 50 -70% of heating system sales need to be heat pumps by 2030 to stay on track to meet the carbon reduction goals codified in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) passed by the New York State legislature in 2019. The grant, awarded through a New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Program Opportunity Notice (PON) will help HeatSmart Tompkins conduct community outreach and education campaigns to inform residents about the benefits of heat pumps, home energy efficiency improvements and other clean energy technologies. “We started in 2013 as Solar Tompkins,” explained Jonathan Comstock, founder and outgoing program director of HeatSmart Tompkins. “We ran the first big Solarize program in New York State to alert people locally to renewable energy solutions. Following the success of that program, we turned our attention to clean heating and cooling for even greater climate impact.” “We learned that the technology was quite advanced and that heat pumps are popular in Europe and elsewhere, but haven’t caught on here,” said Brian Eden, chair of HeatSmart Tompkins. “The main reason for this is lack of familiarity with the technology for both contractors and the customers. We created HeatSmart to fill that information gap. We also help customers identify solutions for their buildings and quality contractors to implement them.” HeatSmart Tompkins’ grassroots efforts attracted the attention of New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the state authority which promotes energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources. “We immediately saw the potential of doing grassroots community outreach about energy efficiency solutions for homes,” said Scott Smith, program manager of NYSERDA’s Clean Heating and Cooling team. “Albany has shown great leadership in providing us ambitious goals for climate sustainability and we rely heavily on our community partners and support from across the state to help us achieve those goals. We are now funding 15 Clean Heating and Cooling campaigns across the state, all of which were inspired by the HeatSmart Tompkins model.” “Now in our fifth year, HeatSmart Tompkins continues to innovate and lead,” said Lisa Marshall, the newly appointed program director. “We’re incredibly grateful to have been a recipient of a $200,000 grant from NYSERDA that will carry our program forward into 2022. Our goal for this next phase of HeatSmart is to move past the early adopters to more mainstream customers, making heat pumps the default heating systems in Tompkins County. New York State is at a critical juncture in terms of our energy policy; we have to rapidly scale up energy efficiency measures including heat pump adoption to meet Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading climate goals. HeatSmart Tompkins is proud to lead the way in making that happen.” [1] https://climate.ny.gov/-/media/CLCPA/Files/2020-06-24-NYS-Decarbonization-Pathways-CAC-Presentation.pdf  The report, Health Effects from Gas Stove Pollution, summarizes two decades of health research, and finds that indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than the air outside, due in part to nitrogen dioxide emissions and other pollutants coming from gas stoves.
“The health case for transitioning to all-electric cooking has been slowly mounting for more than forty years but policymakers must urgently address air pollution now,” said Brady Seals, senior associate at Rocky Mountain Institute and report author. “We have the tools to do so – Canada recently strengthened indoor and outdoor nitrogen dioxide limits to protect public health.” The report’s key findings include:
 Note: To power your home with renewable energy, see the most recent Subscription Community Solar update and 100% Renewable Electricity update. HeatSmart Volunteer and Energy Navigator Gerri Wiley provides us with monthly updates to help you choose an Energy Supply Company (ESCO) that offers 100% renewable electricity, and/or a community solar subscription.
Wiley uses the following criteria to make her ESCO selections:
 Project Drawdown, founded in 2014, is a nonprofit organization made up of scholars, scientists, advocates, and entrepreneurs from around the world who focus on finding solutions to the climate crisis to ensure that in the future, carbon emission rates slow down, plateau, and eventually begin to decline annually. This phenomenon, called drawdown, is supported by mapping, measuring, modeling, and communicating the variety of climate solutions that are currently available and accessible, but not widely adopted (yet). Globally, the building sector uses roughly 1/3 of all energy generated. One-third of that number goes toward heating and cooling. In the United States, we use as much energy for air-conditioning alone as the continent of Africa uses for all their energy needs, and both domestic and global demand for air conditioned spaces continues to rise. Most of the energy used is generated by the combustion of fuels like natural gas, oil, propane, and coal. On the flip side, heat pumps do not require direct combustion; they use electricity to move existing energy, saving your household energy and money. With geothermal specifically, the energy trapped underground is 100 billion times that of global energy consumption! Air-source heat pumps provide households with energy-bill savings of around $500 compared to electric resistance heaters and $1000 compared to oil-furnaces. WITH GEOTHERMAL SPECIFICALLY, THE ENERGY TRAPPED UNDERGROUND IS 100 BILLION TIMES THAT OF GLOBAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION! Heat pump technology has the potential to reduce global carbon emissions by as much as 6 percent over the next 30 years, which is one of the largest contributions of any single technology in reducing atmospheric CO2 levels. Current adoption rates for heat pumps are low (more public education is needed!), but Project Drawdown estimates that by 2050, rates of adoption will be closer to 40-50%. While upfront costs can be high, over time these systems will become more affordable through reduction in equipment price and expansion of incentive programs. Over time, these investments can save individuals both money on their energy bills, as well as the heating and cooling sector on operation and transportation costs for fuel combustion and use. For a cost of $77-$117 billion above what would be spent on conventional technologies, operating savings could reach $1.1-$2.5 trillion in our economy over the technology’s lifetime (for an air-source system it is 25 years and for a buried ground-source system it is 50 years on average). For local households this translates as higher upfront costs than replacing fossil fuels with fossil fuels, and considering their long life-spans and ability to provide heating, cooling, and hot water, heat pumps will pay for themselves over time through savings on your energy bills where conventional heating systems will not. Thankfully, there are also state and federal incentives for heat pump installation to lower costs for households. HEAT PUMPS WILL PAY FOR THEMSELVES OVER TIME THROUGH SAVINGS ON YOUR ENERGY BILLS WHERE CONVENTIONAL HEATING SYSTEMS WILL NOT. Heat pumps will continue to increase in efficiency and affordability via conjunction efforts such as district heating and cooling systems, solarized electricity, and optimizing building envelope efficiency.
Without the continuing growth of heat pump usage, we will continue to see accelerating levels of carbon emissions in the heating and cooling industry. Heat pump technologies are a substantial ally in the fight against climate change, and while initial barriers may not be easy to overcome for some, it will be increasingly more difficult to come out of the climate crisis the longer we wait to transition away from our use of fossil fuels. Source Material:  In our final webinar of the “Lunchtime Installer Series,” HeatSmart Tompkins invited one of our installer partners, NP Environmental, to talk with our community about important considerations to make when deciding if heat pumps are right for their home. The decision to install heat pumps as a fossil fuel alternative can seem daunting. Still, Nick Pryputniewicz, co-founder of NP Environmental and a founding member of the New York Geothermal Energy Organization, passionately believes that “Heat Pumps are for Everyone!” Nick laid out the following as points of priority for most homeowners and future heat pump users: Price – everyone cares about cost, and installing a heat pump system for heating and cooling or domestic hot water is not an exception for this worry.
Carbon Reduction – When you’re installing a heat pump system, you are committing to carbon reduction for your home.
Available Land Area – For ground-source (geothermal) heat pumps mainly, having available land is essential.
Geology – Available land space must also be complemented with the right kind of geology for drilling.
Disruption – Installing a ground-source heat pump will mean disruption to your home’s yard space. After installation, however, geothermal systems are the least noticed heat pumps around!
Distribution – The distribution system that your home runs on is an essential consideration because it may need to be replaced before installing a heat pump. If it is in good condition, it may also be used for your benefit…or not need to be used at all.
Aesthetics – While aesthetics do not play a major role in the feasibility of a heat pump system in your home, it is important to recognize your aesthetic preferences and relay them to your contractor.
System Longevity –Geothermal systems have a longer life-span than both fossil fuel alternatives and air-source alternatives.
System Maintenance – By working with one of our installer partners on your Assisted Home Performance project, you are guaranteed system maintenance by the contractor of your choice after installation is complete.
Not all of these questions will be able to be answered alone. It is never a wrong time to enroll with our program and begin getting home assessments by any or all four of our installer partners (NP Environmental, Halco Energy, Snug Planet, and Dailey Geothermal). You can enroll at the button below and have your home checked out on site or in person so that all of the important questions outlined here can be fully answered. Also in this webinar, Nick presented three separate projects he has worked on that, after prioritizing these areas of focus, decided on some unexpected systems that they love! You can watch the full webinar here: You can find our other webinars, virtual home tours, and informational videos in our video section.
“Cold-Climate Heat Pump Dos & Don’ts”: Presentation by Jon Harrod, President of Snug Planet7/7/2020  Part of HeatSmart Tompkins’ mission is to inform and educate the community about the benefits of energy-efficient, heat pump technology – an objective that Jon Harrod, President of Snug Planet, also values. Jon presented an excellent webinar for our “Lunchtime Installer Series” recently, in which he shared best practices for installation and operation of cold-climate air-source heat pumps. Jon discussed the importance of customer education – beginning during sales and the design process and continuing through installation and service. This process ensures that realistic expectations are created, basic operation and best practices for the system are explained, and maintenance and service needs for the future are understood. We’ve highlighted some of the points that Jon hit below. Benefits of Cold-Climate Air-Source Heat Pumps:
The following is a summary of Jon’s list of Dos and Don’ts for your cold-climate ASHP installers to ensure that these systems work effectively with proper temperature control, efficient operation, long lifespan and durability, no excessive noise from the system, and genuine customer satisfaction.
 Note: To power your home with renewable energy, see the most recent Subscription Community Solar update and 100% Renewable Electricity update.
A short message from HeatSmart volunteer and Energy Navigator Gerri Wiley: When considering New York State’s 10-year goals of 70% renewable electricity and 40% reduction of greenhouse gases, the task is simply too large without us—we, the people--joining together and pledging to reduce our energy use—and then doing it. End of rant. Right now, mask-free, we are able to sign up for Subscription Community Solar (if we don’t own our own panels) AND sign up for a 100% Renewable Electricity ESCO (whether or not we own our own solar panels). We can do this if we own a home, a business, or if we rent, assuming we pay our own electricity bill. By taking one or both of these steps, we collectively green the grid. The big ship of government doesn’t get us there fast enough. It’s OUR job to green the grid. July’s charts for both of these actions are here Subscription Community Solar update and here 100% Renewable Electricity update. . Please share this information with family and friends.  A recent concern for many has been home visits from our heat pump installer partners. In light of today’s circumstances, the thought of visitors in your home may carry with it a sense of general discomfort and unease. HeatSmart Tompkins and our experienced installer partners understand these feelings and are now offering informational webinars and virtual home visits. Please check out our upcoming “Lunchtime Installer Case Study Webinar Series” to learn more about each of our installer partners and some of the excellent heat pump installation and insulation work they have done.
New York businesses have begun reopening, and our installer partners are taking the necessary precautions to safely resume their work. The start of summer brings the need for clean energy air-conditioning and better home insulation to keep your home cool and dry. Now more than ever, home improvement projects should not be overlooked. In the interest of safety, remote home assessments are available for those who prefer them. The first step is to enroll on our HeatSmart Tompkins website. You can select any or all of our partner installers for a home assessment. A virtual meeting can be set-up between the client and an installer partner, in which the client’s home is assessed and the client’s individual heating and cooling needs are discussed. Through these virtual home visits and HeatSmart Tompkins’ installer case study webinar series (attend live or view recordings), our local community members will continue to be advised on the most accurate, up-to-date heat pump system information to reduce their homes’ carbon emissions, save money on energy bills, and live in a more comfortable home year-round.  Due to unprecedented demand the 0% interest offer from NYSERDA/GJGNY is nearly depleted. The offer of 0% financing to finance eligible energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy systems will end at 6:00 p.m. (EST) on Monday June 15, 2020. All applications received prior to this deadline will receive the 0% interest rate. If you were counting on getting these funds for a heat pump and/or insulation project, please try and get your loan approval application completed today! You don't need to have already signed a contract with an installer or have completed an assessment to apply for a loan pre-approval at 0% interest. Be aware that the loan application does not talk about the 0% interest option. Don’t worry about that. It is a generic form covering multiple loan programs. Give us a call if you have any questions about this! Click here to read NYSERDA's notice about the 0% financing availability. We encourage you to also enroll with HeatSmart Tompkins, if you haven't already, so that we can help you explore your options: Don't forget to join us for our Lunchtime Installer Case Study Webinar Series.
Dailey Geothermal Case Study June 18 (Thurs) Noon-12:45 pm - webinar REGISTER HERE Snug Planet Case Study June 23 (Tues) Noon-12:45 pm - webinar REGISTER HERE Halco Geothermal Case Study June 25 (Thurs) Noon-12:45 pm - webinar REGISTER HERE NP Environmental Case Study June 30 (Tues) Noon-12:45 pm - webinar REGISTER HERE  HeatSmart Tompkins participant Brice Smith said his heat pump hot water heater “was able to cut our energy use for hot water in half. With our new baby, we have a lot of hot water use; a lot of laundry, a lot of baths, and we’ve been incredibly happy with this system…it’s always provided more hot water than we could ever use!”
Want to learn more heating your domestic hot water with heat pumps? Head to our archive of 2020 webinars and watch “Get Into Heat Pump Hot Water(!) Heaters.” NYSEG is now offering a $700 rebate off the price of one! A high efficiency heat pump water heater uses about 1/3 of the energy, saving hundreds in utility bills. And, if you are income eligible you can buy one for as little as 15% of the regular price. Enroll in HeatSmart Tompkins today and ask that that they apply to Sustainable Tompkins on your behalf for the extra incentives.  Note: To power your home with renewable energy, see the most recent Subscription Community Solar update and 100% Renewable Electricity update.
For over two years Gerri Wiley, Energy Navigator and HeatSmart Volunteer has been providing a monthly chart to help you choose an ESCO that offers 100% renewable electricity. Wiley uses the following criteria to make her selections:
Take a look at this month's ESCO subscription options. Don't forget you can combine your 100% renewably electricity ESCO with a Community Solar subscription, and you guessed it, Wiley vets those for you too. Take a look at this month's Community Solar subscription recommendations. Starting this week, the Pause has been partially lifted in Central NY and the Southern Tier. Building energy efficiency businesses are ready to serve your home needs. You can have Home Assessments done either on-site or remotely. Work can again proceed. Get started by enrolling online, attend an upcoming webinar, or revisit our recorded webinars.
HeatSmart Tompkins and our participating installers are all committed to keeping you safe while allowing life to resume. Remote assessments are available for those who prefer them. When work is done on your home, it is easy to maintain social distancing from work crews. All our installers have trained their employees in strong safety protocols including face masks, hand sanitizing, wiping down surfaces when they leave and more. So please move forward with plans to make your home a more comfortable, healthier and economical place to live  Note: To power your home with renewable energy, see the most recent Subscription Community Solar update and 100% Renewable Electricity update. In New York's competitive energy market you can choose your supplier of electricity instead of buying your electricity from your utility company. While your utility company will send you a list of over 100 ESCOs (Energy Supply Company) to choose from, they don't help you select one that offers 100% renewable electricity. For over two years Gerri Wiley, Energy Navigator and HeatSmart Volunteer has been providing a monthly chart to help you choose an ESCO that offers 100% renewable electricity. Wiley uses the following criteria to make her selections:
Take a look at this month's ESCO subscription options. Don't forget you can combine your 100% renewably electricity ESCO with a Community Solar subscription, and you guessed it, Wiley vets those for you too. Take a look at this month's Community Solar subscription recommendations.  HeatSmart Tompkins is partnering with four companies for 2020, a result of a competitive selection process. HeatSmart selection criteria include company experience, reputations, work quality, and a record of excellent customer service. The four companies are: On average, 75 percent of the energy use by homes in Tompkins County goes towards heating, cooling, and domestic hot water. Most of that comes from burning fossil fuels. Fortunately, the technology is now available to let homeowners increase their comfort, reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and save money. The HeatSmart Tompkins program is designed to make it easier for county residents to weatherproof their homes and switch to highly efficient heat pump systems by coordinating education, access to incentives, and a streamlined process to connect with vetted installers. Heat pumps draw heat from the ground or the outside air and transfer it to the interior of the home. They run on electricity and can be used for heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. Both ground-source and air-source heat pumps are effective at the low temperatures typical of this region. Please visit our partner installer profile page for more details on what each company offers.  April 22 (Wednesday) 2:00-6:00 PM - Streaming Online - open to public
Between 3-4pm the HeatSmart Team will present a 5 minute program and "thrilling" video! with Jonathan Comstock, Lisa Marshall, and Gerri Wiley Over 30 local community organizations, artists, musicians and other performers will be live streaming their insights and activities with the theme of community, solidarity and action. The HeatSmart Team will present an update on our new campaign, online resources, and a catchy video to bring it home! Watch it live at www.facebook.com/GetYourGreenBackTompkins/. Or https://www.facebook.com/events/1010011166066452/ Find the program and performers at www.getyourgreenback.org/earth-day.  By Gerri Wiley, Energy Navigator and HeatSmart Volunteer Note: To power your home with renewable energy, see the most recent Subscription Community Solar update and 100% Renewable Electricity update. Hello Green Beings! Thinking back to last month’s update, who would have guessed we’d be navigating these rough waves of uncertainty? At times like this, it is good to know that our renewably-powered kilowatt-hours continue to clean up the electricity grid if we sign up for Subscription Community Solar and/or a 100% Renewable Electricity ESCO plan. Let the wild grid cleaning go forth! Your April updates are linked above. Please share them with your friends and family. I am here to answer any questions you may have and receive feedback on your electricity plan experience. As a community organization, our first thought in these challenging times is for the health and safety of our families, our friends, and the community. We hope that you are well and coping with all the upheaval caused by the novel coronavirus. If you're experiencing difficulty with your home heating system during this time, don't hesitate to call on us!
If the COVID-19 pandemic is teaching us anything, it is the importance of planning for the future. Resilient, interdependent communities are what we are striving to build here in Tompkins County and the surrounding region. Ensuring the comfort, efficiency, and affordability of our home energy systems is part of that planning. In April, we will launch our Spring/Summer 2020 HeatSmart Campaign, beginning with a webinar on April 16. We are thinking through how to best stay connected and support you while complying with the recommended social distancing. We are in communication with our installer partners and have been assured that they are being conscientious about health and safety protocols for their staff and their customers. Webinars, virtual home tours, and videos are being planned in lieu of in-person meetings for at least the next 8 weeks. We have new information which we look forward to sharing with you! Warm wishes from our homes to yours, Brian, Jonathan, and Lisa P.S. In this rapidly changing environment, we are relying on the internet to stay connected. Check our website for the most up-to-date information. Please sign up for our first webinar here.  By Gay Nicholson, Sustainable Tompkins
For a long time, there’s been a presumption that getting off fossil fuels was something only the wealthy could accomplish. But that is changing, and there are growing opportunities for lower-income residents to lead the way by making their homes zero carbon via air-source heat pump heating systems and signing up for solar electricity. The mission of the Finger Lakes Climate Fund (FLCF) run by Sustainable Tompkins is to make sure that nobody is left behind in the transition to a clean energy economy. And one of the best ways to do that is to lower the cost barriers for access to high-efficiency equipment that can be run on renewable energy. The Climate Fund has been doing that since 2010 by giving grants to those who need help making energy improvements. Together, donors to the Climate Fund have funded 32 awards worth more than $53,000 that will prevent almost 2,500 tons of CO2 from entering our atmosphere. Of course, the benefits to the grant recipients are multiple – safer, healthier, more comfortable homes with lower energy bills. Not to mention the green jobs that are supported locally by making the projects possible. From 2019-2021, Sustainable Tompkins is partnering with HeatSmart Tompkins and NYSERDA to bring the positive benefits of heat pump technology to low-to-moderate-income (LMI) families throughout our community. Over the past three years, the ultra-high efficiency of heat pump technology has been funded in over 70% of the Climate Fund grants awarded. But the upfront price of this technology still remains out of reach for many. A two-year grant from NYSERDA will provide funds to combine additional incentives for heat pumps with carbon offset grants to bring down the price and help dozens more families make their home energy clean, green and affordable. Heat pumps operate just like a refrigerator – but in reverse. Instead of burning a fuel, they simply extract heat out of the air or ground and transfer it via a heat exchanger, where it is compressed to reach the desired temperature for heating a home or to make hot water. This results in significant energy savings because there isn’t as much work to do to heat the air or water. As a result, a heat pump water heater uses only about one third as much energy for your hot shower. The savings just keep accumulating with each year. A big bonus is that heat pumps can also cool your house in the summer – just by operating in reverse, like your refrigerator. While funding lasts, Sustainable Tompkins will be offering a substantial additional incentive of $2,000 per air-source heat pump system and $300 per heat pump water heater. This incentive will be combined with a carbon offset grant for the entire work scope of energy improvements being made on the home (such as insulation, air sealing, and replacement of existing equipment). The size of the grant depends on the amount of carbon that will be kept out of the atmosphere by making the improvements but typically runs between $1,500 and $2,500. For those who are just in need of a new water heater, the carbon offset grant will be standardized at $200 – providing a total of $500 toward the price of a heat pump water heater. Who qualifies for these incentives from Sustainable Tompkins? Anyone making 80% or less of the county median income for their household size. How do you apply? Simply enroll at the HeatSmart Tompkins website where you can pick one of the certified contractors and ask that they apply on your behalf to Sustainable Tompkins for the extra incentives. You can also read about the other incentives that everyone gets from NYSERDA and from NYSEG on their site. Applicants from Tompkins County and the adjacent towns of the surrounding counties are invited to apply. If your water heater is more than a few years old, and you are income qualified, the cost to you for having a heat pump water heater installed will be less than buying a fossil fuel model and having to install it yourself. The air-source heat pumps are most cost-effective for lower-income residents when they are used to replace propane, fuel oil or electric resistance heating systems. Sustainable Tompkins has already given out two incentive packages to households in the villages of Spencer and Trumansburg for new heat pump systems and insulation packages, and two more are in the works. Ready to study up on heat pumps? There’s a wealth of information on the HeatSmart website about this evolving technology that is allowing New Yorkers to make their entire home clean, green, and affordable. Anyone with an aging water heater or a propane, fuel oil, or electric resistance heating system should enroll and get a free energy assessment of what can be done to make your home climate smart. Check it out at HeatSmartTompkins.org/climatefund. If you have questions about the program that can’t be answered by a HeatSmart contractor, email Marisa@sustainabletompkins.org or leave her a message at 607-272-1720 to find out more. Gay Nicholson is the president of Sustainable Tompkins, where this article was first published in December of 2019. This is the latest installment of the Signs of Sustainability series produced by Sustainable Tompkins. For more information about the organization, visit their website at SustainableTompkins.org.  By Gerri Wiley, Energy Navigator and HeatSmart Volunteer Note: To power your home with renewable energy, see the most recent Subscription Community Solar update and 100% Renewable Electricity update. Hello Green Beings You’ll note no significant changes this month. You may have been receiving this monthly update for quite some time now. Thus, you may be thinking, “Why would I want to continue to receive these updates when I’ve already made a decision on an ESCO and/or Subscription Community Solar plan? - If you now have a fixed term ESCO, it’s a good idea to learn what’s out there at the end of that term at which point it changes to a variable rate. If you have a variable term ESCO, it’s good to stayed tuned to what’s out there in the fixed term world (if anything), if for no other reason than to reassure yourself that you’re on the right track. - If you now subscribe to a Community Solar project, it’s a good idea to learn what’s out there so that you can share information with a friend and thus, increase the impact of your personal efforts. I’m here for any and all energy questions you may have. If I don’t have an answer, we can learn together! |
Archives
November 2020
Categories |
RSS Feed