Steps to a Fossil Free Home

​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.
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​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:

1. Purchase on a solar farm
2. Subscribe to a community solar project
3. Install solar panels on your own property.

By running your home’s electricity on solar energy and installing clean energy heating, cooling, and cooking systems, your home has the potential to entirely eliminate its reliance on gas.
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.