Heat pumps can work without backup heat in Natick!
Submitted by: Mark Ralston
When we bought our 1,900 sq ft 1960's raised ranch in Natick almost two years ago, we removed the oil boiler, piping, and radiators and installed two high-efficiency, cold-climate ducted heat pumps. One serves the upstairs, and the other serves the downstairs. We didn't install any backup heating. The heat pumps heat and cool very evenly and are super quiet.
Both heat pumps operate at 100% heating capacity down to 5 degrees F, and it rarely drops below that during the winter here. However, during the February cold snap, the temperature one night dropped to around -10 degrees F, the coldest recorded here in decades. The temperature in our main upstairs living area dropped by one degree, from 68 to 67, as the heat pump had to work harder. Our downstairs temperature dropped from 68 to 61 degrees, since the downstairs heat pump has somewhat lower heating capacity at sub-zero temperatures. But once the sun came out in the morning, the temperatures upstairs and down returned to normal.
The installed cost of the two heat pumps was about $25,000 after the $4,000 rebate from Mass Save at the time. If we were installing the systems now, we'd qualify for the $10,000 Mass Save whole-home rebate and the $2,000 federal tax credit. We also got a zero-interest loan through our credit union to pay for the heat pumps.
A key part of our home electrification journey was to add insulation to our attic and walls through the Mass Save rebate program. We found that it pays to be your own advocate with them. When they did their initial assessment of our home, they didn't suggest adding insulation. But when we asked an insulation contractor if more could be added, they said it could, and Mass Save covered 75% of the cost.
Tell your friends how to get a full $7500 federal rebate for a Hyundai Ioniq 5
Submitted by: Rick Devereux
Maybe you've read articles about the fine print in the rebates now that the new regulations have gone into effect. The EV I'm most interested in is the Hyundai Ioniq 5. To get the rebate on this and other EVs available from dealers, make sure to ask the dealer if they have purchased the vehicle you want from the manufacturer, and if they can therefore pass on the $7500 rebate to you by lowering the price. In other words, though you can't claim the rebate on your taxes, the dealer can and is therefore able to pass it on to you in a discount on the cost of the vehicle.
SHOP FOR THE BEST DEAL ON AN IONIQ 5 OR OTHER EV WHICH NO LONGER QUALIFIES FOR REBATES
Installing Heat Pumps for our Entire House
Submitted by: Tien Lum
I was talking to a neighbor, who is an environmentalist, about the heat pumps we just installed and he didn't know about the rebates the State of MA has. So just thought I'd let folks know (if you don't know already) that if you install heat pumps for your whole house you can get a rebate from the State of MA for $10K (less but still significant for partial home installation). This puts a big dent into the cost of the installation.
Heat pumps provide very efficient A/C in the summer and heat in the winter. Most can operate down to -15 degrees Fahrenheit.
Heat pumps are 70% more efficient than oil and 30% more efficient than natural gas, and if you get your electricity from renewable energy sources you are cutting your carbon footprint significantly.
For our installation, the $10K was more than 50% of the total price, $18K. In addition, you can get the remainder financed at 0% for 7 years with a HEAT LOAN (took 3 days to apply and close on the loan).
You can wait for the new federal climate bill to kick in to provide new incentives for heat pumps, but we saved about $700/year in oil when we got our first heat pump in 2018 (and that is with much lower oil prices).
Links: https://www.masssave.com/en/saving/residential-rebates/air-source-heat-pumps
Heat Loan: https://www.masssave.com/saving/residential-rebates/heat-loan-program/
Take care - Tien
Where the Compost Lives
Submitted by: Rick Devereux
This story could have been about where the compost dies, but when you store it in your freezer it is just dormant while waiting to be put out curbside for the weekly pick-up on its way to a N. Shore destination where it will be gradually warmed and treated in three kind steps, first as sludge and, eventually, returned to nurseries, farms and composters like you to spread in your garden. Freezer time is not required, of course. My wife came up with that solution for temporary storage (we have an extra freezer in our basement which can handle a few bags a week).
Backing up to when we moved to Natick five years ago, we started with a Black Earth trial that came in a welcome pack of material as new resident in town. My prior experience with composting had been less than glorious. I bought a back yard unit like the one at my church which ate flowers and leftovers from the kitchen. Like many rookies, I was inexperienced at managing a compost on my own and didn’t have a neighbor to tutor me. I was unsuccessful and eventually become discouraged. I didn’t officially call it quits before we moved to Natick, but I might as well have admitted my failure.
What made the difference here in Natick? Not having to stir my own sludge in an outdoor container was certainly one of the keys. But just as important was discovering a way that worked for us to store compost before the pick-up. Others no doubt succeed without such a handy storage area to keep the rich organic scraps from becoming odorous, insect magnets inside or outside, where it might attract more than insects (bears in Natick? Not unheard of, I imagine). Having a schedule was also helpful.
The biggest reward of this composting service was unexpected and locked us into the value of paying about $2 a week, plus the minor cost of reordering rolls of biodegradable bags. Our recycling went from several tall bags of trash and food scraps, down to one a week — one which did not smell or attract insects while it was in the house. If this seems like less than a lottery win, consider what happens when you entertain or have overnight guests who stay, and stay, and stay… That’s been us. For 3 months out of four beginning in October, my daughter, her husband and their two diaper-aged girls lived in our house. Our composting bag storage expanded it’s square footage in our freezer, but had we not been composting, we would have needed a diaper service in addition to every square inch of space in our recycling bin. Add holiday packages and discarded wrappings, and that’s why I became a familiar face at the recycling center.
Not everyone may fall in love with composting the way we did, but there are mental benefits to knowing that you are helping the environment by creating good compost for growing and reducing the amount of stuff that gets burned. As Bill McKibben of 350.org fame is fond of saying, if we are going to save the planet, we have to stop burning stuff.
