How to Electrify Your Home and Why You'd Want To 

Blower door testing and air sealing are under appreciated tools for energy efficiency

One of the best things I did was get a battery powered lawnmower and the battery can also be used for a lawn blower and edger. No more trying to get the gas engine to start after the winter, buy gas in a can and add stabilizer, changing oil, and no more load and polluting small gas engines for which you need to wear ear protection. With the new Li-ion batteries, I can mow my yard 4 times before having to recharge.

The young guy who was talking about his '22 experience and poorly prepared contractors....I had the exact same experience (and I too am in the energy industry)! in early '22 Denver had a one-time-only rebate of something like $9000 for buying/installing a heat pump. I knew my gas furnace was near EOL and jumped to look into options. I talked with a couple of contractors who all said I would need a hybrid system because "heat pumps don't work when it's really cold". I'd been researching the topic for a bit and I was pretty sure that wasn't true. So I kept researching, and soon enough the rebate program ran out of money. I could see the writing on the wall and in the news that heat pump rebates were going to be a permanent fixture in the near future. Fast forward a few months to November and my furnace conked out. I talked with six different HVAC companies, and they all said the same thing - a heat pump only works well to about 40 degrees and then I'd need either electric heat or gas (hybrid) to supplement it. I sensed I was being misled; that installing two systems (gas and electric) was just a way for them to sell more product. The hybrid system would've cost somewhere around $13K. At the same time, my family was freezing. This was the year that we had a minus 20 degree day around Thanksgiving. We made it through that with electric space heaters, but I didn't have the luxury of time to research where to get "cold climate" heat pumps - which I knew existed. (NOTE: The presenter didn't bring up cold climate heat pumps and I'm not sure why). So, I swallowed my hatred of natural gas and bought a high efficiency one for about $8000 including install. I am still remorseful that I have to live with that decision for years to come. I'm happy to hear during the presentation that in the span of a few years the tide has turned, where heat pumps now make up the majority of sales for the HVAC companies. I also am aware that the DOE and related agencies are working hard at getting the HVAC companies to innovate, to make their CCHP systems more efficient (in terms of the COP), to bring down their costs, and to make them work well enough in really cold temps like the minus 20 we get on very rare occasions. I'm hopeful that, when that damn gas furnace gets to its 10th year, I can replace it with a super-efficient thermoacoustic heat pump, which as of today is bleeding edge tech. In the meantime, my washer and dryer and the gas water heater are getting old. Those are my next target. The current heat pump product market for replacements for these is thin and expensive but like solar, the price of all things come down as production volume goes up.

New homes need to adjust to the times. Home solar energy and battery storage are now more common. Electric vehicles are becoming more popular every year. Every garage should include a 220 volt outlet and electric vehicle charger. Electric heat pumps, electric clothes dryers, electric stove tops and ovens are all available. Every new home and business should install a rain water collection and storage system along with solar panels. Even in areas where rain is infrequent it is crazy to waste the little rain that does fall and waste it. We need to stop planting green lawns and switch to local native plantings around homes. It is crazy to plant lawns and build golf courses in dry desert areas. We waste too much water and electricity. the future is electric. Wind and solar energy along with electric vehicles are the future. Stop using fossil fuels. There is a climate crisis.