Electrify Your Home
You can choose to electrify your home and save money on energy costs, reduce indoor air pollution, improve your daily life, increase the comfort in your home and accelerate the transition to a clean energy future.
60% of household emissions for the average American comes from burning fossil fuels for energy. The good news is that it is possible to drive those emissions to ZERO through the energy choices we make.
You can start by reducing the energy you use. If you use less energy then less energy needs to be produced. If less energy of any kind needs to be produced, then fewer fossil fuel plants need to be built, fewer turbines need to be manufactured, fewer solar panels need to be installed. All of that construction requires energy. Using less is a great start to reducing pollution.
Use less, clean the rest.
Then work towards cleaning the remaining energy that you use. When an appliance needs to be replaced, replace old appliances that burn fossil fuels with electric alternatives. Fossil-fuel furnaces, water heaters, dryers, and stoves all produce emissions in residential building emissions and are replaced just once every 10-25 years. Any home machine that burns fossil fuels can be replaced with a high performance electric alternative that will produce far fewer emissions, are often cheaper to operate and support a healthier home. When powered with clean renewable electricity, these devices will operate emissions free. It is possible and affordable to live in a home that creates zero carbon emissions from energy use.
Heat, cool and dehumidify all in one
Significantly reduce your greenhouse gas emissions
Increase safety
Increase comfort
Lower your energy bills if switching from propane, oil or electric resistance
Mass Save rebates!
Heat and Cool with Heat Pumps
Replace gas and oil furnaces with air-source or ground-source heat pumps. Replace central air conditioning with a heat pump that cools in the summer and heats in the winter! Find out more information on Heat Pumps. Check out The Mass Clean Energy Center’s Air Source Heat Pumps or Ground Source Heat Pumps for the info you need to learn about evaluating, selecting and installing a heat pump in Massachusetts.
We are thrilled to have a local heat pump coach to answer your questions on what’s available and help you understand what is best for your home. You can email Mark who volunteers through HeatSmart Alliance.
Cold Climate Best Practices
For outdoor units consider
purchasing a cold climate unit
avoiding snow slide and drip line areas
not using a pad and letting water drip to the ground
not oversizing a standard heat pump expecting it to work like a cold climate unit
Switch to Induction Cooktops
Induction cooking provides faster heating, more control, increased safety and no indoor pollution. Gain control over your cooking and your home air quality!
Read Mass Clean Energy Center’s Induction Cooking Guide for more information.
Faster heating
More control
Increased safety
No indoor emissions
Easy cleanup
Avoid hassle of maintaining dirty gas engines
Get instant start performance
Enjoy quieter yard work
Electrify Your Yard Work
Department of Transportation data shows that in 2018 Americans consumed nearly 3 billion gallons of gasoline running lawn and garden equipment. That’s equivalent to the annual energy use of more than 3 million homes. A significant portion of that is spilled, and dirty air and fuel filters from small gas engines contribute to toxic waste in our landfills.
By using electric yard tools you can avoid the hassle of maintaining dirty gas engines while getting instant start performance and enjoying quieter yard work.
Read more at Electrify Your Yard Work.
Switch to a Heat Pump Water Heater
You can avoid 1 - 3 TONS of carbon emissions per year and lower your energy bills by replacing a natural gas water heater with a super efficient and reliable heat pump water heater. These units look just like conventional water heaters but use a fraction of the energy. Water heaters typically last 8-10 years. Replace your old water heater before it fails to avoid running out of hot water.
The Mass Clean Energy Center has a great overview Heat Pump Water Heaters including how they work, what to consider and help to find an installer.
Home Electrification Organizations
There are many organizations sharing information on how you can electrify your home and your ride.
Electrify Now
Electrify now is a volunteer organization located in the Pacific Northwest committed to sharing information widely on how we can electrify our lives and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They offer lots of webinars on everything from heat pumps to recapturing carbon with agriculture.
HeatSmart Alliance
The HeatSmart Alliance is a Massachusetts-based organization, that is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by accelerating adoption of energy-efficient heat pumps in Massachusetts homes and buildings. This is a fabulous source for everything you may need to know about heat pumps in Massachusetts from finding a heat pump coach to understanding how they work.
Green Energy Consumers Alliance.
Green Energy Consumers Alliance is a Massachusetts-based organization that is harnessing our power as consumer to speed the transition to a low-carbon future. They do a lot of work on EV policy and education.