Heating and Air Conditioning
Heating typically uses the greatest amount of energy in the home. Heat pumps are the most efficient way to provide heating and cooling with electricity, which reduces gas demand.
Have you upgraded your thermal envelope as fully as you can?
The thermal envelope is usually the biggest opportunity to save energy. Do as much of this as you can before replacing mechanical systems—you can reduce HVAC capacity often by 50% with good insulation and airtightness
4. Do you have a boiler/radiant system?
At end of boiler life, assess hot water heat pump options with a qualified heat pump contractor— either ground source or new air-to-water heat pump technology for hot water and/or air-to-air systems such as mini-splits.
Replace the forced air gas system with high efficiency heat pump(s) at the end of the service life of EITHER the furnace or air conditioner.
5. Do you have central cooling?
If you want it, use an inverter-driven heat pump system.
6. Is your cooling system inverter driven heat pump based?
Great!
Replace with a heat pump system at the end of service life.
7. Does your thermostat turn back when you’re not home, or when you’re asleep?
Set back your thermostat to turn back when you can, whether it’s a manual thermostat, programmable or smart.
Note: low-load houses typically do not need/benefit from nighttime setback, but should be setback for longer absences.
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This flowchart was originally conceptualized by Tom Bassett-Dilley of Tom Bassett-Dilley Architects, Ltd.