Gas Leaf Blowers: More Harm Than Just Noise

English Ivy- Danger to Trees! 

Interested in replacing your heating system with a heat pump?

Replacing your fossil fuel fired furnace or boiler with a heat pump is a major step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  Furthermore, contrary to the commonly-held belief that heat pumps do not heat at freezing and subfreezing temperatures, air-sourced heat pumps that effectively warm down to 0 degrees Fahrenheit have been developed and are now widely available for installation in homes and businesses in the northern states of the US.  Because a heat pump transfers ('pumps') warm air, it is also more efficient than a fossil-fueled system that has to produce heat by igniting the fuel before transferring the warmed air or hot water through the home.  

In fact, cold climate heat pumps can reach efficiencies of 200-300%, meaning they generate 2-3 times more heat energy than the electrical energy used to transfer the heat into the home.  In contrast, fossil fuel heating systems at best are about 95% efficient. Thus, a study by the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships found that if cold climate heat pumps were installed in single-family homes, the annual savings on heating were estimated to be around $948 when compared to oil heating systems. Furthermore, in our region with mild winters, the life-cycle cost  (purchase, installation and operation) of cold-climate heat pumps is generally less than that of gas-fired furnaces. Finally, remember that homeowners can take advantage of government and utility company incentives to offset the cost of heat pump installation. For details on these incentives see: https://www.radnor.com/government/boards-and-commissions/environmental-advisory-council/financial-incentives-for-saving-energy-and-going-green. 

For more information on heat pumps, see this Youtube presentation sponsored by the Northern Arizona Climate Change Alliance, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq0cfTEaXVs, the US Department of Energy website, https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/air-source-heat-pumps, and a report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, https://www.aceee.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/b2205.pdf