WHO KNEW How Easy It’s Become to Stay Cool in The Summer?
It used to be that I would have to clean up my winter casement windows when spring began to merge into summer, then make sure no foreign objects were lodged in it and push up the exterior and interior windows as high as they would go. Then I would unwrap my two A/Cs, remove anything in the pathway between the storage area to the windows, challenge my somewhat meager muscles while carrying each to its appropriate window, carefully balance each unit and then safely screw it in place. Finally, I’d extend the side screens to keep the bugs out, search for wherever the electronic controllers had been stored, cross my fingers and, with a lot of hope, very tentatively give each A/C unit’s switch a final press. If a unit worked, part of the house would slowly begin to cool down. What a major drag … BUT no more.
Now those A/C units have been given away. I would have paid people to take them away but that summer had a long heat spell and they went out the front door very quickly. Now there’s extra space where they used to hibernate during winter months. Who knew that after newly experiencing a very comfortably heated winter home I could just flip a switch and my house would begin to cool to just the right temperature and stay that way all summer long without any of the seasonally irritating A/C hassles? This wonderful change was due to a mid-winter installation of a heat pump that has kept the house just right whether heating in winter or cooling in summer. I leave almost all doors open to allow the air to circulate throughout the house during the day so the comfort level is just right no matter the time of year.
There’s no getting around it: my investment in a heat pump was expensive, so stashing funds away for several months before my first payment was really helpful. Unfortunately my installation was a year too early to qualify for funds now available to everyone from the Federal Government of $2000 or 30%, whichever is cheaper, of the overall purchase and installation of a heat pump. New Hampshire has recently applied for a new grant of over $34 million in funding to reduce the cost of efficient electric appliances with a particular focus on low-income households. The Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates Program is part of the Home Energy Rebates that are managed by the United States Department of Energy. New financial assistance would cover up to $8000 on the purchase and installation of a heat pump. Please be in touch with NH's Department of Energy (1-800-852-3793) if interested in finding out more about this new development. Even without financial assistance I have been thrilled from the moment my system was switched on and wouldn't have waited a year.
Although financial help would have been greatly welcomed, I have already experienced significant cost savings by switching to a more efficient electric system and away from my expensive petroleum-based propane heat. Additional savings have also come just by being a Hanover resident whose heat pump now uses the green power of Hanover Community Power. It's exciting that it is green and can cost a lot less (Yesterday's electric bill was one of the lowest ever). Like many of us I try to make as many climate mitigation efforts as I can (decrease plastics, plant trees, drive a hybrid, etc), so switching away from petroleum-based energy while saving money is an especially big WIN/WIN and makes me happy.
Stay cool.