For one Boston couple, a leaking oil tank started as an inconvenience — but turned into the beginning of something great.
The Boston Globe shared the story of Amelia Wesselink and Tim Maher, who were able to take advantage of their state's Mass Save financing program to migrate their home off of dirty energy with zero-interest loans and hefty rebates.
First, they swapped out their leaky oil tank for an air-source heat pump. The new heat pump draws on both electricity and natural gas to provide both efficient — and highly customizable — heating and central cooling. And for Wesselink, ditching the noisy and energy-guzzling window AC units was worth the swap in itself.
"You'd have to turn up the volume on the TV when they were on because they're so loud," she said.
Maher agreed, saying, "That's been the biggest comfort difference ... having basically central A/C everywhere is awesome."
So when their hot water heater broke shortly after, the couple again considered their options before deciding to ditch the gas heater in favor of a renewable heat pump.
"There was something satisfying about shutting off the gas and getting rid of the oil," Maher told the Globe. "But a lot of it's just been a necessity: What's broken or not working right now?"
Finally, the couple looked at their stove, which was the one remaining system still guzzling polluting dirty energy. And once again, the numbers to switch to clean energy simply made sense.
"You buy a $1,000 stove, they wrote me a check for $500 back," Maher enthused. "That felt like a good deal."
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The benefits of an induction stove are especially great when it comes to health. Gas stoves have been shown to release dangerous levels of toxic gases, like nitrogen dioxide, leading to health risks like asthma and even cancer over time.
The induction stoves, however, are pollution-free and impressively efficient.
"You go to heat water for tea and by the time you get the teacup ready, the water's [already] boiling," Maher joked.
Not only did these changes make the family comfortable, but their home electricity bills have already dropped by approximately 10%, Maher shared with the Globe.
Wesselink emphasized that the effort and research they put into the changes were well worth it. "It can be kind of overwhelming," she said, "but my advice would be: just do it. Don't be afraid of this."
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