We’re on a mission to make energy efficiency simple and affordable.
Why energy efficiency?
American homes use a lot of energy. As a result homeowners spend thousands of dollars every year running their AC, furnace, appliances, and electronics.
But, as you can see in the map below, not all Americans spend the same amount of money on energy. In fact, some Americans spend as much as 20% of their income on energy.
And because most electricity is generated from fossil fuels, our homes also have a big carbon footprint. If our homes were considered a country, they’d be the 6th largest emitter of CO₂ in the world.
Our water heaters alone consume more energy and emit more CO₂ than the entire nation of Belgium.
In the coming decades all of this will need to change if we want to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Our homes will need better insulation, smarter thermostats, and more efficient… well, everything. That means hot water heaters that don’t run when we’re on vacation and furnaces that turn off when we snuggle up in the warmth of our beds each night.
But this energy efficient world isn’t some distant utopia. We’re not talking about a world with flying cars where Republicans and Democrats hold hands and sing kumbaya (though, both parties do support energy efficiency).
All of the technology that we need to improve our homes’ energy efficiency is available today. And a lot of it is pretty cheap relative to the amount of money it saves a homeowner.
So why aren’t our homes more energy efficient?
Today energy efficiency is complicated
Let’s say you want to improve your home’s energy efficiency. Or maybe your hot water heater goes out and you want to replace it with the most energy efficient option.
If you’re like pretty much every American you’d probably start with some online research.
But you’d quickly run into some problems.
First of all, the experience would be about as enjoyable as filing your taxes. The websites you’d land on would look like they were designed in 1999 when we were all fretting about Y2k.
Then you’d quickly realize that the quality of the information was about as bad as our Y2K predictions. Nearly every website would contradict the one before it.
You’d probably run into a suggestion like this: “For those that are environmentally conscious, your best bet is to stick with a conventional natural gas (oil or propane) water heater.”
Now at risk of getting into a heated debate about the role of natural gas as a bridge-fuel, gas-powered water heaters are the least environmentally-friendly option.
If you were to search for a new furnace, air conditioner, clothes dryer, or any home appliance you’d run into the same problems.
So what’s the deal?
The short answer is this: while the way that we choose a credit card or a used car has gotten a lot easier thanks to the internet, for some reason home energy efficiency is still stuck in the 1990s.
We want to change that.
Our mission
Our mission is to make energy efficiency simple and affordable.
That means helping people understand how much energy they’re currently using and where they’re using it. It means recommending the energy efficiency upgrades that make the most sense based on their home and climate. It means creating guides that are easy to understand, actionable, and factual. It means helping people no matter their income or bank balance.
Onward!
–Michael Thomas
Founder and Chief Energy Geek