Homeowners want to do the right thing for the planet, and it’s much easier to do the right thing when the economic case is clear and compelling. Through our partnership with WattCarbon, we’re offsetting the cost of installing a heat pump at home by monetizing the carbon reductions that stem from that decision. The result? Making the climate-friendly choice even more financially appealing for homeowners–and creating a unique mechanism that further accelerates the pace of the energy transition.
The Vision: Paying It Forward for the Planet
Imagine installing a new heat pump and cutting your carbon footprint while also getting paid for doing so. Too good to be true? Not at all.
While fossil fuel firms profit from pollution, we believe in financially rewarding decisions that avoid future emissions. By directing corporate spend on carbon credits into residential home electrification, our partnership aims to democratize access to sustainable technology. The cost of installing a heat pump at home is supplemented by corporate investment, making the green choice no-brainer.
Here’s how we do it: Homeowners who choose heat pumps over gas furnaces receive an additional $500 rebate at installation, thanks to energy attribute certificates (EACs) funded by clean energy buyers on the WattCarbon platform. This rebate is on top of other available incentives already at the federal, state, local, and utility levels—often amounting to thousands of dollars in aggregate.
The Impact: Rapid Decarbonization in our Backyards
From certificate purchase to installation, our timeline is rapid, translating to tangible carbon reductions almost immediately. Each heat pump installed represents a significant cut in emissions over its lifetime, in almost all states cutting emissions by up to 93% when compared fossil-fueled alternatives.
Investing in building electrification projects not only delivers immediate environmental benefits but also makes heat pumps even more accessible and also enables corporate buyers to make a direct impact in the communities where they operate, instead of investing in forward-looking carbon credits abroad, such as reforestation.
The Bigger Picture: Why This Matters More Than Ever
It’s critical that we close the affordability gap so heat pumps can scale. By closing the gap, we can incentivize more people to make the right climate choice now, during this decisive decade when every single heat pump matters.
Take the US, for example. Roughly 20% of our annual carbon emissions come from heating, cooling, and powering households. And yet, we’re installing 20,000 brand new gas furnaces every day. These appliances will generate carbon emissions for the next 15–20 years. What if we could stop those installations from ever happening, and replace them with clean electric technology instead?
The WattCarbon x Elephant Energy partnerships do exactly this, providing homeowners with savings up front, offsetting the upfront cost of a new heat pump, and accelerating the deployment of clean energy technology.
A Word from Our Founders
McGee Young, CEO of WattCarbon, emphasizes the innovative nature of our partnership: “Turning off the emission tap isn’t just ideal; it’s necessary. Working with us ensures that investments immediately support new clean energy projects.”
DR Richardson, Co-Founder of Elephant Energy, adds, “We can’t just SaaS our way out of the climate crisis. Decarbonization requires real assets, in addition to software, and innovative business models to support deployment; and that gets lost so many times in the decarbonization conversation where real world infrastructure can be so hard to incentivize. It requires aligning incentives in ways that haven’t been done before, and WattCarbon is doing a fantastic job of pioneering this space.”
Looking Ahead: Continuing the Charge
Our joint efforts don’t stop here. We’ll continue to use innovative financing mechanisms to drive capital towards the energy transition, and accelerate progress by making climate-friendly home upgrades like heat pumps even more accessible and the clear choice.
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Eager to make more climate-friendly choices? Check out our tool, Your Electrification Roadmap®. A few simple questions will get you a personalized plan for a sustainable home. Together, we can make choices that truly make a difference.