Dan and Malia Fredrickson used the opportunity of a malfunctioning air conditioner to take a step toward electrifying their home by getting a heat pump, equipment that’s been around for a while but has gotten more attention lately thanks to federal legislation.

Rebates and tax credits for heat pumps, which use electricity to both cool and heat buildings, are among the energy-related provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act 2022. While critics contend and some economists agree that the law is unlikely to significantly decrease inflation, it has been hailed as a substantial investment in addressing climate change.

After talking to friends and experts, the Fredricksons decided to replace their old air conditioner and a furnace “that was kind of on its last legs” with a heat pump. The Boulder couple said environmental concerns were a big reason for the decision.

One goal of the Inflation Reduction Act, the massive climate and health care bill President Biden signed earlier this month, is to make it a whole lot cheaper to wean homes off of fossil fuels. 

The law marks the largest climate investment in U.S. history, with roughly $370 billion set aside for programs that reduce emissions. It includes $9 billion in home energy rebates to help residents make their homes more energy efficient and purchase new electric appliances like stoves and water heaters. 

The looming question now is when consumers might actually benefit. While an expanded solar tax credit takes effect immediately, many of the other incentives in the federal law are set to kick in after the end of the year.

Josh Lake is a co-founder of Elephant Energy, a Boulder-based start-up that renovates homes to run on electricity instead of natural gas and other fossil fuels. Since the federal legislation was enacted, many of his customers have called to ask about the possibility of steep discounts from Uncle Sam. He confesses his company is still sorting through the legislation itself. 

Continue reading “Thinking of electrifying your home? Here’s why you may want to wait until next year”

In this edition of the Greenwork blog, we bring you the happy tale of how Elephant Energy performed a whole-home electrification for climate champion Scott Lunt. The company worked with Scott to replace all fossil gas in his home with comfortable, reliable electric equipment.

Scott is a videographer by profession. During the pandemic, he dove into all things Rivian, documenting his journey to electric truck ownership on social media and YouTube as the Rivian Dad. To complement electrifying his transportation, he reached out to Elephant Energy in the early spring of 2022 to electrify his home. The goal was to #electrifyeverything while still maintaining comfort and preserving optionality for future additions.

Scott knew that he wanted to go all-electric, fully removing gas appliances from his home and that he wanted to slash his carbon footprint in the process. At the same time, he wanted to improve year-round comfort and indoor air quality while reducing monthly bills. Electrification shouldn’t be a lifestyle sacrifice!

Continue reading “Project Spotlight: Elephant Energy”

BOULDER, CO, Nov. 14, 2022 — A Front Range home-electrification company is expanding its team and service area in anticipation of increased demand due to high natural gas prices and federal incentives to switch to electric heat pumps and stoves.

After closing a $3.5 million round of funding in September, Boulder-based Elephant Energy, which has focused on the Denver-Boulder corridor since 2021, plans to expand into Fort Collins starting in January. The company is also looking to expand outside Colorado next year but hasn’t yet confirmed those markets.

Amid expectations that its installations will more than double this winter compared with fall 2022, Elephant Energy plans to more than double its full-time team of eight by the second quarter of next year. It is also expanding its team of contractors.

The expansion comes as natural gas prices have skyrocketed. In the United States, prices rose sharply earlier this year as consumption grew faster than production as the nation exported more liquefied natural gas to Europe to replace supplies from Russia amid the war in Ukraine. 

Continue reading “Colorado company expands to meet expected demand for electric heat pumps, stoves”