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If we had been to make a clear tech Mt. Rushmore this Earth Day in honor of the applied sciences that make our lives higher whereas decreasing our impression, we’d carve core applied sciences like photo voltaic panels, electrical automobiles (EVs), LED gentle bulbs, and warmth pumps for house heating and cooling right into a mountainside. Nevertheless, we might be lacking one key participant. This Earth Day, it’s excessive time so as to add a brand new face to this cleantech Mt. Rushmore — the warmth pump water heater (HPWH).
Whereas most individuals rarely take into consideration their water heaters typically, not to mention as a key software to battle local weather change, it’s time we elevated this humble expertise to the long-lasting standing it deserves.
Heating water could be very power intensive. It accounts for 17–32% of a typical home’s energy usageand is the second highest power person in a house behind house heating (and in multi-family buildings, it’s the best power person).
HPWHs are three to five times extra environment friendly than gasoline or electrical resistance water heaters, which implies they cut back carbon emissions by lots. Additionally they run on electrical energy, not fossil fuels, which might (and is) being decarbonized rapidly.
The Advanced Water Heating Initiative (Embrace) did a deep dive and located that changing a gas-powered water heater with a HPWH can save greater than 2,000 kilos of CO2 emissions yearly. 2,000 kilos (or 1 ton) of yearly saved CO2 is a gigantic quantity, particularly when you think about that after a HPWH is put in, the one motion that’s required (moreover straightforward upkeep) is to proceed to take luxurious showers, or in our case, bubble baths.
What does 2,000 lb of CO2 equate to?
It may be exhausting to conceptualize what 1 ton of CO2 seems like, so listed here are some useful analogies. One ton of CO2 is similar air pollution emitted when an individual takes a spherical journey flight from LA to New York or drives a sedan 4,000 miles (all calcs taken from Carbon Footprint Calculator).
Or if bushes are your most well-liked analogy, 1 12 months with a HPWH is the CO2 equivalent of rising greater than 17 bushes for 10 years.
HPWHs save not solely a whole lot of power and cash, however maybe most significantly, for the way forward for our world, they save a literal ton of CO2 yearly they’re in operation.
Which is why they deserve their very personal particular spot atop the Clear Tech Mt. Rushmore. This Earth Day get your self a warmth pump water heater. Right here’s a hyperlink to ENERGY STAR’s HPWH Installer finder to get you began.
Additionally — unfold the excellent news with Superior Water Heating Initiative’s one web page factsheet about these financial savings, it’s out there at www.advancedwaterheatinginitiative.org/resources.
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