I appreciate your perspective. I'm not a professional but in the past I lived totally off the grid in a very rural area so I know what that lifestyle is like.

I live in a city now so we're not going to disconnect our sewer and water in favor of a well and composting system but if I had the space I'd consider it.

In any case, my partner and I have worked pretty hard to reduce our energy consumption and adjust our lifestyles accordingly. We walk to work. Don't have a clothes dryer. Spent a lot of money making our house as passively energy efficient as possible. Reduced waste and compost, and grow what food we can.

Now we're at a point where the only thing left to do is convert our energy sources.

Our colonial will never be as efficient as a well built straw bale house, but life is a series of compromises and we're doing the best we can with what we've got.

From what I understand there are whole forests being razed in eastern Europe and the SE US. I was under the impression that it's possible to buy sustainably produced pellets but that's not across the board.

Fair. I read this in quick succession with a comments that were not so neutral/nice so I guess I transferred the tone in my head when I read it.

In any case, I think I included the necessary information to get the kind of answers I'm looking for. I'm less keen on sharing financial and detailed geographic and house info.

Already did the insulation and air sealing. Cut our gas bill in half, which was sweet.

Good to know about the mini splits. My property is too small for ground source unfortunately.

Yes, to the induction oven.

THANK YOU.

I am very much looking forward to steps 5 and 6, but the prior steps were a bit fuzzy to me. This is the kind of information I was looking for.

Cheers.

>You didn’t mention insulation, but that should come first. Masssave will
give you big subsidies for insulation work and zero interest for the
rest.

Done.

​

>Mini splits can do the job alone. If you already have vents for AC, you
can use a central system instead of mini splits. Otherwise, you might as
well shell out for mini splits rather than do vent work. You can keep
the old system if you want, but I’d rather clear out those radiators for
good.

Unfortunately I don't have AC ducting so it would have to be all mini splits. Good to know they're probably robust enough. I need to find a specialist and not someone who's trying to sell me a new gas boiler lol.

Unfortunately my property is too small to do geothermal in a way that would make it worthwhile. Which is too bad because it seems like the most reliable/efficient option.

Do I need a reason? Obviously I don't have infinite money and land, but I'm asking about what's possible, not what's logical.

I need information before I can figure out what makes sense for me and my house/financial situation, which is why I'm asking in the first place.

>Which should be priority one: insulation and sealing.

Already done. See above.

​

>Is your house even situated correctly for solar?

Yes, ideal actually.

​

>Have you considered propane vs NG?

No, but I'm willing to if there's a compelling reason.

​

>Do you plan on having a clothes dryer?

No, and we don't have one now anyway.

​

>You really need to think this thru.

Agreed, this post is part of the process. Thanks for playing.

Gas - 1 Electric - undecided