Today is an exciting day in our household. We are having a new heat pump installed.
Last Thursday, when our heat pump shuddered, offered an extended sigh, and then breathed its last breath, it was a slightly less exciting day.
We knew we were on borrowed time with our 20-year old system, and for our wallets I’m glad the old pump lasted as long as it did, but the environment (especially the ozone hole) is surely the winner in this exchange. Hopefully, we will also be paying a little less each month with a more efficient system too.
Our next task will be to get an energy audit from our local utility to shore up (or install for the first time in parts of our 1970s house), insulation. I’ve no doubt that will make a dramatic difference to our heating costs and to our comfort upstairs in our work spaces. But one thing at a time - first of all we need heat.
Actually, our first task with this home renovation was to secure some financing, then we had to repair some posts holding up the porch, and completely replace the electric breaker box and some major wiring. (Ouch $$).
I have lived in the this house about a year and a half, and we’ve done a lot already - some convenience-focused projects, some cosmetic, but mostly about safety and core systems - heat, electricity, structural support.
It strikes me that this is like virtually any system we’re trying to change or problem we’re trying to fix - you know, like climate change or pollution.
When you think about all the things that are not working, it’s tempting to want to abandon the system entirely, knock it all down and start again.
Sometimes, that IS the answer - some old buildings just cannot be saved, and some of our habits and practices, should never be allowed to continue (like recklessly using poisonous chemicals or burning more fossil fuel than we can draw out of the air).
But for most things, we have to secure the financing and pick and choose what to fix first and change the system over time.
For example, there is an ongoing place for plastic in the world (syringes and medical gloves, sealants and safety goggles, pipes and wires and chips to name a tiny few uses of plastic), so it’s just not feasible to rip apart the whole ‘plastics’ system. We need to pick the most important parts of the system to fix - single use plastics, recycling processes, eliminating microbeads, using and finding alternatives where weight or safety isn’t compromised (e.g. kids’ toys), consuming less in general, and then move along the chain until we’re only using what’s essential.
As humans, we’re both lazy and impatient. It’s easier and cheaper to maintain the status quo, so we cross our fingers and hope the plastic doesn’t end up in the ocean, or the heat pump doesn’t go out this week.
But we’re also impatient to see results: we want to see tangible, visible progress in real time. When you’ve spent thousands of dollars and the only things you can show your dinner guests are new breaker switches and an air handler, it’s frankly a bit deflating ( I want paint and chandeliers! built-ins and custom counters!). Same when we spend billions on improving and manufacturing the lithium batteries that enable the storage for renewable energy to be successfully deployed at scale. Not exactly the sexy global renovation project we wanted to see. (We want free energy and personal electric planes, and fridges that order more beer by themselves and then have it delivered by drone!)
But….those unsexy things are the foundational pieces on which all other investments must sit. Crossing our fingers and hoping for the best is not an actual strategy. But neither is progress magical or immediate.
So, while we are not super-super thrilled about spending more money on seemingly invisible gains in our house, it does make us feel safer and more efficient and a little bit connected to the sometimes very unmagical progress we all need to make globally.
Onwards….
Brilliant. And true.....