Barbara and Peter Hauschka were interested in adding rooftop solar PV to their Needham home, and possibly buying an electric vehicle (EV) as a way to lower their carbon footprint, so they contacted Green Needham with their questions about solar and EVs.
Ed Quinlan (Green Needham volunteer and retired Energy Engineer), met with the Hauschkas to help answer their questions. In the course of the discussion, Ed realized that they were also a perfect candidate to convert their home heating system to air source heat pumps – their existing oil system was expensive to run and their ducted air conditioning system was ready for replacement. Ed ran some calculations for them to determine how big the solar system would need to be to power their existing electrical needs, plus the new heating system and future EV. Ed also provided them with suggestions for who to contact for quotes, and roughly what the work should cost. Asked about their experience, Barbara and Peter said “We found Ed to be extremely knowledgeable and informative about strategies to reduce our carbon footprint with a cost-effective plan.”
With this information in hand, the Hauschkas are now in the process of getting quotes for the solar and heating systems for their home. With these changes, their home will be nearly 100% carbon free, powered by renewable energy.
Do you have a question about “going solar”? Are you considering an EV as your next car? We’ve been getting more and more inquiries from Needham neighbors like the Hauschkas looking for help getting started on clean energy and energy efficiency projects.
To help out, we’ve developed Green Needham’s Ask the Expert program. We’ll connect you with a knowledgeable individual who has worked in the field and/or been through the process themselves to answer questions about the technologies and your project, just like Ed did for the Hauschkas.
Start with our pages for the project areas you’re interested in:
- Residential Solar
- Efficient home HVAC and water heating
- Battery Storage for Residential Solar
- Driving Green – making the move to Electric Vehicles and plug-in hybrids
You’ll see the types of questions we can help with on each of the pages and a link to reach out for help from “Ask the Expert.” Check out the information, then contact a Green Needham “expert” to get your questions answered by a knowledgeable individual who is not trying to “sell you something.”
