Unpopular take: my town's $2.1M heat pump rebate program got maybe 40 installs, and the free weatherstripping table at the dump did more | Climate Action - Topic Shares
Unpopular take: my town's $2.1M heat pump rebate program got maybe 40 installs, and the free weatherstripping table at the dump did more
Two years ago our city in southern Ohio rolled out a rebate program for heat pumps, with income tiers and a contractor approval process that took six weeks to get through. Last winter I helped run a table at the county transfer station handing out free door sweeps, outlet gaskets, and caulk, no paperwork, no income proof, just show up. We moved about 900 kits in four months and people kept telling me their furnace was running less. The fancy program is still the one that gets press releases, but I think the boring stuff that costs $4 per house is doing more actual work per dollar here. Has anyone else watched a rebate program in their area get outrun by plain old air sealing?