Interesting factoid (for those outside the Pacific NW) but the Seattle area is the least air conditioned major metro area, since I was young we’ve relied on fans bringing in cold air at night and room/window AC units the past decade. However the past few summer wildfires have seriously put a damper on the fans solution and the recent heat bubble pushed things over the edge. 

Of course AC isn’t great environmentally – it increases power consumption which in many cases means significant powerplant emissions and the refrigerants can be very powerful greenhouse gases if you have a leak. 

So instead I got a heat pump which is basically an AC with a reversing valve and all the same downsides of AC. I know that sounds bad, but hear me out for a second. The cool thing about a heat pump is it can generate heating and cooling – meaning that instead of burning natural gas in my furnace which emits 11.7lbs of CO2 per therm I can generate most of the home’s heat with zero emissions electricity. 

Note I said most of the home’s heat, for a few reasons I kept the existing high efficiency gas furnace. First off you need to know heat pumps come in a variety of types such as single stage, dual stage, and variable speed. I purchased a single stage unit which will efficiently heat the house when the outside temperature is at least 40 degrees, then the gas furnace will kick in. A cold climate variable speed heat pump would be able to heat my house in any Seattle weather but at significantly higher equipment cost than a single stage unit like I got. Variable speed is also more efficient, but looking at equipment cost vs operating cost savings it didn’t make a lot of sense in my case. 

The other issue is backup heat, we get a lot of power outages in my neighborhood and backing up a heat pump takes a large generator – so no matter what I’m not getting rid of fossil fuels entirely. On the other hand backing up a gas furnace has modest power requirements, we run that off an inverter connected to an EV. 

So in the end I didn’t completely eliminate the heating emissions, but I made a cost effective major reduction in emissions while getting some much needed cooling. I think that’s a good trade-off because that money can be used elsewhere for more significant emissions reductions. 

In case you wonder what my heat pump costs to run, so far I’m seeing a daily cost when it runs (which isn’t every day) of about 50¢ to $1.50 for the heat pump. In other terms, cooling in the PNW is pretty cheap. At the time I can’t yet compare to the gas furnace for heating, but later this winter I’ll have an update.

As for some heat pump shopping tips:

• I suggest ensuring you get an Energy Star unit. Note Energy Star units also have $300 federal rebates which you may be eligible for. Also check with your utility for local rebates. 
• My hope is a higher quality unit will be less likely to break and leak refrigerants. I got an American Standard which was top rated by Consumer Reports. Also expect annual maintenance on the heat pump to ensure it’s in good condition. 
• I went with Arden Heating & Cooling after getting a referral from a neighbor and getting five quotes. I’d highly recommend them to anyone in the Seattle/Metro area. 

Usually when I’m writing a post I’m not conflicted. But in this case I feel funny that I have to admit that plastic recycling sucks and I’m still excited about doing plastic film recycling with Ridwell. 

So in case you haven’t heard plastic recycling is a disaster because there’s so many types of plastic, it degrades with each recycling, and recycling it costs more than making virgin plastic. So while you may think you’re recycling, it could also end up as landfill or incinerated. 

Yet I’m excited to have plastic film recycling with Ridwell. Plastic film is the thin flexible plastic used basically everywhere – plastic shopping bags, bubble wrap, air pillows, frozen food bags, bubble mailers (like amazon uses), dry cleaning bags, bread bags, etc. Plastic film is ubiquitous but difficult to recycle because it clogs sorting machines, gets contaminated, gets loose, and can be difficult to separate from paper. By collecting it separately Ridwell is able to bypass these issues and give it a second life as Trex decking.

Ridwell doesn’t just do plastic film but also clothes, styrofoam, batteries, and rotating categories. Last pick up we had filled a 60 bag of styrofoam, a 13 gallon bag of plastic film, and a handful of batteries. 

Ridwell does cost money (prices vary by area, $14/mo for us) and you could recycle these items without Ridwell for free, but at the expense of time. For example Styro Recycle will take styrofoam for free, but for me it’s an hour round trip and they’re only open weekdays when I’m working. Ideally Ridwell will help you cut down your trash bin size which may balance out the cost. 

Ridwell is in the Seattle/Eastside area now and going to PDX! Check it out from our link and get a free month. 

ridwell.com/invite/KEVIN38