STAY COZY AND PROTECT OUR FUTURE CLIMATE.

WE CAN DO BOTH.

 

Learn About Clean Heat Solutions

No matter how well we control pollution from transportation and electric generation, our kids will be in real trouble unless we deal with the pollution from heating.

Sustainable heating pie charts show that heat and hot water account for the largest portion of home energy use as far south as VA.
Even as far south as Virginia, heat and hot water account for more home energy use than all other appliances combined!

Climate change progress depends on an educated consumer.

Our individual heating and cooling choices can make a massive collective impact, but heating is complex. No one system is right for everyone. Sustainable Heating helps individuals and businesses figure out which heating option best aligns their dollars with their values.

Learn About Clean Heat Solutions

Save Energy. Reduce Pollution. Lower Costs.
We want to help.

Powered by top-tier experts in heating science and climate science, Sustainable Heating is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing pollution through consumer education.

A solitary value guides us: reduce heating pollution through consumer education.

Sustainable Heating Partners, Sponsors & Content Editors

Together we are building a grassroots community grounded in shared values.

U Mass Amherst logo Tarm Biomass engages with Sustainable Heating VT Tech logo Pellergy Wood Pellet Boilers engages with Sustainable Heating VSECU logo REV engages with Sustainable Heating Appropriate Designs engages with Sustainable Heating Vermont Renewable Fuels engages with Sustainable Heating The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and recreation logo Efficiency Vermont engages with Sustainable Heating The Vermont Association of Realtors engages with Sustainable Heating

Heat Loss

The two variables of of heat loss are a) geographic location, and b) building performance. Together they will determine the quantity of heat needed to maintain comfort.

Geographic location drives the building's “design day." Your design day is the difference in temperature between the inside and outside of your house on the theoretical coldest day of the year; so in the northeast we calculate a day that is -10ºf outside and comfortable 68ºf inside. This is referred to as the “delta-T” value. A typical delta-T for the northeast is 78º.

Building performance is the big one because there’s nothing we can do about geographic location. Today we can build a really tight thermal envelope, but most of our heating pollution comes from the millions of homes built over the last 100-150 years. We are getting better at buttoning-up those old buildings with insulation and weather sealing but weatherization is still  never going to be enough to overcome the heat loss from a 78º delta-T. That means we need heating systems that can quickly put a whole lot of heat back into those old houses on the days that are really cold.