Connor, who asked to be referred to by first name only, rents an apartment in an old house in Pittsford, Vt. with his girlfriend. He says the unpredictable cost of fuel oil was a surprise expense when they moved back to a rural community in the state.
In New England, homes and buildings are the second-biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and one of the most challenging places to cut emissions from buildings is in rental properties. “There’s a big difference between not feeling any draft and, you know, being bundled up in the armchair trying to read your book, but the arm that’s exposed is covered in goosebumps and your hair is shifting in the slight breeze that the window is just letting through,” Netzley said.A big part of the problem for renters is something experts call “the split incentive.”
On top of being drafty and poorly insulated, many of those older homes have out-of-date or very old electrical panels that require costly upgrades to shift away from fossil fuel heat. Renters are also more likely to have less income and are more vulnerable than homeowners are to displacement and other impacts of climate change.
But what often makes the biggest difference on a person’s bill are bigger projects — like adding insulation and replacing windows and doors, or installing a heat pump or new hot water heater, or upgrading an outdated electrical panel. Electrification is most effective at reducing emissions and costs if it’s done after a building has been sufficiently weatherized to reduce heat loss.
They weren’t able to get all the appliances they wanted — in part because some of the ones that qualified for rebates are not accessible for people who are blind, like Therisa’s husband. Getting the entire building weatherized – also called “whole building weatherization” – is probably the best way to make the biggest dent in lowering your heating costs.
And if you have an appliance that needs to be replaced – a refrigerator, stove, boiler or furnace – that can be a great opportunity to ask your landlord to consider a more efficient option.. There are rebates that make some of those appliances cost competitive with their fossil fuel or less efficient counterparts.. In your state, you could qualify for free LED light bulbs or more efficient shower heads.