Last winter we installed a heat pump powered air conditioner. The bonus was it also provides supplemental heat, which offsets our oil use a little bit. No more high energy window units and we can easily get fresh air too. When the temps get really high, the unit still cools but wont over work, it balances indoor temp with outdoor temps. We are very happy with this home upgrade and highly recommend Advanced Mechanical. 

We installed heat pumps a few years ago when we gave in to adding A/C.  For some reason that I can't explain, the quality of our heat is so much improved  - more even and comfortable.  For the A/C we run it at a high temperature during bad heat waves and the result is reduced humidity - also very even, comfortble and not overly chilly.  We have solar panels and the only downside is the increase to our electrical usage, but that is nicely offset by savings on oil for the furnace.

I learned composting from my mother - way before composters were readily available, she would just throw all vegetable waste directly back into her veggie garden and let it break down over time.  We have a fantastic composter which we have used with huge success for 30 years - you can't beat the nutrition-rich black gold that we can add back into our veggie garden.

This is easy to do if the airline offers a carbon offset.  Just check the box.  Simple.

Love reading in The Harvard Press what's fresh right now at farms around Harvard. Best for us is walking to Carlson Orchards and getting fruit grown half a mile for the house. No ships or planes needed!

My house had heat pumps on one side when I moved in, but they didn't cover the other half. This summer I had the a second outdoor unit with two heads installed, and upgraded the exiting outdoor to the more efficient hyper-heat type, which I probably wouldn't have done were it not necessary to qualify for the $10k whole-home reabte.  I do like the fact that I'll be able to use the system for heating now instead of oil, but I have to say my primary motivation was to get AC in the bedrooms that didn't have it.  And on that front alone, it is certainly worth it.   The system cools the whole house quite effectively, even places you would think are too far away from any of the heads.  It's also a lot quieter than I would have thought, which is nice.  I'll probably be switching them over to heating mode soon so we'll see how that goes.  I engaged a few different places trying to get quotes and Denommee was by far the most responsive and organized.  They were easy to work with during the installation as well, so I would definitely recommend them.