The Johnson's Plan
Learn how the Johnson family made a plan to reduce their basic climate impact 100% and saved over $3,000 a year!
Your Impact
Action Steps & Tips
Introduction
They wanted to know how they could help and started looking for solutions. They were worried it would be difficult or expensive and were dreading the news. However, what they found was that they could make a few changes over the next few years and that it would not only reduce their impact - it would also save them a lot of money.
They made a plan to reduce their impact, and were able to reduce 100% of their basic household emissions and save over $3,000/year!
Read below to see the steps they included in their plan and their savings.
1Choose Green Electricity - 20% Impact
The Johnsons considered solar panels, but they didn't have enough sun exposure, so they chose to sign up for a Green Electricity program through their utility. This was a bit more than their basic electricity rate and cost $10/month. This lowered their basic household impact by 20%!
Annual Cost: $120/year
2Switch to Electric Vehicles - 45% Impact
The Johnsons have 2 vehicles and use both for commuting. Joe commutes farther, about 50 miles round trip/day. Suji commutes closer to home, around 20 miles/day. Joe's car was in need of replacement, so they switched his car to an EV right away to use for the longer commute. This created a savings of $1,200/year right away in fuel costs and even more in lowered maintenance costs. They planned to switch Suji's car out in 5 years when it was ready for replacement. These two actions reduced their basic household impact by 45%!
Upfront cost: comparable to the average new car purchase or lease, monthly payments slightly higher (5-10%), but covered by huge annual cost savings!
Annual Savings: $2,000/year from lower fuel and maintenance costs
3Install Electric Heat Pump Heating - 15% Impact
The Johnson's water heater was in need of replacement right as they started looking into solutions. Now that they have Green Electricity, they decided to install an electric Heat Pump water heater and have carbon free hot water! It was about $300 more for the installation, but they received a rebate from their utility and their monthly bills are about the same as with their previous gas heater. Their new water heater also came with great wifi controls which allows them to save even more money through smart programming.
Their gas furnace still had a few years left before replacement was needed. They planned to replace their furnace with an electric heat pump heating system in 5 years and added this action to their plan. Together these two actions lowered their basic household impact 15%!
Upfront cost: $1,000 extra for heat pump space heating over a conventional system installation, water heater no extra cost due to $300 rebate.
Annual Savings: $100
4Fly Less and Offset Air Travel - 10% Impact
The Johnsons would generally fly twice a year, once for summer vacation and once over the holidays to visit family. They decided to lower their air travel for a few years until a safer airline fuel was available. They reduced their air travel to one trip per year by choosing to vacation closer to home every other year and to visit family every other year, on the years they vacationed locally. They offset their remaining air travel through contributing to a wind farm project in their state. They also set up video chatting with their family and are in touch more often than before. These two actions reduced their basic household impact by 10%!
Annual cost: $48/year for air travel offsets
Annual Savings: $1,500/year from reduced air travel
5Recycle More and Eat More Sustainably - 10% Impact
The Johnsons set a goal to reduce their garbage by 30% through reducing, reusing and recycling. After taking a look at all the things their local curbside recycling program took, they found out that they could actually do even more and reduced their garbage by 50%! With this reduction in garbage, they were able to reduce their garbage bin size and saved $10/month, the same amount they were paying extra for Green Electricity.
They also reduced the meals they eat with beef, finding new creative recipes that included more beans, grains and low impact foods. They had fun choosing their new favorite meals and planning together as a family.
Annual Savings: $120/year from reduced garbage bin size, $200/year on lower food costs
6Energy Smart Actions
In order to lower their impact and save money until they were able to install the new heat pump water and space heating, they chose some energy efficiency actions. They installed a programmable thermostat, lowered their energy use with the Be Cool and Heat Wise tips, added an extra layer of insulation in their attic, installed smart power strips and lighting controls, and started walking or biking with the kids to school rather than driving every day. This lowered their impact by 20% until they completed the bigger actions above (reductions counted in the actions above).
Upfront cost: $1,000
Annual savings: $1,000
7The Results
With this plan, the Johnson family lowered their basic climate impact by 100% and saved over $3,000/year! All in 5 years.
They also met some new neighbors and had fun in the process. They joined a team and worked with their neighbors, sharing tips and resources on actions. They were the first on their block to install an electric heat pump water heater and have shown it off many times! Twice a year their team comes together for a potluck to share updates and celebrate their achievements.
They are encouraged at how much their team has accomplished and hopeful knowing that we have a path forward on climate change. Their goal now - to share their experiences with as many friends and family as possible and inspire more families to take actions! They are also learning about more ways to take action and make a difference beyond their basic household impact.
This is the Johnson’s plan – now it’s time to create your own! Every household is different, so the actions that make the most sense for your household may be different. Complete your Energy Profile and customize the actions to discover your current impact and where you can make a difference!