On Saturday April 29 2023 , rain or shine, 10 families in  Acton  are opening their houses for you to see the clean energy technologies they have implemented over the past few years.      Houses will have sign-up slots to visit between 11am and 4pm.

The homeowners listed below are eager to  talk about their solar panels (roof and ground mounted), battery storage, heatpumps (mini-split Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP), Ground-source, Hydronics, heat transfer), Water Heaters (ASHP, hybrid air-source, solar) , ASHP Dryers, Whole-house electricity monitoring, foam insulation, water filter, induction stovetops,  EV's and EV chargers, electric lawn equipment (incl robot).

Get more information for sign-up here.

Where : Picnic area at the tennis courts / playground at 19  Elm Street in West Acton

What : 

• REFRESHMENTS !

• Information on federal and state subsidies

• Information on financial support

• Answer any questions on the homes to visit

• Learn about EnergizeActon.org and Acton Power Choice

• Playground

Where : Half Moon Hill, West Acton    (9 minute walk from Basecamp)

Home : 3,000 sq ft two-story antique Colonial, built in 1735

What: 

• Ground-source heat pump

• Hybrid air-source water heater

• Solar panels

• Foam insulation in attic

Where : Half Moon Hill, West Acton    (10 minute walk from Basecamp)

Home : Duplex with 1200 sq feet af area

What: 

• Solar Panels

• mini-split Air Source Heat Pumps  (ASHP) (Fujitsu: one single head, one multi-head))

• ASHP Hot Water Heater (AO Smith 50 gallon)

• ASHP Dryer (Miele T1)

• EV and EV charging (sharing charger with neighbors)

• Induction stovetop (Kenmore)

• Whole-house electricity monitoring (Emporia)

• Electric mower

Where : Half Moon Hill, West Acton    (11 minute walk from Basecamp)

What:  2,400 sq. ft built in 1996

• Solar Panels : 10 kW PV array on roof

• Solar Battery Storage : 18 kWh Generac battery

• Solar hot water panels on roof

• Greenhouse heat transfer system

• Clivus toilet composting system

• 4-stage reverse osmosis water filter

• Induction Cooktop

• EV and shared EV charger

• Rechargeable electric mower

• n/a

Where : off of Willow Street, West Acton   (5 min. drive from Basecamp)

Home : 1991 New England Colonial (2000 square feet) completely decarbonized off of oil & more 

What: 

• Solar PV panels (2 arrays front & back)

• 6 mini split/heat pumps - whole house for heating + COOLING  (displaced oil)

• Solar thermal hot water heater 

• Opted up to Acton Power Choice (APC) Green 100% renewable option

• Electric Vehicle (EV)   and EV Charger (Chargepoint - installed 2023)

• Electric Lawn equipment - misc 

• Natural lawn care practices & rain barrel

Our clean energy transition took place over 2 to 3 years with amazing local resources including local energy 'coaches' for inspiration, Abode Energy taking advantage of many federal & state rebates plus carbon SAVINGS! A major plus was the addition of A/C with the installation of heat pump/mini splits. Can operate via Kumo Cloud APP remotely to control temps. Happy to share our decarbonization journey with others.

Where : High Street, South Acton  (7 min. drive from Basecamp)

What: 

• Hydronics whole-house heat pump

• Mini-split heat pump

• Heat pump dryer

• Heat pump water heater

• Induction range

• EV and Electric car chargers

• Battery-electric hard tools (lawn mower, snow blower, chain saw etc)

Where : near Prospect Street (close to the MBTA station) 

(5 min drive from Basecamp)

Home : 2000 square foot one story "ranch" with finished basement built in 1955, with renovations. 

What: 

• Solar panels on roof (March/May 2021)

Where : Concord Rd (East) (7 min drive from Basecamp)

Home : multi-level (4) built in 1960, with approx. 2100sf

What: 

• Whole-house cold-climate Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) system (using mini-splits)   Mitsubishi (2023)

  • one 18K/1.5 ton outdoor condenser unit (supplies a single 18K mini-split) + one "double decker" 42K/3.5 ton outdoor condenser supplying 5 mini-splits (3 9K + 2 6K)

• Electric, double-stainless-steel-walled water heater (2006)

• Solar array, 4.104kW AC/4.56kW DC (2011)

• EV and Level 2 charger (2017)

•  Insulation in external walls (2007 + 2017), to attic floor (2022)

• All electric appliances (2008–2015)

• Electric mower, snow blower, chain saw (2006–2016)

Where : Bellow Farms, North Acton (close to rt 2A and Main Street junction)

(10 min drive from Basecamp)

Home:  3000 sq ft open floor plan built in 1997

What:  

• Ducted Bosch heat pump and high efficiency gas furnace combo (Spring 2022)

• Solar panels with majority of panels facing west due to trees on south side (Summer 2022)  

• Mass Save Insulation Program

• Ego power lawn mower and leaf blower (Summer 2022)

Where : Newtown Rd, Central Acton (west)  (5 min drive from Basecamp)

Home: built in 2019, prepared for solar and EV charger during build phase

What: 

• Ground Mounted Solar Panels (12 kW) , Tigo Optimizers, 12K Sol-Ark inverter/charger  and  Battery Storage (4 x 7.5kW KiloVault LiFePO4) - hybrid/not grid tight and used instead of a generator in case of a power outage (2021-2022) 

• EV Car and EV charger (2022)

• Induction Cooktop  (2019)

• Full Foam insulated house (2019)

• Electric lawn mower robot (2019, Husqvarna)

• Organic lawn, native flower mini-meadow