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Energy Efficiency & Electrification
The Town of Lexington is committed to helping residents and businesses reduce their carbon footprint and save money on their energy bills. By increasing the energy efficiency on your home or business you can reduce your energy use. Switching to electric heating and cooling systems is one of the most impactful way residents can reduce the town's contribution to climate change. Explore this page for resources to help you save energy and money.
Lexington HeatSmart: Install Clean Heating and Cooling with Confidence
Lexington HeatSmart is a town-wide initiative to empower residents to adopt clean heating and cooling technologies with confidence. Through this program you can connect with a trained Energy Advisor who will help you explore your options for installing air source heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and solar thermal systems. The Energy Advisor will help you find local and reputable contractors, compare quotes, take advantage of available rebates and incentives, and more. Visit the Lexington HeatSmart landing page to learn more.
The Lexington HeatSmart program officially launched on January 4, 2023 with a virtual event to share information about the program and about clean heating and cooling technology. Check out the following resources to learn more:
- HeatSmart launch event recording
- HeatSmart launch event presentation slides
- Video: A local home retrofit case study from Select Board Member Joe Pato
- Lexington HeatSmart Digest: Heat Pumps are Standing up to New England Winters
Support for the Lexington HeatSmart program is provided in part by a grant from the Community Endowment of Lexington, an endowed fund of the Foundation for MetroWest.
Why Heat Pumps?
Heat pumps are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and market-ready technologies that transform how your home uses energy. These technologies can help save you money on your utility bills and also significantly help Lexington decrease its overall carbon footprint, benefiting the community. They are heating and cooling systems that move heat indoors in the winter and draw heat outdoors in the summer. Instead of burning fossil fuels, they’re powered by electricity to move—rather than create—heat to keep your home or business at a comfortable temperature year-round. Today’s cold climate heat pumps can be up to 400% efficient and many provide efficient heating at outdoor temperatures as low as -15 °F. Mass Save® offers rebates on heat pumps up to $10,000 per home.
As an added incentive, residents living in single family home, in an individual apartment, or in a residential condo who use permanently installed electric heating equipment as the principle heating system are eligible for a reduced electric rate through Eversource (A4 - Residential Space Heating, which is around 1.5 cents per kWh cheaper than the default rate).
The Lexington Average Annual Heating Costs chart is based on current utility and fuel prices as of stated date and average heating load of newest homes in Lexington (88.35 MMBtu). Sources: Mass.gov, Eversource, National Grid, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Lexington Community Choice, and Lexington Permit Database.
Take Advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act Savings
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is full of incentives to help you and your family go electric. It can be hard to know exactly what you are eligible for and how to best take advantage of the savings. The White House has create a website that gives an overview of what tax credits and rebates are available and when. Rewiring America has created a guide to help you navigate your options and a calculator that estimates how much money you are eligible based on your basic household information. In Middlesex County, the average household will receive $10,600 in IRA benefits to help them electrify. Visit the LexElectrify pages to learn more about what federal incentives are available today.
HomeWorks Energy
Lexington has partnered with HomeWorks Energy to provide its residents with a wide array of actions households can take to reduce their carbon emissions and build a resilient community. Start with a Mass Save® Home Energy Assessment to learn how your home consumes and loses energy.
Mass Save
Mass Save® offers free home energy assessments. Homeowners and renters are eligible to participate every three years. Benefits include:
Installation of no-cost energy-saving products, such as advance power strips, low-flow showerheads, and programmable thermostats
- Eligibility screening for Mass Save rebates and incentives
- Infrared testing, which measures surface temperatures using advance cameras to see if you need additional insulation
- Combustion safety testing of your natural gas, oil or propane appliances to screen for carbon monoxide, drafts, and spillage
You can also choose to work directly through a Mass Save® Participating Home Performance Contractor.