About EcoHome

American homes generate 20% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the US. Our mission is to change that.

It all started with a visit from an HVAC contractor. My home was built in 1887 and was drafty and expensive to heat and cool. We knew we needed to get away from the propane system we were using, but weren't sure where to start. One of the local companies that installs electric heat pumps came out and gave us an estimate for four units, with discounts tied to the total number of units we installed. What they didn't mention was that the only reason we needed so many was because our house leaked air directly to the outdoors. Like many older homes, we had virtually no insulation. The order of operations was broken: First seal the house. Then figure out the heating and cooling.

And it’s a story we’ve heard repeated again.

Over the last few years, we watched as our friends started moving to the Hudson Valley from New York City. They were buying old homes powered by fossil fuels and had no idea what to do to bring their homes into the 21st century. Now, many of them are heating a stone home with inefficient single pane windows and basically heating the outdoors. It doesn’t need to be this way.

Any home can be made more efficient, but homeowners need a roadmap.

The fact is, the technology and solutions exist to make your home more efficient if you know how to approach it. Heat pumps and electrification are good and getting better all the time, but they’re not going to solve your problems in a vacuum. A home built in 1887 is going to need a different approach than a home built in 1950, or a home built in 2024. But all homes, no matter when they were built, can and should be improved. Your pocketbook, your health, and the planet will all thank you.

If we all had a trustworthy guide on this journey, we’d make very different choices along the way. Based on real data about your home, they would weigh the pros and cons of upgrades, and tailor a specific roadmap for what you need to do. You would make upgrades and then measure the impact of those improvements to see how much better they’ve made your house. Over the course of time, those improvements would lead to a home that is more efficient, healthier to live in, and cheaper to own over the long haul. If everybody did this, we’d see a massive improvement in our emissions as a society, and make strides toward a healthier planet.

A roadmap is possible, but you can’t trust for-profit companies to get you there efficiently.

You need a trusted partner that’s looking at your home holistically and helping you make decisions that are in your best interest.

The reality is that most things in your home only need to be fixed once by a bunch of different kinds of businesses. There’s no single quarterback that’s managing your home in a comprehensive way. Your HVAC contractor deals with HVAC systems all day every day. Your electrician just wants to make sure that your light switches work and your house isn’t going to burn down. They have all of the information you need, but they also have every incentive in the world to make money off of you.

EcoHome is the place to make your home more efficient. We know what your end goal is: a decarbonized home that’s fully electrified, well insulated, affordable, and continually improving over time.

We learn about what your home is currently like, suggest a tailored roadmap on where you can improve, and help you find people to help you get the jobs done in the right order.

We’re your home’s medical chart, never forgetting about what work you’ve done. We learn what works from other homeowners that have come before you, and remember every decision you’ve made, plotting your course to a healthier, more efficient home.

Figuring out how to be a good, responsible homeowner is within reach.

Let’s get started.

— Brad Johnsmeyer & Thad Allender, co-founders, EcoHome