By the Bronxville Green Committee

Nov. 8, 2023: As the world transitions away from fossil fuels, which contribute to climate change, and toward clean energy, Bronxville homeowners, whether you live in a single-family dwelling or a condo or co-op apartment, have a vital role to play—by electrifying your life!

Why is this important?

Electricity can be generated by “clean” sources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric. By replacing your fossil fuel burning equipment with heat pumps for heating and cooling, electric cars for transportation, and electric appliances, you’ll be helping New York State meet its climate goal of reducing climate change-causing emissions 40% by 2030.  You’ll also be adopting the most energy efficient technology available, which will drastically reduce your energy costs once your initial investment is paid off. As an increasing percentage of the electric grid is powered by clean sources, the emissions produced by your home will steadily decrease until you reach net zero emissions!

The Top Three Actions You Can Take:

Your Home: When your natural gas or oil burning boiler is ready to be replaced, choose an air source or geothermal heat pump system. These systems are now powerful enough to meet all your heating and cooling needs—even in winter’s single digit freezing temperatures. Making these conversions will take a little extra time and research, and may take longer to install, but the result will be a healthier environment (without the emissions caused by the combustion of fossil fuels in your home!), increased comfort (no drafts; zones for thermostat control), and in the long run, huge savings on energy costs. Add a heat pump hot water heater and you’ll reap even more benefits. Financial incentives from many sources make the transition more affordable and shorten the pay-back period before you begin enjoying direct cost savings. Learn more HERE.

Note: Although natural gas burns cleaner than fuel oil it’s still a fossil fuel whose emissions contribute to climate change. The fracking necessary to produce natural gas also has a big environmental impact. We all love our gas stoves, and some people consider them a reliable back-up if the power grid temporarily fails, but to reach net zero emissions, which scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we’re encouraged to replace our gas stoves with electric when doing a renovation.

Your Transportation: Purchase a plug-in hybrid or fully electric vehicle. Federal, state, and utility incentives are making EVs more cost competitive, especially when you factor in the lower cost of running them (no, or far fewer, trips to the gas pump; low electric costs for overnight charging) and maintaining them (far fewer moving parts; no engine repairs).  Longer ranges for most models and the rapidly growing number of charging stations solve the problem of “range anxiety.” Learn more HERE and HERE.

Your Appliances: By switching to Energy Star-rated electric appliances, such as induction cooktops, electric clothes dryers, electric snow blowers, and all other appliances, you’ll soon be running a fully electric household on the most energy efficient equipment available.  Apartment dwellers often can’t directly control their heating and cooling systems, but they can buy energy efficient electric appliances--and arrange for the gas to be capped off! Learn more HERE.  

Choosing to electrify our homes will be absolutely essential if we’re to limit the devastating effects of climate change. Why not light the path for your neighbors to follow by becoming among the first to go all electric in Bronxville!

Please contact us if you have converted to any of these solutions – especially if you have converted to an air source or geothermal heat pump system or to a heat pump hot water heater in the past year OR are purchasing an electric vehicle in the coming year so that we can chart and share our campaign progress with Clean Energy Communities, a program of the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA). With your help, Bronxville may qualify for a grant to support sustainable programming. Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Bronxville Green Committee is a volunteer organization that is part of the Village of Bronxville. We work to propose and implement environmentally sustainable programs in our community. Visit our website and follow us on Instagram @bxvgreencommittee to learn more. Please consider joining our efforts!