Project Spotlight: Elephant Energy

Greenwork
4 min readSep 27, 2022

At a Glance

  • Type: Home Electrification
  • Location: Denver, CO
  • Components: Heat pump HVAC, heat pump water heater, insulation, duct work, induction stove
  • Project Lead: Elephant Energy
  • Key Electrification Steps: 1. Gas furnace → heat pump, 2. Gas water heater → electric, super-efficient heat pump water heater (“HPWH”), 3. Gas range → induction stove

The Project

In this edition of the Greenwork blog, we bring you the happy tale of how Elephant Energy performed a whole-home electrification for climate champion Scott Lunt. The company worked with Scott to replace all fossil gas in his home with comfortable, reliable electric equipment.

Scott is a videographer by profession. During the pandemic, he dove into all things Rivian, documenting his journey to electric truck ownership on social media and YouTube as the Rivian Dad. To complement electrifying his transportation, he reached out to Elephant Energy in the early spring of 2022 to electrify his home. The goal was to #electrifyeverything while still maintaining comfort and preserving optionality for future additions.

Scott knew that he wanted to go all-electric, fully removing gas appliances from his home and that he wanted to slash his carbon footprint in the process. At the same time, he wanted to improve year-round comfort and indoor air quality while reducing monthly bills. Electrification shouldn’t be a lifestyle sacrifice!

Elephant Energy took inventory of the gas-powered appliances in the home and made a replacement plan for each one.

The team planned to replace his gas water heater with an electric, super-efficient Heat Pump Water Heater (“HPWH”). They designed a plan to remove Scott’s centrally ducted gas furnace and install a central air heat pump, an indoor air handler that replaces the furnace, paired with a condenser that replaces the A/C.

To complete the electric transformation, Elephant Energy added new induction wiring to enable the replacement of Scott’s gas stove with an induction range. Induction stoves allow homeowners to avoid the (widely underestimated) harm that comes from breathing indoor air near a gas stove. They also provide much better control over temperature and timing for better cooking.

The Project Team

After completing the system design, procuring the equipment, and qualifying the home and equipment for all the various local rebates, Elephant Energy worked with top contractors in Denver to get the job done right:

  • Coyote HVAC: Coyote is a family-owned and operated business in Englewood, CO. Elephant Energy worked with John, Noah, and Anthony from the Coyote team on this project.
  • Colorado Eco-Mechanical: Owned and operated by Daniel Howell. Daniel’s passion is to bring change to our carbon footprint one project at a time.
  • All Tucked Insulation: All Tucked is owned by a husband and wife team that live in Golden with 3 little boys and a mutt named Ponce de Leon.
  • Greiner Electric: Founded in 1997 and in its second generation of leadership. Greiner operates with integrity, makes good choices, and does the right thing in every aspect of their business.

Equipment Installed

  1. 4 Ton Mitsubishi Hyper Heat Heat Pump: MXZ-SM48NAMHZ
  2. New City Multi line enables connecting condenser (outdoor unit) to both central air system AND mini-split heads
  3. Mitsubishi Air Handler Unit: SVZ-KP36NA
  4. A.O. Smith 50 Gal HPWH: HPTU-50N
  5. Blown cellulose attic insulation (Work in Progress)

A Successful Whole-Home Electrification

Elephant Energy completed the project in 2022, showing the bright future ahead for us all in an all-electric world. Scott Lunt was able to navigate 100°F+ days with his brand new heat pump — and Elephant Energy was able to save him over $10,000 by navigating the various rebate programs. Reach out to them if you live in CO and are considering electrifying your home!

About Elephant Energy

Elephant Energy is passionate about upgrading homes to make them more comfortable and sustainable. They believe electric technology is the most efficient way to power your home, hands down. They’re a one-stop shop to make it easy to upgrade your home with the latest sustainable improvements: heat pumps, EV chargers, induction ranges, etc. They work with a network of vetted, local contractors, and leverage their software platform to reduce costs and risks associated with electric home upgrades. To get in touch, reach out to hello@elephantenergy.com.

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Greenwork

Greenwork is a software company that connects workforce training programs to employers in clean energy, transportation, and the trades.