GreenTeamLI Review: Making My Home More Energy Efficient and My Ductless Mini Split Installation Experience

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The Decision Process

Growing up on Long Island my house was heated with oil heat. I remember my dad complaining about the cost of heating oil. I had a friend whose mom was divorced and lived in a big house as well. Whenever I went to visit, I had to put on a jacket because she wouldn’t run the heater because it was so expensive.

Fast forward to me moving back to Long Island. Why? A completely different conversation to be had at another date and time! Anyway, it was an old house. Older than the one in which I grew up. It had oil heat (it was much more expensive than what my dad had complained about!) It was also forced air (more comfortable but terribly inefficient)

I was going to install a natural gas system. At first, I mistakenly believed I could used the existing ducts to do heating and air conditioning. Had I known this when I was looking at houses, I probably would not have purchased my home. (I hated seeing those added vent pipes going through closets when they attempted to install central air in some of the houses at which I looked). Anyway, I brought gas into my house (but had only hooked up a stove in order to get service…yes, another mistake!)

Fortunately for me, many contractors on Long Island don’t like to work, or the decide not to show up, or if the do come to give you a quote, are okay with quoting some unbelievably high dollar amount. So, what I am saying here is that I had thought about upgrading my heating and adding air conditioning. I just did not know the best way, I could not find people to do the work, and I did not know the best thing to do (cost, efficiency, value for work done…)

Then I found out about the incentives, discounts, and rebates available to replace an old oil burning system with an efficient electric heatpump. If the electric company, local and state governments wanted to give me money to replace it that would definitely help. And it was much better for the environment as well… an added extra bonus. Yes, I know… electric, local electric companies, but hey, if not now then eventually, alternative sources for electric, better technology, it would still be better now and in the future than burning fossil fuels.

Why I Chose Ductless Mini Splits

After researching HVAC options for my Long Island home, I decided on ductless mini splits. Here’s why…

I did not have air conditioning before
- old homes on Long Island did not have it
- installing central air was expensive - to install and then to use
Like many old houses, I had ugly, visible from the street, through the window air conditioners
- these were not efficient, not even the efficient ones
- think about it, you put it in your window, you close up the opening with thin plastic that has no insulation, and shove foam into openings where you can see daylight.
But, the advantage to these window air conditioners was that you could adjust them to be cooler in the rooms you occupied the most
- the other rooms could have units set to a higher temp or they could be turned off
The downside was lack of technology (and efficiency of course)
- newer in window units do have wifi and an app
- but, what do I do when I travel? turn them off, hope that the wifi and low tech works?
Central air was, ahem.. cool..
- you had multiple zones, each had a thermostat, the thermostats were high tech
- you did not see anything in the rooms… except a vent
- for the most part, you had to have it serviced and change out filters, occasionally
Mini splits were relatively new to me
- I had experienced them in Europe where they were very popular
- they were more energy efficient than central air systems (why cool the entire house equally?)
- they had all the advantages of window air conditioners but were not ugly from the street
- they were like window air conditioners, just much better, with more tech, and more features
- they have the technology so you can leave your home unattended but still manage from afar
- the only downside is that they are mounted to your walls, they are more visible than having central heat and air
An extra bonus: I was able to have an air handler put into the attic and in ceiling vents were added in each room
- this gives you the ‘central air’ effect upstairs (yes, with the disadvantage of not being able to control each room separately)
- I thought that for bedrooms this made the most sense… you just sleep there, and wall space is a premium, so no units attached to walls

Looking at all the positives and negatives, the pros and the cons, the goods and the bads, in my opinion, and for me the mini splits were the best choice.

Finding GreenTeamLI

Discounts, Rebates, and Incentives

Depending upon where you live, how old you are, what type of heating system you have in your home, and what you want to do to your home, you will qualify for some or many discounts, rebates, and incentives. Some of this was from previous administrations that wanted to push for clean and efficient energy, heating, and cooling. Some administrations (current and potentially future ones) may try to take away these incentives and make life (and the planet) unbearable and intolerable for your kids and grandkids. These were available to me when I was looking and eventaully contracted my work (see Resources and Links below)

Combined Energy and Efficiency Savings

Here is just one (very good) example of how you can combine incentives and rebates and make your home more efficient and less expensive to cool and heat.

Home Efficiency Tax Credits & Rebates in NY GreenTeamLI IRA Incentives.

Incentive programs change often due to the availability of funds. The best way to start is to get a local energy audit. Yes, for me, I used GreenTeamLI (I was not paid nor did I anything at all for saying this here…unfortunately) but others are offered.
To start the process and to find out which incentive and rebate programs might be available to you, you need to get an energy audit. The audit will also ensure that the improvements made to your home will have the largest impact on your efficiency, comfort, and indoor health. In additiona, many homeowners qualify for a free energy audit.

Credits

Inflation Reduction Act Tax Credits

Homeowners are eligible to receive a tax credit which will lower their tax liability by 30% of the cost of the qualified home upgrades. This is also known as the Inflation Reducation Act (IRA) tax credit. There is an annual cap of $3200 and applies to separate services until 2032.

Heat Pump Tax Credits – Claim up to $2,000 for heat pump installations, including ducted or ductless mini splits and heat pump water heaters.
Home Efficiency & HVAC Tax Credits – Claim up to $1,200 per year for insulation and air sealing services (not including on-site labor) and ENERGY STAR certified HVAC equipment, such as furnaces, air conditioners, and water heaters. Home energy audits also qualify for up to $150 in federal tax credits in this bracket.
The Inflation Reduction Act also introduced Home Energy Rebate programs, but details are still pending. New York became the first state with approved funding for one of these rebate programs and they are expected to be available to homeowners sometime in Summer 2024.

NYSERDA Incentives

New York State offers several incentives for residents to improve efficiency and upgrade to heat pump heating & cooling systems.
NYS Clean Heat Program – Offers rebates covering up to 70-100% of the cost of heat pump installation depending on your household income.
Comfort Home Program – Offers rebates up to $4,000 for home efficiency upgrades, including insulation, air sealing, and ENERGY STAR certified windows.
EmPower+ Program – Income-eligible residents can receive a no-cost energy audit and weatherization upgrades, like insulation and air sealing.
PSEG Long Island Rebates - PSEG Long Island customers have access to several rebates to make their homes more affordable to heat & cool and save energy, including:
- No-cost energy audits
- Heat pump rebates

Loans and Financing

The last piece of the puzzle, another reason for me to do all of this was that New York State offers several different financing options for upgrades that improve the energy efficiency of your home. Key details include:

Interest rates from 3.49–6.99%
15-year term, caps at $25,000
Typical approval in 24-48 hours

Eligible upgrades include:

Attic insulation
Wall insulation
Air sealing
Spray foam insulation
Crawl space insulation
Air source heat pumps
Hot water systems
Windows
Air conditioning systems

So, What Happened…

I contracted with GreenTeamLI to do all the work based on the scope of the work, the total price, their timeline to complete all the work

The Project

It was amazing to watch all this get completed. Overall, it took about one week to complete all the work.

What did they do?

Prior to the work, I worked with Oscar, the Project Manager, to insure all questions were answered, and all material and supplies were addressed.

It took one week to install and seal my home. Two days for installing the HVAC and two days for insulating the house.

The breakdown for the work was as follows

Day One - Electricians to provide electrical for:
- hybrid hot water heater
- condensation/sump pump in the basement
- air handler in the attic
- light switch and outlet in the attic
- outside condenser
Day One - Hybrid Hot Water Heater
- remove old furnace
- remove oil tank
- remove old hot water heater
- install new hybrid hot water heater
- wire hot water heater to electric
- connect sump pump to hot water heater
Day One - Install HVAC
- Install the mini splits
- install the air handler in the attic
- install bedroom vents and duct work back to air handler
Day Two - Finish Installing HVAC
- finish install of mini splits
- run the wiring and the hoses
- install outside condenser
- attach hosts to condenser
- install thermostat
- install air handler return
- test all mini splits and air handler to make sure everything worked
Day Three - Install Insulation
- install baffles in attic
- install pots/covers over all the recessed lighting upstairs (need to be covered before blowing in insuation as it could get into the electrical boxes for lights)
- build out maintenance area in attic
- blow in 14 inches of insulation
- upstairs - dense pack outside walls with insulation
- repair holes created for dense packing
Day Four - Install Insulation
- main floor - dense pack outside walls, mostly from inside, some rooms required outside access
- repair holes created for dense packing
- apply expanding foam insulation along the foundation in the basement

So, How Did They Do?

(Again, I was not paid to write this, nor did I receive any discounts, unfortunately, for any of the work done. If I say anything extremely positive, it is because I was truly impressed!)

What struck me first was how professional, process oriented, organized, and neat all the teams were. Yes, even the guy who fell through my attic! He did that as only a trained professional can and, fortunately, he was not hurt. And I think even this reflected positively on GreenTeamLI. Accidents do happen. The response was quick and the issue was resolved by the early part of the next day. A team came in to repair the damage (it wasn’t an entire man falling through… just a leg!) and the project timeline was not impacted at all.

Kudos to the project manager for insuring that everything was completed on time and with no issues along the way. I was told 4 days and that is what it took (they did have to work a little later on the last day, but they did!)

For now, just a list of how they did and some observations:

The process was orderly and well organized - two days to install the additional electrical, water heater, condensation pump, mini splits, outside condenser. Another two days to do all the insulation and sealing of the house.
I had other contractors working in my house prior to the GreenTeamLI work (they took a week off to give these guys some space) but the GreenTeamLI teams cleaned up and left my house cleaner than they found it!
They take pictures of everything - CYA for them, assurances that the work was done correctly and to document installed equipment. Note: One of my mini-splits was installed with the left side flush against the adjoining wall. The intall was a little bit more complicated because hoses had to be run through the unit into the other wall. I am only mentioning this because the serial unit of the number is only on the left side of the unit, and a picture of it was not taken (they took pictures of the box the unit came in, and several people had to verify that as well)
Blowing insulation into the attic was done very well. Baffles were placed along the eaves to insure airflow and to make sure the insulation stayed were it was intended.
The maintenance deck in the attic around the air handler was neat and complete. Styrofoam and foil attached to the bottoms of particle board. A dam to hold back 14" of blown in insulation
All the outside walls were dense packed. I will have to say that I was not exactly prepared for this, nor did I fully understand how this was done! It is a bit off putting to walk into your living room and to see 30 4" holes evenly spaced around your outside walls.
The insulation was blown into the walls, densely packed, and the walls were all patched and compounded ready again for painting. They repair the walls to a prepainted state.
The preparation leading up to the dense packing involved covering up anything with plastic drop cloths. And afterward, all traces of drywall powder or sawdust were all vacuumed up.
All spaces that abut outside walls were all sealed. Because my one bathroom was tiled to the ceiling, the outside walls were opened (and carefully resealed) in order to dense pack those walls.

A Review of the Work

and so far, just a single issue/complaint

I had alot of work done to my house. Some of it began before this energy efficiency work and it still continues.
Prior to the efficiency work, I had my bathrooms redone. That is the subject of another review and post but, suffice it to say, that they too did amazing work. However, while installing the new bathrooms, the contractors opted to use pex hose and not copper piping for the water supplies. That caused a reduction in the water pressure and flow in the bathrooms. But, it was tolerable.

However, the next phase of the work, the efficiency phase, resulted in the replacement of the old-fashioned, fuel oil burning, hot water heater.
Replacing this, with the hybrid heatpump / electric water heater resulted in a further reduction of water pressure. At this point the water flow in the bathroom became unacceptable. I actually believe (until proven wrong) that the main culprit is the pex tubing exacerbated by the installation of the new hot water heater. I am still waiting for this issue to be isolated and resolved. (And, it is a big deal!) So, for now at least, I am not happy nor am I willing to say any more about these projects

For some additional info and background:

Factors that cause pressure drop

Fittings: Every PEX fitting, including crimp and expansion fittings, reduces the internal diameter of the pipe, causing some level of restriction.
Pipe size: Smaller PEX pipes, like 1/2-inch, are more prone to restricting flow, especially when multiple fixtures are running.
Kinks and elbows: Sharp bends or kinks in the pipe can significantly impede water flow.
Multiple fixtures: The pressure drop becomes more noticeable when multiple fixtures are in use at the same time because the total water volume needs to pass through the restricted lines and fittings.

Resources and Links

Have questions or want to share your own expat story? Leave a comment below!

(I will set up comments eventually ;)