August 2025 - Heat Pumps, Oversized AC, and the Last Homes That Can Still Get Gas

Jeff Flaherty opens with a string of high electric bill calls from the summer heat stretch, including a gentleman who mailed in his utility bill because he doesn't do email and a woman whose AC wasn't cooling the house at all. From there he covers New York's January 2026 ban on natural gas in new construction, why it frustrates him, and a specific tip for anyone still looking to build with gas options in Monroe County. He also walks through an '80s contemporary home where the cheaper insulation quote almost certainly won't fix the comfort problems, why cathedral ceiling wall intersections are one of the most overlooked thermal boundaries in the industry, and why a 4,000 square foot home owned by a commercial energy auditor still needed a residential specialist to sort it out. Plus the difference between following the recipe and just throwing ingredients in a bowl, and why you can get completely used to an uncomfortable home without ever realizing it could be fixed.