[mcswell]

That idea suggests there might be another way to get to the desired goal, if that goal is renewable energy adoption (quite aside from whether that goal results in reduced emissions).

We have solar panels on our house, and recently installed a heat pump with gas furnace backup in place of an AC (for summer) + gas furnace (for winter). We also replaced our gas water heater (near the end of its life) with a heat pump water heater, and I drive an EV (not Tesla :)). All these were partly paid for by various tax rebates. The result is that our electric bill is zero, and our gas bill has plummeted (I think it will be nearly zero), and I spend zero at the gas station and the oil change place. One should be able to sell that idea to anyone who wants to reduce their expenses, and expects to live in a house for a few years to a decade to break even, and to drive their car for five years or so.

Of course the current administration is doing its best to eliminate those tax benefits...

[asdff]

The thing is with all of these improvements is that if they were so easy to implement for other people, everyone would do them. It might be better to ask why people aren't installing this stuff if they save money over time? The answer is most people really don't have very much money available beyond what can cover existing routine costs. For a lot of people if they wanted to replace their water heater they would have to take on debt or part with an asset to afford that. Yes, on the whole the cost is amortized, but you still need to produce significant capital up front to make it happen at all. And maybe the water heater isn't the only couple hundred dollar purchase you've been putting on the backburner in your life.

As a result, where you find homes outfitted like yours, you tend to also find incomes well above the cost of living.