Episode 84: HomeBoost: a home energy assessment in a box

Molly Wood Voice-Over: Welcome to Everybody in the Pool, the podcast where we dive deep into the innovative solutions and the brilliant minds who are tackling the climate crisis head-on. I'm Molly Wood. 

This week, we’re continuing our Earth Month series with stories about climate actions YOU can take because my general theory in life in addition to looking for solutions instead of more problems is that when everything seems hard and confusing and terrifying the best thing to do is the work. Just do the work. Do the best you can. 

In the immortal words of Anna from Frozen 2, do the next right thing. 

Last week, we covered a coffee replacement from Atomo this week, let’s talk about the leaky sieve that is your house if your house is anything like mine. 

All right now let’s explain what this painful exercise was all about and then I’ll set about fixing it. 

Selina 

Hi, my name is Selina Tobaccowala. I'm the CEO and co-founder of HomeBoost. And we are working on a home energy platform to help consumers be more comfortable in their homes and save on their bill. Our first product is the BoostBox, a DIY home energy assessment kit.

Molly Wood

Okay, I wanna know everything about the box, but first, but first we'll do it. like, cool, I'm need a box tomorrow. But before that, what is your background, and how did you come to be passionate about this and start this company?

Selina 

Yeah

Selina 

And then.

Selina 

So my background is as a serial entrepreneur. So when I was much younger, I started Evite.

And then have been sort of in consumer product and technology is my whole career. I was the president and CTO at SurveyMonkey for a long time. And then started a new company on the health and fitness side and we got acquired by OpenFit Beachbody. But what got me excited about this was, you know, I saw an opportunity to help a consumer which use a technology to make a difference in the real world. And that's what I'm passionate about. Regardless of the space, that's how can you use technology to really help consumers.

Molly Wood 

Yep. that, honestly, that's part of the many reasons that I'm so excited to talk to you. But I, you know, I really grew up in sort of consumer journalism, right? At CNET doing consumer reviews. And I think there is a feeling that consumer action is one, really hard, or two, won't have a big enough impact. But, you know, I'm really of the feeling that not only can consumers have a huge impact, but that their behavior sends really important signals.

Selina 

you

Selina 

Mm-hmm.

Molly Wood 

And that's, you know, such a big part of your career. Like talk about that understanding of consumer behavior and getting them to change what they do.

Selina 

I almost-

Selina 

Eh.

Selina

I think the biggest things that I've learned is that, you know, if consumer incentives are aligned with what you're trying to do, like it makes a huge difference. So if you're asking someone to like, send out invitations to make it more convenient to throw a party, that's a very easy ask. To ask someone to go exercise was actually a much harder ask. And the thing that I'm excited about when you think about the energy efficiency space is the net result for the consumer is a more comfortable home and saving on their bill. And so, like the incentives

the average consumer doesn't care that much about climate. And so it's a matter of though the incentives in order to greenhouse gases are aligned with things they too care about, which is their bill and their home comfort. And so that's the thing that got me excited about this space.

Molly Wood

So tell me about then the company and the solution and how you then ended up in hardware.

Selina 

So we surveyed a ton of customers to try to understand. Obviously, love surveys. We surveyed a load of customers to try to understand. Exactly, exactly. And the thing that we kept finding was the same, which is that...

Molly Wood 

We already know what product to use to survey people. Yep.

Selina 

consumers are concerned about their bills. mean, even if you look at 24 over 23 summer, like the average bill went up by 8%. There's a report by, think, Hop Energy that showed that 48 % of consumers are stressed about their energy bills. And so you have this stress among people where their bills are going up. And just kept hearing the same thing, which is like, we get that email that says I use more than my neighbors, but then I just don't know what to do about it. And so that was like the biggest initial thing, which is

consumers don't know where to start. And then the second thing is for the consumers that had done a home energy assessment, which is the right place to start for everybody, we also consistently heard that the truck that would roll up often had like an HVAC company or an insulation company. And so there was this nervousness that they were getting upsold. And so we started to think about could we democratize access to the consumer. Could we put empower the consumer to do this themselves, get the learnings? And we have, we're an independent third party.

that is focused on making sure we're advocating for the customer. And that's what got us really excited about the opportunity.

Molly Wood 

Yeah. How does it work?

Selina 

So we send the consumer a thermal camera and a black light. And then they scan their home. It takes about 30 minutes. And the key thing is, and the reason why we believe strongly that it can't be virtual only, but they really do need the thermal camera, is eight out of 10 homes have problems in their building envelope. So whether it's drafty windows, whether it's leaky doors, whether it's insulation, garage ceiling insulation, and you can't understand any of this without actually having that thermal camera. So we send the consumer a thermal camera, we send them a black light, the black light is used to very quickly tell the difference between LED incandescent bulbs, and our mobile app then guides you through the experience. You tell us which rooms are uncomfortable, and it really takes about 30 minutes, and then we take all of that data, we process it, we use a lot of AI and computer vision, and we report back to you with a very personalized video specific to your home, the findings that we found.

Molly Wood 

And then is there, it's tricky because the upsell thing I think everyone really is sensitive about. And also if you want to do a fix, it can be hard to know where to start. is the, does the app experience suggest, it sounds like it probably suggests fixes. Is there any kind of, know, Angie's List implementation? Like you could call these guys.

Selina

So we have.

Yeah, so we have three types of recommendations. The first is a product recommendation, like, hey, you can save five to 10 % on your bill if you change your filter. And we really try to couch everything in this concept of savings to investment ratio, which is like, how much is it going to cost me versus how much am I going to save? And so for product recommendations, we're able to link you either right into Amazon or into your utility marketplace if there's a better rebate available to you. The second role type of recommendations are contractor recommendations.

So there's no consumer that should really DIY their own attic insulation as an example.

So in that scenario, we don't necessarily provide you to say here, you should go to this specific contractor. What we provide you is a contractor punch list. So the things that we have learned. So we've learned that you have air sealing issues around your recess lights. Therefore, air sealing on your lighting needs to be part of the quote. So we're trying to give you what are the key punch list items. So when you receive a quote, you're able to see, does this even make sense? And we're also trying to give you a ballpark.

So on the contractor side right now, we're just really trying to work with, again, trying to get the customer to be empowered to go and get those things done. And then the third type of recommendation is if you tell us your very DIY, we help guide you through an experience for like weatherstripping your windows or we try to get you clarity of what a handyman should do and which exact windows they should do it. So in the video, we show you precisely like here is your, you know, John's bedroom window and right here in the upper left corner is where you need weatherstripping.

Selina 

thing.

Molly Wood 

What are the, for relatively new homeowners or people who just aren't familiar with this, where it all goes wrong in terms of energy efficiency, what do you find are the things that come up over and over and over? I mean, you mentioned the envelope, you mentioned filters, like what kinds of filters, what does that mean?

Selina

Yeah. So the.

Best ROI tends to be on, so it's your HVAC filters. So most people don't realize they need to change their HVAC filters every 60 to 90 days. And if you don't, just imagine you're trying to pump air through something that is dirty. so in that, but not only is the air coming into your home dirty, but it has to work so much harder to get through that filter. And so that is like, for most people, that's the cheapest, best fix. And we walk you through in our app how to pull out your filter. And we just keep hearing these stories.

mainly from women, which is like, I feel so great that I could do this myself. I didn't need to call someone. then you pull it out, and it's disgusting. And you're like, my god, this is the air I was breathing. So that's a very quick one.

Molly Wood

Totally.

Molly Wood 

As a woman homeowner, I recently also discovered the filter thing and was simultaneously horrified and then thrilled.

Selina 

Ha ha ha!

Yeah, exactly. And then there's the LED lights, which again, our black light lets you very easily quickly see which lights are LED versus incandescent. That's always going to be a positive ROI. And then it is really leaky windows, drafty doors. Those things are very, very positive to fix. And then attic insulation generally has a very, high ROI. And 80 % of homes are under-insulated on the attic side.

help you figure out is can I lay just insulation on top or do I need to air seal and relay my insulation that I already have. So those are the items, both an attic and your garage ceiling. If people have a room above the garage ceiling, consistently that room is really cold. And so those are some of the fixes that we see very, very commonly. And on the machines, whether it's your HVAC system, your hot water heater, general approach is that you're going to replace that when it gets close to breaking. And when it gets close to breaking, then we're going to help you put something in that's a lot more energy efficient and that is going to save you on your bill. But really on the machine side, it's like let us help you figure out a plan for when these things are going to be breaking.

Molly Wood

What kind of savings can people expect to see or are you seeing? Like, if you really do all this work, especially, I mean, we're talking, we're in Northern California, and anyone in Northern California is looking at more like what is it? 40 % increases in electricity rates. It's like really, really significant. How do the economics tend to break down for consumers?

Selina 

So we're still pretty early, so I don't want to say that we're guaranteeing savings. But at least in our first beta set of customers, we tended to see about a 20 % to 25 % decrease in their bills from some of the quicker actions around the windows, the doors, and the filter. And then, yeah, it is because if you think about it, over 40 to 50 % of your bill is your heating and cooling systems. It's a little bit, and it really depends, though,

Molly Wood 

That's a lot.

Selina 

the climate, like it would be a little bit less in San Francisco because we use heating and cooling at a lower rate than in places that have either, you know, heavy winters or very, very hot summers.

Molly Wood 

Yeah. What does the, what is, what is your business model? Like, what does the consumer pay? Do they send this gear back? How do you get paid?

Selina 

So the price is $99. So, it is a charge for the audit. They're allowed to do the scan. They have up to 30 days to do the scan. And then we send it. We have a return envelope. And they send us the equipment back. If you want to keep the equipment, then you can for an extra $200. But most of our consumers just send it back to us. You don't really need it.

Molly Wood 

Yep. Yeah. know, honestly, that is, when I was looking on the site, that was the first thing that came, I was so happy to hear about the return thing, because the first thing that came to mind was like, yeah, but don't know, I don't want to like a bunch more stuff. Yep. Yeah, exactly. So you send it back, and then they just go off and do the work. There's no further, like there's no subscription, or do you get any kind of referral fee from contractors? Yep.

Selina 

Yeah. A bunch more, yeah, people don't need more plastic in their homes.

Selina 

So right now, our focus is on our initial product set. A long-term vision is to build out that home energy platform so we can really connect you to the right products and connect you to the right contractors. But today, our initial product is that $99 home energy assessment.

Molly Wood 

And I wonder what you're thinking about the data that you'll end up gathering because it is really interesting, right? And it feels like it could really lead to some actionable patterns.

Selina 

Yeah, we're really excited about what we can do for the homeowner. So if we understand all of your machines, we understand your windows, your doors. There's so much we can do. Even if you use that basic example of your filter, you have to change your filter every 90 days. In all of our busy lives, who remembers to change their HVAC filter? But, it is such a significant both savings and health improvement to do it. And so we believe that there's a lot we can do to help the consumer with sort of their long-term home maintenance and have a product sitting on top. And that is one of the things we're starting to think about.

Molly Wood Voice-Over: Time for a quick break. When we come back, we’ll talk about quantifying the climate impact of home efficiency improvements and some more concrete recommendations for what you can do today. Like, change the filter. That’s a thing. 

Molly Wood Voice-Over: Welcome back to Everybody in the Pool. We’re talking with Selina Tobaccowala, founder of HomeBoost. Next up, how this all adds up to real climate impact. 

Molly Wood 

We talked a little bit at the top about your kind of journey here and what it gets to consumers to get consumers to change. How important, like how much of this do you think of as a real solution to the climate crisis? you know, what are the parts of this that make you sleep better at night and keep you up at night?

Selina 

So 20 % of all greenhouse gases are from residential energy consumption. And so it's a real significant part of what we can do to try to help climate. At the same time, it's very hard for a homeowner to just do something just because of climate. You have to be able to talk to a consumer about what really matters to them. And so what we're really excited about, even our brand, HomeBoost, our vision is we are going to talk to you about what is best for you. We are going to help you reduce your bill. We're going to help you stop feeling cold or too hot in your own home. But our mission as a company is to help reduce those greenhouse gases. And so it's really that double-sided thing for us, which is like if we are doing right by the consumer, it will have the right impact on the environment. And because we're able to pull in all of the rebates and everything available, we're also able to help them figure out what is cost-effective to actually do. And if somebody tells us like my goal is electrification and they're not concerned about budget, that's a very different customer that we can provide a different roadmap to.

Molly Wood 

It sounds like, though, and I would imagine that you don't expect that to be the bulk of customers. The people were like, I'm on an, all 11 people in America who are on an electrification journey. I hope it's more to be clear. America, I hope it's more.

Selina 

Yeah. I do hope it's more, but that is not what we saw in all of our initial consumer surveys.

Molly Wood

Yeah. You have mentioned the rebates and incentives landscape, which is complicated and ever-changing and utility by utility. How are you managing that?

Selina 

So we do have a set of partners that we're using across the board to try to pull in some of the different rebates into the system. So some people are really good at product-based rebates, like the thermostat, smart thermostat. And I should have mentioned that. That's a very, very positive ROI thing for you to do, is upgrade to a smart thermostat. Only 16 % of Americans have a smart thermostat today. And we help you do the compatibility check on HomeBoost. So something like there's a couple of partners that do a really good job with specifically around thermostat. There's obviously Rewiring America that has wonderful APIs for all of the federal stuff. And so we work with an array of partners, and then we're also talking directly to utilities and to make sure that we can pull in all of the utility rebates. So that's part of our platform that we've built out.

Molly Wood

a little more about the rebates that are available. think, I mean, again, like the power bill comes, people pay it, they're mad about it, right? A lot of people, I think, have no idea that rebates and incentives from utilities exist at all.

Selina

So there's. There is an amazing amount of money out there, and it's really counterintuitive because you're like, wait a minute, you know, my utility is the person I'm paying for energy. Why are they offering money for me to use less energy? And that is a weird, confusing concept. But if you think about it, the main thing is that the utility companies, for them to create more grid to allow for increased load from consumers is so expensive that they're very incentivized to get you to reduce load. There's also a lot of programs statewide programs that are more climate based that also drive some of these rebates and incentives so like very specifically Every single American has up to $1,200 which is like a tax credit So they have to spend through 3,600 and then they get up to $1,200 back for anything that has to do with weatherizing your home whether that's insulation whether that's cocking whether that's stripping whether it's sealing your air ducts and So, you know you have this web weatherization, most utilities also have a smart thermostat rebate. I'd say, on average, a consumer can get a smart thermostat for somewhere between $25 to $50 when the price point is around $150.

Molly Wood 

Yeah, people, look it up. Where do you see, talk a little bit more about the platform and the evolution, like the roadmap for HomeBoost.

Selina

Yeah, so as I mentioned, like today, we really are just focused on that first step, the DIY assessment kit. But really, our vision is to both provide the homeowner with the ability to... Sorry, let me start that again. It's terrible. So, as I mentioned, like our initial product is the DIY home energy assessment. But our long-term vision is really to create a platform that is really advocating for the

Molly Wood

No problem.

Selina

customer. So we always want to make sure the customer is first, but we are helping them provide the knowledge that they need to take action, whether that's their maintenance on their home and everything that needs to happen with that, or it's providing them helping them get into a place where they're getting a really strong quote from a contractor, getting the rebates and also actually making sure that they file the right paperwork to do the rebates. So that's really what we see.

as our long-term path is building both a robust marketplace with utilities, contractors, financing partners, as well as the rebates in order to allow the consumer to optimize their energy efficiency on the budget that they want.

Molly Wood

So we talked a little bit about how, you know, consumers are looking to save money. You're internally looking at how to lower emissions. What if that is surface to the consumer? Like, what are the metrics overall that you're using to measure success?

Selina

So for the consumer, we're really focused on the energy savings on their bill because we know that that's what drives importance to the consumer. But to calculate the bill, obviously with the bill savings on our side, we're also trying to understand. So we're trying to watch some of the bills over time if the consumer gives us permission to, so that we can help show what their savings are. And that allows us to look at, OK, what are sort of the megatons saved? I mean, we're so early.

We only launched the product, I should have mentioned; we only launched the product publicly in November. So, we don't have a huge amount of data set yet.

Molly Wood 

But that's the hope is that over time, you'll be able to sort of say, yeah, definitely.

Selina

Absolutely.

Molly Wood

and that I had a question related to that that has now just like, fled my mind entirely, just flew away on little wings. What, you know, doesn't matter.

Molly Wood

We have said the word homeowners a lot, and that tends to come up in a lot of these conversations, right? It's that then there are a bunch of people in apartments, and then there are a bunch of renters, and there must be things that they can do too, right? Like, I don't feel like we don't wanna say this is only for, only for people who own a home, or is it?

Selina 

Yeah.

Selina

So I think the main issue, unfortunately, on the renter side is the incentives are not aligned. So in terms of the landlord is the one who needs to make the changes and the energy savings come towards the renter. And so it is very hard as a startup and an initial product to target more.

then is going to be like a good deal for. So our initial target are single-family homeowners. If you own an apartment or a condo, there's definitely things that you can do around sort of like the draftiness. But even insulation becomes really tough if you're talking about, you know, insulation of like the walls or the ceilings. There's a little bit more side often with like HOAs. And so it's harder to get the same level of for sort of like big apartment buildings.

Molly Wood 

Right, that makes sense. Well, if I know this audience at all, I know that there are people who are ready to buy now. is HomeBoost available everywhere? Where can they find you?

Selina

Yeah, so one of the really important things is we wanted to make it available nationally.

Viewpoint is that we want to both you know really get access to everyone to this tip of the iceberg product And then it allows us over time to like build out those localized marketplaces for people so the product is available nationally It's just on home boost calm and go ahead and purchase it anytime and we're super excited and then it takes us from the time like as I mentioned you have 30 days to scan your home and it takes us about 48 to 72 hours to turn around the report so even though it there's a

It's mostly AI. We today are still training our models, and so we still have a human in the loop who's reviewing all the thermal imagery to make sure that it's correct.

Molly Wood 

That still seems pretty fast, though, honestly. Love it. Selina, thank you so much. 

Selina

Thank you, Molly, for having me on. Really appreciate it.

Molly Wood Voice-Over: 

That's it for this episode of Everybody in the Pool. Thank you so much for listening. 

Next week, our Earth Month of Action continues with Sanchali Pal of the Commons app speaking of my CNET and consumer shopping roots; we’ll be talking about reliable ways to find sustainable alternatives to what you buy every day and also just buying a lot less. 

Meanwhile, I’m going to go change my heater filter and figure out how to properly seal all the windows in my house. 

Email me your thoughts and suggestions to in at everybody in the pool dot com and find all the latest episodes and more at everybody in the pool dot com, the website. And if you want to become a subscriber and get an ad-free version of the show, hit the link in the description in your podcast app of choice.

Thank you to those of you who already have. Together, we CAN get this done. See you next week.