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e103 heat - what does decarbonization sound like to you?
(sound of bell and breath)
On December 5th 2022 we had a heat pump installed in our house in order to reduce our carbon footprint.
What is a heat pump, you ask? Well, basically, It heats and cools a space by transferring thermal energy from the outside using a refrigeration cycle powered by electricity.
It’s a more environmentally friendly source of heating than say methane gas but it still generates carbon through manufacturing and in the production of electricity to run it. It also does not address the fact that the highest carbon polluters in the world are multinational corporations and nation-states. So what power does one individual household have? Quite a bit actually? The least we can do is change what is within our control, in our own homes and living spaces. That does get us off the hook by any means in terms of our accountabilities but it does move us in the right direction and it feels good to take action . .
Now, let’s get back to my story. Our house was heatless on this day and I was working right here in my second floor studio, when I heard a mysterious tapping sound coming from the basement through the air duct.
(fade in sound of distant tapping)
I stopped working and turned on my audio recorder.
As I listened I felt myself being transformed by the sounds of the heat pump, which, of course, are made of materials from the earth, just like we are.
(fade in indoors heat pump drone)
(fade in external heat pump fan).
(heat pump installation technician from Ottawa Home Services):
- This thing is smart. Everything talks to each other. I would just leave it on auto and let it choose what it wants to do.
What does decarbonization sound like to you?
*
This episode was recorded at our home in Ottawa. Thanks to Kevin Taylor and technicians from Ottawa Home Services for their collaboration and to Azul Carolina Duque for her guidance.
While this episode is not directly about art, it has implications in terms of how we listen to the sound of energy around us and how they affect us. In this case, the heat pump is a lesser evil on our environment than a gas furnace but remains an issue. Perhaps our homes are too large to heat and cool for the energy sources available? Maybe we should rethink …. Everything?
My point here is that we need to think about how we heat and cool ourselves but also feel these materials in our bodies and listen to them…
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).
*
END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES
Hey conscient listeners,
I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.
This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.
- I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
- I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
- Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
- I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together
In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.
Your feedback is always welcome at [email protected] and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.
Share what you like, etc
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible.
Claude Schryer
Latest update on January 9, 2026
View all episodes
By Claude Schryer
5
44 ratings
(sound of bell and breath)
On December 5th 2022 we had a heat pump installed in our house in order to reduce our carbon footprint.
What is a heat pump, you ask? Well, basically, It heats and cools a space by transferring thermal energy from the outside using a refrigeration cycle powered by electricity.
It’s a more environmentally friendly source of heating than say methane gas but it still generates carbon through manufacturing and in the production of electricity to run it. It also does not address the fact that the highest carbon polluters in the world are multinational corporations and nation-states. So what power does one individual household have? Quite a bit actually? The least we can do is change what is within our control, in our own homes and living spaces. That does get us off the hook by any means in terms of our accountabilities but it does move us in the right direction and it feels good to take action . .
Now, let’s get back to my story. Our house was heatless on this day and I was working right here in my second floor studio, when I heard a mysterious tapping sound coming from the basement through the air duct.
(fade in sound of distant tapping)
I stopped working and turned on my audio recorder.
As I listened I felt myself being transformed by the sounds of the heat pump, which, of course, are made of materials from the earth, just like we are.
(fade in indoors heat pump drone)
(fade in external heat pump fan).
(heat pump installation technician from Ottawa Home Services):
- This thing is smart. Everything talks to each other. I would just leave it on auto and let it choose what it wants to do.
What does decarbonization sound like to you?
*
This episode was recorded at our home in Ottawa. Thanks to Kevin Taylor and technicians from Ottawa Home Services for their collaboration and to Azul Carolina Duque for her guidance.
While this episode is not directly about art, it has implications in terms of how we listen to the sound of energy around us and how they affect us. In this case, the heat pump is a lesser evil on our environment than a gas furnace but remains an issue. Perhaps our homes are too large to heat and cool for the energy sources available? Maybe we should rethink …. Everything?
My point here is that we need to think about how we heat and cool ourselves but also feel these materials in our bodies and listen to them…
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).
*
END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES
Hey conscient listeners,
I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.
This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.
- I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
- I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
- Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
- I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together
In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.
Your feedback is always welcome at [email protected] and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.
Share what you like, etc
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible.
Claude Schryer
Latest update on January 9, 2026