Cool! After helping to blaze trails with hybrids in the automotive industry, Honda is now collaborating on hybrid technology to power the home. While it's still being piloted, developers claim it will work with any natural gas system. The ROI looks pretty good, too, with break even coming in as few as 5 years. Let's just hope there isn't as long a waiting list if this takes off too.

"For consumers willing to invest $3,000 to $4,000 more than the cost of a conventional heating system, there's a potential for savings when it comes to paying energy bills down the road [...] with the new system, called a Micro-CHP System, natural gas that homeowners buy to convert to heat creates electricity as a bonus byproduct [...] that Climate Energy claims can shave about $600 off a local consumer's annual electricity bill."