General Information on Electrifying your home

Save Money Rewiring America’s IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) calculator, https://www.rewiringamerica.org/app/ira-calculator, can tell you how much money you can receive in up-front discounts and tax credits from the IRA while electrifying your home.  Their general website, https://www.rewiringamerica.org/, has information on different policy options that could accelerate building electrification by making it less expensive for owners of existing buildings to electrify.  

Guide for Single Family Homes Redwood Energy has led the design of more than 10,000 all-electric affordable housing residences, including the first Zero Net Energy apartments in North America in 2011.   https://redwoodenergy.net/   Their research publications include a very useful guide on how to electrify single family homes, https://www.redwoodenergy.net/research/a-pocket-guide-to-all-electric-retrofits-of-single-family-homes, and other reports on induction stoves, retrofits of commercial buildings, and leakage of methane from natural gas stoves.

Webinars and San Diego contractors The San Diego Building Electrification Coalition, https://sdbec.org/, presents webinars and other information on electrification.  It can also connect San Diego residents with contractors who have training in electrification.

Basic information and San Francisco rebates Bayren   https://www.bayren.org/articles-tools-tips/electrification Bayren is based in San Francisco, CA but has good basic information on home electrification.  Subsidies and rebates described on their website may only be available in the San Francisco area.

Educational Videos Electrify Now Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@ElectrifyNowUSA/videos  In depth videos on everything from electrical panel upgrades to heat pump water heaters and clothes dryers to regenerative agriculture.

Induction stove buying guide  from Yale Appliance     https://blog.yaleappliance.com/free-induction-buying-guide

Details on heat pumps for heating/cooling your home and water

Heat pumps function like the cooling system of your refrigerator.  They move heat from a place where it is not wanted to where it is wanted.  Examples include heating and cooling your home, heating your water, and drying your clothes.  Heat pumps can have efficiencies of 300% or more depending upon the application.  These links will give you details on how to install and use heat pumps.

Technical experts and homeowners share their heat pump experiences, video from Bayren  https://www.bayren.org/events/regional-forum-heat-pumps-water-and-space-heating-technical-real-world-experience-2022-03-17 (look for “Watch recorded information links)

Information from the US Department of Energy on how heat pump water heaters work, how to select the correct unit for your home, and how to maintain it.  https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/heat-pump-water-heaters

New water heaters that use standard 120 Volt outlet. Most heat pump water heaters require a dedicated 240 Volt electrical circuit, which makes it more difficult to replace a natural gas water heater with a heat pump. However, new heat pump models that work with a standard 120 Volt outlet are becoming available. These eliminate the need to perform expensive electrical wiring and electrical panel upgrades. https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/heat-pumps/finally-a-heat-pump-water-heater-that-plugs-into-a-standard-outlet

Building Electrification Explained

Electrification of buildings is the process of replacing the fossil fueled appliances (e.g. natural gas or heating oil fueled furnaces, natural gas water heaters, natural gas stoves and ovens, and clothes dryers) in buildings with clean, efficient, electric versions.  Requiring newly constructed buildings to be 100% electric also falls under building electrification.

Building electrification will result in substantial reductions in outdoor air pollution and improvements in stabilizing our climate as the US electrical grid increases its use of renewable power.

Gas powered stoves and ovens produce substantial amounts of indoor air pollution, including nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and other pollutants.  Studies show that children living in homes with gas stoves have a 20% to 40% increased risk of asthma than children in homes with electric stoves. Nitrogen dioxide can make chronic obstructive pulmonary disease worse in adults.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/gas-stoves-air-pollution-1.6394514

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/07/1015460605/gas-stove-emissions-climate-change-health-effects

Replacing a gas stove with an induction stove will eliminate these health risks from indoor pollution.