Reducing fossil fuel emissions is a non-negotiable for the fate of life as we know it on our planet. Energy and environmental organizations agree that the electrification of our economy is the key to dramatically reducing fossil fuel emissions and staving off catastrophic climate change. The Rocky Mountain Institute reports that reaching a 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will require eliminating Co2 fumes produced by water heaters and furnaces across the country.
Average homeowners can do their part, even if they live in neighborhoods that rely heavily on GHG emitting fuels like natural gas, coal, and oil. You don’t need to install a solar panel array — merely switching to all-electric appliances and heat is an important step to making your home future-proof. As utilities move to renewable sources of energy, more all-electric homes allow the economy to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions.
We met with a couple who completed a total home electrification project. Meet Justin and Kathrin and their beautiful all-electric San Francisco Bay home.
“For me, it’s not just about individually getting off fossil fuels or cleaning up my air in my own home,” says Justin. “It’s also about saving the planet. And so it can’t just be us that does this — everybody has to be able to do it.”
Challenges to Going All Electric
Justin and Kathrin were proud to have seen the project through, but they faced challenges along the way. “I would say I’m the proudest of getting entirely off of gas because there were moments during the middle of the project where we felt like: ‘forget the dryer. We have to get this thing done. It’s okay if one appliance is running on gas”, says Justin.
“There were times in the middle of this project that were so frustrating that we just wanted to throw our hands up,” says Kathrine. “I think that being able to see it all the way through is something that makes us proud.”
When Should You Install Solar Panels?
The couple was initially very drawn to the idea of solar panels, but they discovered a valuable lesson along the way. Justin had this to say, “If I could go back and tell people how to do this correctly from the start, I would say solar should be the very last thing you do because your solar system is sized to all the other stuff you do. And so we just were like ‘well we just want solar, we don’t care.’ And so we put solar on, but actually, the size of your system matters.”
Switching to all-electric heat and appliances doesn’t seem like a challenge to homeowners in some states, but it proved to be a challenge in Justin and Kathrin’s California neighborhood.
How Do You Heat an All-Electric Home?
“So I think the biggest thing for us was the heat pump. So that was the big thing that was kind of a sticking point with a lot of local contractors you go out and ask five contractors “is it possible to not have a gas heater?” and five of them say “absolutely not, you’re crazy”. So find a trusted local contractor who doesn’t just automatically reflexively tell you that’s impossible and if they do tell you it’s impossible they’re not the right contractor for you. Keep looking because they’re out there. But you have to look pretty hard.”
Electrification for a Sustainable World
There are many reasons to electrify a home: saving money on bills, reducing pollution, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and improving overall grid efficiency. What kept Justin and Kathrin going was their sense of responsibility to the planet and their community.
“The biggest challenge we face is collective inaction. The feeling of antipathy, the feeling that own individual actions don’t matter, has a self-fulfilling prophecy that ensures we are all screwed”, says Justin. “And so as much you ask yourself, “what is my one little project going to do?” I think the reality is that every single action has an impact and you will, in your actions, cause somebody else to act. That will have a domino effect that we desperately need in these times. People must recognize that it matters if you do these things, no matter how small they may feel.”
Watch a video of Justin and Kathrine’s all-electric home here or learn more about how to take on your own home electrification project here.
