Sustainable Home: Building Electrification

Building electrification replaces gas appliances with electric ones for space heating, water heating, clothes drying, and cooking, for a healthier, greener home.  

graphic of gas appliance and electric alternatives

Why electrify my gas appliances?

  • Health: Gas appliances emit indoor pollutants and increase health risk of respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, and other long-term chronic illnesses. Children living in homes with gas stoves are 40% more likely to develop asthma.
  • Safety: Removing gas infrastructure reduces the risk of fires in the event of an earthquake. Induction cooktops reduce burn risk, and many automatically turn off when not in use, eliminating a leading cause of house fires.
  • Climate: Switching gas appliance to electric will reduce climate emissions from natural gas use in buildings, which is 86 times stronger than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Electrification lets you tap into AMP's 100% clean energy, supporting green jobs and the fight against climate change!

Where to begin?

Electrification can seem like a big undertaking, requiring renovations and running new electrical lines. You can start small and electrify individual appliances over time as they make sense. There are also many electric alternatives that do not require major renovations. Here are a few things you can do immediately to prepare for electrification and transition appliances.

Do Now

  • Understand your home: BayREN Home Energy Score. 

    Have an assessor come to your home to conduct a personal, detailed analysis about your home and its energy asset. They will provide you with a score, facts about your home, its estimated energy consumption and customized recommendations. As of recently, assessors can also provide electrification feasibility analysis while they are at your home. Having a greater understanding of energy use and electrification feasibility is a great first step towards energy efficiency and electrification. BayREN provides a $200 rebate for this process.

  • Energy Efficiency: 

    Reduce energy use in your home through energy efficiency measures of sealing building envelopes, improving insulation and switching to efficient appliances. Learn more at Sustainable Home: Energy Efficiency.

  • Electric Cooking: 

    Purchase a portable induction cooktop to benefit from reduced air pollution immediately. Instead of using your gas oven, use a countertop plug in toaster oven for smaller batches.

  • Electric Space Heating

    Purchase portable electric space heaters for your home and heat only the portion of your home that you are using.

  • Learn about electrification: 

    There are many options and considerations when electrifying gas appliances. Some options may require more preparation and renovation compared to others. Different options are also better suited for different needs. Taking the time to explore this website and additional resources now will prepare you to begin planning for electrification when the time is right. 

Prepare

  • Ensure energy efficiency in your home
    After receiving a home energy score from an assessor, weatherize your home by taking advantage of BayREN's energy efficiency rebates while you are a PG&E customer. Consult with a BayREN Home Energy Advisor to walk you through the process for your home. 
  • Electric Panel

    Speak with an electrician to about your current panel capacity and determine if you will need a panel upgrade for future electrification projects.

  • Plan for electrification during your next renovation.

    If you are planning a renovation in your home in the near future, consider what you might be able to electrify, especially if you plan on replacing appliances. If you are not replacing any appliances yet, consider installing the necessary 240V outlets around the your stove, water heater, and dryer. Then when the gas appliance breaks down, you can replace it with an electric one. 

  • Installing solar and/or battery

    If you are currently planning for solar in your home, speak to your solar company about electrification plans and have them include potential increase in energy demand for sizing your system.

 

Other Components of a Healthy, Efficient, All-Electric Home

  • Earthquake retrofit
    Protect your investment and reduce damage to your home or business during an earthquake. Take the Earthquake Home Safety Quiz.

Explore Electric Appliances

 

Rebates and Incentives

AMP provides a wide variety of rebates and incentives to help you switch to electric. 

Explore rebates and incentives

Additional Resources

  • Retrofit Guide for all electric single family retrofits with costs, strategies and case studies. (Redwood Energy)
  • Electrify Everything in Your Home Guide with detailed explanations of electrification technology and options, a checklist to get started and questions for your contractor. (Rewiring America)

 

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