As you consider solar for your home, you may hear about home electrification. Confused about where to start, or what home electrification even means? Here’s how and why you should electrify, electrification rebates available in Washington DC, and a case study from Uprise’s Director of Finance Phil Covell.
What Is Home Electrification?
First things first: let’s define our terms. Home electrification means you switch from appliances that run on fossil fuels like gas or oil to ones that run on electricity. These appliances include heat pumps (for water heaters, or heating and cooling), electric or induction stoves, electric clothes dryers, electric vehicles (EVs), and EV chargers. Solar is typically part of the equation, to generate the clean power you’ll use. In some cases you may want battery storage as well.
Home Electrification Benefits
Electrifying your home appliances, according to the District of Columbia Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU), will help you operate your house more efficiently, reduce the greenhouse gases generated inside your home, and ultimately eliminate your gas bill.
Earlier this year, Uprise spoke with Vanessa Bertelli, executive director and co-founder of Electrify DC, an organization working to simplify home electrification in the District. She says home electrification helps you fight climate change with your house, and also impacts the health of your family. When we use fossil fuel appliances indoors, we’re pumping out greenhouse gases into the spaces where we live and breathe.
Rewiring America, a nationwide electrification nonprofit, points out other home electrification benefits: lowered energy bills (they offer a quiz so you can see what your savings may be), safer and faster cooking, and more than $1,000 a year in fuel savings with an EV.
Home Electrification Rebates in DC
The DCSEU offers rebates for several electric appliances, including multiple types of heat pumps, conventional or heat pump electric clothes dryers, electric ranges and stovetops, and induction ranges and stovetops. These rebates are available to every DC resident, regardless of income. Check out a list of the rebates here. There are gas-to-electric rebates as well as electric-to-electric rebates, with gas-to-electric rebates typically higher.
And now, the DCSEU offers a new $2,000 rebate for a main service panel upgrade, if you’re switching from gas or oil water heating to a heat pump or heat pump water heater. You can also get rebates for up to three electrical circuit add-ons, at $400 per circuit. The electrical circuit rebates are available for homeowners switching from gas or oil equipment to heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, electric or heat pump clothes dryers, and electric or induction stoves.
Uprise Home Electrification Case Study
Phil Covell, Uprise Solar’s Director of Finance, has been making electrification changes to his Virginia home. Phil says, “I’m an energy nerd, but not an early adopter. I typically only pay for things when I know they make economic sense.” Sounds about right for a finance director! Phil’s first step to home electrification was — you guessed it — rooftop solar panels. He was able to take advantage of the federal solar tax credit and Solar Renewable Energy Certificates, as well as electric bill savings, to make solar more affordable.
Electric Transportation
Phil’s next step was to purchase an EV. His family chose a 2015 Nissan Leaf. The 2015 Leaf’s range is around 84 miles, but Phil didn’t need a huge range as the family specifically uses the car for local trips. And they were able to purchase the EV for a very reasonable $9,000. The Nissan Leaf can plug into a regular home outlet, so the family didn’t need to install an EV charging station.
Phil has found EVs easier to maintain than gas cars, and says his Leaf is zippy and inexpensive to drive. (Marketing Associate Lacy Cooke owned a 2017 Nissan Leaf while living in California for a year and completely agrees!)
“EVs use about one third of the energy that gas-powered and diesel vehicles consume, and their comparative efficiency is even greater for city driving,” Phil says.
To complement the Leaf, Phil also purchased a used e-bike, which he uses to commute to the Uprise office in DC. (Check out Phil in action on the bike in this post!) He says the e-bike is even more efficient and plus, he has fun riding it. “It’s paid for itself in about two years from fuel savings and fewer parking tickets,” he says.
Induction Cooking
Inside his home, Phil opted not to invest in a whole new range for cooking. Instead, he bought an induction hot plate (pictured above) for about $75 off Amazon. Induction stoves heat a pot directly, cutting down on waste heat, in contrast with gas burners, which transfer some heat to a pot but also some to the surrounding air. So Phil uses his induction hot plate mainly in the summer so there’s less waste heat that his air conditioner has to combat. In the winter, he doesn’t mind that waste heat, so he still uses his gas stove.
“I love the electronic controls of the induction cooker, and its portability,” he says.
Heat Pump Water Heater
The next upgrade the family made was to replace their old water heater in their basement with a heat pump water heater. These devices take heat from the surrounding air to heat water, which Phil says is a considerably more efficient method than creating heat with burners or resistance heaters.
Again, the family has found the device operates best in the summer, when they already want to cool and dehumidify the air in their home. In the winter, they’ve found the heat pump to be less efficient and less comfortable. So they sometimes run an electric heater to keep the basement at a comfortable temperature.
“The whole system may not be much more efficient in the winter, but that’s only about four months, and during the other eight months I’m thrilled to reduce the cost of air conditioning and running the dehumidifier,” Phil says. “Recently, we put an extra refrigerator in the basement near the heat pump water heater. That’s a perfect combination, because waste heat from the fridge ends up in our hot water, and the cool air from the heat pump water heater causes the refrigerator to work less.”
Electric Lawn Mower
Phil’s kids also got him a used electric lawn mower to trim the lawn. The electric mower is much more efficient than his old gas-powered mower, which he also found to be expensive to maintain, loud, and polluting, so there were several reasons to switch from that gas mower to an electric one.
Tallying It Up: Phil’s Savings
Phil notes that before he started any home electrification projects, he made other energy efficiency upgrades, such as installing LED lights, replacing windows, and adding insulation in the attic. He also cooks food outside as much as possible on his Solo wood stove, which he says has almost entirely replaced his gas grill.
“The net effect of all this is that I spend about $9 a month for electricity, about $30 a month for gasoline (longer trips with our Prius), and maybe $500 a year for gas to heat the house,” he says. “I feel great about the money I’m saving, and that I’ve dramatically reduced my fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions.”
Typical water heating expenses with gas can be around $12 to $18 per month, Phil says, while his highest bill with the heat pump water heater was $10 for a month (for less than 70 kilowatt-hours). And at the time, with family friends there for an extended stay, seven people were using hot water in the home!
More Home Electrification Resources
Want to learn more? Check out these resources to kick off your electrification research:
- Breathe Easy: December 2024 Electrification Report from Rewiring America
- Electrify Everything in Your Home from Rewiring America
- Home Electrification & Energy Efficiency from the DCSEU
- Affordable Home Electrification Equipment Eligibility Cheat Sheet from the DCSEU
- Energy Savings at Home from Energy Star
- Induction vs. Electric Cooktop: Which Should You Buy? from Consumer Reports
Take A Step On Your Journey to Home Electrification!
One major component of home electrification is installing solar panels — and you’re in luck, Uprise can help with that! Schedule a conversation with our sales team here to learn more about solar options for your home.
We also install EV chargers, and can install the electric line needed for an electric stove. If you’re interested in home electrification projects, be sure to mention that to your sales representative.
You can also start small with energy efficiency updates. Check out Uprise’s blog post on 10 DIY energy efficiency projects here, and our tips on nine ways to conserve energy here.