My Home Electrification Journey
Home projects that have been occupying my time this summer
As I mentioned in my last post, I've spent a lot of time this summer working through some home improvement projects.
And most, if not all of these projects are in an effort to "green up" our home in various ways.
I never set out for this publication to have a focus on environmentalism or green technology, but it feels like it's naturally headed in that direction. At least today.
You don't need me to be the one to tell you about all of the perils of climate change. There are plenty of amazing writers on Substack who are already doing that.
is probably my favorite. And I recommended Ayana's book a few months ago in one of my weekly updates. But it's one of those books that you really can't move on from. It sticks with you. I've found myself re-reading passages lately to see if there is anything that I may have missed the first time around.
One of the prevailing messages of the book is to take control of your own situation and make meaningful green changes in your daily life. Electrifying your home and decarbonizing is a great place to focus. And yet, getting your home off of fossil fuels is way more difficult than it should be. And I live in the Bay Area! You can imagine how hard it is in other parts of the country. But personally, I think that the journey to fully electrify your home is one that is worth undertaking…and quickly.
No, it doesn't have to happen overnight, but it should happen as soon as you're comfortably able to within your mental capacity and financial means.
And I'll state that there are plenty of other Substacks out there who can dive into the political side of things with more knowledge and tact than I can. But my transition to fully electrify my home was undoubtedly expedited by the current administration's budget policy and the disintegration of worthwhile incentives that were designed to ease this process over years rather than months.
Basically, if you're looking to make any of these updates to your home, you need to act now or accept paying exponentially more in the new year. Most of the incentives to do things like install solar panels on your roof or replace your gas water heater with an electric version are going away on December 31st. These projects need to be completed by then to qualify. Incentives for electric vehicles will vaporize even sooner on September 30th.
So surely, I can't be the only homeowner who has quickly scrambled to reconfigure my spending plan for the rest of the year to see if I can fit these projects in before the proverbial heat pump turns into a pumpkin on New Year's Eve.
With that spirit in mind, I thought it would be helpful for me to share what steps I've been taking to make these upgrades happen before they become far more expensive and out of reach for even more consumers.
I'm well aware that even with rebates, tax credits, and substantial incentives of all kinds, these things just aren't a priority for most people. Even if you have some extra cash lying around, are you convinced that spending it to replace a gas furnace that still has a few years of life left is worth your effort? I can absolutely understand if that answer is no.
Maybe I'm just easily influenced by the impending doom of some of the environmental rollbacks that have taken place in our government over the past few months. Maybe all of the heat pump and solar companies are reeling me in with all of their "sign up now or regret it forever!" marketing tactics. It could all be overblown, but I don't think so.
If adoption of these technologies was just getting off the ground with major incentives to increase affordability, what are their chances of success when the costs go up 30, 40, 50% or more? And is someone like me foolish to invest all of this time, energy, and cash when surely a portion of these companies may go out of business without the benefits of incentives driving demand for their products? It's a fair question to ask. I'm not sure I have an answer. Or maybe the answer is yes, but we need to do it anyway because it just feels like the right thing to do?
So what have I done so far on my electrification crusade? I replaced a really nice gas-powered range with an even nicer induction range with some impressive smart technology. I replaced a gas powered car with an EV while still using my electric bike and scooter for all of my local transportation. I installed a home EV charger that proved to be a bit much for my electrical panel to handle, leading to a mysterious late night power outage. Which then motivated me to replace my existing panel with a Leviton Load Center and install a Sub Panel with smart circuit breakers in an effort to better monitor and manage the overall load of my soon-to-be fully electrified home.
If you can't tell, this is a story that has a lot of twists, turns, and learning experiences. The truth is that I've actually really enjoyed every bit of it. And that's why I think the topic is very ripe for deeper exploration and future dedicated posts.
So for now, I'll just get off my soap box and promise that there will be more content here that involves green technology and my personal efforts to reduce and eliminate as much reliance on fossil fuels as possible. And if that’s not for you, don’t worry there will still be plenty of tech news, product reviews, and hopefully humorous trips down memory lane.
And if you’re excited to hear more about my journey, now is the perfect time to support my work by upgrading to a paid subscription.
Thanks for reading!
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Thanks for the shoutout! 💛