Want to give your family the best possible gift for Valentine's Day? Make 2024 the year you retire at least one gas appliance in your home. Better energy efficiency and reducing your carbon footprint are two benefits but in addition, you can improve the health and safety for you and your family. Pretty good trade off!
OOF! The Link Between Asthma and Gas Appliances
Studies in recent years have shown that gas stoves leak, even when not being used, and that there are one-third more instances of childhood asthma in households with gas stoves, even when range hoods for venting are used.
An added benefit is that if you make your home all-electric, you avoid any risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and exploding gas lines from the ever-aging gas pipeline infrastructure.
Some people want to keep their gas appliances around in case of power outages. But many of the newer gas appliances have electric starters that won’t work without power. There are ways to keep the critical systems in your home running without gas.
Ways To Lower Your Gas Footprint
Admittedly, the optimal solution of solar panels with battery backups is cost prohibitive for some families, but prices continue to come down, and new technologies become available every day, giving us more and more options. You owe it to yourself and your family to at least take steps to electrify some appliances and stay informed about your numerous options.
It is possible to make many electrification improvements to your home without having to upgrade your main electrical service panel. We encourage what is called “A Watt Diet,” using appliances and adaptive techniques that don’t tax your main service panel. Check out the GreenTown web site at https://www.greentownlosaltos.org/electrify-your-home for more information.
Unless you have specifically opted out of it, you are probably getting your energy from Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) see your PG&E bill to verify. SVCE is offering some incredible rebates for going electric https://svcleanenergy.org/offers-services/ . Their web site is rich with names of appliances that their customers are buying and that qualify for the rebates.
There are many approaches to get going towards an all-electric home. Some households start with their oldest appliances first. Some look to where they can make the most impact for toward their goals. Some upgrade the appliances they can more easily plan for, such as heat pump water heaters, rather than wait for an emergency when the appliance fails. Whichever approach you take, we courage you to start now. It will be the Valentine’s present that will give back to your family for years to come.