Building Electrification Resources

The city of Los Altos Environmental Commission encourages residents to consider building electrification, a shift away from using natural gas for space heating and cooling, water heating, clothes drying, and cooking. Switching progressively to an all-electric home is healthier, cleaner and can also be more affordable¹. This resource page is designed to help you replace your old gas appliances with new, more efficient electric ones.

Residential and commercial energy represent 32% and 6.8%, respectively, of city-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (2018). Since the majority of residents purchase 100% carbon-free electricity through Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE), most of these emissions come from methane/natural gas appliances. Electrification of new and existing buildings is important to achieving carbon neutrality by 2035, as defined by the newly approved Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.

Resources

Numerous organizations provide resources and incentives to help consumers electrify. Here are a few of the most important tools you can use to identify information, rebates and other resources (other helpful links are embedded in the remainder of the page):

• BayREN: Bay Area County coalition promoting resource efficiency with a hub of information about Rebates and financing, contractor locator and home energy advisors.
• SVCE: Los Altos’ electricity provider that offers rebates for electrification and a web-based Appliance Assistant tool, which has reviews, pricing and installation information about electric appliances.
• Energy-Smart: Whole Building Electrification Incentives (cannot be combined with BayRen incentives)
• Rewiring America: Electrification nonprofit providing information including Savings Calculator for money available from Inflation Reduction Act
• Acterra:  Nonprofit organization with Green@Home program dedicated to home electrification.  Check out their YouTube page for electrification webinar recordings

What appliances can I electrify?

Many gas appliances for heating and cooling can be replaced with heat pump appliances. A heat pump works like a refrigerator, using electricity and a refrigerant to move warm air from one place to another. More information about heat pumps for heating and cooling can be found here.

• Gas furnace: You can replace your gas furnace and old air conditioning system with an all-in-one heat pump.  In homes that already have ductwork, a central heat pump can be easily installed using your current duct system. In homes that do not have ductwork, a ductless mini-split heat pump is also an option. The equipment cost may be less than replacing both your gas furnace and old AC. Use this cost estimator tool to help you get a more accurate estimate. In addition, you’ll save on your electricity bill since central heat pumps are more efficient than electric heating and AC units². Since a heat pump can provide cooling and air filtration³, it may also help with climate resilience in the event of heat waves and unhealthy air quality due to wildfires. 

• Water heater: You can replace your gas water heater or your tankless gas water heater with an electric heat pump water heater. Heat pump water heaters are now at least 3 times more efficient than gas water heaters⁴ and therefore generally cost less to operate. More information on heat pump water heaters can be found here.

• Clothes dryer: You can replace your gas clothes dryer with a standard electric dryer or a heat pump dryer. The benefit of heat pump dryers is that they are cheaper to operate (like most heat pumps when compared to electric or gas appliances), resulting in significant yearly operational cost savings. Heat pump dryers operate at a lower temperature, which means they are gentler on laundry, but take longer to dry.

• Cooking Appliances: If you have a gas cooking appliance (cooktop, range, or oven), you can replace it with an electric or induction cooking appliance. Electric resistance cooktops use a coil for heating whereas induction cooktops generate energy from an electromagnetic field and transfer current directly to magnetic cookware, causing it to heat up. Compared to gas and electric resistance, induction cooktops can provide benefits including better cooking precision, increased safety (no hot surface), increased cooking speed, higher efficiency (90% of heat directed to pan versus 70% or less)⁵ and ease of cleaning. One thing to consider is that induction cooktops will need induction-ready pans to work. Cast iron and stainless-steel pans will work. Copper, glass or aluminum pans will not. Interested in learning more about induction cooking? PG&E has an induction cooktop loaner program and Acterra has cooking classes.

  There are other important human health benefits to electric cooking compared to gas cooking because gas stoves contribute to poor indoor air quality. Gas stoves emit harmful byproducts of burning methane, including the release of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter that have been shown to increase the risk of asthma in children and can have other detrimental health effects ^6,7. Gas stoves can also contain natural gas leaks that emit chemicals such as benzene, a known carcinogen, even when not in use⁸.

Let's talk about costs!

In general, the cost of heat pumps for both space heating/cooling and water heating has decreased in recent years and is now more competitively priced with gas appliances. In addition, incentives and rebates currently available can make heat pumps and induction cooktops cheaper than current fuel-powered equivalents. See incentives and rebates listed for each appliance below. Note that rebates shown below only apply to replacement of existing appliances. They do not apply to new construction.

It can be more cost effective to install new electric appliances when it’s time to phase out an old gas appliance.  Depending on the type of gas appliance, the average lifespan can range from 10-20 years.⁹ It is important to be prepared if an older appliance breaks so that you’re not faced with limited options. If appliance replacement coincides with the current rebates and incentives available, electrification may turn out to be a wise investment.

How can I find a contractor?

Finding a contractor that can replace an old gas appliance with a new heat pump or electric appliance is not always simple. If you wait for your gas appliance to break, the contractor that you call may not have a heat pump readily available and may not have the technical expertise to install one. It’s important that you consider replacing a gas appliance that is more than 10 years old before it breaks so that you’re not in an emergency when your options will be limited.

To get you started, additional resources can be found on various websites including BayREN, a coalition of the nine Bay Area counties, and SVCE, a not-for-profit Community Choice Energy agency. Many contractors can also help you with rebate programs. Make sure to ask when evaluating various companies. 

The Inflation Reduction Act

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) signed into law by President Biden in August 2022 includes about $370 billion to fight climate change, some of it in the form of tax credits and rebates to help consumers save thousands of dollars on energy-efficient appliances, plug-in electric vehicles, home efficiency improvements, renewable electricity and energy storage for their homes.

A dedicated website to help you figure out which cars, appliances, and home improvements will qualify for the tax credits and rebates has been created. The website will be frequently updated as details take shape, and we advise you to subscribe to receive email updates. 

What about new Homes?

If you’re building a brand-new home, you won’t be able to benefit from the incentives described above because they are contingent on replacing gas appliances.

However, there are incentives available for fully electric new construction through California Energy-Smart Homes and California Electric Homes. 

Questions & Suggestions

If you have any questions or suggestions about this resource page, please email the Environmental Commission at environmentalcommission@losaltosca.gov

References/footnotes:

^{1. Cost savings will vary according to the type of appliance being replaced, the efficiency of both the old gas appliance and the new heat pump/electric appliance and your electricity and gas rates. Rebates and incentives discussed in this document help reduce the overall cost (including installation) of the new appliance.}

^{2. Energy savings from energy.gov}

^{3. Do heat pumps provide air filtration? (n.d.). Better Homes BC. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://betterhomesbc.ca/products/do-heat-pumps-provide-air-filtration/}

^{4. The energy efficiency of water heaters is measured by their UEF (uniform energy factor). The Higher the UEF, the more efficient the appliance. Most heat pump water heaters now have a UEF of 3.5 or more while the best gas water heaters have a UEF of 0.9 (see energystar.gov for more details).}

^{5. Pippin, M. (2022, May 18). Clean Up Your Kitchen with Induction Cooking. SVCE. https://svcleanenergy.org/2022/05/18/induction-cooking/}

^{6. Weiwei Lin, Bert Brunekreef, Ulrike Gehring: Meta-analysis of the effects of indoor nitrogen dioxide and gas cooking on asthma and wheeze in children, International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 42, Issue 6, December 2013}

^{7. Eric D. Lebel, Colin J. Finnegan, Zutao Ouyang and Robert B. Jackson: Methane and NOx Emissions from Natural Gas Stoves, Cooktops, and Ovens in Residential Homes, Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022, 56, 4, 2529–2539}

^{8. Eric D. Lebel, Drew R. Michanowicz, Kelsey R. Bilsback et al: Composition, Emissions, and Air Quality Impacts of Hazardous Air Pollutants in Unburned Natural Gas from Residential Stoves in California, Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022, 56,22, 15828-15838}

^{9. Contributor, T. F.-G. (2013, October 21). The Life Expectancy of 7 Major Appliances. H&R Block. https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/lifestyle/how-long-do-appliances-last}