More and more homes are going electric by switching to cleaner electric appliances for cooking and heating. Learn about how you can make your home more energy-efficient and resilient, reduce your energy bill while fighting climate change, and, most importantly, improve your indoor air quality.
Improves indoor air quality: Electric appliances do not emit harmful gases. Natural gas and propane stoves can release carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and other harmful pollutants into the air. A study by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab found that 60 percent of homes in California that cook at least once a week with a gas cooktop can reach pollutant levels that would be illegal if found outdoors.
Makes your home more energy efficient: Today’s electric appliances need less energy to do their job – as much as 3-5 times more efficient than their gas counterparts.
Fights Climate Change: Electric appliances powered by clean electricity at home can lower greenhouse gas emissions, reducing their environmental impact.
Heat pump water heaters move heat rather than make heat. It’s like a reverse refrigerator. While a refrigerator pulls heat from inside a box and dumps it into the surrounding room, a heat pump water heater pulls heat from the surrounding air and transfers it at a higher temperature into the tank to heat your water.
Benefits:
New technology – 120V Plug-in heat pump water heater. No need to upgrade your electrical panel for 240V hardwired service.
Instead of burning fuel, heat pumps use a refrigerant to move heat from one place to another, similar to your refrigerator.
Benefits:
Induction cooktops are electric ranges that use magnetism to generate heat. Magnetic coils below the cooktop’s ceramic glass surface generate a magnetic field that sends pulses directly to the cookware. These magnetic pulses are what heat the cookware.
Induction cooktops can get hot, but only because of the heated base of the cookware. Heat transfers to the cooktop through conduction. It is similar to the heat transfer from a hot pan to a countertop if you set it down to rest. It is also the reason why the ceramic glass surface of the cooktop never gets as hot as a traditional radiant electric range. Heating also stops when you remove the pan from the cooktop.
Benefits:
Electric dryers work by electricity heating coils where the heat is transferred throughout the blower of the dryer. Electric heat pump dryers work as a closed loop system and detect moisture to dry. These dryers will stop once your clothes are done so your drying cycle runs more effectively.
Benefits:
The Switch Is On is a regional effort to bring awareness and information about new electrification technology benefits, all while making it easier and more affordable to make the switch.
Consult a licensed tax consultant with questions about tax credits.
The Inflation Reduction Act introduces new, increased tax credits for all households to electrify their homes and undertake energy efficiency projects in 2022:
The Inflation Reduction Act introduces new, increased tax credits for all households to electrify their homes and undertake energy efficiency projects in 2023:
Led by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), BayREN is a regional collaborative. BayREN represents and serves the Bay Area’s nine counties with outreach, training, technical assistance, funding and resources to make the Bay Area and California a greener, more resilient, more equitable and more energy efficient place to live. BayREN is committed to creating business opportunities for contractors.
TECH Clean California is a statewide initiative designed to accelerate the adoption of clean space and water heating technology across California homes.
Considering rooftop solar but don’t know if it’s right for you? Putting solar on your home is an important financial decision. Increasingly, rooftop solar systems are paired with battery storage systems that create additional value by storing solar energy for usage at a later time.
Our Going Solar page has a step-by-step guide on making the right decision for your home and figuring out if you’ll save money.
Our Backup Power Options page has information on home energy storage, including rebates and permitting.
The Switch Is On campaign is a regional effort to bring awareness and information about new electrification technology benefits.
Led by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), BayREN is a regional collaborative. BayREN represents and serves the Bay Area’s nine counties with outreach, training, technical assistance, funding and resources to make the Bay Area and California a greener, more resilient, more equitable and more energy efficient place to live.
The California Energy-Smart Homes Program is a residential new construction and alterations program that provides incentives to adopt advanced energy measures and transition to all-electric construction. The program is an all-in-one solution that offers incentives for single family, duplex, multifamily low-rise, additions, alterations, and accessory dwelling units.
The program supports California’s focus on building electrification to meet its climate objectives.
Climate Smart San José is San José’s climate action plan, adopted by the City Council in 2018. It lays out how San José does its part to address climate change. It’s a communitywide initiative to reduce air pollution, save water and improve quality of life.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science lab managed by University of California. Berkeley Lab scientists conducted a study about pollutant concentrations and occupant exposures resulting from natural gas cooking burners (NGCB) use in California homes.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) works to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities.
