How can we let everyone know about clean-energy savings for their homes and businesses?

You are the key ingredient!

Clean-energy adoptions at a neighborhood level are largely local and social. Solar panels and electric vehicles (EVs) tend to be contagious in a neighborhood, because neighbors are curious and compare notes. Heat pumps and other electrified appliances aren’t as visible, but we can spread the word.

Some volunteer opportunities include:

  • Create and deliver “Electrified Home” yard signs with badges for heat pumps, EVs, solar panels, electric cooking, and more

  • Tabling or presenting about electrification at local events

  • Create periodic newsletters or social media posts—there’s plenty of good news in clean energy products

  • Hold open houses at households who have adopted various electrification features and can share their experiences

Why households are critical

Housing and transportation are the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the average US, Oregon, or Washington household, and also the largest emission sectors in Oregon and Washington. Your housing and transportation choices determine the majority of your household footprint, and big purchases like houses and vehicles lock in emissions for years.

Today, increasingly affordable zero-emission options exist for your transportation, heating and cooling your house, heating your water, and cooking food. The enabling technologies are all powered by electricity, since electric energy is far more versatile than burning fossil fuels. In many cases the upfront (capital) cost of the electric options are already cheaper than the fossil fueled equivalent. And in all cases the operating costs of the new electric options are significantly cheaper—the energy costs of an average US household can be cut in half!

Source: Rewiring America

(While electric utilities often use some coal or gas generation, electric vehicles and heat pumps are so much more energy efficient that emissions are lower in essentially all cases; and the emissions will continue to decrease as we clean up the grid.)

Make a household electrification plan

Few households can afford to invest in all of these changes at once, and it would wasteful to replace vehicles or appliances before the end of their useful lifetime. The most economic approach is to replace polluting infrastructure as it requires replacement—and households should thus create a plan for electrifying their infrastructure before the furnace dies or a new car is needed. 

·      Your next vehicle should be electric.

·      Your next furnace should be a heat pump.

·      Your next water heater should be an electric heat pump water heater.

·      Your next stove should be electric.

·      You should plan to put solar on your roof if you have good sun resource.

Besides lower operating costs, the co-benefits of this electrification include much lower toxic emissions, fewer trips for auto maintenance, more options for energy resilience, keeping energy spending local, and others.

In practice, replacing all these things is not simple to plan even when you can afford them. Even ardent DIYers are wise to involve contractors who are experienced at installing these newer technologies. Multiple new non-profit organizations are now offering help with electrification education, planning, and finding resources:

Electrify Now provides lots of information on cleaning up your electricity supply, electrifying your home and rides, and spreading the word about electrifying everyone; plus plenty of helpful videos about the latest electric options.

Electrify Oregon provides guidance on lowering your energy bills, improving energy efficiencies, how to plan for electrification, electrification coaching, and finding local resources.

Rewiring America is a national powerhouse helping with electrification. They recently launched a Personal Electrification Planner tool.

Canopy is also evolving some guides for electrification and planning your future household.