Managing our future usage
Last week we introduced our mission to Electrify Washington! To successfully transition to an all-electric society and electrify our state to run on clean energy, we must understand how to manage our electrical loads efficiently. That means the big purchase decisions we make this decade will determine our cost of living, energy use, and emissions related to our daily activities. This week we will dive into the appliances and technologies available to make the most out of your electricity usage!
Why electrify our homes?
Our future depends on our ability to mitigate carbon emissions from entering our atmosphere. Our economy is built on fossil fuels and structured to utilize fossil fuels for all economic activity. So what can we do? Electrifying our homes and using electricity as the primary way to power our appliances, electronics, heating, and cooling systems will directly affect our health, bottom line, and contribution to combating climate change.
What we stand to gain from electrification
Comfort and performance
With modern appliances, you will have a better quality of life as they outperform their gas and old electric counterparts. With means to managing the machines with apps and the internet, you can better control the heating and cooling you experience at home.
Lower cost
Better technology and a 3-5 times efficiency increase mean hundreds to over a thousand dollars in savings. As gas prices continue to rise, so will the savings as switching to electric appliances will see more cheap renewable energy connect to the grid.
Lower carbon emissions
Space heating, cooling, and water heating are the largest sources of carbon emissions. Using all electric appliances means no fossil fuels are burned for energy on-site. Again, as the utility plugin more renewable energy sources into the grid as they plan to do in Washington, your electric appliances will be powered by clean and cheap energy.
Lower health risk
Combusting fossil fuels for heating and cooking creates by-products such as CO and NO2, which are linked to significant health risks. Heat Pumps continuously move air, which leads to more air filtration and healthier indoor air. Lower health risks by going electric!
A cleaner grid means no emissions from electrification
As mandated in the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), all Washington State utilities will have 100% emissions-free sources of electricity to provide to their customers by 2045. Implementing modern, efficient appliances will help us get to this goal as electricity demand is met by renewable energy supply.
Electrified appliances explained
HVAC
Heat pump space heating and A/C technology is the HVAC system of the future. Using ambient heat or cool air and continuously pushing it around the house keeps a fresh, even, and filtered airflow.
Water heating
Utilizing the same technology as heat pump heating and A/C, you can heat your water at 3-5 times the efficiency of electric resistance or gas-fired solutions.
Cooking
Induction cooking can boil 8 quarts of water in 9.3 minutes compared to 18.6 minutes, plus the percent of energy delivered to the food is 85% compared to the gas’ 30%. Gas stoves are linked to a higher risk of asthma, and the indoor pollution levels from gas stoves in poorly ventilated homes can reach critical levels! Own your efficiency and safety.
Do a home energy audit with Zwell today!
Conduct a free home energy audit with Zwell. You will dive into each type of appliance you own, and how old they are, and get a plan to start electrifying, saving money, and cutting emissions from your home’s energy use.
When to electrify?
Our big purchases for our homes and transportation lock us into long-term emissions. The best decision today is to create a plan to replace your next home appliance with an electric one when it reaches the end of its useful lifespan. The same for vehicles; your next car should be hybrid or fully electric. For those who can make the switch now, do it, and congratulations! Most of us will gradually transition to owning electrified appliances and transportation. If you are curious about when to adopt renewable energy technologies, read our blog to learn more.
Financing the electrified future
Fortunately, as we begin transforming to an all-electric future, the US government is helping us. The Inflation Reduction Act provides rebates and tax credits that empower everyone across the socioeconomic scale to electrify today. Whether rebates are available depends on your income relative to your zip code. Find the rebates and tax credits available through Rewiring America’s IRA Calculator.
SPAN the panel for the 21st century
SPAN Panel is a whole-home energy management system that enables any home for electrification upgrades like EV chargers, heat pumps, solar power systems, and battery storage. SPAN reinvented the 100-year-old electrical panel and created a smarter, better approach to whole-home energy management. A direct replacement for your existing electrical panel, SPAN Panel brings circuit-level control and monitoring, valuable energy insights, and flexible backup customization to any home.
Maximizing electricity usage with SPAN
Control your home's energy usage
Manage and monitor all of your home’s circuits in real time with the SPAN Home app.
Get the ultimate whole-home backup
SPAN pairs with battery storage to intelligently extend the length of your home backup during an outage.
Prepare for future home upgrades
Dynamic load management enables electrification upgrades like solar and battery systems, heat pumps, and EV chargers.
Charge your EV faster with SPAN Drive
Get max-available charging speeds 24/7 without an expensive electrical service upgrade.
Next in the Electrify Washington series
Next week we’ll talk about the generation aspect of the electrification movement. Naturally, as we switch our appliances and vehicles to electricity, more demand for it will increase. So get ready to dive into the current state of our national grid, incentives to own a solar energy system, and how we can create a future of abundance when we Electrify Washington.
