8 Effective Approaches & Solutions For Electrifying Your Home
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Electrifying your home involves shifting from fossil energy sources to more sustainable electric alternatives, as well as optimizing home energy usage and efficiency, all of which reduces your carbon footprint. As the urgency to adopt more sustainable living solutions grows in response to climate change, many homeowners (and renters) are turning to electrification as a key element in modern home improvement practices. This process can involve a variety of solutions, such as installing solar panels, upgrading to energy-efficient appliances, incorporating electric heating systems and kitchen ranges, and employing battery storage, etc., which can help to clean up a home’s electricity supply, to optimize energy use, improve indoor air quality, and more, which also support environmental sustainability in general.
Home electrification offers a transformative approach to energy consumption, and by combining sustainable solutions that enhance efficiency, reduce utility costs, and improve resiliency, it also reduces our environmental impact. As more homeowners make the shift to electrification, informed decision-making is crucial to ensure that electrification not only meets their needs, but also supports global efforts toward a greener future. With that in mind, here are some effective solutions for electrifying your own home.
Home Energy Audit
A home energy audit is a crucial first step in home electrification, as it informs the homeowner or residents about the building’s overall energy efficiency. An energy audit can help you understand where energy is being used, and wasted, in your home, and what changes can be made to enhance efficiency. One good starting point is reviewing last year’s utility bills in order to identify trends, as well as any unusual spikes in usage. This historical data can provide valuable insights about energy usage over time, and can be an essential tool for making informed decisions when planning home electrification projects. By analyzing energy consumption patterns, you can pinpoint some of the areas that need attention first, and then make targeted upgrades that can not only lower energy bills, but also foster a more sustainable living space. The quickest and cheapest (because it’s free) home energy audit is the DIY approach, and general guidance about doing so can be found at the US Department of Energy website. For a more thorough approach, hiring a professional home energy auditor is the next step up, and thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a home energy audit tax credit offers 30% of the cost of a home energy audit.
Seal Off Air Leaks & Add Insulation
You can have the most efficient heating or cooling system in the world, but also have a very ‘leaky’ and poorly insulated house, in which case the heating or cooling efficiency gains are pretty much a wash, as the system will need to constantly cycle on and off to keep the home comfortable. By finding and fixing the biggest air leaks first, then tracking down the smaller ones and plugging those next, and adding additional insulation to your home’s ceiling, floor, or walls and doors, it’s possible to reduce costs and increase comfortability even before you consider replacing major appliances or HVAC system. Adding some, or more, insulation to key parts of the home doesn’t have to mean a high-dollar purchase or major renovation, either, as there are plenty of thrifty alternatives to choose from as an immediate stop-gap measure or if your budget doesn’t allow it. For example, thin doors or ill-fitting doors with leaky thresholds or frames can be covered on the inside with a wool blanket or comforter from the thrift or surplus store, and old or single pane windows that may also have leaky frames can be covered with thick insulating drapes or a thick blanket to help keep heat from escaping as fast. For reducing cooling load, using ‘blackout’ curtains or other light-blocking material on windows which get a lot of direct sunlight, or installing a roll-up shade of some sort on the outside of the window will both help to keep the interior from heating up as fast.
Energy-Efficient Appliances
Even without access to solar energy to power our home, upgrading to energy-efficient appliances can go a long way toward reducing utility costs and shrinking our carbon footprint. Using the information from a home energy audit, and checking the nameplates on your current home appliances for reference, it’s easy to go window-shopping for energy-efficient replacements for the oldest appliances or the most energy-hogging ones, using the Energy Star standard and and your budget as your guidelines. Once you’ve got a good idea of what is on the market and what the retail costs are for those appliances, check with your local utility and your state for local rebates or tax credits, and see what federal tax credits are available to help reduce the purchase price and/or installation costs.
Heat pumps, induction stoves, electric water heaters, heat pump water heaters, high efficiency electric home heating systems, electric clothes dryers, smart thermostats, and smart home systems (or home energy management systems) are all good places to start, depending on your particular home’s needs. Even adding an electric blanket or two to your home, which allow you to heat the person instead of the whole room, can be one small step toward home electrification, as is adding a small induction cooktop to your kitchen instead of replacing your entire range.
LED Lighting
As part of your home energy audit, you should have noted the wattage of your home light sources, whether indoor or out, and now you can begin to replace some or all of those with LED lighting solutions. LED bulbs are renowned for their energy efficiency, and can consume at least 75% less energy than other bulbs, and when equipped with dimming capabilities, they could save an additional 40% in energy usage. Additionally, LED’s longevity can significantly reduce how frequent bulbs need replacing, which reduces costs and helps conserve resources. Some LED lighting options also allow for incredibly granular customization, from changing brightness levels on the fly, accessing some 16 million color combinations, the ability to incorporate scheduling or custom lighting scenes for different activities, and can be part of a smart home system for the ultimate in control.
Solar Panels
One major element of home electrification is the installation of a solar panel system, which not only harnesses the power of the sun to meet home energy needs, but also reduces dependence on traditional power grids. By converting sunlight into electricity, solar panels offer a clean and renewable energy source that contributes to lower electricity bills over time, despite the initial high investment costs, and a reduced carbon footprint. Installing solar panels can also help to boost the resale value of the property, and by taking advantage of state and federal tax credits or rebates for home solar installations, the overall cost of the system can be cheaper than you might think. For those who rent or who live in a multi-unit building where installing rooftop solar isn’t possible, or those who can’t afford a full-on home solar power system, there are a lot of options on the market for smaller panels and portable solar systems that can be deployed on a balcony, backyard, or porch.
Home Battery Storage
Even without a home solar system, a home energy storage system can go a long way toward reducing home electricity costs due to their ability to effectively time-shift energy usage in the home. By charging the battery system during off-peak times, when electricity is cheapest, and drawing from the system during peak times, when electricity is most expensive, it can not only save you money, but it also reduces the load on the grid during peak hours, which helps increase grid resiliency. A large whole-home energy storage system such as those from EcoFlow, Bluetti, or Tesla, especially when fed by a home solar system, is one effective home electrification approach, with the downside being the high upfront cost. On the other side of the coin, there are many smaller battery storage and portable power systems on the market that don’t cost an arm and a leg, and which can serve a variety of purposes in the home. These smaller storage systems can be charged either with a portable solar panel, or via a home’s AC outlet, and can be used to time-shift energy costs the same as a larger system, but on a much smaller scale, and can also come in handy as an uninterruptible power source (UPS), as part of an emergency preparedness kit, or taken on roadtrips or off-grid adventures as well.
Electric Vehicle & Home EV Charging Station
Although an EV isn’t technically found inside the home, and can be considered its own component in the electrify everything movement, driving on electrons and charging your EV at home is a clean and cost-effective solution to lowering your carbon footprint. Plus, an EV can also stand in as a home energy storage and electricity supply device to help keep the lights on when the power is out. We have already published a lot of great info on CleanTechnica about electric vehicles and EV charging, including a category just for Electric Car FAQs, and are adding to those resources daily.
Electric Bikes
Like an EV, an e-bike isn’t necessarily a home electrification solution, although it can reduce transportation costs, decrease air pollution, lower your carbon footprint, increase your fitness, and raise the fun factor in your life. Unlike an EV, an e-bike can’t (yet) serve as a home energy storage device, but we may see e-bikes that serve as portable power stations in the near future. And with the growing number of states and municipalities offering e-bike incentives, as well as an overall drop in e-bike prices, e-cycling doesn’t have to break the bank. We have written quite a few e-bike reviews over the years, which could help inform your choice when purchasing one, and will continue to add to that resource over time.
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