Electrifying the House

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who in their right mind would eliminate gas for electric, especially for a stove???

Pssst. electricity comes from fossil fuels, and the mining to make those batteries is 1000x worse for the environment than coal fire or gas.

Google Myanmar and lithium mining.

Where are the batteries in my cooktop? How often should I change them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When house hunting, we crossed off any houses that did not have a gas stove.

Have you ever used an induction stove? It's not your dad's electric stove.

[Anonymous]

Consider also doing the solar and battery at the same time. We were able to decide which parts of the house run on the battery backup. It’s really great to never lose power when others do and the battery holds enough to power us through most nights. We barely pull anything from the grid. The tax credits likely won’t be around for long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who in their right mind would eliminate gas for electric, especially for a stove???

Pssst. electricity comes from fossil fuels, and the mining to make those batteries is 1000x worse for the environment than coal fire or gas.

Google Myanmar and lithium mining.

Our electricity is from hydro and wind, and there are no batteries in the cooktop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When house hunting, we crossed off any houses that did not have a gas stove.

I know several people who did this or installed gas, but honestly, not only does induction avoid the indoor air quality and environmental issues of gas, it performs better too.

[Anonymous]

You can get a $2000 tax credit for installing a heat pump, and also a credit if you need to do a heavy up of your electrical panel for this purpose. Ours was $600, I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who in their right mind would eliminate gas for electric, especially for a stove???

Pssst. electricity comes from fossil fuels, and the mining to make those batteries is 1000x worse for the environment than coal fire or gas.

Google Myanmar and lithium mining.

Where are the batteries in my cooktop? How often should I change them?

Bringing in batteries when they're completely irrelevant is a tell that this person is just an anti-electric troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Consider also doing the solar and battery at the same time. We were able to decide which parts of the house run on the battery backup. It’s really great to never lose power when others do and the battery holds enough to power us through most nights. We barely pull anything from the grid. The tax credits likely won’t be around for long.

Solar yes, batteries maybe.

In DC, there are generous incentives for solar, systems pay for themselves in a few years and then become money-makers. But the size of a system you're allowed to have is limited by your actual use. In an all-electric house you can have a larger system which makes you more money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When house hunting, we crossed off any houses that did not have a gas stove.

I know several people who did this or installed gas, but honestly, not only does induction avoid the indoor air quality and environmental issues of gas, it performs better too.

As an avid cook, I was worried it wouldn’t be as fun to cook on induction as gas (but we moved pretty far out and a gas line isn’t an option). I got good pans (demeyere) and haven’t missed a beat in the kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An all electric heat pump will cost more to run than a gas furnace/electric AC.

This generally is true. It might vary a bit depending on how a given house is insulated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who in their right mind would eliminate gas for electric, especially for a stove???

Pssst. electricity comes from fossil fuels, and the mining to make those batteries is 1000x worse for the environment than coal fire or gas.

Google Myanmar and lithium mining.

Our electricity is from hydro and wind, and there are no batteries in the cooktop.

Ah, so you live outside metro DC…it is starting to make more sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Have fun, do what makes you happy.

(For me, zero chance I will give up my downstairs zone gas furnace, which works even if the electricity is not working. If the cooktop dies then I will switch to an induction for performance reasons. Upstairs zone already is heat pump. Already have an electric clothes dryer, for convenience reasons.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who in their right mind would eliminate gas for electric, especially for a stove???

Pssst. electricity comes from fossil fuels, and the mining to make those batteries is 1000x worse for the environment than coal fire or gas.

Google Myanmar and lithium mining.

Where are the batteries in my cooktop? How often should I change them?

I think Tesla now sells whole house battery backup units. Colleague in California said something about that. Not sure of the details though.

[Anonymous]

Just be aware, a heat pump doesn’t give you that toasty warm feeling you get with gas or oil heat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved last year to a home with no gas line. Heat pump dryer, induction range, heat pump water heater, and geothermal HVAC.
I have zero complaints about any of it. People say heat pump dryers take longer, but that is not my experience (3 kids- we do a ton of laundry). And I love the induction range - I recently visited my in-laws and boiling water on a gas range felt like watching paint dry.

I have an induction cooktop and had a similar experience while traveling. With induction, you punch in a number and you get the same heat every time. If I want sauteed onions I punch in a six every time and they're perfect every time. When I had to cook with a gas stove I had forgotten that you have to look under the pan and see how big the flame is and adjust the knob until it's the size you think it needs to be. It seemed incredibly archaic, almost barbaric.

Someone is a graduate of the William Shatner School of Overacting.