Copyright 2019 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions we need to electrify all of our buildings. New electric appliances — such as heat pumps and induction stoves — are often less expensive to operate than conventional natural gas appliances. For example, at $2/therm for natural gas and $0.30/kwh for electricity, it costs about $1 to heat up a 65 gallon hot water tank for both gas and electricity. Add in rooftop solar and you can heat that tank for less than $0.25!
So from both an economic and environmental standpoint it absolutely makes sense to replace old gas appliances with new electric appliances. Except for one big problem: many older homes have a 100 or 125 amp electrical service — which is insufficient to run most domestic hot water heat pumps, heat pump HVAC systems (heating and cooling), induction electric stoves and level 2 electric vehicle chargers. Not to mention anything other than a relatively small (
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