The Way Forward
The good news is that renewable energy from wind and solar is competitive with gas and cheaper than coal or nuclear.
The good news is that renewable energy from wind and solar is competitive with gas and cheaper than coal or nuclear. If the costs of climate change, gas infrastructure, and health impacts were included in the price of gas, renewable energy and storage would be much cheaper than continued reliance on methane.
The federal Inflation Reduction Act includes sizable rebates, tax credits and deductions for customers to convert to high efficiency heat pumps to meet our heating, air conditioning and hot water needs as well as for induction stoves and insulating our homes. There are also tax credits and deductions to place solar panels on our houses, businesses and government buildings.
Richmond’s Climate Equity Action Plan adopted in February 2023 is a good start but it must be implemented. Working together we can move Richmond forward with a just and equitable transition to a renewable energy future
Alternatives to Gas
Heat Pump
Induction Cooking
Heat Pump
If your home is heated by a gas furnace or a gas boiler, it’s emitting pollutants into your home and carbon pollution into our climate. When gas is burned, most of the dirty fossil fuel is converted into heat. But some is lost, with even the most efficient gas systems converting around 90 percent of the gas into heat.
Clean energy heat pumps use less energy and provide the same amount of heat. Heat pumps extract heat from outdoor air and transfer it indoors. For each unit of energy used by a heat pump, three to four units of heat are created. That means while gas is at best around 90 percent efficient, heat pumps have efficiencies of 300 percent to 400 percent.
How can a heat pump extract heat from the cold outdoor air during the winter? It works because heat flows from hot to cold. The heat pump uses a refrigerant colder than the outdoor air, so when the refrigerant is sent outdoors, it absorbs heat, even from frigid temperatures. The refrigerant is then compressed, which raises its temperature three to four times, and the heat is sent indoors.
Heat pumps provide heating even when outdoor temperatures drop below zero degrees Fahrenheit. Heat pumps are used successfully and efficiently in climates as cold as Maine.
Heat pumps are essentially air conditioners in reverse, and the same heat pump that warms your home in the winter can cool it in the summer with a single device, saving you money by having one system for both heating and cooling.
The federal Inflation Reduction Act offers generous incentives for purchase of new high efficiency heat pumps for heating and cooling as well as heat pump water heaters. Learn more about these incentives on the Rewiring America Savings Calculator.
Induction Cooking
Many people prefer gas ranges over traditional electric stoves despite the health risk of cooking with fossil fuels. But not as many people are familiar with the cooking experience from induction stoves, which bring a pot of water to boil twice as fast as gas stoves.
Induction cooktops provide heat evenly across a pan, unlike gas ranges. Most people who own an induction cooktop love it, according to a New York Times blog. And the price of an electric induction stove is now competitive with a gas range.
So how does it work? When an induction cooktop is switched on, electricity pulses through coils of copper wire beneath the stove’s glass surface, creating a magnetic field. The magnetic field induces the movement of electrons, transferring heat directly to the pan and cutting out the intermediate step of heating a burner. This makes induction stoves highly efficient. Consumer Reports found that every induction stove tested in 2019 delivered “fast cooktop heat and superb simmering.”
Burns and accidents are less likely with an induction cooktop. Only stainless steel and iron pots and pans work on ion stoves, meaning you may have to buy new cookware to use an induction stove. The improved cooking experience makes it well worth it for most people.
Want to learn more about induction stoves? Check out reviews from Consumer Reports, Wirecutter, Reviewed, and Forbes.
The federal Inflation Reduction Act offers generous incentives for purchase of induction stoves or cooktops. Learn more about these incentives on the Rewiring America Savings Calculator.