Gail Lee saved $10,708 after taking significant steps to electrify her home.
Morgan Vaisset-Fauvel placing a cone near fallen trees at Mout Sutro.
Her journey began when the 2023 storm, the one that ripped Mt. Sutro trees from the ground, damaged her roof and caused a leak. At that point, she already had 3.3Kw of solar panels, which produce enough energy to power common household appliances like a refrigerator, TV, dishwasher, lights, water heater, and more. With the roof needing to be replaced and the price of electricity going up, it was time to add more panels.
The contractor who replaced the roof reinstalled the old panels and added new ones, totaling 7Kw of power. The additional solar power provides enough energy to charge her electric car and the remainder she sells to PG&E. Because Lee has a solar battery storage system, she’s able to use solar energy even on gloomy days.
All the ways to save, and earn, money with solar panels:
- Sell excess power to PG&E
- IRS offers tax credits
- Rebates
Lee at her new stove.
When It Rains It Pours
As luck would have it, after the work on the outside of her home was complete, the indoor appliances began to fail. The stove went first. After 20 years, the gas stove finally gave out, which Lee took as a sign to replace it with an induction stove.
Induction stoves are electric stoves that use electromagnetic copper coils to create energy to cook food. These copper coils are efficient and can boil four cups of water two minutes faster than a gas stove. “According to the EPA, induction is 85% efficient, whereas radiant electric is 75% to 80% efficient, and gas is only 32% efficient,” Is an Induction Stove for You? Here Are the Pros and Cons, New York Times article.
A major downside to induction stoves is cost. They can be costly…if you’re not taking advantage of the rebates. Lee’s $1,500 induction stove cost her half of that after the $750 rebate check.
The next stop on the journey to a green home–heating. Lee had two polluting options – a furnace, which she hadn’t turned on in six years, and a gas fireplace. “My utility offered a $10,000 interest-free loan and a $1,500 rebate. So I went for it,” she says.
A friend of Lee’s purchased his heat pump at Costco which offered a 10% discount and a 15% shop card. “Wow that’s a deal, I thought and went there as well,” she says. Unfortunately, Costco’s contractor was not Bay Ren certified, as required by her utility company.
Roadblock.
If you’ve had the pleasure of meeting Gail Lee, you know that she’s a force of nature who rarely backs away from a challenge. Lee informed the Costco contractor of the rebate program and the opportunity to earn more business. “Yeah, I encouraged them to become a Bay Ren vendor.”
Lee for the win!
Replacing heat pump cost analysis:
Original price tag: $17,346
Minus:
10-year, 0% interest loan: $10,000
Peninsula Clean Energy rebate: $3,500
Costco discount: -10% ($1,734)
Costco shop card: -15% ($2,250)
Federal tax credit: $2,000
Total cost after rebates and tax credits: $5,654 paid over 10 years
Cost of Energy Is Going Up, Why Should I Electrify?
That’s a very good question.
Electrify for a healthier you and your family.
Here’s the deal, the alternative to electricity is gas, and gas is bad for your health. At every step of its life cycle it contributes to poor health outcomes.
A recent Stanford study suggested cooking on gas stoves triggers asthma and other respiratory conditions, especially for children.
Although Lee has been avidly electrifying her home, you don’t have to follow her lead step by step. Do what works for you. “There’s no point in converting if it’s not the right time financially for you, but do it before your appliances fail,” she says. Don’t get discouraged by the initial price tag; keep in mind that rebates and other money-saving opportunities exist. They’re in place to encourage electrification. Different utilities offer different rebates. Check out yours now!
List of Rebate Programs Per Bay Area County
San Francisco: Clean Power SF
Napa, Marin, Solano, Contra Costa: Marin Clean Energy
Alameda: Ava Community Energy (Formerly East Bay Community Energy)
San Mateo: Peninsula Clean Energy
Santa Clara: Silicon Valley Clean Energy
Sonoma: Sonoma Clean Power
City of San Jose: San Jose Clean Energy
City of Palo Alto: City of Palo Alto Utilities
BayRen Programs and Rebates
Search for available savings opportunities on The Switch Is On
If you’d like to learn more about electrifying your home, stay tuned for an in-person, hands-on workshop in October, complete with a drawing for an induction hotplate. If you have immediate questions, email Lee. If enough people show interest, she'll host a small forum.
