I’ve been an environmental activist for a long time, and as the owner of residential properties, including my own home, it has been important to me to contribute to the community’s efforts to transition to clean, renewable energy.

I’ve learned some lessons the hard way. One stands out: Make sure your wiring is ready. This may help you avoid squandering an opportunity to decarbonize your home when the chance arises.

Why electrify?

There are three big reasons for moving toward all-electric homes and choosing the most energy-efficient appliances while we’re at it.

  • Climate – Displacing natural gas used in homes helps reduce the volume of climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Both carbon dioxide and methane leak at every step of natural gas supply: extraction, processing, delivery and use. 
  • Economy – It’s far more efficient to heat and cool your house and heat water by using the latest heat pump technologies rather than electric resistance and gas.
  • Health and safety – Emissions from gas-fired furnaces and stoves include carbon monoxide, methane, volatile organic compounds and more. Electric induction cooktops also lower risks of burns and fires and keep the kitchen cooler in summer than exposed gas flames or electric resistance cooktops. 

Make sure your wiring is ready 

Like many Evanston homes, ours is over 100 years old. After we bought the house in 1999, we spent several months on a gut renovation. We replaced galvanized metal water pipes with copper; blew fiberglass insulation into the walls, ceilings and attic; and made major upgrades to the 60-amp electric panel. 

But switching to electric hot water and heat? In 1999, that wasn’t on my radar. So we simply upgraded the furnace to supply more radiant hot-water heat to the second floor and replaced the hot water heater with a 50-gallon high-efficiency gas-fired unit. 

Then 22 years later, the hot water heater began to leak. My personal commitment to climate activism had been awakened during a 2007 town hall meeting when Citizens’ Greener Evanston (now Climate Action Evanston) was organized. Here, I thought, was a chance to switch from a water heater fueled by fossil gas to an energy-efficient heat-pump hot water heater.

But it was not to be. We would need a new 30-amp 220/240 volt connection from our service panel, but I couldn’t find an electrician who could come sooner than two weeks. Like most people, we couldn’t wait and fell back on the default: another 50-gallon gas-fueled replacement. There went my chance to switch to cleaner and greener hot water for another 10 or 15 years at least.

If you’re looking to reduce your carbon footprint, consider changes in your electric panel.

Don’t wait until there’s an emergency

My advice: Upgrade your wiring as soon as you have the occasion. That might be when you are planning a remodeling project or when you must engage an electrician for a project or a repair in your home. Electricians are likely to be harder to find in the near future, so delays may be more common. Don’t wait.

If you now have a gas hot water heater, you could have an electrician pre-install the necessary wiring and correct voltage and amperage nearby, for example. Eventually, your hot water heater will fail, too, and it will be easy to switch to a more efficient hybrid heat-pump hot water heater and quickly transition away from one gas–fired appliance. (Note: Even if you already have an electric hot-water heater, a heat pump is more efficient and saves money.)

The same applies to preparing for future replacement of your gas furnace, clothes dryer, cooktop and oven. You also might consider installing the proper wiring for a Level 2 EV charger. Sooner or later, an electric vehicle may be in your future.

There is some added expense involved, but when you plan ahead, upgrades and replacements can be managed in an organized way, rather than under the duress of an emergency. Also, financial incentives are regularly becoming available to help encourage these important changes for qualified homeowners.

Pre-wiring completed sooner rather than later will make your life easier and benefit the entire planet. It’s a great first step for most homeowners and property managers – and one more “baby step” to a better planet. 

Resources

Climate Watch is a series of occasional articles and essays about what climate change means for Evanston and what we’re doing locally to make a difference.

Brian Becharas is a member of Climate Action Evanston’s Energy Task Force. He says, “I am concerned about climate change and how I will leave my small part of this planet.”

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  1. Brian, your passion for climate action is well taken & appreciated. However, the other person shown should be warned that all the loose wiring above and around the panel violates many National Electric Code (NEC) requirements. All corrections and updating of electrical capacity must be performed by a licensed electrician using new components meeting National Electrical Manufacturers’ Association (NEMA) standards.

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