Electricity is the fuel of the future and many California homeowners are getting on board by making home electrification upgrades. Switching from gas to electric appliances is better for the environment, and electric appliances are more energy efficient than their gas counterparts, which can save you money on energy bills. Plus, you can run your electric appliances on solar power, allowing you to achieve zero net energy.
If you’re considering a home electrification project and aren’t sure where to begin, a home energy audit is the perfect starting point. An energy audit—also known as an energy assessment—will help you prioritize upgrades and create a roadmap for your home electrification journey.
What Is a Home Energy Audit?
An energy audit is a comprehensive assessment of your home and how it consumes energy. During a professional home energy assessment, an energy auditor will evaluate your insulation, perform air leakage and duct leakage tests, inspect all gas and combustion appliances, and more.
At the end of your assessment, you’ll receive a report that explains:
- Where and how your home is losing energy
- Which appliances and systems in your home are operating inefficiently
- Upgrades to consider for reducing energy use
An Energy Audit Helps Reduce Energy Loss Before You Go All-Electric
To get the most out of your home electrification upgrade, it’s important to reduce the amount of energy loss that occurs in your home before you replace your gas appliances. If you were to simply swap out your gas appliances for electric versions, your home could still be wasting a lot of energy through air leaks and poor insulation. An energy audit helps you identify these problem areas so you can minimize energy waste before installing all-electric appliances. This ensures that your new appliances perform at peak efficiency so you can save as much energy as possible. Making your home more efficient may also allow you to install a smaller HVAC system, significantly reducing your cost of operation.
An Energy Audit Can Help You Prioritize Electrification Upgrades
There are several gas appliances that need to be replaced with electric versions to make your home all-electric:
Gas furnace or boiler → ducted heat pump or mini split heat pumps
Gas water heater → heat pump water heater
Gas stove → induction cooktop
Gas clothes dryer → heat pump clothes dryer
With so many appliances to replace, you may not know where to begin. An energy auditor can evaluate all of your gas appliances and determine which ought to be replaced first based on efficiency, safety, age, and other factors. Having a priority list will help you make the most impactful upgrades first, speeding up your return on investment and making it easier to spread out your upgrades over time so you don’t have to pay for them all at once.
Find a Professional Home Energy Auditor in California
Scheduling a home energy audit in California is easy with the Clean Energy Connection. Our free online directory connects homeowners with professional clean energy contractors throughout the state. All of the contractors listed in the directory go through a thorough vetting process, which includes California State License Board license checks and customer satisfaction surveys to ensure the directory includes only top-performing, experienced, and trustworthy clean energy contractors.
Many energy auditing companies also offer electrification services like heat pump installation, and you can filter the directory by services offered to find a single contractor that can help with all your energy audit and subsequent electrification upgrades. With the Clean Energy Connection, it’s easy to electrify your home.
Start your home electrification journey with an energy audit.