How to make an electrification plan
Transitioning to efficient electric technologies is a process, not a single project. An informed plan will help you electrify, whether you want to swap systems out as they fail or you’re ready to improve your home’s performance right now.
Start here: Create a Whole-Home Electrification Plan — In Minutes
The basic steps of an electrification plan:
- Take an inventory: Use the checklist below or the online Rewiring American Home Electrification Planner to take a tour of your house and see what you currently have in place.
- Check your electrical panel: See how it’s sized, and if you need any pre-wiring. If less than 100amps, you may need a new panel.
- Consider your priorities: What is your motivation for electrifying? Maximize health and comfort? Lower your energy bills? Upgrade older equipment?
- Get an energy audit: Get the full picture of your home’s energy use, comfort, and safety.
- Get estimates from local trusted contractors and explore available incentives: Compare multiple estimates, and get the details on the incentives and rebates that will make your projects more affordable.
- Plan replacements over time: You don’t have to do everything at once. Plan to replace old appliances when they burnout or perhaps make one big electrification annually.
Tools to help you make an electrification plan
Rewiring America Home Electrification Planner – Create an account, answer a few basic questions, then get a customized electrification plan that breaks everything down into a series of projects, with estimated costs, energy savings, and incentives. Visit homes.rewiringamerica.org to get started.
1. Take a quick home inventory
2. Check your electrical panel
One of the first things to do is check the size of your home’s electrical service. Whether you’re electrifying one appliance or all of them, you may need an electrician to pre-wire your home. To electrify everything, you need at least 100A service, and you may need 200A. With some planning, most homes can electrify everything in their home on their existing panel.
Electrical Panel Size: amps
3. Start with your priorities
If you want to upgrade your equipment, consider starting with what is most near its end of life. If you’re looking to improve your indoor air quality, you may want to replace your gas range with an induction range. If you’re looking to reduce your costs. If you’re looking to improve your home comfort, a heat pump will warm and cool, providing year-round comfort.
4. Get a home energy audit
A home energy audit can act like a roadmap to increasing your home’s efficiency, showing you exactly what needs upgrading and what only needs to be sealed or repaired. It can help you determine how much energy your home uses, where your home is inefficient, and which problem areas and fixes you should prioritize to save energy and improve the comfort of your home. It also results in recommendations that take your home’s entire ecosystem into account. It should also include a Manual J Calculation to properly size your HVAC system.
5. Get estimates from trusted contractors
With your inventory and priorities in hand, talk with a few electricians about the state of your panel and the pros and cons of pre-wiring for all of your projects ahead of time vs. wiring for each project separately. Pre-wiring all at once can save you a lot of money, since you get charged every time an electrician comes to your home.
- Read reviews carefully, ask friends for referrals, and check theswitchison.org for a list.
- Get estimates from at least two contractors for each project. Use written contracts.
- Request price, payment terms, project schedule, and if you’ll need to do any prep work before they can begin (e.g. get an electrician to add a circuit).
- Make sure you’re working with someone who‘s experienced with and knowledgable about electrification technologies, such as heat pumps or heat pump water heaters.
- Ask for information about local, state and federal incentives, resources for low/moderate income households, and an AHRI Certificate rating from your HVAC contractor to ensure that the proposed system is efficient enough to qualify for federal tax credits.
- If you find a contractor you like, ask them for referrals to other trades you may need.