I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN MY WATER HEATER BROKE
Am I Crazy?
Don’t you love when one of your biggest appliances goes out unexpectedly? No?! I’ll admit I was a little frazzled because we were without hot water for a whole day, but this misfortune genuinely made me happy because I had a plan to turn this situation to my advantage.
I had recently taken My Next Electric’s electrification 101 class where we talked about the transition to all-electric appliances. During the class, I made a personal roadmap to make the whole project less scary, and even fun! (P.S. I loved the class so much that I’m partnering with the founder to bring it to Green Projects Group customers for only $20 in January! More info here)
I was determined to use this tragedy as an opportunity to improve my indoor air quality and lower my bills by getting rid of my natural gas water heater. Talk about a win-win-win.
TRAGEDY STRIKES
Back to the disaster. On this fateful Thursday in question, I went down to the basement to find that my natural gas water heater was leaking all over the floor. It was pretty old (it came with the house) and I hadn’t taken very good care of it, so the tank must have rusted straight through. I called my favorite HVAC guy, who also does water heaters, and he was over to evaluate it that day. I had an estimate by the end of the day, and they installed it the next afternoon. By good fortune I also know an electrician who was willing to rush over and run the wire right away. We had our hot water back by Friday night! Within 24 hours, my home was also healthier, more efficient, and more cost effective.
HEALTH NUTS (AND BOLTS)
Ok, so I knew some good contractors. But why was I so keen to switch to a high-efficiency heat pump water heater? Why did I want to tackle a hard project that inconvenienced my family? For a primer on electrification, see our blog post here. I also recently wrote about Holland BPW’s beneficial electrification program here.
Since we’ve already covered electrification in general terms, let’s zoom in on the health reasons for this upgrade. As you’ll see, switching to a heat pump water heater makes sense even if you don’t really care about sustainability or environmentalism. In fact, sustainability and environmentalism are not the reasons that my life was improved by Friday night.
As it relates to health, The Sierra Club writes:
A new report by researchers at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, “Effects of Residential Gas Appliances on Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality and Public Health in California,” shows how air pollution from gas-fired furnaces, water heaters, and stoves increases rates of respiratory illness, cardiovascular diseases, and premature death. Pollution from gas appliances also makes us more vulnerable to novel viruses like the one we’re now facing.
Given that your water heater is likely to be your second-biggest user of natural gas after your furnace, getting it out of the home is a great way to mitigate all those risks.
Switching to a heat pump water heater also makes sense financially. It’s more expensive to buy than a natural gas water heater (expect to pay ~$4,000 all-in… although you can get some of that back from a tax credit and/or utility rebate), and electricity is more expensive. However, this machine uses so little electricity that it will have a lower cost over its whole life. Without getting into specific models, a heat-pump water heater uses about one-tenth the energy of a comparable electric water heater (~600 watts vs. ~6,000 watts).
THE TRUTH ABOUT MY DECISION
I’m almost positive that I would not have switched to a heat pump water heater if I hadn’t taken the My Next Electric class. I’m just being honest! My contractor was not familiar with heat pump water heaters, it was way more expensive, and I also had to get an electrician involved. I chose this harder project because I was prepared for it. I’m ultimately glad that I did, for the health and financial reasons listed above.
Want to have a roadmap of your own? Registration is now live for the course “Electrify My Life” to take place in January 2023. Check out all of the details and sign up at greenprojectsgroup.com/electrification. See you there!