Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour

The resources provided below will support and guide you on your journey toward electrification.

Develop a plan for transitioning from gas to electricity
QuitCarbon (415) 446-1620, HelpUsQuit@QuitCarbon.com
Develops customized plans to help homeowners electrify.

Electric homes powered by clean energy don’t just help to reduce your carbon footprint. Planned correctly, they can make your home safer and more comfortable, and even save you money at the same time.

But home upgrades can be confusing and expensive. The problem is that if you do it yourself, it takes a lot of time and research to get your head around all the options. A free plan from QuitCarbon will save you time and money on all your home’s clean energy projects.

QuitCarbon’s friendly, expert team holds your hand throughout the entire process, from planning to finding contractors to maximizing your cost savings. And they do it all for free!

Home Intel/Home Energy Analytics (free for PG&E customers)
HomeIntel is an energy saving program for PG&E customers. It includes a free Smart Audit account and a personal energy coach. In partnership with PG&E, there is no cost to PG&E customers. We have helped over 50,000 Californian households.

Electrify My Home (844) 637-3733: Contact
Installs insulation, HVAC heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and creates plans for converting all gas-powered appliances to electric

“At Electrify My Home, we keep your entire home in mind with every step toward electrification. In order to make sure you get the most out of your new heating and cooling equipment, we boost your home’s performance through insulation and air sealing upgrades. Then, using our tried and tested load calculations, we properly assess your heating and cooling load to recommend to you the perfect heat pump or mini-split for your needs.
We also create plans for how to convert all appliances to electric, including heat pump water heaters, heat pump dryers, and induction stoves. We can include solar or solar + battery installation in your path towards electrification! Whatever the case, you lead the way, and tell us how you would like to take it at your own pace.”
Serving: Alameda and Contra Costa counties and the North Bay (see complete list of cities here)

Harvest Thermal: Contact

Harvest Thermal’s hyper-efficient heat pump harvests electricity when it’s cheapest and cleanest: it pulls warmth out of the air, even when it’s cold out. Then, a very-insulated water tank holds just the right amount of heat until you need it – as hot water, or as warmth for your home.

Harvest Thermal makes heat pumps smarter, managing thermal energy storage to slash emissions from home heating and hot water by 90% compared to gas equipment. It’s the cheapest way to decarbonize homes and lowers monthly energy bills by 30%.

Harvest recently earned a spot on TIME magazine’s GreenTech Companies 2024 list. The following week it was named Finalist in the Reuters Global Energy Transition 2024 competition. And previously, Harvest Thermal won a 2024 Edison Award for Sustainable Energy.

Sunwork (650) 520-9918, info@sunwork.org
Sunwork is a non-profit that installs and solar panels and heat pump water heaters.

Sunwork’s motto is, “Small solar made affordable,” as Sunwork makes renewable solar energy more affordable for homeowners who have low electric bills—as often those who are already saving on their electricity bills haven’t been able to justify the costs of going solar. (Got an EV? Don’t worry: charging it at home won’t count against you!)

Sunwork keeps the costs of installing solar panels low — up to a third less than conventional solar installers — by enlisting volunteers to work with Sunworks’ lead installers, and not marking up equipment.

SunWork manages all the rebate paperwork for the homeowner and discounts the customer’s invoice upfront by the applicable rebate amounts. In many locations, the cost to install a heat pump water heater (HPWH) with SunWork is less than the cost for installing a replacement natural gas water heater. For income-qualifying households, the entire cost of the HPWH may be covered.

Sunwork has developed a heat pump water heater cost estimator that will provide you with a rough estimate depending on which Community Choice Energy provider you use. Learn more about HPWHs on Sunwork’s website and fill out their heat pump water heater request quote form to see if you qualify.

Experience installation cost savings of up to 1/3 below conventional cost on small energy-footprint homes and non-profit organizations.
Get a Solar Estimate: sunwork.org/getsolar
Get a Heat Pump Water Heater Estimate: sunwork.org/request-estimate-hpwh

Serving: the East Bay, Peninsula, South Bay, and the Central Coast (Santa Cruz County). See the full list here.

Save-a-Lot Solar

The benefits according to Rewiring America’s Guide to the Inflation Reduction Act:

• Savings: A national transition to solar-powered, fully electrified homes and vehicles could save the average household between $1,050 and $2,585 per year in energy costs. (rewiringamerica.org/policy/household-report)
• Health: Burning fossil fuels indoor is a major source of health problems like childhood asthma
• Climate: Burning fossil fuels burning in buildings is a major source of climate warming: 42 percent of energy-related emissions come from the homes and vehicles. Methane is the primary component of natural gas and is from 25 – 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere
• Comfort: Heat pumps, which can both heat and cool your home, do a better job of keeping your home at a constant, comfortable temperature than an oil or natural gas furnace— while using only 30% of the energy to do so.

• When you’re planning a major remodel
• When you’re adding new air-conditioning, or replacing an existing air-conditioner
• When appliances are nearing their end of life
• Today — so you can start reaping the benefits of electric appliances!
Check the age of your appliances and plan to replace them before they fail and become an emergency. Rewiring America provides the following average life span estimates for major household appliances:
• Water heaters (8 – 12 years)
• Space heaters (15 – 30+ years)
• Dryers (10 – 13 years)
• Ovens/cooktops (13 – 15 years)

Incentive Finder – to get this terrific rebate-finder to work, enter this zip code “94577” (It is the zip for San Leandro: you need a zip code in Ava’s service area to use this database.)

The Inflation Reduction Act and Savings
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a federal investment package that directs roughly $370 billion in clean energy and initiatives to fight climate change. It makes use of both tax credits and rebates. Part of this funding goes directly to residents to help them go all-electric at home and with their vehicles.
• How much will I save?
The Rewiring America Savings Calculator estimates federal tax savings available through the IRA.
• Savings from the IRA can be “stacked” with state and local rebates. See Other Rebate Programs below.
• The Cheat Sheet on the IRA
• Starting with tax year 2023, IRA tax credits for electrification and energy efficiency upgrades:
• Applied to your annual federal taxes (only up to the amount of tax you owe)
• Energy efficiency home improvement — 30% tax credit
• Up to $2,000 per year for heat pump space and water heaters (can stagger heat pump replacement over more than one tax year if replacing more than one)
• Up to $1,200 per year for other upgrades
• The allowable federal tax credit resets every year.
• Solar and battery storage 30% tax credit
• Electric vehicle tax credit for new and used EVs
• In 2024, the IRA will offer households up to $14,000 in up-front/point of sale discounts to switch to electric appliances — covering up to 100 percent of project costs for low-income households and up to 50 percent of project costs for moderate-income households.
o This Consumer Guide to the Inflation Reduction Act provides a helpful overview.
Other Rebate Programs
Federal tax savings and rebates can be combined with state and local rebates, including rebates through your electricity provider, such as Community Choice Aggregators (CCA), Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE), Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE), and other entities.
• SwitchIsOn.org provides an incentive lookup of California and local rebates and federal tax credits that can be combined with federal tax incentives.
• BayREN: (Bay Area) Information on rebates, energy advisors, and contractors.

• Your Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) or Utility may have rebate and loan programs
MCE (Marin Clean Energy)
“MCE is a non-profit public agency that provides clean energy to more than 1.5 million residents and businesses in 37 member communities across four Bay Area counties: Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, and Solano.
MCE offers renewable power at stable rates, significantly reducing energy-related greenhouse emissions and reinvesting millions of dollars in local energy programs.
What drives MCE is the same purpose that we all share—we want a better future, for ourselves, for the ones we love, for all things living on this planet.”
See MCE’s rebates on the purchase or lease of electric vehicles; no-cost energy upgrades, home energy assessment, and energy-saving gifts for eligible single-family homeowners and renters.

Ava Community Energy (formerly East Bay Community Energy)
“Ava (formerly is a non-profit public agency that exists to provide more renewable energy at competitive rates to customers in the cities of: Albany, Berkeley, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Newark, Oakland, Piedmont, Pleasanton, San Leandro, Tracy, and Union City, and the unincorporated areas of Alameda County (including Ashland, Castro Valley, Cherryland, Fairview, San Lorenzo, and Sunol).
Information on rebates offered by Ava is here.
• Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) is the CCA electricity provider for 13 Silicon Valley communities. SVCE generates 100% clean electricity for homes and businesses, delivered via PG&E power lines.
o Electric Rebates
o FAQ’s
• Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE) is the CCA electricity provider serving San Mateo County and the City of Los Banos. PCE generates 100% clean electricity for homes and businesses, delivered via PG&E power lines. PCE is on track to be 100% renewable by 2025.
o Electric Rebates
o Zero interest loans (up to $10,000) — no money down and no credit check required
o FAQ’s including opting into ECOplus and ECO100
• The Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) — energy savings programs on a regional level in collaboration with the nine Bay Area counties:
o Find out about rebates and financing available when working with BayREN contractor networks
o Search BayREN energy professionals by zip code and specialty

A heat pump is a single appliance that will both heat and cool your home by moving (pumping) heat from one place to another, like a refrigerator moves heat out of the refrigerator.
• According to this Department of Energy resource on heat pump technology, heat pumps are over three times more efficient than highly efficient furnaces.
• Watch this 8-minute episode of This Old House, for an explanation of heat pump technology.
• This fact sheet from Amana explains how a heat pump system works.

Heat pump water heaters work by moving (pumping) heat from the air outside of the tank to heat the water, like a refrigerator moves heat out of the refrigerator.
• Learn “When Should You Replace Your Water Heater?” from this Energy Star article.
• Do heat pump water heaters work in cold climates? — Today’s heat pump water heaters work efficiently in cold climates to temperatures as low as -25°F, according to Energy Star.
• Introduction to Heat Pump Water Heaters (video). This video is by City of Palo Alto Utilities.

Induction cooktops use magnetic energy to heat your cookware. Induction cooktops are powerful, precise, easy to clean, and they produce zero emissions. Induction cooktops remain cool to the touch, so they are safer than gas, and generate much less heat in your kitchen.
• This video Induction Myths Explained by Designer Appliances demonstrates and explains induction cooking.
• It’s Time to Break Up with Our Gas Stoves is a humorous video by comedian Rollie Williams and Climate Town.
• Are gas stoves dangerous? Read “The Health Risks of Gas Stoves Explained” by Scientific American
• Test-drive an induction cooktop from these sources:
• PG&E Induction Cooktop Loaner Program – PG&E customers can borrow an induction cooker and test-drive it for a two weeks.
• Watch this 1 minute video about the PG&E loaner program and the benefits of induction cooking.
• Enroll and sign up for this 34 minute On Demand PG&E Induction Cooking Tutorial.
• Check with your local city government and library for additional induction cooktop loaner programs.

According to Energy Star, heat pump clothes dryers have many advantages over standard dryers.
• Easy to install since they don’t require ventilation.
• Can reduce energy use by at least 28% compared to standard dryers.
• Are gentler on clothes because they dry laundry at low temperatures.

• Electrify on a 100-Amp Panel (video). Energy expert, Tom Kabat explains in a concise presentation how (and why) you can avoid costly electrical panel upgrades through smart planning while leaving ample room for EV charging. This video also covers appliance selection and circuit-sharing devices. (15 minutes, East Bay Green Home Tour, 2022)
• Techniques for Living Large on an Existing Electrical Panel (video). Energy engineer Tom Kabat provides a more in-depth technical presentation on how to fit all the appliances you need on an existing electrical panel (100 amps or smaller) and avoid costly upsizing. He presents insights into selection of appliances and circuit sharing devices. Dylan Anderson, with Redwood Energy, presents case studies covering appliance selection and techniques to avoid panel upsizing. (30 minutes, Redwood Energy)