Many state and local governments have been adopting the strategy to “electrify everything.” In the case of homes, that would mean replacing natural gas-, oil- and propane-fired boilers and furnaces with electric heat pumps.
But heat pump conversions are expensive and do not work very efficiently when the weather gets cold. Under 32°F, heat pumps are extremely inefficient and need a backup heat system to keep your home warm!
Plus, electricity is not a clean fuel. It is generated at power plants — many of them coal fired. These power plants are among the largest sources of greenhouse gas pollution in the United States. In the end, this all-out effort toward electrification would increase the average residential household heating cost, result in minimal reductions in emissions and put a severe strain on the electric grid.
It’s as if nobody remembers that our vulnerable electric infrastructure fails us time and time again, causing massive disruption, frustration and discomfort.