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I've been talking with friends and coworkers about how I can reduce the amount of pollution generated by my house (heating the air, heating the water, cooking the food, etc.) Everybody has a different suggestion -

  • Replace my natural gas water heater with electric
  • Put solar panels on the roof
  • Buy wind energy credits
  • Carbon offsets
  • Geothermal
  • Don't replace my electric oven with gas (which I had been thinking about, since I hear how great they are for cooking)

I'm thinking that each of these has an amount of carbon reduced, and a cost, resulting in a "carbon per dollar" value. And yes, I realize that will require a calculation that is specific to my house, my specific energy usage, and how my electric utility generates its electricity.

Is there a resource that lets me figure out, for each one, (1) how much of an impact it actually has, and (2) how much would it cost, so I can figure out the carbon reduced per dollar?

Betty Crokker
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  • Right - but - I want to know which things give me the biggest "bang for the buck". Composting and recycling help, and I do them both already, but how much impact do they actually have? – Betty Crokker Jan 27 '21 at 03:32
  • And no - you only lose about 10% of the electricity over the wire. And how much carbon you save is obviously going to depend on where you get your electricity from (coal vs. hydro vs. solar). And I'm hoping to find hard numbers, not just things that I know are generally good ideas. – Betty Crokker Jan 27 '21 at 03:34
  • Perhaps rephrase the question into something specific like "how can a homeowner most cheaply offset 1 ton of carbon"? – dandavis Jan 27 '21 at 03:43
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    Buying less stuff would be right up there. – Polypipe Wrangler Jan 27 '21 at 04:02
  • I grew up with a gas stove. As a result, I was a gas stove prefer-er by a wide margin. Circumstances aligned to force me to cook with electric for a long enough time that I've become agnostic. If you are used to cooking with electric, transitioning to gas might not be the joy that a gas stove evangelist will attempt to convince you it would be. As a stove agnostic, and reformed gas stove evangelist, I'd suggest you leave it alone if you can cook on it and it works. – Ecnerwal Jan 27 '21 at 04:39
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    I think this question (seeking data sources) would be a good fit over on [Sustainability.SE](https://sustainability.stackexchange.com/). – LShaver Jan 27 '21 at 04:51
  • Be very careful about replacing the gas H2O heater with electric. Look at the cost of both fuel sources, plus the efficiency of both. Consider how quickly the electric heater (generally slower) will heat water compared to gas. – FreeMan Jan 27 '21 at 14:35
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    @FreeMan thanks for the heads up on water heating speed. I didn't even know that was a thing! – Betty Crokker Jan 27 '21 at 15:36
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    @LShaver I've posted over on sustainability, thanks for the tip! – Betty Crokker Jan 27 '21 at 15:36
  • Think critically about each step - the gas may cause more pollution per unit time, but run for significantly fewer units of time, thus lower overall pollution per gallon of water heated. Other "upgrades" may fall into the same fallacy. Also, I removed the cost portion of the question since pricing is off-topic and subject to rapid change, as well as location-based differences. – FreeMan Jan 27 '21 at 15:42
  • @FreeMan I put the cost portion back but explained why it isn't off-topic - I realize my initial question didn't really capture why the cost is an intrinsic part of my question. – Betty Crokker Jan 27 '21 at 15:45
  • @FreeMan your point about the gas heater running for less time than an electric heater is exactly the kind of thing that I'm looking for, most online sources don't take all those factors into account. – Betty Crokker Jan 27 '21 at 15:48
  • Look at the manufacturer's data sheets. You should get something about how many gallons/hour it can heat or how long to heat from a full cold tank to a full hot tank, or something similar. – FreeMan Jan 27 '21 at 15:59
  • On the third hand, *solar* water heating seems like an obvious win. And it's both cheaper and more efficient than electric water heating. If you get enough sun. – user253751 Jan 27 '21 at 19:39

1 Answers1

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Pick the low-hanging fruit.

For the vast majority of homes, improving insulation and airsealing (caulking cracks, foaming gaps, etc.) will make the largest impact on both operating cost and pollution produced, by reducing the amount of whatever energy source you use to heat and cool your home.

Maintaining the appliances you have to ensure that they operate as efficiently as possible also reduces wasted energy and excess pollution and your bills. Have you flushed the water heater this year? Is the vent/chimney clean, have the burners been adjusted or maintained to burn clean?

In many (not all) cases, replacing a functioning appliance before it becomes non-economical to repair is contributing to pollution, since large parts of the appliance are not actually recycled and end up as trash.

If you improve the airsealing enough that you need one, a Heat or Energy recovery ventilator will save additional energy on heating or cooling fresh air, while also keeping your house healthy to live in.

Ecnerwal
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