Building Electrification: Moving Homes from Gas to Electric

About this course.

Building electrification means replacing the appliances in a home that burn gas — for space heating, water heating and cooking — with appliances that run on electricity, so that over time the home can operate entirely without gas. It is happening now for several reinforcing reasons: the drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as electricity supply becomes cleaner; the strong efficiency of modern electric appliances, especially heat pumps; running-cost and standing-charge considerations; indoor air-quality and health interest in gas combustion; and policy movement in some jurisdictions that is beginning, directionally, to restrict new gas connections. Victoria has moved in this direction, though the precise rules and timing vary and continue to develop — practitioners should confirm the current position.

To understand the trend it helps to see how much of a typical home's gas is used by just three things. In homes connected to gas, the great majority of gas consumption goes to space heating, water heating and cooking, in that rough order of significance in most climates. Because those three uses account for almost all residential gas, replacing them with electric equivalents is what "electrifying a home" actually consists of. There is no fourth mystery appliance: a home becomes all-electric when its heating, hot water and cooking no longer rely on gas, at which point the gas supply itself can be decommissioned.