||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT COOPERATIVE |||
OPALCO members can now finance up $100,000 (per membership) in efficiency upgrades for their home or business. Projects that qualify include home heating units (ducted and ductless), smart thermostats, weatherization measures like windows, doors and insulation, solar and battery projects, energy star appliances, fiber internet, electric vehicle chargers, and commercial projects.
OPALCO’s Switch It Up program is an on-bill financing program that’s easy to qualify for, requires no money down, and financing terms of up to 10 years at 2% interest. To qualify you must be a co-op member in good standing: paid your power bill on time for 12 months. First steps are to get a bid from a contractor and fill out the online application.
Join us on April 6 via Zoom at 5 p.m. to find out how to Fast Start your Switch It Up Project. To find out how to register, CLICK HERE.
This program is funded by the USDA Rural Energy Savings Program. Since 2018, 228 members in San Juan County have taken advantage of the program – mostly to install Ductless Heat Pumps in their homes. With this third round of funding, OPALCO is able to make a much bigger list of projects available to members.
“This is one of the best things you can do for your energy future,” says General Manager, Foster Hildreth, “making your homes all electric and highly efficient will keep your power bills down and is a huge step towards a healthy and green power supply. This is huge capital investment in our community that will have benefits for generations to come. ”
Now is the right time to be curious about where you can improve the efficiency of your home and business, what actions you can take to make your energy future more affordable and what investments make sense for your family. Find out the full list of projects, how to apply and the program details HERE.
Photo: OPALCO’s all electric Switch It Up Chevy Bolt
Orcas Power & Light Cooperative (OPALCO) is our member-owned cooperative electric utility, serving more than 11,400 members on 20 islands in San Juan County. OPALCO provides electricity that is 97% greenhouse-gas free and is generated predominantly by hydroelectric plants. OPALCO was founded in 1937.
Over 70% of Washington greenhouse gas emissions come from driving and heating. If you are looking for ways to take climate action and reduce your carbon footprint, the top three ways to do that are to stop using fossil fuels for driving, space heating, and water heating. In addition, a family on Orcas, concerned about the health effects of cooking with propane on their kids (see NPR story link below), asked if electric induction ranges would qualify for the Switch It Up program. The answer is YES!
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1015460605
Are electric induction ranges more energy efficient than the older resistance-heating ones? By how much?
Great work OPALCO, can business also engage in this effort?
Please also consider the impacts of many perfectly performing gas stoves being taken to the Exchange. Also is it feasible or sensible for folks to take on a 10-year loan to purchase an appliance? Also, I had just heard on Bioneers (through KPTZ Port Townsend) that replacing gas stoves “could be considered” low priority considering the relatively low fuel usage compared with, say automobiles.
If gas stoves are a “health hazard,” that’s news to me. And if they truly are, the “guvmint” should replace them for free.
Just my 2 cents.
Induction ranges may be the wave of the future: “But for all the sexiness of cooking with gas (a concept bolstered by aggressive lobbying and advertising from the natural gas industry), it has been shown to be catastrophic for the environment, emitting potent greenhouse gases like methane into the atmosphere. Worse, a recent study demonstrated that 75 percent of those oven emissions occur when the stove is off.”
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/11/dining/induction-cooking.html?searchResultPosition=2
Businesses can access these funds as well as residential account. Check out the website for details: http://www.opalco.com/switchitup
I moved to induction about eight years ago, and I love to cook. I love my induction. It heats up quickly. It is super responsive to changes in heat which gives you greater control over cooking your food, it’s more energy efficient than traditional electric ranges too. Well known chefs, love inductions for these reasons.
Janet, I would wonder if propane kitchen stoves (like I have) where there is no pilot are as emissive? I don’t think so. And I still think my other concerns are valid.
Tracy,
The methane emissions occur along the entire system from drilling for the “natural gas”, along the pipeline systems that lead to the storage sites and then from the storage sites to your home.
I learned a lot about this when I served on the WA State Citizens’ Committee for Pipeline Safety.
The other Janet (Alderton)
@Michael — As you might suspect, a rigorous test of efficiency depends on the methodology used. A loose estimate by the federal government (energystar.gov [1]) states that an induction cooktop is “about 5-10% more efficient” than a resistive one. A somewhat more rigorous test (but one with an unclear methodology, but likely one that does not real world behaviors into account in my opinion [2]) presents results for induction efficiency that range from 5-ish percent less efficient to 30% more efficient, primarily dependent on the cookware size (Electric Power Research Institute [3]). All the studies indicate that either resistive or induction are more efficient than gas/propane.
All that said, I still love my gas cooktop, but am working to wean myself off, and move to induction.
Hope this helps,
–ken
[1] https://www.energystar.gov/about/2021_residential_induction_cooking_tops
[2] The methodology is unclear, and is silent on real-world effects, such as pre-heat time (including “set and wait for a while” behaviors) and inefficiencies resulting from thermal inertia effects (as Ed mentions). The paper is also somewhat older (2014), so newer cooktops may be more efficient.
[3] https://www.aceee.org/files/proceedings/2014/data/papers/9-702.pdf
Michael, You asked about the efficiency of induction stoves. EnergyStar says per unit efficiency of induction cook tops are about 5-10% more efficient than conventional electric resistance units and about 3 times more efficient than gas. If all cook tops sold in 2021 in the U.S. used induction technology, the energy cost savings would exceed $125 million and the energy savings would exceed 1,000 GWh. Not to mention the reduction in CO2 emissions.
For those that have used induction, one of the first things you notice is how cool the top is. Most of the heat is delivered to the cookware and food. Safer and less heat waste.