Brielle Johnk and Steve Schmidt / contributors
Upload time: Sunday, September 26, 2021, 10:27 AM 2 Reading time: about 2 minutes
On October 22, 2019, heat pumps were used to heat and cool houses in Mountain View. Photography: Magali Gauthier.
The Environmental Quality Council has submitted a climate action proposal to Menlo Park, and the next steps are critical to success. For the City Council to approve a decree requiring the switch from gas appliances to electrical appliances, a strong education program is needed to help residents prepare. We have been residents of Menlo Park for more than 50 years. They live in a 103-year-old house with 100 amp service and even some knobs and tube connections. We have questions about how to start.
Does our house have electricity? The decree is not about a simple choice of paper bags or plastic shopping bags. The first question is whether the home has enough electricity to repair new appliances. If not, the first step is to hire a licensed electrician to obtain a permit and work with PG&E to upgrade the home’s electrical service. Not all homes in Menlo Park have enough electricity to run electric water heaters, electric space heaters, induction cookers and ovens. Many old houses use 100 amps instead of the basic 200 amps.
Does the water heater need a dedicated circuit? Do water heaters, space heaters, induction cookers and ovens require dedicated circuits? Does the electric car charger need its own circuit? Even households with 200 amp service need dedicated circuits to connect to new high-demand appliances. Now, things have become complicated!
Do we have basic facts? On Thanksgiving night, the gas water heater ran out. Can we simply buy and plug in a new electric water heater? Not so fast! Our old switchboard does not have the capacity to power the new electric model. It may take several weeks to perform the required panel upgrades. The homeowner should not buy an electric water heater before knowing whether the home has the capacity and specialized services to run the water heater.
Experienced electricians and utility engineers need city-sponsored tutorials to explain how to get started. It would be helpful for an electrician provided by the city government to conduct free home visits to assess the household’s current electricity supply. It's not as simple as buying and plugging in appliances-it's more complicated. You can choose to include a heat pump, which requires additional research and careful reading of Sherry Listgarten's excellent yearbook article.
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Steps for success: In order for the climate plan regulations to succeed, the city may first determine the number of households that need panel upgrades first. The city’s job is to educate and provide incentives to take the first step in upgrading the panel. Public tutorials, free household capacity assessments, and easy-to-understand list of steps are essential. The BayREN rebate does not include basic panel upgrades, so many residents will be excluded.
Postpone enforcement: Menlo Park's decision on mandatory replacement of gas appliances should wait until foundation work is laid. The voting measures planned by the Environmental Quality Committee will be delayed and distracting. The committee has the power to increase the utility user tax to 3% in order to implement a plan to assist low-income homeowners. The relationship between the taxation of utility users and the migration to carbon-neutral cities is customized.
Menlo Park is on the right path, and the steps and sequence taken are critical to success.
Brielle Johnck is a former member of the Environmental Quality Committee and Steve Schmidt is the former Mayor of Menlo Park. They live in Menlo Park.
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Brielle Johnk and Steve Schmidt / contributors
Upload: Sunday, September 26, 2021, at 10:27 am The Environmental Quality Committee has submitted a climate action proposal to Menlo Park, and the next steps are critical to success. For the City Council to approve a decree requiring the conversion from gas appliances to electrical appliances, a strong education program is needed to help residents prepare. We have been residents of Menlo Park for more than 50 years. They live in a 103-year-old house with 100 amp service and even some knobs and tube connections. We have questions about how to start. Does our house have electricity? The decree is not about a simple choice of paper bags or plastic shopping bags. The first question is whether the home has enough electricity to repair new appliances. If not, the first step is to hire a licensed electrician to obtain a permit and work with PG&E to upgrade the home’s electrical service. Not all homes in Menlo Park have enough electricity to run electric water heaters, electric space heaters, induction cookers and ovens. Many old houses use 100 amps instead of the basic 200 amps. Does the water heater need a dedicated circuit? Do water heaters, space heaters, induction cookers and ovens require dedicated circuits? Does the electric car charger need its own circuit? Even households with 200 amp service need dedicated circuits to connect to new high-demand appliances. Now, things have become complicated! Do we have basic facts? On Thanksgiving night, the gas water heater ran out. Can we simply buy and plug in a new electric water heater? Not so fast! Our old switchboard does not have the capacity to power the new electric model. It may take several weeks to perform the required panel upgrades. The homeowner should not buy an electric water heater before knowing whether the home has the capacity and specialized services to run the water heater. Experienced electricians and utility engineers need city-sponsored tutorials to explain how to get started. It would be helpful for an electrician provided by the city government to conduct free home visits to assess the household’s current electricity supply. It's not as simple as buying and plugging in appliances-it's more complicated. You can choose to include a heat pump, which requires additional research and careful reading of Sherry Listgarten's excellent yearbook article. Steps for success: In order for the climate plan regulations to succeed, the city may first determine the number of households that need panel upgrades first. The city’s job is to educate and provide incentives to take the first step in upgrading the panel. Public tutorials, free household capacity assessments, and easy-to-understand list of steps are essential. The BayREN rebate does not include basic panel upgrades, so many residents will be excluded. Postpone enforcement: Menlo Park's decision on mandatory replacement of gas appliances should wait until foundation work is laid. The voting measures planned by the Environmental Quality Committee will be delayed and distracting. The committee has the power to increase the utility user tax to 3% in order to implement a plan to assist low-income homeowners. The relationship between the taxation of utility users and the migration to carbon-neutral cities is customized. Menlo Park is on the right path, and the steps and sequence taken are critical to success. Brielle Johnck is a former member of the Environmental Quality Committee and Steve Schmidt is the former Mayor of Menlo Park. They live in Menlo Park.
The Environmental Quality Council has submitted a climate action proposal to Menlo Park, and the next steps are critical to success. For the City Council to approve a decree requiring the switch from gas appliances to electrical appliances, a strong education program is needed to help residents prepare. We have been residents of Menlo Park for more than 50 years. They live in a 103-year-old house with 100 amp service and even some knobs and tube connections. We have questions about how to start.
Does our house have electricity? The decree is not about a simple choice of paper bags or plastic shopping bags. The first question is whether the home has enough electricity to repair new appliances. If not, the first step is to hire a licensed electrician to obtain a permit and work with PG&E to upgrade the home’s electrical service. Not all homes in Menlo Park have enough electricity to run electric water heaters, electric space heaters, induction cookers and ovens. Many old houses use 100 amps instead of the basic 200 amps.
Does the water heater need a dedicated circuit? Do water heaters, space heaters, induction cookers and ovens require dedicated circuits? Does the electric car charger need its own circuit? Even households with 200 amp service need dedicated circuits to connect to new high-demand appliances. Now, things have become complicated!
Do we have basic facts? On Thanksgiving night, the gas water heater ran out. Can we simply buy and plug in a new electric water heater? Not so fast! Our old switchboard does not have the capacity to power the new electric model. It may take several weeks to perform the required panel upgrades. The homeowner should not buy an electric water heater before knowing whether the home has the capacity and specialized services to run the water heater.
Experienced electricians and utility engineers need city-sponsored tutorials to explain how to get started. It would be helpful for an electrician provided by the city government to conduct free home visits to assess the household’s current electricity supply. It's not as simple as buying and plugging in appliances-it's more complicated. You can choose to include a heat pump, which requires additional research and careful reading of Sherry Listgarten's excellent yearbook article.
Steps for success: In order for the climate plan regulations to succeed, the city may first determine the number of households that need panel upgrades first. The city’s job is to educate and provide incentives to take the first step in upgrading the panel. Public tutorials, free household capacity assessments, and easy-to-understand list of steps are essential. The BayREN rebate does not include basic panel upgrades, so many residents will be excluded.
Postpone enforcement: Menlo Park's decision on mandatory replacement of gas appliances should wait until foundation work is laid. The voting measures planned by the Environmental Quality Committee will be delayed and distracting. The committee has the power to increase the utility user tax to 3% in order to implement a plan to assist low-income homeowners. The relationship between the taxation of utility users and the migration to carbon-neutral cities is customized.
Menlo Park is on the right path, and the steps and sequence taken are critical to success.
Brielle Johnck is a former member of the Environmental Quality Committee and Steve Schmidt is the former Mayor of Menlo Park. They live in Menlo Park.
A more basic question is whether people should accept this radical and expensive proposal.
Concerning the transformation of Menlo Park into an “all-electric” community to reduce our contribution to global warming by phasing out the use of natural gas: How does our carbon “footprint” compare to coal-fired power plants? China plans to add more than 300GW of coal-fired power generation by 2030, which is equivalent to building hundreds of new coal-fired power plants in the next 9 years. Web link Although I fully support a cleaner environment and agree in advance that doing nothing is not the answer, I also firmly believe that China is deeply grateful for Menlo Park’s efforts to slow global warming and will send a thank you letter immediately after they laugh. . Full text link: web link
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