Americans prefer clean electric appliances
To confront the climate crisis, Americans will need to electrify their homes. According to Rewiring America, 42 percent of U.S. energy-related climate pollution comes from our homes and the machines we use every day. Fossil fuel powered machines, such as furnaces, water heaters and stoves, not only harm the planet by releasing greenhouse gas emissions, they also release hazardous pollutants like carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter that harm human health. This means that phasing out fossil fuels and fossil fuel-powered appliances is not just a matter of meeting our climate goals, it is also necessary to improve the health of our communities.
Instead of relying on harmful fossil fuel machines, we need to power our lives through electricity that comes from renewable energy sources. Massive federal investments, like the Inflation Reduction Act, are accelerating this transition by making money available for electrification. This includes supporting the installation of heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and electric stoves. But to secure the far-reaching benefits of these technologies, Americans need to bring them into their homes. We set out to understand what people think of household electrification, and how Americans view electric appliances compared to traditional gas-powered versions.
In Spring 2023, The 2035 Initiative collaborated with the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and Rewiring America to ask Americans, assuming costs and other features were the same, whether they would prefer a home with appliances powered by fossil fuels or by electricity. This was part of the Climate Change in the American Mind survey, a nationally representative survey of U.S. public opinion on climate change, conducted by Yale and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. Overall, we found that 60% of Americans prefer a home in which all or most major appliances are electric.
Research Highlight
We found that about three in ten (31%) Americans prefer a home in which all major appliances (stove, heating system, water heater, etc.) are powered by electricity and an additional 29% prefer a home in which most major appliances are powered by electricity, but which has a gas stove for cooking. About one in five Americans (21%) said they prefer a home in which most or all major appliances are powered by fossil fuels, such as natural gas, propane, or oil. About one in five Americans (19%) said they have no preference or don’t know.
Taken together, a majority (60%) prefer a home in which all or most major appliances are powered by electricity. But preferences vary across political, racial/ethnic, and geographic groups. Political affiliation is associated with preferences for electric appliances, with Democrats preferring them more often than Republicans. For example, most liberal Democrats (75%) say they prefer an all or mostly electric home, while about half of conservative Republicans (50%) say so. Black respondents (69%) are more likely than Hispanic/Latino (59%) and White respondents (58%) to prefer all or mostly electric homes, whereas rural residents (54%) are somewhat less likely than suburban (61%) and urban (65%) residents to prefer them.
This means that most Americans understand the benefits of electrification. Not only will electric appliances reduce carbon pollution, they will also improve the health of communities across the country. And all while saving people money. According to a Rewiring America report, a fully electric home, when also outfitted with solar, could save each household on average between $1,050 to $2,585 per year on its energy bills.
Electric appliances are more energy-efficient, cheaper, and healthier than their fossil fuel counterparts – and as we phase out fossil fuels and transition to more renewable energy sources, these benefits will only grow.