In this episode, Huffington Post reporter Alexander Kaufman traces the recent history of US building codes, a surprisingly compelling and twisty tale of efforts at reform meeting stiff resistance from builders and natural gas companies.
There’s a lot to unpack in this issue, but it frustrates me that there has been such effective opposition to providing wiring and circuits to support possible future electric appliances and EVs. I can argue for either side of restricting gas appliances, but as the article notes the electrical upgrades would be trivial additions to the cost of new construction or significant costs if added later. If you choose not to use the 240V circuit for a range, dryer, water heater, or EV charger… just don’t use it and it doesn’t hurt you
There’s a lot to unpack in this issue, but it frustrates me that there has been such effective opposition to providing wiring and circuits to support possible future electric appliances and EVs. I can argue for either side of restricting gas appliances, but as the article notes the electrical upgrades would be trivial additions to the cost of new construction or significant costs if added later. If you choose not to use the 240V circuit for a range, dryer, water heater, or EV charger… just don’t use it and it doesn’t hurt you