A small but growing number of Americans are rethinking their homes to lower their carbon footprints in response to climate change. What does a lower-carbon home look like? It is basically all-electric, reducing reliance on fossil fuels such as natural gas and heating oil. It uses heat pumps for heating and cooling, solar panels and batteries for electricity generation and storage, induction ranges for cooking and chargers for electric vehicles. Smart meters and other technology help homeowners optimize their energy usage.

The...

A small but growing number of Americans are rethinking their homes to lower their carbon footprints in response to climate change. What does a lower-carbon home look like? It is basically all-electric, reducing reliance on fossil fuels such as natural gas and heating oil. It uses heat pumps for heating and cooling, solar panels and batteries for electricity generation and storage, induction ranges for cooking and chargers for electric vehicles. Smart meters and other technology help homeowners optimize their energy usage.

The thought of navigating the options to decarbonize your home might seem daunting, so we broke it down using research and guidance from the Rocky Mountain Institute, which deals in sustainability issues.

In an electric home, efficiency is critical to keeping energy usage in check. Heat pumps, which draw heat from the air and transfer it into or out of the house, work best in homes with high-performance insulation and ventilation systems that improve airflow and prevent hot air from escaping or entering.

The cost of installing and operating a heat pump varies widely. It is less expensive to install a heat pump in a new home than to retrofit an older home with the technology, which is generally more expensive than a gas-fired furnace but may be eligible for incentives or rebates. Heat pumps can now work effectively in very cold climates, but they become less efficient when temperatures drop, meaning they require more electricity to run.

Inside the home, all appliances, including dryers and water heaters, are electric. For many people, the most significant shift is trading a gas-fired range for an induction range, which uses magnets to directly heat pots and pans. Many models of induction ranges are only marginally more expensive than gas ranges, but they require adjustments in cooking techniques and equipment.

Homeowners with electric vehicles often install home chargers, which cut the overall costs of juicing up the batteries by reducing reliance on pricier public chargers. A 240-volt at-home charging station, which charges a vehicle over the course of several hours, costs around $500, excluding labor, according to home-improvement website HomeAdvisor, though incentives are available in some regions.

Technology to help manage energy usage is getting more sophisticated. Smart meters, panels and thermostats can each help monitor what’s using electricity and the household’s overall cost of consumption, allowing the homeowner to decide when is best to do energy-intensive activities such as charging a vehicle.

An all-electric home uses considerably more electricity than a mixed-fuel one, creating the potential for larger utility bills. One way to reduce the amount of electricity you buy from the grid is to install rooftop solar panels, which generate electricity during the day, and batteries, which store power for use when the panels stop producing it.

Electrification is gaining momentum across the country as major cities including San Francisco, Denver and New York enact or propose measures to ban or discourage the use of natural gas in new homes and buildings. Homeowners considering the switch can often learn about available rebates or incentives through their local utility and calculate the cost of adding solar panels through websites such as EnergySage and Solar-Estimate.

Write to Alberto Cervantes at Alberto.Cervantes@wsj.com and Katherine Blunt at Katherine.Blunt@wsj.com