Good Habits?

We have covered a lot of ground concerning energy-efficient appliances and equipment. So what if you have taken all our advice? Will that necessarily reduce your bill by hundreds of dollars a year? Maybe, but if you've replaced your lights, windows, and air conditioning, put in new appliances, but the bill still seems too high - its time to check your habits.

>Jason: This week's post probably should have been written first, but it just seemed too mundane to talk about until now. I feel the need to remind you of what you already know. I'm going to start with lighting. When you walk into a room, what is the first thing you do? You turn on the lights. When you leave the room though, do you shut your lights off? If the answer is "No," check your habits. an average light bulb will cost you $15 per year, assuming 3 hours of use per day. An average CFL will only cost you $3 per year with the same assumptions. But both of these figures increase incrementally as you leave the lights on longer. Granted, changing the bulb will decrease your bill, but changing your habits can decrease your bill even more. Also, leaving a light on adds heat into your room. In winter, this can be a cozy benefit, but in summer your lights will always work against your air conditioner. In fact, an incandescent light can add up to 3 degrees per hour in a a small room. Thats like running a small heater in your house.

>Ken: How about air conditioning, and heating? If you are gone all day, what do you leave the temperature at? If you shut it off, the temperature in summer can increase in an inefficient home to well over 90 degrees. Then turning the AC on when you get home can be expensive because it isn't just the air that has heated up. The walls, furniture and floors have all heated to the same temperature. That means the entire house has to be cooled which can take a lot of time and energy. Starting with an efficient AC unit of at least 13 SEER, set the temperature 8 to 10 degrees from the ideal. In other words, in summer if you like the temperature to be 78 degrees, set the thermostat to 85 degrees when you leave. In winter, do the same thing. If you like the temperature at 68 degrees, set it to 60 degrees when you leave. The building won't take nearly as long to become comfortable, and the energy demand will be decreased.

>Jason: Of course, leaving your doors or windows open will let all of your conditioned air escape outside, doing you no good at all. Remember that the more sealed your home is inside, the more effective your AC or heater will be. Anyway, we're about done for today. Take this with you: your practices in your home will largely determine your cost in your home. In my home, if I'm careful I can use less than $100 of power all month, even in summer. With someone else in my home, it has gone up by more than 30%. This was all costs due to bad practices. In closing, remember that power flowing in you house is money flowing out of your pocket...every second. Ok, that's all. Be energy smart!

"A Free Source of Energy" Part 2

>Ken: The last time we talked about Solar, we mentioned the Federal tax credit of 30%. Some utilities also have rebates available. These rebates can total anywhere from 10% to 40% of the total cost of the system. If you add this to the tax credit, you can see the total final cost to you can be comparatively low. In California, the two major utilities, PG&E and SCE are offering $1.10 and $1.90 per watt rebates right now. With top tier utility rates topping $.42 per KWH, solar is looking better and better.

>Jason: Perhaps if you're in the top tier of your utility company, solar really is a good option. But I still think that most commercial properties, with rates between 8 and 13 cents depending on where you are in the country, would still not benefit from solar. Whatever. Believe it or not, after all these years, I never knew about the rebate for solar in CA. What about the rest of the country? This seems to vary quite a bit from state to state and among utility companies. See, this just shows how important it is to have all the information about a subject, especially one as big as energy conservation. So Ken, obviously I don't know as much as I need to about solar. Tell me about solar water heaters. Educate me, and all our readers.

>Ken: Jason! Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your post? You are right about varying rebates nationwide, check with your utility to see what they are offering right now. The tax credit of course is nationwide. If the utility rates you are paying average more than about 15 to 20 cents, you may want to look into solar.

Regarding water heating, if you are in a part of the country that gets plenty of sun, and you are using propane, or your natural gas prices are high you may also want to look at solar water heaters. This is how they work. A large (usually 100 gallons) tank of water will be located somewhere near a few thermal solar collectors. The tank may be on your roof, or directly below the collectors in a garage. In warmer climes, the water is circulated directly through the panels, heating it to approximately double the outside air temperature. In the area of the country I live in, the coldest daytime temps rarely go below 50 degrees. This 100 degree water is stored in the water tank and heated the rest of the way by natural gas or electric filament. In summer, the temp gets so hot the water needs to be cooled before being delivered to your home. Federal tax credits and utility rebates also apply here, so it may be cost effective to look into this form of Solar as well.

>Jason: Perhaps I was a touch sarcastic, but regardless, in finishing with the topic of solar, the solar water heater usually runs around $5000 installed before rebates. With a reduction close to 75% off your water heating costs, this can pay itself off in...oh about 12 years. This is a long payback, but out of respect for the solar salesman above, I'll tell you its a good deal if you plan on living at your current house the rest of your life. Anyway, we may never agree, but the bottom line is that solar will be pricey but what you get is your own, personal power plant. Until next week, dont pay too much for your power bill, and be energy smart!

>Ken: PS: I do not currently sell solar.