Category — keeping it local

I’ve heard people say that energy audits are an “extra” they can’t afford.

I’ve heard others say that audits are just for people who want to be PC and super-green, but for the rest of us they’re not worth the money.

I’ve heard others say they’d rather turn their a/c up or their heat down than get an audit and do weatherization…because it costs too much money.

Sigh.

Here’s the thing: energy audits aren’t just for the wealthy, or for people who want to waste their money just to be “green,” or for those who can’t suck it up and live with the discomfort of the summer’s heat or the winter’s cold. They are for anyone who wants to SAVE money over time, LIVE a more energy-efficient and cost-effective life, and be COMFORTABLE in their home.

Here’s a fact: an energy audit + subsequent weatherization costs less over a period of 2-3 years than doing nothing. And after that 2-3 years you are making the money you would have been spending.

So if that’s how rich, greeny-green people live comfortably in their homes, I guess that’s who audits are for.

Here are some posts that detail the savings that will happen if you get an audit and weatherize:

• Real world example #1: Duct testing/sealing and payoff
• We *knew* we were a good idea…and now CNN Money confirms it
• Performance Energy Rebates + Energy Audit + Duct cleaning = HUGE steal for customers looking for energy efficiency

All that said, if you or someone you know is living paycheck-to-paycheck, you MAY qualify for the state low-income weatherization program. To qualify you need to be making less than 200% of poverty level (for a family of 4, this us under $44,100/year). Here’s the link to information about this program in NC.  Each county or group of counties handles the program through a different office, so be sure to look up your county to find out who to contact.

A couple of months ago we audited a historic home inside the beltline in Raleigh in conjunction with Preservation NC to create a video showing the benefit of an energy audit and weatherization for historic properties. When asked to do the audit, we jumped at the chance because this is truly our passion: making older homes, particularly historic homes, energy efficient without compromising what makes them special. Converting a home from an “energy hog” to a level of energy efficiency equivalent to Energy Star can absolutely be done – but the key for the homeowner to get a professional audit so he or she will have a plan for how to accomplish that goal.

Preservation NC also has a wonderful guide on their website about weatherizing historic homes.

(A note about the video: the actual leakage in this house should be in square inches…not square feet like the voice-over states!)

Here’s the video:

I’ve written a few posts about how we’ve made our own 100-year-old house more energy efficient, and I plan to write more, but I wanted to send our readers over to the blog for The Rosemary House Bed and Breakfast, located in Pittsboro, which is a wonderful little B&B created from another 100-year-old house.

The owner just wrote a post about the energy audit we did for her a couple of months ago. After the audit, she contracted us to do the suggested repairs. 

In the post she reports a 27% savings on her energy bills since we came. She says that the audit and work we’ve done will have paid for itself in 18 months. After that, it’s all money in the bank.

We love hearing stories like these!

If you live in central North Carolina, you should be aware of several rebates, tax credits, and other incentives for becoming more energy efficient in your home. Here are but a few current (as of July 6, 2009) benefits for increased energy-awareness for homeowners.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and I welcome more information about ways homeowners can take advantage of financial incentives for becoming more energy-efficient. If you know of any programs – local, state, or federal, public or private, please contact me at adrienne@homeperformancenc.com.

1. The Home Energy Improvement Program / Progress Energy:

Cash rebates for:

• 50% off for air duct testing ($60 for 1st unit; up to $30 for additional units)
• 50% off for duct repair (up to $120/unit)
• Attic insulation/leak sealing ($375)
• High-efficiency heat pump ($300) and central AC ($300) or Geothermal Heat Pump ($300)
• HVAC maintenance ($45)
• Replacement windows ($30/window, up to $450)

For more information contact Progress Energy: http://www.progress-energy.com/

2. Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation
5% loan over 5 years for:

• Energy efficient electric heat pumps, doors and windows, or insulation
• Rebate for energy-efficient heat pump, $50/ton, up to 4 tons/system

For more information please see their website: http://www.pemc.org/conservation.php

3.Duke Energy Smart $aver
Rebates for purchase of:

• Air-source Heat Pumps: $200
• Air Conditioners: $200 (existing home)
• Geothermal Heat Pumps: $200 (existing home)

For more information please see their website: http://www.duke-energy.com/north-carolina/savings/smart-saver.asp
4. The Energy Efficient Mortgage Program – FHA EEM
EEM can be used to make energy efficient improvements if total cost is less than the total dollar value of the energy that will be saved during their useful life. Included in the EEM is $200 towards a HERS rating/energy audit
For more information see the HUD website: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/eem/energy-r.cfm

5. The federal Residential Energy Efficiency Tax Credit:
Personal tax credit of %30 cost of:

• Water Heaters,
• Furnaces,
• Boilers,
• Heat pumps,
• Air conditioners (installation included),
• Building Insulation,
• Windows,
• Doors,
• Roofs,
• Circulating fans used in a qualifying furnace (installation not included),
• limited to $1500.

For more information see the IRS website: http://www.irs.gov

The eco-thrifty housewife in me loves that there is now a holiday all about getting rid of junk you don’t need by giving it to someone who might. I’ve been a long time lover of all things thrift, starting when I was 15 years old and sported pre-grunge styles best purchased at church rummage sales (not every teenager from the 80s had big hair and neon legwarmers; my crowd preferred plaid flannel, black trenchocoats and gas station attendant shirts, worn ironically, of course).

As a stay-at-home mom 10 years ago I discovered that the key to keeping my house somewhat tidy was to get rid of all the junk we didn’t need…and as a born and bred stingy person I’ve found that my local thrift shops are the best places to buy clothes for me and my family. In Chatham County, NC, where I live, we are lucky enough to have several brilliant second-hand and thrift shops operated by the PTA, Habitat for Humanity, and our local battered women’s shelter. If you go often enough and wait long enough you can literally find anything you need.

Naturally, National Curb Day has great appeal to me! Here’s how it works:

The first Curb Day will be on Saturday, May 16, 2009. On that day, or the night before, people are encouraged to take their valuable (but unwanted) items to their curbs. Because this is a weekend, it will not interfere with normal trash pickup. There will be treasures on neighborhood curbs all over the country. People will be out en masse picking up these free items. Kind of like Halloween!

I live in a fairly rural area and while there’s trash pick-up and curbs in the closest town (of 2500), there’s none on my road nor on the roads of the majority of people in our county. Some people pay for a trash removal service to come around and get their garbage, but my lovely husband takes our trash to the dump. So for me (and probably tons of other people around the country) Curb Day will have to be modified.

Here are some ideas for Curb Day for those of us who don’t have curbs:

• take your unwanted items to a central location as a freecycle event. No trading allowed – simply put it on display as ‘free for the taking.’ This would take some organization, but I can’t see why it couldn’t be done for next year’s Curb Day. (Note to self: in your free time organize this!)
•  take your unwanteds to your local thrift shop. The items won’t be free once they enter the shop, but it’s better than throwing them into the trash
•  investigate what your community has in place for unwanted(but still decent) items. Our dump/recycling center has a swap shop area, where people can leave items that are in decent shape. I have a friend who finds tons of clothes at the swap shop – no lie! If you always get your trash picked up, either by the town or by a service, you might not realize that something like this exists.

I think this is a brilliant idea and I hope it catches on. A big thanks to Mike Morone, the guy who invented it! We are of like minds, you and I.

Having a home that performs like it should and doesn’t leak energy into the outside and doesn’t let dirty, musty, moldy, unhealthy air in is one way to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. Conserving energy is a “green” thing to do. I’m sure most people would agree!

Another “green” thing to do is to keep it local when spending your $. Employ small businesses and visit locally owned stores to keep your money in your community. I know it’s a global economy and all, but for many of us it’s very possible to spend close to home.

I’m not saying anything new or revolutionary or anything that hasn’t been said before by a billion other people. Which is cool, because if a billion other people are putting their money where their mouths are then a lot of that money is staying close to home. In our house we certainly make trips to the big box stores on occasion, but we balance it with visits to smaller, closer places. And lots of times these smaller places give better service and have better bargains. I happen to go to a grocery store owned by a guy who lives in the next town over. For whatever reason this grocery store often charges 1/2 the price for things like meat and cheese than the larger chain stores. Plus, the people at that store are nice and helpful and accomodating. What’s not to like? No, they don’t have a fancy deli department or designer veggies, but they have organic milk and a coffee grinder and the best cashiers in the world, especially since the grumpy one quit!