Category — saving energy/saving money

More than cutting down on your meat consumption, more than any re-use or reduction of various products, more than recycling, composting, or growing your own organic produce, more than driving a hybrid vehicle, and more than saving the rain forests!

Seriously.

Not that the previously mentioned efforts are bad things to do. Au contraire. We firmly believe that every effort an individual makes to help reduce greenhouse gases is valuable. But if you truly want to make the most impactful steps towards reducing your carbon footprint you will reduce the energy associated with heating and cooling your home.

The Encyclopedia of Earth website gives this breakdown for a the carbon footprint of a typical American:

20% home energy use

17% food

13% transportation

the other 50% is broken down into travel and leisure, clothes and other goods, homebuilding, and some other stuff.

So here’s the question to ask yourself: am I doing all I can to reduce my home’s heating and cooling costs?

If you haven’t had a comprehensive home energy audit yet, the answer is no.

Simple as that.

Dear Mr. Energy,

My dad and I are in a disagreement. He says that it uses more money and energy to turn on the fluorescent lights in our car repair shop than it does to simply let them run all night, and I think he’s nuts. Who’s right?

–Suffering Son in Sanford

Dear Suffering,

The truth is that you and your dad are both right. Kind of.  Fluorescent lights actually do draw more energy when they’re first turned on than it takes to keep them on, but this only really matters if you’re going to have the light on a very short time. After a couple of minutes the difference is moot. In the case of a place of business that doesn’t need its lights on all night, it is significantly more energy efficient to turn the lights off than to leave them on. This applies to both the long, traditional fluorescent lights like the kind you probably have in your shop as well as to compact fluorescent lightbulbs, which are just a different form of the same technology.

Dear Mr. Energy,

I want to know how to make my home Energy Star so I can get credit for my utility company. Do I get an energy audit? My house is only about ten years old. Because it’s fairly new shouldn’t my house easily qualify?

–Bargain Shopping in Benson

Dear Bargain,

Isn’t it great that some local utilities are giving rebates, credits, and lower rates for homes that have achieved a high level of energy efficiency? Mr. Energy sure thinks so, and he thinks that when the new, more stringent Energy Star guidelines for homes go into full effect in 2012 it will be even more meaningful goal. The new Energy Star guidelines will require that homes be more than 20% effiecient than code-built homes; the current guidelines look for a 15% improvement.

That said, dear reader, your home will not qualify. That’s because Energy Star for homes is only for new construction.

I will repeat: Energy Star is only for new construction.

Mr. Energy said it twice because he gets many calls from people just like you: people who are excited at the possibility of making their homes more energy efficient and saving money and who don’t understand that in order for a home to get an Energy Star rating a HERS rater – the professional who can rate a home Energy Star – must be involved from the get-go. The rater has to see the plans and make site visits every step of the way. An already existing home, no matter how efficiently constructed, simply will not qualify.

Very sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

The only way existing construction could ever qualify for Energy Star is if a homeowner were renovating his or her home so thoroughly it was being taken down to the studs. Which I doubt you want to do simply to get a percentage off of your monthly electric bills.

To answer the second part of your question, about new construction automatically being energy-efficient construction, Mr. Energy has this to say: maybe? It really depends on your builder, your house’s plans, and the various contractors your builder used. Mr. Energy hopes that your builder and HVAC company and insulation contractor had the highest level of energy efficiency in mind when they worked on your home, but new doesn’t always equal energy efficient. Mr. Energy has been in a number of homes built in the past 10 years that have been extremely energy inefficient – either because the builder didn’t know any better or because he or she didn’t care. The only way to know for sure if your home’s level of energy efficiency is to get a professional energy audit.

Here’s the good news in all of this: if you get an audit and weatherize your home according to your auditor’s suggestions, you will be saving energy and money anyway – just without the Energy Star label and without the automatic discount from your utility.

A while ago I wrote a post outlining Progress Energy’s rebates for energy efficiency projects. It’s one of the most popular posts on this blog, and I wanted to make sure that everyone reading this knows that while I wrote that post in January, the rebates offered through PE are still going on.

The way that Progress Energy’s rebates relate to Home Performance NC, our company, is that as certified PE contractors, we can apply the $60 duct-testing rebate towards our comprehensive energy audit. If you have 2 units the rebate will be $90. For a full audit that works out to 20 – 30% off the total price of the audit. If we discover that your ducts need sealing in the course of the audit, duct sealing will also qualify you for a rebate  - up to $120, or half the price of the repairs. And if it’s also determined that you’ll need your attic sealed, you can also get a generous rebate for that as well – $ .0375/sq. foot.

Nice.

For full details on the Progress Energy rebates, click here.

And to make an appointment for an energy audit, please e-mail us or give us a call: (919)360-1570. We happily travel throughout the greater Triangle area for our audits and weatherization services.

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 I wrote that Home Performance NC was selected to do an energy audit of a historic home as part of a contest sponsored by the Raleigh Historic Districts Commission, Preservation North Carolina, Sustainable Raleigh, and us! The end result is a video targeted towards people who own historic properties.

We were very excited to be part of this project because we are passionate about historic homes and believe that they can be made very energy efficient without destroying their historic elements. Our owners’ home is 95 years old and has been weatherized to current Energy Star standards! It can be done!

Here is a slideshow of pictures provided by Raleigh Historic Districts Commission. Enjoy!

Dear Mr. Energy,

You are always going on about sealing this, sealing that. Seal your ducts! Seal your attic! Seal your escutcheons (whatever those are)! Is it possible to seal too much?

–Wondering in Wendell

Dear Wondering,

The answer to your question is no, it is not possible to seal too much. But it is possible to get a house so tightly sealed that no outside air comes in, which is a bad thing. Sounds contradictory, right? Not really.

Here’s the deal:  sealing a house keeps energy from leaking out or leaking in. You want that. It’s a good thing.  But a certain amount of fresh air has to circulate in order for the house to be safe. So it’s a balance. If your home is super-sealed (including the escutcheons, which are the little plates that surround where your plumbing enters your home), you need to install appropriate ventilation to make sure the home’s inhabitants get the air changes they need to be healthy.

Which is why it’s very important to enlist the help of a professional building scientist if your home is approaching super-tight status. Building scientists see the house as a whole system, and possess the appropriate skills, knowledge, and equipment to make sure that in addition to creating a very energy-efficient home, you are also creating a safe home.

You can find a building scientist by looking at the list of accredited analysts on the Building Performance Institute’s website: bpi.org. And yes, Mr. Energy is one. How else would he know everything he has been telling you?

Dear Mr. Energy,

What’s this I hear about Cash for Caulkers?  I know you’re probably excited about it, because it will mean business for you, but what does it do for me? Seems like the government is just throwing money down the drain.

–Disgruntled in Durham

Dear Disgruntled,

My, my, sounds like someone has low blood sugar. No need to be so upset! Cash for Caulkers, or Home Star, or HR 5019, or S 3177, will be very beneficial to consumers, if it passes. While it will definitely benefit companies like Mr. Energy’s – after all, we conduct energy audits and are a full service weatherization company, which is exactly the kind of business that will be able to add employees and expand once the program hits — it equally benefits everyone who pays an energy bill .

Basically, Cash for Caulkers is designed to stimulate consumer demand for exactly what Mr. Energy is always telling you about: energy audits and weatherization. It will do this by offering direct rebates to consumers for qualifying home improvements. There will be two types of incentive: a “silver star” program, where consumers get rebates for things like air sealing, insulation, duct sealing or replacement, insulation, energy efficient appliances and windows, and a “gold star” level, which is a plan more tailored to individual houses, and includes a comprehensive energy audit that lays out a plan of action. People who achieve “gold star” are going for overall increased energy efficiency, and the financial incentives are greater as long as the homeowner increases his/her home’s energy efficiency by up to 20%, with additional incentives for greater increase.

Here’s why this is fantastic news for consumers: Mr. Energy has already told you how an energy audit and subsequent weatherization pays for itself in just a few years. This will make it pay for itself much quicker! A super-fast return on your investment.

 As for the government, Mr. Energy makes it a policy to stay out politics, at least publicly. It is not his job to run the country, thank goodness! Bottom line: Mr. Energy thinks this is a worthwhile piece of legislation. He will be able to hire more workers  and help everyone in the greater Triangle area save energy and money. And you, sir , can be one of them.

Here’s a super-simplified made-for-CNN version of how Cash for Caulkers will work, if/when/once it’s passed into law (sorry, commercial first…then video):

What I like about the video is the end, where the homeowners say that they’ve calculated their payback and it’ll be sooner rather than later. This is a very important point to make – yes, you have to spend money to get an audit and weatherize your home – but you will get paid back by saving energy and money over time. Not next week. Not next month. In  most cases, not even next year. But two years out? Possibly. Three years? Definitely.

What our weatherization crew chief likes best about the video is the crawl space the company in the clip is working on. It’s rare that he hangs out in crawl spaces here in central North Carolina that are that high! Maybe it’s because many of the houses we work on are older…but he’s a little envious of a crawl space in which those workers are standing upright.

I’ve written a bit about Cash for Caulkers, or the HomeStar program before, and am waiting to write much more before it’s voted on in Congress. Suffice it to say that when HomeStar hits, Home Performance NC is well prepared to help you make your home more energy efficient. We are BPI Analysts, RESNET-HERs raters, and a full-service weatherization company, and as such can help you achieve the silver star /prescriptive path or the gold star/performance path – whichever you choose to pursue.  At Home Performance NC we believe  know that an energy audit and subsequent weatherization will pay for itself – many times over the period of only a couple years. Home Star will help this payback happen much faster, which is always a very good thing.

The Home Star Coalition has an excellent fact sheet outlining the proposed HomeStar bill, if you want all the details.

Dear Mr. Energy,
A while back I had a home energy audit and per my auditor’s suggestions I reduced my home’s heating and cooling costs by sealing my attic, testing and sealing my HVAC ducts, adding insulation, and closing up gaps and cracks all over my house, but is there any way to reduce my baseload energy consumption? It is higher than I’d like it to be.
–Morrisville Mama

Dear Mama,
Congratulations on getting a professional energy audit, following through, and reducing your heating and cooling bills. Many experts think that this is the single most impactful thing you can do to lessen your carbon footprint, as home heating and cooling homes in the United States is responsible for about 20% of the greenhouse gases that an individual creates in his or her lifetime. That’s way more than the greenhouse gases created by the food we eat or the vehicles we drive. So – bravo to you!
The answer to your question is yes, you can absolutely reduce your baseload energy consumption. Mr. Energy noticed you did not ask about cost-effectiveness, so keep in mind that some of these suggestions may cost you more money than you’ll save. Some require you to buy or replace items in your home, and some address behaviors. But they’ll all reduce your energy baseload.

• Appliances. How old are they? Are they Energy Star? Are they the most energy efficient of their kind? If they’re not something that needs to run all the time, like a refrigerator, do you have them plugged into a power strip that you can turn off when not in use? Do you have a clothesline set up for hanging your clothes to dry?
• Water. Extremely energy efficient water heaters are available these days; electric heat pump water heaters cost about half what a conventional electric or gas storage model costs to run per year. If you’re not looking to replace your water heater, however, you can also turn its thermostat down to 120 degrees, insulate it if it’s warm to the touch (newer water heaters have efficient built-in insulation and you do not need to add more), and limit your showers to a few minutes.
• Lighting. All your lighting should be outfitted with compact fluorescent lightbulbs or LEDs.
• Energy vampires. Anything that’s plugged into an outlet is potentially an energy vampire. Televisions, video games, stereo equipment – these all use energy even when turned off. Plugging items like these into a power strip, then turning off the power strip when the item is not in use, saves more energy than you’d think.