By Herb Weisbaum

An energy-efficient home is not only good for the environment. It’s also good for your wallet, because it saves you money in energy bills.

Patti Southard, with King County’s Green Tools Program, says there are all sorts of small remodeling projects you can do for under $1,000 that will cut your energy use.

“If you’re not going to be replacing your hot water tank, you can buy wraps that will help make that more energy efficient. You could beef up the insulation in your roof. And you can typically do that for under $1,000. You can use rigid foam board to do that. There’s a lot of eco-friendly batting material now so that you’re not dealing with fiberglass anymore. So you can get a recycled cotton bat, you can get a recycled wool bat and again the rigid foam board will all help beef up the insulation in your roof. And that’s another really good place to start.”

King County has just launched a new website called Eco-Cool Remodel Tool that will show you a lot of things you can do in your house and in your yard, one space at a time.

“It’s an interactive tool and you just click on a room and there’s tips,” says Southard. “So if you don’t want to spend a lot of time on that page you can just look at the tips for each room, such as kitchen, bath and bedroom. If you want more information you click “more information” and it gives you a comprehensive list of things that you can do to improve each room in your house and at the bottom of each page there is a set of resources where you can buy materials, find your tax incentives and look at what kind of rebates are available.”

Patti Southard says you can also use the Eco-Cool Remodel Tool site to e-mail her your conservation questions – and she promises to answer them.

You might want to get a home energy audit, so you can identify the simple things you can do to cut your homes energy use.

Most utilities in the area offer this service at a discount price. You can get one done for around $95 when the normal price is about $250.

If you’re heading to the home show, there’s a great place you can learn about all this – head to the Built Green booth. You can talk to experts who know all about energy-efficient remodeling and how to find a good contractor in the area.

By Mark Cannella

Mark Cannella, owner of Pro Energy Consultants, a home energy audit business (www.proenergyconsultants.com).

Mark Cannella checks a home for air leaks, which can occur in openings such as the fireplace, vents and windows. – Photo provided by Mark Cannella

My background is in heating and air conditioning. When I was in that industry earlier in my career, I noticed people were purchasing high-efficiency units, hoping they would help with comfort issues — cooling the second floor in the summer, heating the ground floor in winter.

But they weren’t really solving the problems, because they hadn’t really identified the cause of poor air quality and circulation.

An energy audit can be done any time of year, but people usually start looking at energy usage in the summer and fall — when it’s extremely hot or very cool. They want comfort. An energy audit isn’t just about energy — it’s about building durability, controlling humidity and stopping water and ice damage.

Depending on the size of your home, the cost of an average energy audit starts at around $350 and takes about two hours. The process is interactive and educational. We use specialized equipment to identify air leaking in and out of the home. Then we use an infrared camera to sort of X-ray the home to make sure it is properly insulated. We also test the heating and cooling ductwork to make sure it is properly delivering air.

The percentage of savings is difficult to quantify because you can’t control the weather, thermostat setting and energy costs. Every home varies, but when a home is properly sealed, it can save about 30 percent on energy bills.

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Just released from GreenEcoClub the DIY Easy-Energy-Audits. This step-by-step guide will show you how to do energy audit on your home like the pros. Easy-Energy-audits

An energy audit of my own home identified some needed  improvements. I sealed the gaps in my house that were letting in unwanted air, resealed the ductwork, added insulation, put a light-colored roof on my home and replaced old windows that weren’t closing properly. There are other ways to practice energy efficiency. I also installed compact fluorescent light bulbs, solar lighting, low-flow showerheads and a programmable thermostat. Our family also turns off lights and computer monitors, as well as unplugs cell phone chargers when not in use.

As told to Star reporter T.J. Banes at (317) 444-6815.

By Theresa Curry • Contributor • July 25, 2010

Several hours into the second big snowfall in February, Chris Bolgiano went to the basement of her Fulks Run home and saw a digital clock blinking, the way they do when the power goes out.

“That’s the only way we knew that no electricity was coming into our house,” Bolgiano said. The other clocks, the lights, the computers and the kitchen appliances were continuing to provide the Bolgianos with the same level of utility and comfort as they did before the storm piled 18 inches of snow on top of the foot already blanketing their rural community.

It was a landmark of sorts for the couple: Chris, a nature writer and retired JMU librarian, and Ralph, a retired biologist, had installed additional solar panels a few months before. That allowed full power for their daily needs while keeping a system of sealed lead batteries charged. The batteries kicked in as soon as the electricity failed.

“We were without electricity for 36 hours, but we’d only used 25 percent of the battery backup,” Chris said. “And we were living life as usual. If we had been more conservative from the start, I’m sure we could have used much less.”

Meanwhile, Glenn Mingo was keeping an eye on the snow on the solar panels at his home between Spring Hill and Parnassus. Mingo normally fills his power needs from the panels on the roof of his ranch-style home.

“I’m retired, and I think of this as a way of prepaying my energy bills,” he said of his investment. “They’ll go up and my income won’t.”

Mingo and the Bogianos aren’t just in it for the longterm cost savings. They’re committed to lessening the environmental impact of their lives and they like the idea of being independent for security and other reasons.

There are growing numbers of homeowners like them, said Watt Bradshaw, whose 32-year-old Blue Ridge Energy Company specializes in building alternative energy sources such as solar, wood turbine, geothermal and small wind.

“In other countries, (people who install alternate energy sources) get enormous incentives for what they’ve done,” he said. Bradshaw said while total energy independence might not be possible, everyone can take some steps toward reducing energy costs.

If you’re thinking of moving in that direction, some guidelines from Bradshaw, Bolgiano and Mingo

Reduce your consumption

Over the course of about 10 years, Mingo installed compact fluorescent and LED bulbs in his most used lights, increased the insulation in his attic, and made storm windows to reduce heat and cooling loss.

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“As I needed to replace appliances, I chose those that were more energy efficient and completely got rid of my garbage disposal,” he said.

To make dishwashing more efficient, he installed a foot-operated turn-on for his sink. He put in a root cellar for winter storage and buys apples and other good keepers in bulk as winter approaches.

The Bolgianos have used similar strategies since the construction of their 1,900-square-foot home 25 years ago. They heat with wood and don’t use a dishwasher or clothes dryer. By paying careful attention to the siting and construction of their basement, greenhouse and decks, they take advantage of natural light and heat in the winter and shade in the summer. Like Mingo, they have appropriate storage that’s naturally cool. The greenhouse allows them to have a salad garden all year, reducing both trips to the grocery and the need for refrigeration.

Contributing to the grid

“Going off the grid” was once a slogan of the energy-independence movement, but most people choose to stay connected, even though the power companies don’t offer much of a reward to their small contributors.

“In some countries, everyone who generates excess electricity and feeds it into the system is well-rewarded,” Bradshaw said. “It’s a tremendous mistake to put it all in the hands of the power companies with their 30 percent administrative markup.”

Mingo said he uses the conventional grid as a kind of storage system. “I contribute my excess power in the spring, fall and summer, and draw it out in the winter, kind of like a bank.” Bolgiano said her power company, Shenandoah Valley Electric Co-op, hasn’t quite figured out the bookkeeping aspects of the transactions.

“I have to really study my bill to see where they’ve credited me and how much over my consumption I’ve given them,” she said. She said the sealed lead batteries that allow her to store energy are expensive and not likely to become widely used for energy storage.

Bolgiano likes the idea of an eventual network of energy-contributing homeowners for security reasons. If the power supply isn’t all centered in one place, she reasons, a natural disaster or hostile attack is less likely to cause widespread devastation.

“I think it’s part of the American character,” she said, “to want to be independent and also to contribute to the common good.”

Start with a solar hot water

The most practical advice anyone can give about producing power is to install a solar hot water heating system, says Bradshaw.

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“People actually use more hot water in the summer because of more laundry and showers, and that’s when you can get 100 percent of it from solar panels,” he said.

In its simplest form, solar panels pre-heat the water in a special tank before it flows into the regular hot water heater, which then adjusts its temperature for laundry and bathing.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 1.5 million homeowners have installed solar hot water heaters, with a nearly 100 percent satisfaction rate. With hot water comprising 13 to 25 percent of household energy use, it’s a step that can be cost-effective, especially with state and federal rebates, and if you’re able to do some of the work yourself, as Mingo did.

“Plan to save the initial cost in three to five years,”

The “Pyramid Of Conservation” Is A Terrific Tool For Figuring Out Where To Start To Green Your Home

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 9.10

The Minnesota Power utility gets credit for this informative graphic on the steps to home energy efficiency. The things at the bottom of the pyramid are relatively low investment and high payoff and should be prioritized. As you ascend the pyramid, you get to progressively bigger investments.

Via Treehugger

By KATE BEEM
McClatchy Newspapers

You probably already know that replacing those old, leaky windows in your charming fixer-upper would save bundles on your heating and cooling bills.

But new windows don’t come cheap – hardly anything does these days, right?

You don’t have to break the bank to save big on your energy bill, though, energy experts say.

Just ask Jennifer Mays of Kansas City, Mo. She earned valuable energy credits on her electrical and gas bills by doing a few simple tasks, such as adding more insulation to her midtown home’s attic and spraying expandable foam insulation in the gaps where her home meets its foundation.

Mays’ home underwent an energy audit – where a certified expert lists simple ways to eliminate inefficiencies. After completing the suggested fixes, Mays submitted her receipts to her utilities, Kansas City Power & Light and Missouri Gas Energy, and reaped $1,200 in credits.

“We’re still living on credits,” Mays says. “We haven’t had an electric or gas bill since the end of the year.”

Here are few more inexpensive ways to use less electricity in your home. Some don’t cost any more than time.

Install a programmable thermostat. This is an easy way to shave dollars off your bill, says Kim Winslow, manager of energy efficiency at Kansas City Power & Light.

Programmable thermostats keep you from changing your cooling and heating settings on a whim, she says. You program temperatures for when you’re home and away, awake and asleep. In the warm months, general guidelines call for a setting of 78 degrees or higher.

“For every degree you raise it in the summer, you can cut your energy consumption by 3 to 5 percent,” Winslow says.

Replace incandescent light bulbs with more efficient fluorescent or LED bulbs. In about two years, you won’t be able to buy traditional incandescent bulbs anyway, says Chris Albright, a certified energy auditor with Smith & Boucher, an Olathe, Kan., engineering firm. The government is phasing them out in favor of other lighting alternatives.

Compact fluorescent bulbs burn about 30,000 to 35,000 hours before they give out and use between 20 percent to 30 percent of the energy used by incandescent bulbs. They cost more initially but make up for their expense in energy savings.

However, Albright says, if you really want to stretch your dollars, invest a little more in an LED lamp. They can burn up to 60,000 hours.

“You can put it in a kids’ bedroom when they’re born and not change it until they go to college,” Albright says.

Unplug appliances when you’re not using them. Don’t worry about the biggies, like the oven and microwave and washing machine. But everyday workhorses like the coffee pot, printer and television consume energy even when they’re not in use.

An easy way to solve this problem is by using power strips. Then you can just turn off the strip when you go to work or to bed at night, Albright says.

Check doors and windows for weather stripping. Cracks around doors and windows can let cool air out and hot air in during the summer, vice versa in the winter. Some experts estimate you can reduce your utility bill by up to 30 percent just by plugging the gaps with weather stripping.

Change the way you cook meals when it’s hot outside. Using the oven heats up the kitchen and makes the air conditioner work that much harder.

Try the microwave, or plan ahead and use the slow cooker. Or head outside and fire up the grill.

CUTTING THE BILLS

www.planetgreen.discovery.com : Tips on cutting home energy consumption.

www.energysavers.gov : Lots of information from the U.S. Department of Energy on saving money and energy at home.

Published: Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 7:43 PM

Susan Love, The Plain Dealer

James Dulley. Keeping the coils on an outdoor air-conditioning unit clean will help with your overall summer energy-efficiency.

Want to save money?

The Alliance to Save Energy is a Washington, D.C.-based, nonpartisan agency created in 1977 in response to the OPEC oil embargo. Its mission is just as vital today, thanks to the economy and such catastrophic events as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, said Kweller.

“I hope that a certain amount of good [increased awareness of energy efficiency] can come out of the bad,” she said.

There are two approaches to conservation, said Kweller.

The first involves making sure your home is “tight” during the upcoming dog days . . . meaning cool air stays inside and hot air remains outside. That happens only when windows and doors are efficient and the home has adequate insulation, said Kweller. Some 46 million homes in the United States are underinsulated, according to simplyinsulate.com.

Ensuring a home’s “tightness” can add up to several hundred dollars a year in savings, based on current ASE estimates of homeowners paying an average of $2,135 per year on home-energy costs, said Kweller.

(When your home becomes more airtight, remember to have working carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors as a precaution.)

The second method, Kweller said, is to look at purchases and practices that will cut down on energy usage, including switching incandescent light bulbs for the superefficient compact fluorescent bulbs and getting rid of old energy-wasting appliances.

Most energy-efficient purchases — such as new windows, doors, appliances and insulation, at least through the end of the year — are eligible for a federal income tax credit, added Kweller. The tax credits can save consumers 30 percent of the cost of the upgrade, up to $1,500, she said. That’s a credit, not a deduction, meaning you get $1,500 off your taxes.

Becoming energy-wise is “really worthwhile,” said Kweller.

Here are the top tips for a superefficient summer:

Lowe’s via AP Making sure weatherstripping in your home is adequate could help you save cash.

Increasing efficiency• Clean or replace air-conditioning filters monthly.

• Keep the coils in the outdoor and indoor air-conditioning machinery clean.

• Draw the curtains or shades on the east- and west-facing windows during the morning and afternoon to stop the sun from heating up a room.

• Do a self-audit, or hire an energy-audit firm (check with your local Better Business Bureau for recommendations). Find out if your insulation is efficient (simplyinsulate.com), if window and door caulking is sufficient, or if you need new windows and doors.

• Make sure weatherstripping around doors and windows is efficient. That can save 10 percent or more on energy bills by reducing leaks.

• If you have to buy new appliances or windows, go with those with the Energy Star label, the government’s symbol for energy efficiency. Buying Energy Star air conditioners, major appliances, lighting and electronics can cut utility bills by up to 30 percent.

• Buy compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs and get rid of all your incandescent bulbs. CFLs use one-fourth the energy and last up to seven times longer.

• When buying a cooling system, look for a SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating) of 14 or higher on central systems and the Energy Star label on window units (see an explanation at efficientwindows.org).

• Invest in a programmable thermostat. Program it to reflect the hours you will be away from the house (i.e. work hours) and when you will be sleeping. Home temperature needs are different during those times.

Don’t run a dehumidifier at the same time as the air conditioner because the dehumidifier will increase the cooling load.

Easy energy practices• Avoid running a dehumidifier at the same time as the air conditioner. The dehumidifier will increase the cooling load.

• Turn off your computer and monitor when you are done using them.

• Turn off all lights when you leave a room.

• Avoid doing laundry and running the dishwasher during the heat of the day.

• Keep lamps and TVs away from the air conditioning’s thermostat. The heat they generate will cause your air conditioner to run longer.

• Fans provide additional cooling for rooms, reducing air-conditioning costs. There are now Energy Star-certified ceiling fans on the market that move air up to 20 percent more efficiently. Many fans’ light fixtures also include CFL bulbs, which generate 70 percent less heat, according to the ASE.

Resources• If you choose to hire a company to conduct an energy audit, be wary if representatives arrive on site with a truck full of new windows and insulation. More than likely, they will recommend you get new windows and insulation.

• Check the U.S. Department of Energy tips for hiring a professional energy-audit company at tinyurl.com/mz6tm2.

• For tips on do-it-yourself home energy assessments, go to tinyurl.com/m2dh2a.

• For a primer on the federal tax-credit programs for energy efficiencies: tinyurl.com/yfabu2z.

May 26, 2010 6:48 AM PDT by Martin LaMonica 

Updated at 10:30 a.m. PDT with comments from Microsoft.   

Microsoft is trying to garner more interest in its Hohm home energy app through neighborly competition.   

The software giant released on Wednesday the Hohm Score, a free Web application that judges a home’s estimated energy efficiency based on its general size and location. With estimations already in place, Hohm has determined that homes with the worst scores are in Texas and Tennessee while the best are in Hawaii and Delaware.  

A sample recommendation and ranking from Microsoft Hohm. (Credit: Microsoft)

 The score is “calculated by comparing a home’s actual and potential energy efficiency,” Microsoft said in a press release. It uses home energy-efficiency models generated by the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, which Hohm uses to create recommendations on how to cut utility bills.

Microsoft said that checking out a Hohm score will let people determine whether they are “energy misers” or “energy hogs” among more than 60 million houses in the U.S. The application generates an estimate of how energy is used in a home–heating, cooling, lighting, etc.–and offers an estimate for potential annual savings.  

After plugging in some addresses, I saw that Hohm Score tool appears to rely on real estate information and regional energy use data to generate a home profile.  

For example, I plugged in my home address and the address of my next-door neighbor–we both have older homes that are about the same size–and found that we both scored 69 out of a possible 100, which is better than the national average of 61.  

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Meanwhile, the house I grew up in gets a lower score, apparently because it is bigger than my current one and because the average energy use in that part of the country is higher.  

The idea of the application is to give people an idea of how their homes compare with others, a technique now being used by utilities that has shown to be an effective motivator.  

My initial impression is that this is a rough estimate based on house type, fuel sources, and location. For example, I’ve spent a lot of effort weatherizing my home and I have solar panels, so my overall energy bill is significantly lower than the Hohm estimate.  

In a blog, Hohm general manager Troy Batterberry said that people can get more accurate information by entering utility information.  

“You can fine-tune the accuracy of your Hohm Score and your personalized savings recommendations by creating a free Hohm account and entering some basic information about your home such as the type of appliances and systems you have. You can also update your home facts and enter your actual energy usage from your utility bills,” he noted.  

In an interview, Batterberry said that Microsoft intends to make the profiles of individual addresses more accurate by using public data or data that it can purchase, such as information on how much energy a house uses per year. It can also get information, such as which areas have natural gas service, to calculate the potential energy savings.  

Connected home platform
Longer term, Hohm can become more sophisticated by getting actual usage data from plugged-in devices, such as appliances, thermostats, or electric vehicles. Microsoft’s vision is to have a “connected home platform” where different equipment reports data to the Hohm application.  

Once home gear is connected to Hohm, the application can also control devices. For example, the heating and cooling system can be controlled through a networked thermostat. Hohm will also allow people to share recommendations on home efficiency with others.  

In Microsoft’s deal with Ford, Hohm will be used to schedule car charging, giving people the option to charge at off-peak times or to use a mobile device to start charging when they’re away from home. Microsoft said it plans on supporting whichever protocols will be used for in-home communication and send information to Hohm via the Internet.  

The connected home approach also provides one avenue for Microsoft to make money from Hohm, which will always be free to consumers, according to Batterberry. Microsoft intends to act as a broker between consumers and utilities seeking to lower peak energy usage through demand-response programs. A utility could signal to Microsoft that it needs to lower demand on the grid and Microsoft Hohm would act as the conduit to turn down energy usage in people’s homes by, for example, slowing down the charge rate on an electric vehicle.  

Microsoft also intends to provide recommendations for home efficiency jobs from Hohm, such as installing more insulation. Through those referrals, Microsoft expects to make money as well. 

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  Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET’s Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development. Before that, he was executive editor at IT publication InfoWorld. E-mail Martin. 

By Sequoia on 05/16/2010 – 4:14 am PDT

There are a number of ways that you could potentially reduce home energy costs. Here are some of the best ways to lower your utility bills at home.

1. Thermostat

If you do not spend all day in your house, you should consider programming the thermostat to change temperatures while you are away. If you are gone for eight hours of the day, you do not necessarily need the heater or air conditioner running for that amount of time. By programming your thermostat, you could potentially save a lot of energy throughout the course of the year.

2. Appliances

Another way that you can save money on energy costs is to purchase energy-efficient appliances. Buying Energy Star appliances can significantly reduce the amount of electricity that is utilized by your appliances.

3. Seal Up

Much of the heating and cooling that is produced by your system, ends up finding its way outside. In order to prevent this, you should consider sealing up any cracks or you can find around the outside of windows or doors. Take a tube of caulk and apply it around the perimeter of your windows and doors. 

4. Light Bulbs

You should also consider changing your incandescent light bulbs to CFL’s. This will limit the amount of time that you have to change the light bulbs and significantly lower the amount of electricity that is needed to light a room.

General

• ZigBee Alliance

United States

• ENERGY STAR
• US Department of Energy’s “Your Home”
• US Department of Energy’s “”Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)”
• Renewable Energy Research Laboratory
• Institue for Energy Research
• US Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources
• Consumer Energy Tax Incentives
• IRS – Energy Incentives for Individuals in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
• Residential Energy Tax Credit (US IRS Form 5695 2009)
• DSIRE Database for State Incentives for Renewable’s & Efficiency
• IREC Interstate Renewable Energy Council 

Australia

• Energy Labeling Standards in Australia

 Canada

• Canada Energy Guide

United Kingdom

• Energy Saving Trust (UK Site)

Wind Links

• US DOE Wind Maps and Wind Resource Potential Estimates
• NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory – Wind Maps
• Renewable Energy Atlas of the West
• Bergey Wind Maps

 1500 tax credit, department of energy links, energy efficient homes, tax refund, 1500 dollar tax refund, home energy efficiency