We’ve been enjoying the recent warm weather so much that decided to hold a “summer weather” sale in celebration. For a limited time, we’re only charging $99 for a home energy audit (they normally cost $295).
This sale lasts as long as the weather is warm, so don’t delay – give us a call or email before it turns cold again.
(877) 303-0979
http://www.recurve.com/quick-start/
Levelized costs for each energy technology option are mostly in ranges that overlap. Costs will vary with individual projects, but it is important to note that technology advancements have closed the price gap between renewable energy and conventional power. Nuclear and solar PV are currently the most costly energy resources to develop, though recent forecasts suggest solar costs will continue to decline in coming years with the addition of new manufacturing capacity.
Source: Earth Trends Delivered
A great snapshot of why it’s important that we curb our energy use – starting at home – by Lawrence Berkeley Lab:
$241 billion. That’s how much consumers spend each year on energy for home use. About 1 in 5 of the nation’s energy dollars is spent in homes. Energy efficiency improvements could cut this number by well over half.
90% of your time. That’s the proportion of the average American’s time spent indoors. The quality of indoor air is often worse than the air outside. Moisture and gasses from building materials are some of the many invisible sources of indoor air pollution. When done right, energy efficiency upgrades will also improve indoor air quality and make your home safer and more comfortable.
1.2 billion tons of greenhouse-gas emissions. That’s what is emitted (as carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere as a byproduct of making the energy to power U.S. homes. Every single thing done to save energy at home trims these emissions.
Did you know that the typical U.S. family spends about $1,900 a year on home utility bills? Unfortunately, a large portion of that energy is wasted. And each year, electricity generated by fossil fuels for a single home puts more carbon dioxide into the air than two average cars.
Right in your own home, you have the power to reduce energy demand, and when you reduce demand, you cut the amount of resources, like coal and gas, needed to make energy—that means you create less greenhouse gas emissions, which keeps air cleaner for all of us…and saves on your utility bills! Plus, reducing energy use increases our energy security.
You may be paying too much for electricity. Shop around, check your meter and check appliances.
Your electric bill is probably increasing, even if you still turn off the lights whenever you leave the room. The Denver Post recently reported that the price of electricity for most residences here in Colorado jumped 15 percent in the past year. Both electric rates and additional fees on electric bills are going up around the nation. However, you can potentially minimize cost spikes by carefully reading your bill, checking your consumption and comparison shopping.
Check their Work
The convenience of automatic bill pay and online banking comes with a danger. We may be less diligent about reviewing utility bills, and may even miss a major spike or an erroneous charge. Even if you don’t have to write a check, review the usage listed on your bill every month. Compare electric usage to previous months in kilowatt-hours, not dollar amounts. The actual bill may vary for the same amount of electricity depending on added fees or rate hikes, but more on that later.
The average home uses 920 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It’s fairly easy to use less than the average by switching out light bulbs, turning down the thermostat, turning off vampire appliances, etc. However, if your bill shows significantly higher consumption, either you or the electric company may have a problem.
• An unusually high bill may simply be an accounting error or a misread meter. You can double-check the electric company’s work by looking at your meter. It should be slightly higher than the meter reading at the end of your last billing period.
• If the meter and the bill match, but the usage seems unusually high, make sure the meter is working correctly. It should stop spinning when you turn off every appliance, light and gadget (though it’s easier and more foolproof to test the meter by shutting off all your breakers). If it still spins, it may either be broken or a neighbor’s circuit is inappropriately wired onto your meter. You can also ask most utility companies to test the meter for accuracy.
Shop Around
If the meter is working and the usage is reasonable, but the bill is unreasonable, you may have more options than you think. Many states have recently opened their utility markets to new competitors. Texas has a particularly robust electricity market. I found more than 20 rate plans from at least six providers for a ZIP code in Dallas.
You may still effectively have a monopoly, but the company may offer various rates. Look for long-term contract savings and low-income discounts. Also opt out of any renewable-energy premiums if your only goal is a lower electric bill.
Know Your Usage
If you are getting the best possible rates and the meter is working, faulty wiring or a faulty appliance may have cause the spike in your bill. If you switch off all the breakers and the meter stops running, test each circuit and each appliance. Unplug everything, then individually turn on breakers and plug in each item.
If the meter starts to spin with a breaker on but nothing running on that circuit, you may have faulty wiring. More likely, the meter will really get going when you turn on the air conditioner or other electricity hog. Use a watt-hour meter, such as a Kill-A-Watt, between the outlet and the appliance to check the true energy usage of your devices and appliances.
If you think you are overpaying for electricity, check the electric company’s numbers and meter, then check your wiring and appliances, and shop around if you can.
Source: Networx
San Francisco is now offering residents up to $2000 for home energy improvements. Coupled with incentives from PG&E, that means you could qualify for up to $6,000 total. The program, called San Francisco Home Improvement and Performance Program (SFHip), works similarly to PG&E’s program – first, you have to get an energy audit; then you work with a qualified contractor to make the upgrades and demonstrate that you achieved 15% or more in energy savings.
The first 50 homes will receive double the incentive (normally $1,000), and the program is only open to 433 homes total.
A few days ago, Congress and President Obama passed legislation that extends federal tax credits for energy-saving upgrades another year. The tax credits were set to expire at the end of 2010 but have been extended until December 31, 2011. However, the incentive has been reduced to 10%, up to $500.
Included are provisions limiting window incentives to $200, oil and gas furnace and boiler incentives to $150-200, and water heater and wood heating system incentives to $300. As part of the legislation, Congress tightening the specifications for oil furnaces and boilers and gas boilers to 95% efficiency, up from the 90% efficiency in current credit.
Appliances account for about 17% of your household’s energy consumption, with refrigerators, clothes washers, and clothes dryers at the top of the consumption list.
This chart shows how much energy a typical appliance uses per year and its corresponding cost based on national averages. For example, a refrigerator uses almost five times the electricity the average television uses. Visit www.energysavers.gov to learn how to calculate the electrical use of your appliances.
Here are some useful, eye-opening tips on 10 common mistakes to avoid when heating your home.
1. Maintaining a constant temperature
Cause: A persistent myth suggests that you can save energy by leaving the house at a comfortable 68 degrees (a widely recommended winter setting), even when you are sleeping or away at work.
The idea is that it takes more energy for the furnace to reach a comfortable temperature than to maintain that temperature.
Effect: You could miss out on significant potential energy savings by not using a programmable thermostat and adjusting the temperature overnight and during the workday.
Though the impacts of adjusting the thermostat vary based on your climate and other factors, studies show that knocking the temperature down by 10 degrees for eight hours per day can cut heating bills by 5 to 15 percent.
Sure, the furnace will cycle on for a longer period to return to the more comfortable temperature, but it will be far outweighed by hours of savings when it didn’t have to work as hard.
2. Cranking up the temperature to warm up the house
Cause: You come home in the middle of the day to a cold house. You want to warm back up to 68 ASAP, so you crank the dial up to 78 to get the furnace working harder and faster.
Effect: No time is saved in reheating the house. Most furnaces pump out heat at the same rate no matter the temperature. They just cycle on for a longer period to reach a higher temperature.
The furnace will take the same amount of time to return to 68 degrees regardless of the thermostat setting. By cranking up the thermostat, you are likely to overheat the house past 68 degrees and waste energy. Just reset the thermostat to 68, make some hot chocolate, and wait.
3. Closing off vents in unused rooms
Cause: You don’t want to waste energy heating rooms you aren’t using.
Effect: Again, this just wastes energy and makes your furnace run inefficiently because it changes the air pressure in the whole system.
Experts recommend never shutting off more than 10 percent of vents. Sealing your ducts is a more efficient way to save energy.
4. Using the fireplace
Cause: You found some free firewood on Craigslist and think you can burn up some free heating energy while enjoying a romantic fire.
Effect: While we can’t make any promises about increased romance, we can predict increased energy bills. An open fireplace flue may suck more cold air into the house than the fire can radiate into the living space.
5. Using electric room heaters
Cause: You spend most of your time in a couple of rooms, so you figure you will just heat them with space heaters.
Effect: This could lead to higher energy bills and greater fire risks. Generally, a central gas heating system is cheaper and more efficient than a set of electric room heaters. Electric heaters also can be a fire hazard.
There are exceptions. A single energy-efficient space heater in a small, well-insulated room can save energy if the central heater is switched off.
6. Switching to electric heating
Cause: Electric heaters are more efficient than fuel-based systems, so they must be cheaper and better for the environment, according to this popular idea.
Effect: In most areas, simply switching to electric heat leads to higher energy bills and a bigger carbon footprint. Your heater may be more efficient, but most U.S. homes are still linked to coal-fired power plants. These coal plants and their transmission systems are extremely inefficient.
Of course, it’s a different story if you have a large photovoltaic solar array or your utility company uses renewable energy.
7. Replacing the windows
Cause: Those big pieces of glass get so darn cold. They must be the reason your house is so drafty.
Effect: You could spend a lot of money to only take care of part of the problem. Windows must be installed properly to avoid drafts, gaps, and leaks.
Moreover, more heat is typically lost through poorly insulated walls and ceilings than through windows.
8. Replacing the furnace first
Cause: You blame high energy bills on an old, inefficient furnace.
Effect: Your energy bills will still be higher than necessary if you don’t start with cheaper, smaller upgrades to improve the energy efficiency of your home, such as caulking around windows and doors and adding insulation.
9. Upgrading to the most efficient furnace on the market
Cause: You want the sleekest, most energy-efficient furnace available because it will be the most cost effective as well.
Effect: You may end up replacing an over-sized furnace with another (albeit more efficient) over-sized furnace. The U.S. Department of Energy reports that most U.S. homes have over-sized HVAC systems.
Again, insulate and weatherize to maximize efficiency, then get the smallest system that will comfortably meet your heating needs, which will be substantially reduced. Also make sure it is professionally installed.
10. Using incandescent light bulbs for heating
Cause: Incandescent bulbs give off more heat than light, so they must be warming up the house.
Effect: It is hard to see this logic as anything but a weak excuse for holding on to the Edison bulbs rather than switching to CFL and LED lighting.
In fact, one German entrepreneur is marketing incandescent bulbs as “heat balls” to skirt EU laws against the old-style bulbs. However, I doubt he is keeping cozy this winter simply by sleeping with the lights on.
Source: Yahoo Green
With the new Home Energy Score, consumers will find out how their home compares with others and how much money they could save by adding insulation, sealing air leaks or doing other upgrades. Ten U.S. communities will test the score, similar to a miles-per-gallon label for cars, before it’s rolled out nationally next summer.
“Together, these programs will grow the home retrofit industry and help middle-class families save money and energy,” says Vice President Biden
The program is designed to encourage homeowners to make energy-saving upgrades and to jump-start the industry for home energy retrofits, Biden said in a statement. It will also include financing for homeowners (up to $25,000) and software that will let energy contractors give consumers the home efficiency equivalent of miles per gallon for cars.
Homeowners only have two more months to take advantage of up to $1500 in tax credits for energy upgrades. Eligible improvements include insulation, air sealing, high efficiency furnaces, and more.
Cut home energy use by 20-40% just by doing basic measures such as sealing and insulating your house. Find out how you can benefit from these tax credits before they expire on December 31, 2010.