|
Across America, we face numerous energy problems such as rolling blackouts, $3.00+ per gallon gas at the pump, increasing utility costs and the emerging effects of global warming. All of these misfortunes are directly related to a worldwide energy crisis. Energy-efficiency investments are the cheapest, fastest, and cleanest way to respond to these global challenges. Last year, the average American household spent $1900 on energy for their home, and wasted 30% of it, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Energy efficient measures will help save you money, protect the environment and increase comfort in your home. An energy-efficient home—with such features as proper insulation, high efficiency heating and cooling systems and energy-efficient windows—can lower your utility bills by up to 60%. Pollution will be drastically mitigated by practicing energy efficiency in your home. Money In Your Pocket Home owners with lower utility bills have more money in their pocket each month. They can afford to allocate a larger portion of their income to investments. Energy efficient practices in your home will reduce your household expenses and make your lifestyle more affordable. Your utility bills can be cut by more than 50% with the appropriate energy efficiency measures. Upgrades that save you energy will lower your utility bills, increase the value of your home and make your home more desirable to potential buyers. Making energy efficient improvements to your home actually saves you money and makes your home more valuable. Your home increases $20 for every $1 decrease in annual utility cost according to a 1998 study by the EPA. The following table compares the monthly cost of an older home with and without energy improvements. The home with energy improvements saves $58 monthly over the home without energy improvements, even with the cost of upgrades included in the mortgage. Energy efficiency upgrades with todays incentives will often realize a payback within one to four years, making these investments risk-free with at least a 25% annual return. You will be able to take advantage of the energy savings for the life of the upgrade. State Incentives In addition to the accelerated payback, NJ homeowners are eligible for loans and grants to pay a significant portion of your home’s energy efficiency upgrades. Home Performance with Energy Star is a program funded by utility ratepayers in New Jersey and these are some of the incentives currently available under the program: The incentives can be used on upgrades that will save at least as much money as it costs to purchase them. Acceptable upgrades will be determined in a professional home energy audit. Home Energy Audit A home energy audit will help pinpoint problem areas in the home. Recommendations and actions taken by your auditor will help improve your quality of life. A professional energy auditor will use blower doors and other test equipment to determine a home’s efficiency. Your home energy auditor will conduct tests using a “whole-house” approach. They understand the dynamic interaction among a home’s heating and cooling systems, waterheaters and other combustion appliances, ventilation, and shell features (windows, doors, airflow through cracks, etc.). The home energy audit focuses on more than energy efficiency. Health and safety, comfort, durability and long-term value of housing, and environmental benefits are part of the “whole-house” approach. Gathering information from you and analyzing test information will lead to your diagnostic report. A blower door is a large calibrated fan that is temporarily mounted in a house door to measure the "leakiness" of the house and assist in finding the location of the leaks. Modern blower doors have variable speed fans so that the pressure in the house can be adjusted. They also have door mounting frames so the fan can be sealed tightly into the door jamb. In order to measure the leakiness of the house, the blower door measures both the air flow through the fan and the pressure difference between the house inside and outside. With the blower door running the professional will walk the house and find leaks in insulation and significant drafts throughout the house. A professional auditor will also: • Test the efficiency of your heating and cooling units – heating and cooling units are often improperly sized and/or are old and not maintained. Once the auditor completes the testing at your home they will prepare a diagnostic report. The report will contain recommended upgrades, estimated payback and annual savings. • Insulation • Doors/ Windows Feel Better at Home By upgrading the insulation, sealing your ducts and eliminating gas leaks, your home will be more comfortable for the entire family. Energy audit recommendations upgrade your home’s: 1. Comfort – 2. Air Quality – 3. Energy efficient appliances run quieter than standard appliances. 4. Efficient lighting systems provide a better ambience in the home. ? Upgrades like these will lead to increases in productivity and clarity. For many, these benefits will outweigh the value of savings in cash!!! Improve the Environment Implementing energy efficiency in your home will reduce the amount of pollution added to the atmosphere. Choosing energy efficient products is one of the smartest ways consumers can help prevent greenhouse gas emissions. A household that buys energy efficient equipment instead of standard new equipment can substantially reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Over the lifetime of an energy efficient product, pollution savings are equivalent to taking a car off the road for seven years. Using energy efficient products in your home can also reduce nitrogen oxides, which are primary contributors to smog and acid rain. Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy in 2005 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 23 million cars — all while saving $12 billion on their utility bills. Additionally, the savings in energy can be used to invest in green energy produced from clean sources such as solar panels and windmills, thereby reducing the greenhouse gases even further. Things To Do In the Meantime • Set thermostats no higher than 68 degrees in winter and no lower than 78 in summer. Turn your heat down at night or when you're not home. Each degree in winter can increase heating costs by 3%. In summer, each degree raises cooling costs by 6%. Savings: $325-500/yr • Lower the temperature on your hot water heater to between 110 and 120 degrees. To have it any hotter is a waste of energy. Savings: $20-40/yr • Cut back on use of the clothes dryer. It’s a big energy drain, and also sucks heated air out of your house in winter. Use a clothes line whenever possible. Savings: $25-50/yr • Use your microwave instead of your oven whenever possible and save up to 50% in energy costs for cooking. • Do full loads of laundry. A typical full load uses 21 gallons of water. A small load uses 14 gallons. Several small loads use much more water than one or two large loads. • Run the dishwasher only when full. Let dishes air-dry instead of heat-dry • Fix running toilets or leaking faucets promptly. They can use more than 8,000 gallons of water a year. • Use warm or cold water for washing clothes, always rinse in cold water. Rising consumption of electricity and natural gas is straining generation and transmission capacity and natural gas supplies in many regions of the country. Efficiency investments save consumers money, increase consumer comfort, reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance economic competitiveness, as well as promoting energy reliability and security. In California an aggressive campaign reduced electricity use by 7% in just one year, and thus helped avoid further shortages. Leia Sims is division manager of Energy Efficiency projects at Ecological Systems, a Home Performance with ENERGY STAR certified contractor. She can be reached at (732) 681-5296. Visit the website at www.ecologicalsystems.biz. |
||||
|
|
||||