Hot Topic
With a Few Small Adjustments You Can Reap Big Rewards in Energy Savings
By Steve Slack
What’s the worst part about getting your mail in winter? Bundling up to go outside or the surprise that awaits inside your mailbox?
In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where Ron Mixell is a Mr. Electric® franchise owner, the cold doesn’t cause
his clients as much concern as their first winter utility bills.
"It can’t be this much!’ That’s usually how the phone call starts out,” says Mixell, who has been an electrical contractor for 30 years. “Generally, the cause of those high bills is little things that a homeowner can change.”
When you vacuum, for instance, remember to swipe the condenser coils around the fridge—unplug it first. Especially if you have pets, you’ll be amazed at the accumulated dust and fur that prevents your refrigerator from “breathing” and causes the motor to work harder, costing you more.
While you’re at it, clean heating registers and warm-air supply vents, and make sure no furniture is blocking or covering them.
“Here’s something else,” Mixell says. “Use a slow cooker for stews or soups that need to simmer a long time to save energy.”
If you snoop around your house, in fact, you’ll find dozens of areas where you can save on energy—and utility costs.
Appliances that feed on energy
Washing the jeans you just have to wear tomorrow or running an almost-full load of dinner dishes can be tempting, but remember that it takes the same amount of electricity to power those appliances no matter how much is inside. Consider energy-saving features the next time you purchase an appliance, and always be mindful of your energy usage.
If you are thinking about retiring your dishwasher soon, consider this: It’s estimated that replacing a 10-year-old dishwasher with an Energy Star® model can save you more than $30 a year on energy costs. (Energy Star is a designation from the Environmental Protection Agency that means the appliance exceeds minimum federal energy-savings standards.) The newer models have booster water heaters that get up to a sanitizing 150°F to 160°F, so that you can keep your water heater set at an energy-saving 120°F. Delayed-start features let you operate the dishwasher at night when hot water isn’t at a premium for other household needs.
Refrigerators hold the most potential for energy savings. “This sounds impossible,” says Mixell, “but just making sure you don’t open the door a lot can lead to significant savings.” An open door loses 30 percent of the “cool.” Manufacturers are helping with that, offering bottom-freezer units, which puts the most-used foods in clear view and—unless you have teenagers—faster fridge stops. Also, an old refrigerator model operating as an extra “cooler” for beverages in your basement or garage can add as much as $100 to your electricity bill annually.
Spotlight on savings
Lighting represents as much as 20 percent of your home’s electricity bills. To nibble that down, Mixell suggests installing occupancy sensors in rooms so lights will turn on and off automatically. “That
way, you don’t have to remember to flip the switch,” he says. Also, consider replacing incandescent
lights with compact fluorescent lamps. These energy misers use 75 percent less energy than typical incandescents. They are said to last as much as 10 times longer.
When selecting a fluorescent, choose a wattage that’s about one-third of the incandescent you usually use. Remember, watts measure the amount of energy needed; lumens measure how much light a bulb produces. The most efficient bulbs produce more lumens per watt of electricity used.
Also, remember to use low-voltage lighting kits to light walkways, patios and decks. You’ll have a more pleasing landscape and fewer night bugs.
Boiled down heating costs
Heating your home eats up as much as two-thirds of your annual energy bill in the colder parts of the country and adds to greenhouse gases. Reducing your heating energy use is the most effective thing you can do to save money and be a good environmental steward. “Start with the simple, easy things that can reduce how hard your furnace and furnace motor have to run,” Mixell says. Even before the heating season begins, a tune-up by a service pro can save up to 5 percent on heating costs.
Investing in a programmable thermostat also pays off big, he says. Most homeowners can save about
2 percent on their heating bill for each degree they lower the thermostat over the course of eight hours. Consider what happens if you turn down the thermostat from 70°F to 65°F overnight. You save about 10 percent, or $100 per every $1,000 of
heating costs.
A good programmable thermostat sells for around $50, so its cost can be recovered in the first year.
There are calculations you can use to make the right energy decisions, based on the AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency). See “Cost Cutting Online,” below, for websites that can walk you through a home energy audit.
Finally, remember that a furnace uses a tremendous amount of electricity, most of it to power the fan motor, which pushes warm air through the ducts and into your living space. It’s critical, then, that your furnace be sized appropriately for your house. Oversized furnaces operate inefficiently because they cycle on and off too often. In addition, you want to be sure to ask your heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) contractor about variable-speed fan motors. These gems are far more efficient than the standard motors, especially at low speeds, and have been shown to save hundreds of dollars per year in operating costs.