About half of a household’s energy use, about $1,900 a year, goes toward heating or cooling the house. In the summer most of the cost can be attributed to a hard working air conditioning unit. Cutting costs are important, but the value of comfort cannot be overlooked. While using a central air conditioner, keep exterior doors and windows tightly shut. Many older buildings do not have as tight a seal to keep cooled air from slipping through the cracks. Therefore, if you are thinking about remodeling consider upgrading windows and insulation with products featuring the Energy Star rating energy efficiency. For smaller projects, go to your local hardware store and ask about weatherization for hot summer months. Many of these same strategies will also keep your heating costs down in the winter.
Other methods can be as effective as air conditioning to cool your home. According to the United States Department of Energy, good ventilation, evaporative and radiant cooling ventilation systems are the least expensive and most energy-efficient way to cool a building. A properly ventilated attic is about 30˚F cooler than an unventilated attic. Evaporative and radiant cooling systems evaporate water from the air and naturally cool the air while pushing hotter air outside. The air entering the home is 15-40˚F cooler than the warm air leaving the house. Installing an evaporative system costs half as much as installing a central air conditioning system and uses about a quarter of the energy as a central air conditioner. So if your central air conditioner is running on hard times, consider an evaporative system, but remember when in doubt always look for the Energy Star.
For more information on strategies to save energy in heating and cooling, visit:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/space_heating_cooling/index.cfm/mytopic=12300
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=heat_cool.pr_hvac
August 27, 2008
August 20, 2008
Powering Your Home With Solar
If you’re thinking of installing a solar system on your house, you may be surprised to learn that there are multiple tax incentives available to you. For photovoltaic or solar water heat projects, the federal government will give a personal tax credit worth 30% of the initial cost of the project with a maximum of $2,000. Commercial systems can receive a 30% tax credit with no limit from the federal government. The State of Illinois provides a rebate worth 30% of the initial cost of the project with a maximum of $10,000. Since the initial costs of installing a photovoltaic system are usually above $33,000, residential customers can generally receive the full $10,000 rebate.
The federal incentive is the minimum amount of money that one can expect to receive when planning the production of a solar array. To see if you qualify for either or both incentives, visit the database of state and federal incentives for renewables & energy efficiency at: http://www.dsireusa.org. Solar water heating systems are almost always less expensive to install than photovoltaic systems. After all of the incentives, the cost of installing a solar water heating system can cost as little as $1,600!
To determine how long it takes to earn money on a solar investment, check out the following websites:
• The American Solar Energy Society, http://www.ases.org/, has a link to a solar estimator (and a list of solar professionals in your area) on its website.
• The Sharp Corporation, http://www.sharpusa.com, has a solar estimator listed under its solar power products.
As a Power Smart Pricing participant, excess electric energy produced by a solar array can be sold back to your utility company at the hourly rate during the particular hour that your home was a net producer of electricity. At the end of the billing cycle, your energy cost/credit is the sum of each hour’s energy cost or credit based on whether you were a net producer or user for each hour. At the end of each billing cycle if your electricity use is more than the amount you produced, you will have delivery charges based on your net use. However, if your system produces more than the amount you used, a credit for delivery charges based on your net production is created. Net metering customers have these credits applied toward other customer charges on the current bill. Any excess credits are also applied on subsequent bills for up to a 12 month period. After which, any existing credits will be nullified.
The federal incentive is the minimum amount of money that one can expect to receive when planning the production of a solar array. To see if you qualify for either or both incentives, visit the database of state and federal incentives for renewables & energy efficiency at: http://www.dsireusa.org. Solar water heating systems are almost always less expensive to install than photovoltaic systems. After all of the incentives, the cost of installing a solar water heating system can cost as little as $1,600!
To determine how long it takes to earn money on a solar investment, check out the following websites:
• The American Solar Energy Society, http://www.ases.org/, has a link to a solar estimator (and a list of solar professionals in your area) on its website.
• The Sharp Corporation, http://www.sharpusa.com, has a solar estimator listed under its solar power products.
As a Power Smart Pricing participant, excess electric energy produced by a solar array can be sold back to your utility company at the hourly rate during the particular hour that your home was a net producer of electricity. At the end of the billing cycle, your energy cost/credit is the sum of each hour’s energy cost or credit based on whether you were a net producer or user for each hour. At the end of each billing cycle if your electricity use is more than the amount you produced, you will have delivery charges based on your net use. However, if your system produces more than the amount you used, a credit for delivery charges based on your net production is created. Net metering customers have these credits applied toward other customer charges on the current bill. Any excess credits are also applied on subsequent bills for up to a 12 month period. After which, any existing credits will be nullified.
August 13, 2008
CNT Energy at the State Fair!
Come one, come all! It's time to test the mightiest of minds in a match to decide once and for all if you are Power Smart! Do you have the brains, the brawn, or the brilliance? Join CNT Energy staff on August 15, 16 and 17 at the Power Smart Pricing table in Conservation World to test your mettle.
We've developed some fun activities to engage fairgoers of all ages. A head start will guide you through the tumbling twists of fate toward the title of Power Smart. Clues to your success are all around you - perhaps, on this very blog. Do you have the Power Smarts to find the Phantom Energy hiding in your appliances?
State Fair website:
http://www.agr.state.il.us/isf/
We've developed some fun activities to engage fairgoers of all ages. A head start will guide you through the tumbling twists of fate toward the title of Power Smart. Clues to your success are all around you - perhaps, on this very blog. Do you have the Power Smarts to find the Phantom Energy hiding in your appliances?
State Fair website:
http://www.agr.state.il.us/isf/
August 6, 2008
Fighting Phantom Load
Some may think that when a television or microwave is turned off that there is no power being used. However, many of our home electronics are haunted by the problem of phantom load. Phantom load, also known as standby power or leaking electricity, refers to the power consumed by electronics while turned off or in standby mode. It is estimated that phantom load costs the average household around $100 per year. That’s money you could save by hunting out the silent energy users in your home.
To identify electronics and appliances that contribute to phantom load, look for items that have a clock or digital display, a remote control, a soft touch keypad, a rechargeable battery, or an external power supply. (An external power supply is a brick or cube-shaped box located somewhere along the power chord.) Items that have some of the largest phantom loads include televisions, VCRs, DVD players, and video game consoles. These appliances have a large phantom load because they are usually in standby mode. Some of the newest video game consoles have been found to have particularly large phantom load levels.
In addition, laptops and cell phone chargers continually have current flowing through the power cord waiting to charge the electronic device (even when the phone or laptop is not attached), and a small amount of energy is lost in the process. And computers in standby or hibernate mode still consume significant amounts of energy, with laptop computers being slightly more efficient than desktops.
Controlling phantom load can add up to savings on your electricity bill. The first step is to identify the major culprits and get in the habit of unplugging them when they are not in use. To make this more convenient, you can plug electronics that consume standby power into a power strip. This will allow you to cut the electricity flowing to multiple appliances simply by flipping the switch on the power strip.
Phantom Facts:
• According to the US Department of Energy, standby power accounts for approximately 75 percent of the electricity consumed by household electronics such as televisions, stereos and computers.
• The Energy Star program estimates that the average American household spends approximately $100 per year to power electronics that are turned off or in “standby” mode.
To identify electronics and appliances that contribute to phantom load, look for items that have a clock or digital display, a remote control, a soft touch keypad, a rechargeable battery, or an external power supply. (An external power supply is a brick or cube-shaped box located somewhere along the power chord.) Items that have some of the largest phantom loads include televisions, VCRs, DVD players, and video game consoles. These appliances have a large phantom load because they are usually in standby mode. Some of the newest video game consoles have been found to have particularly large phantom load levels.
In addition, laptops and cell phone chargers continually have current flowing through the power cord waiting to charge the electronic device (even when the phone or laptop is not attached), and a small amount of energy is lost in the process. And computers in standby or hibernate mode still consume significant amounts of energy, with laptop computers being slightly more efficient than desktops.
Controlling phantom load can add up to savings on your electricity bill. The first step is to identify the major culprits and get in the habit of unplugging them when they are not in use. To make this more convenient, you can plug electronics that consume standby power into a power strip. This will allow you to cut the electricity flowing to multiple appliances simply by flipping the switch on the power strip.
Phantom Facts:
• According to the US Department of Energy, standby power accounts for approximately 75 percent of the electricity consumed by household electronics such as televisions, stereos and computers.
• The Energy Star program estimates that the average American household spends approximately $100 per year to power electronics that are turned off or in “standby” mode.
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