energy efficiency

[wiscodevil]

has anyone signed up to have their home "audited" for energy efficiency? i think they'll come to your house, tell you where you can improve - insulation, lighting, appliances, drafty windows and doors etc and then recommend steps to take? some companies will then do the work for you as well. just curious...

thanks!!

[summerwind03]

Hmm, I'm curious about this too.

Someone mentioned to me that she got a kit from her library that told her how much energy everything she had plugged in was using. I might try to check that out in the interim.

Evidently, our energy usage (not bill) was 1/3 higher this July than last July, even though the temps were similar and I feel like we've been being careful. I wonder if it's because we got FIOS?

[Windsor]

We did it about a year ago. Power company came it (Progression Energy in Florida) check the house from top to bottom and gave as a list of recomnedations ranging. Was glad we did it because it turns out we had a leak in one of our almost impossible to reach ducts up the attic.

We got a comprehensive list of what improvements we could make.

Some of it we have done, some we haven't (like replacing all the windows...cha ching!). Most of you could probably name 75% of what will be recommended (weather stripping/insulations/wrapping pipes and hot water heater/timers etc)

All in all it was worth it.

The don't do the repairs but the did provide a list of contractors who they authorized (not sure what you need to do to get 'authorized' )
We used our own A/C guy to handle duct repair. I can say our bills are holding steady with last year...but considering the rates went up I guess that is a good thing.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

There was a good article in the WSj a few months ago about this. I cannot find the actual article but there were some good things I remember from it and that we are doing and we've noticed lower elec bills this summer.

- Replace old light bulbs as they die with the new spiral fluorescent bulbs. About 1/4 the energy consumption of traditional bulbs.

- Check your water heater settings. Don't set the temp too high or you spend lots of money on elec (or gas) to continually heat it to a very high temperature. Also take advantage of timer settings if you can to make sure you are not spending $ to heat water when you typically don't need it.

- Similarly, don't make your refrig/freezer work harder than it has to by keeping it on an overly cold setting.

- A good piece of info from our A/C man... watch your daytime a/c settings. He said most systems (especially for an upstairs) are designed to cool your house to about 75 deg at best in very hot weather. Don't make your system struggle to keep it cooler and run all day. This is where we believe we are getting the greatest reduction in our power bills as we would previously turn our upstairs a/c "up" to just 72 or 73 during the day.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

There was a good article in the WSj a few months ago about this. I cannot find the actual article but there were some good things I remember from it and that we are doing and we've noticed lower elec bills this summer.

- Replace old light bulbs as they die with the new spiral fluorescent bulbs. About 1/4 the energy consumption of traditional bulbs.

- Check your water heater settings. Don't set the temp too high or you spend lots of money on elec (or gas) to continually heat it to a very high temperature. Also take advantage of timer settings if you can to make sure you are not spending $ to heat water when you typically don't need it.

- Similarly, don't make your refrig/freezer work harder than it has to by keeping it on an overly cold setting.

- A good piece of info from our A/C man... watch your daytime a/c settings. He said most systems (especially for an upstairs) are designed to cool your house to about 75 deg at best in very hot weather. Don't make your system struggle to keep it cooler and run all day. This is where we believe we are getting the greatest reduction in our power bills as we would previously turn our upstairs a/c "up" to just 72 or 73 during the day.

All good first steps.

Dr. Rosenrosen, I sent you a PM. Be sure to read it - you'll find it at the top right of the board page where it tells you you have a private message (just in case you're not familiar with the software).