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Home Page > Home Improvement > Do It Yourself Energy Efficiency Projects: Your Home’s Thermal Envelope (Part 2)

Do It Yourself Energy Efficiency Projects: Your Home’s Thermal Envelope (Part 2)

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Posted: Nov 17, 2009 |Comments: 0
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Right now, there are a few things you can do around your home to air seal it to save money during the winter months and during the summer.

As mentioned in Part 1, your home is a “thermal envelope”. That is the sum total of the home’s insulation systems: walls, ceilings, foundation, floors, windows, and doors. These work more effectively with good, tight fits that seal out the weather and air. By having a tight seal on your home’s thermal envelope, the less energy you waste or lose by exchanging it too often with the air outside.

Now, we’re going to look at exterior doors, the laundry center, the water heater tank, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning), attic insulation, attic ventilation and rain gutters.

Presenting The Doors!

We all want our doors to be attractive, secure, and weather proof. Like windows, when they are properly installed and kept in good condition, they can save you energy and money. If your door is hard to close or open, moves the whole door frame when you open or close the door, rattles when it is closed, or you see daylight and feel a draft coming from around it, then your door needs work.

When a door doesn’t close correctly, it obviously fails to seal. If your exterior door is difficult to open or close, the first thing to look for is if something is caught in the door or if something is sticking out from the door frame, such as a screw head not fully tightened against the hinge. Next, determine with a carpenter’s level whether the door is hanging plumb (straight up and down) and if the door jambs are parallel to each other. Sometimes, a screw head not tightened into the hinge can prevent a door from closing properly and over time deform and loosen the door frame or the door. Also, check to see if any hinges move toward or away from the door jamb or if they wiggle. Hinges should be tightly fastened to the door and the door jamb with no other movement except at the hinge joint.

Once I lived in an old house and the back door was hard to close because the whole frame moved with it. It was one of those things I kept putting off to fix. Then one night, I pulled the door shut so hard that I pulled the entire door and door frame out from the wall of the house. I tacked it back in place for the night but the next morning, I settled down to repair it. The original nails had rusted down to the thickness of thread while the wooden shims that kept the door seated properly had rotted because moisture got inside the door frame.

If your door frame moves when you open or close the door, don’t put it off repairing it like I did. Fix it now. First, remove the casing from both the inside of the door and the exterior. Be careful – often in older homes, door casing and other moldings are unique or are no longer available. Sharp-edged casing pry bars are perfect for this. With a little patience and care, you can remove the casing without damaging it too much. A putty knife and a claw hammer are also useful. Again, be patient and careful – you are disassembling not destroying.

After you remove the casing, look for any damage to the wood making up the door frame; such as if it is rotten or split. Check to see if the shims are in place and intact. If everything looks right, check the frame to see if it is plumb. Add shims as needed and check that the door opens and closes correctly. Usually, it is easier to tack a scrap 1? × 2? across the door when it’s closed to seat the door frame properly. When it’s plumb and shimmed, carefully nail the frame into place. Next, vacuum debris from the area and seal up seams and gaps with either caulk or expanding foam. Re-fasten the casing and cover up the old nail holes with color-matched wood putty.

If you can close a kleenex in your door and then pull it out easily or if your door rattles from noise or the wind, it means it’s just not seated snuggly. The easiest starting place to for this fix is to add weather stripping. Usually, doors made over the past 25 years have had weather stripping built onto them. But being a door is rough work. Over time, the weather stripping gets stripped from the door. In some cases, the same weather stripping types are still used by the door manufacturer and can be easily replaced. Usually with much older homes, it’s not the case. You’ll be either replacing worn-out weather stripping someone else applied, or you’ll be putting on brand new.

First, measure the gap between the door surface and the door jamb at several places. Add about 1/16 of an inch to this measurement and this will give you a rough thickness of the self-adhesive foam or felt you will need to apply. Typically, I apply the foam stripping to the door jamb. Since the door jamb doesn’t go anywhere there’s less of a chance for something bumping against it and tearing off the foam. The door, on the other hand, is meant to move and will encounter all sort of things in its travels. As mentioned, you want the door to close firmly. Be sure to buy more foam than you will need so you can add and adjust the foam until you have a good seal.

If your door is in too bad of condition to repair, then it really is no longer a matter of weatherization but security. Seriously consider replacing it. Residential exterior doors come in three standard widths: 30, 32, and 36 inches.

Generally, the most insulating material for an exterior door is wood because it doesn’t conduct heat as easily as metal, vinyl, or fiberglass. That being said, most inexpensive wooden doors don’t fare well over time. They wear quickly in the areas that have the most contact (door handles and foot area), their mounting screws can loosen or tear, and depending on the harshness of the weather they can dry out and split. Steel doors provide better security and stand up to wear but they conduct heat. Wood-core steel doors and foam core doors last longer, are stronger, and better insulated. Fiberglass doors usually are the most strong, durable, and well insulating but tend to be more expensive.

Door Sweeps and Door Jambs with Vinyl Weather-stripping

A door’s most drafty area is along the bottom where it meets the door threshold. Most thresholds are aluminum or wooden ridges that meet the bottom of the door and form a seal. However, since the door is constantly being opened and the threshold is being stepped on, the factory-installed weatherization can wear out quickly. It can be quickly and easily replaced with a self-adhesive vinyl strip that hangs down from the bottom edge of the door. You attach it on the interior side of the door.
There is another kind of door sweep that uses multiple vinyl strips to block drafts. Somewhat more expensive, but it slips on over the bottom edge of the door and is held on with screws.

One product I have used with great success is pvc door jambs with built-in vinyl weather stripping. Mounted on the outside of your door, these door jambs can either replace your existing jambs or slide over them. The vinyl weather-stripping can be pushed up snugly against the door to keep out drafts when the door is closed. Use a circular miter saw to make the proper angled cuts so they can be mounted attractively in place. When they are in position, they can be quickly nailed or screwed into place and then painted. While I like these, there are many other similar kits that might be more suitable for your particular job.

The Laundry Center

The big energy users in the laundry area are the washer and the dryer. The typical washer uses about 0.256 kWh per load. The main cost is obviously the amount of hot water the is used during each load. Top loading washers use up to 40 gallons while front loaders use 10-24 gallons. It is easy to cut costs here by washing in warm or cold water. However, the main energy savings comes from drying your clothes. Even though modern washing machines do an excellent job of extracting the water from clothes by spinning them, they still need to be dried.

Dryers tend not to be very energy efficient because they have one job: force dry, heated air into a rotating drum to evaporate water. Dryers use ten to fifteen percent of domestic energy in the United States. Dryers also cause lint. Lint comes from fibers in your clothing coming loose as the clothes tumble across each other in a dryer’s hot drum. Lint not only collects in your dryer’s lint trap but also through the dryer’s duct work. If lint begins to obstruct or clog your dryer’s duct work, the evaporated water from your nice, clean clothes will not leave the system. If the water is trapped, it will take longer and longer for the dryer to work. Therefore, once a year, pull your dryer away from the wall, detach the duct from the bottom of your dryer, and pull out as much lint as you can from the dryer and the duct. The first time you do this, you might be surprised how much you pull out. You’ll also notice a big improvement in the time it takes for your dryer to dry your clothes.

During the cooler winter months when you are heating your home, you may notice your home feeling drier. While not always a bad thing, if your skin feels dry and itchy or if you notice your sinuses feeling raw and irritated more often, maybe your home is too dry. One way around this is to disconnect your dryer vent tubing from the duct work leading out of the house. Place a nylon sock over the end of the vent tubing and tie it in place with a long twist tie or rubber band. (Make sure you block up the vent going outside). This way, every time you run your drier, you will heat and humidify your house too.

Hanging your clothes not only save energy but also helps them last longer. Dry your clothes on a drying rack or clothes line. If you can’t hang them outside, you can hang them inside by buying a retractable clothes line (outside models are also available). Set up the line in a hallway of your home and hang your clothes to dry while you are at work. Place a large floor fan in the hallway to help circulate the air. Tumble clothes in the dryer for a few minutes until they are warm. This will relax the fibers and you’ll avoid having wrinkled or stiff clothes from hanging.

Getting into Hot Water

The most expensive part of doing laundry is using hot water. And while you might be able to switch to using warm or cold water for your laundry, having hot water for bathing or cooking or washing dishes is an important convenience. Currently, the most efficient way to heat water for a home is an on-demand water heater. While these are increasing in popularity in the US, most homes still rely on the old tank-style water heater. Basically, its a 40 or so gallon tank of water that is heated either by natural gas or electric heating elements. True, the method works well but most of the energy used by tank water heaters is just for maintaining hot water on stand-by and ready for use. That means, it’s heating water when you are asleep or at work or on vacation. So, a lot of energy is wasted. Water heater tanks are wrapped with insulation but adding more will save energy.

Put a water heater blanket around your water heater. Most water heater blankets at the home center tend to be about an inch thick so that they can be sold in one piece but not be too heavy to be held up with tape. These are made of plastic-covered fiberglass and you wrap them around your water heater. In terms of R factors of insulation (R-value indicates an insulation’s resistance to heat flow), you will adding about 3 R’s worth.

You can make water heater blanket with higher R-values. One method is to use reflective aluminum foil insulation (a.k.a. foil-clad bubble-wrap) and cut enough strips long enough to go around your water heater twice. You could then add the store-bought water heater blanket and have an R-value of more than 7.5. With this amount of insulation, you should be able to turn down your heater’s thermostat and save even more money.

For safety, do not block any of the control panels, block off the bottom, or put any of insulation across the top of your water heater. Never obstruct the pressure release valve.

Keeping your hot water hot doesn’t stop at the water heater. Insulating your hot water pipes will also save energy and cut energy costs. Consider this: each time you turn on the tap for your shower, you let the water run until it gets warm. Let’s say the pipe from you water heater to your shower is 20 feet long. Now, that might only be a quart but that can turn into a couple of hundred gallons for a family of four in the course of a year. Also, consider that after your shower, there is still hot water in the pipe. By adding insulation, that heated water will cool more slowly. If you insulate your pipes efficiently enough, heat from the water heater will be more efficiently contained in your hot water pipes. You won’t need to wait as long for that hot water, you will waste less water, and you will save more money.

Just Venting…

There are several ways you can improve the efficiency of your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC). If you have an old thermostat that isn’t programmable, turn off your furnace circuit breaker, carefully disconnect the thermostat from your wall, and throw it out.

Programmable thermostats can be found for under , are commonly found in home centers, and are easy to install. They connect to the same four wire leads that hooked up to your old thermostat. By programming temperature settings in your house to be colder during the winter or warmer during the summer when you are asleep or away, you can save energy and money.

Another easy way of increasing efficiency is to monitor your system’s air filters regularly. Depending on your lifestyle, you should change the filters regularly. If where you live tends to be dusty from busy nearby streets or if you have pets, change the filters every month. In some homes, it can be done every three months.

While disposable filters are cheaper, their expense builds quickly over time. Consider purchasing two washable air filters. Washable air filters usually cost less than and can be rinsed out in a bathtub with hot, soapy water (in the summer, I hit mine with a pressure washer). By buying two, you can swap in a clean, dry one right way when its time to change out the other dirty filter.

One way to significantly improve your HVAC is to check your duct work thoroughly to be sure the system is sealed. A home owner can save up to 0 from their annual heating and cooling costs by sealing their duct work. Start at your HVAC system and feel for moving air coming from small holes or gaps in the duct work. When you find one, put a piece of aluminum HVAC tape over the hole. Remember: The volume of air leaked adds up; the more leaks you have the less efficient your system is. Check the entire run of your duct work; feel for air leaking from ductwork seams and loose joints. Check at the corners where the metal is folded for leaks, too. Also, make sure that air intake vents are not blocked by furniture or clogged with pet fur.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy Home Energy Saver website, insulating ducts in the typical American home costs about 0. Duct insulation will pay for itself in energy savings in about two and a half years, and continue to save energy and money in years to come. Depending on your duct work, there are many ways of doing this. Some 6 inch and 8 inch diameter sheet-metal ductwork can be replaced with insulated flexible ducting that costs less than for 25 feet at a home center. If you use this, be sure to attach it so that it is snug with the supply ductwork and use aluminum HVAC tape. Other rectangular metal ductwork can be insulated with reflective aluminum foil insulation (foil-clad bubble-wrap), craft-faced fiberglass insulation, and regular gray duct tape.

Remember: you do not need to insulate the HVAC system intake ductwork, just the output side.

The Thing in the Attic

Unless your attic is finished, your attic space is essentially just outside your house’s enclosed thermal envelope. Heated air rises and conducts that heat into the structure and air of your attic and from there to space. Only one thing efficiently maintains and spreads the preferred temperature inside your house: insulation.

Heating and air conditioning account for 50 to 70% of the energy used in the average American home. Inadequate insulation and air leakage are leading causes of energy waste in most homes. Air sealing won’t benefit a whole lot if there is insufficient insulation for the whole house. Throughout most of the country, the US DOE recommends at least R30 (about 1 foot of blown cellulose or fiberglass) for attic insulation and a minimum of a R13 (a bit more than 3 inches of blown cellulose or fiberglass) in the walls. (http://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_06.html) Unfortunately, most homes built in the past two decades are built with R13 in the walls and attic; few have R30 in the attic.

Let’s say your home has R13 of blown cellulose insulation in the attic. The attic measures 1750 square feet and we’ll assume that the insulation has settled. To bring it up to at least R30, we need to add a further 17 R-value’s of insulation to the attic. The easiest way to do this is to either apply another 5 inches of blown cellulose or put down un-faced R19 fiberglass batts (about 6 inches thick).

To figure the cost for blown cellulose to cover the attic space, multiply the square footage by the thickness. Therefore: 1750 × 5 inches (or .416 feet)= 728 cu ft. The home center sells bags that are 16 cu. ft. Divide the 728 cu. ft. by 16 cu. ft and you get 46 (16 cu ft) bags. Some home centers may include the free rental of their blowing equipment as an incentive; others may not. To make the insulation work effectively, it must be spread evenly throughout the attic so that no thin spots or hollows are formed. Also, to keep the insulation out of soffiting, dams need to be built and installed at the end of each ceiling joist (or around light fixtures) before turning on the insulation blower.

Fiberglass insulation is typically figured by square foot. Rolls of R19 come in 23 inches wide or 16 inches wide. This is so the insulation fits between the joists. Roll lengths vary, usually between 48 and 77 feet long (though batts are available). What you should watch out for is just how big the roll is. In other words – can you get it through the attic’s entrance or trap door?

Once you’ve decided on what size works for you, divide the square footage (our 1750 square feet) by the length and you have the number of rolls you need. Craft-faced insulation has a paper vapor barrier facing. Because insulation is being added on top of other insulation in this case there is no need for the paper vapor barrier facing. While it is more expensive that the blown cellulose, fiberglass batts are convenient sizes that can be positioned and laid in place or trimmed as needed. And it’s always better to have extra.

Now, let’s say you’ve figured out how much you need…and that you can’t afford more than at a stretch. Not to worry. The great thing about insulating is that it doesn’t need to be done all at once. You can take your time and build on it. The best way, though, is to figure out what area of your home you want to insulate first. Consider these two things: where is your thermostat located and where do you spend most of your waking hours in the home? Usually, the thermostat is in the living room and that’s were most people spend their time. The solution is simple here: lay in your first bundles of insulation over this room. But if your thermostat is in the living room and you spend your time in another room, such as a home office, you may wish to divide your insulation between the area over the thermostat and the office. In this instance, it’s best to take time to choose what priorities fit your lifestyle and how to proceed from there.

The autumn is the best time to install insulation in your attic. After all, during the summer, it could reach as high as 150° F, especially in a poorly ventilated attic. But, if you want to start saving money now during the peak heating season as well as later on during the air conditioning season, now is the best time to do the job. So, here’s some tips on how to make the job easy:

Know your attic’s layout and plan how to fit the insulation in place in advance. Buy your insulation the day before you plan to install it. Moving around and working in a cramped space takes up an awful lot of time. Start early. It’s a dirty job. Be sure to wear long sleeves and pants, gloves, safety glasses and respiratory protection against dust. Get some help so you can get in and out of the attic faster. The job will go much faster and you both will have someone to complain about the dust to. Take some 2 foot by 3 foot pieces of 3/4 inch thick plywood into the attic with you. Use them to stand or kneel on as you move through the attic. Often you’ll find it’s easier on your shins and knees to rest on the plywood rather than balancing on a joist and risk crashing through the ceiling sheetrock into the bathtub. Start at the far end and work your way back to your attic’s entrance. Insulation works best if it stays “fluffed up” or not compressed. You don’t want spend time putting it down nice and neat and tight only to discover that you must trudge across it to get out of your attic. When you are done, take a warm shower to remove the fibers, dust, and dirt that adhered to your skin. When you’ve finished insulating the attic, you will also want to make sure your attic trap door seals. As mentioned, your attic is just outside your home’s thermal envelope so your attic door is really a door to the outside. Make certain that it closes snugly and seals. Use weather stripping – it will make a difference.

Heat Shield to Maximum!

Your roof is a heat shield for your house. But in order for it to work at peak efficiency, it needs to be adequately ventilated. The National Roofing Contractors Association recommends 1 square foot of ventilation opening should be provided for every 150 square feet of ceiling area. (http://www.nrca.net/consumer/fyi.aspx)

If you’ve ever ventured into an attic on a sunny summer day, you know how hot it can be. Temperatures can easily reach 150° F. Trapped heat increases your air conditioner’s heat load. This raises your energy costs. Trapped heat also can damage the plywood sheathing, under-layment, shingles and personal items located inside the attic.

Roof ventilation works with two kinds of vents, an exhaust and an intake. Heated attic air flows out through a vent in the upper part of the roof. This pulls in cooler air to enter through intake vents located down in the soffiting or fascia board. Most houses built in the 1960s onwards use a combination of soffit vents and either gable vents, roof vents, or ridge venting to allow air to flow through the attic. By allowing the attic to breathe and circulate heated air out, the house is better able to let go of the heat it absorbs during the day.

Retrofitting roof vents is not as hard as it sounds. Nevertheless, it can be daunting to climb onto your roof and cut holes into it. I have found the easiest to install is the ridgevent system. Ridgevents come in metal or plastic kits. It has a hollow inside and either vents along its sides or under a flange. By straddling a slot cut though the sheathing at the roof’s ridge or peak, it allows heated attic air to leave without letting rain inside.

The actual installation technique varies slightly depending on the kit you use but very basically remove the top cap of shingles on the roof, and use a circular saw to cut a one inch wide piece of sheathing from either side of the roof’s ridge. If you’re installing full length venting, you’ll be cutting two slots the entire length of your roof so use a sharp blade and take your time. Afterwards, attach the ridge vent and caulk down the loose ends.

Now that you’ve seen what to look for in your home thermal envelope, you can start planning where to begin, whether it’s walls, ceilings, foundation, floors, windows, doors, or the roof. And while it’s import to consider how your home works as a whole, approach improving it one step at a time. Dividing the project of sealing your home into smaller, manageable jobs around the house makes it easier to tackle. Consider that all these jobs don’t need to be done all together all at once. Tackle ridgevents one weekend, insulation another, or a new thermostat some weeknight after dinner. You should notice more energy efficiency — however slight — after each improvement. They will add up and you will save money and your home will feel more comfortable. But be sure to take your time preparing and researching, read the instructions, and use good tools.

Above all, be careful when considering projects that seem beyond your skill level. If in doubt, hire a professional. After all, sometimes doing-it-yourself can really do-it-to-you.

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How to Offset Your Holiday Energy Consumption

Posted on January 29, 2011 by admin

How to Offset Your Holiday Energy Consumption

How to Offset Your Holiday Energy Consumption

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How to Offset Your Holiday Energy Consumption

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Christmas lights are a major contributor to rising power costs during the holiday season. A homeowner can save energy and circumvent this by switching to LED Christmas lights. These lights use 90% less energy than traditional lights. Not only are LED lights better on power consumption, they are also a longer lasting option.

Fiber Optic decorations are another cost cutting measure that can be taken to cut an electricity bill. They generally use just one light bulb to illuminate an entire area. If there are less light bulbs in use, then there is less power used.

Everyone likes looking at the lights on the tree or the lights around the house. Christmas lights that are left on for too long can raise electricity bills. Many people tend to leave them on all throughout the day. A good rule of thumb is turning them on for 6 hours a day or only when it is dark. If it is too hard to remember to shut them off, a timer can be purchased. If the Christmas tree is illuminated then the regular household lights can be turned off. There is no need to have two light sources on when just the Christmas tree can be used and enjoyed.

Another inexpensive way to decorate and cut your energy bill is to use candles in place of electrical lights. There are extra precautions that need to be taken in order to keep everyone safe. However, candles can give a home a warm, traditional, and welcoming feeling.

Lights can inflate energy consumption. Heating can be an even bigger power drain if you use an electric heater. If there is a party in the home, the homeowner can lower the thermostat. More people in a space means more body heat, thus the ability to keep the space warmer with less energy being used.

If there is a fireplace, it can be used to reduce energy use and heat the home. It adds a traditional feel to the home as well.

If there are fans in the home, you can have the orientation of the fan blades switched when the cold weather starts. As the hot air from the heating source rises toward the ceiling, the fan will move it back down to where it will be of use.

When the holiday baking is being done, the baker should take advantage of the oven being hot by having one batch prepped and ready to go as the freshly baked pies or cookies come out. When baking or using the oven, if there is a dish that needs to be warmed, it can be placed near or even on the stove to take advantage of the heat coming off of it.

Another simple thing to do to reduce costs is instead of using the oven use a slow cooker, microwave, or even a pressure cooker. These appliances use much less energy than a traditional stove/oven combination.

The holiday season usually means more food. If there is more food being stored in refrigerators then this makes them run more efficiently. Keeping a refrigerator stocked means less energy, thus a lower cost to run.

Using hot water is a must and a hot water heater can be a major contributor to rising costs if you have an electric hot water heater. In order to get around this, a blanket for the hot water heater can be purchased. This provides extra insulation. Using cold water instead of hot water is another way to conserve energy. The water heater’s thermostat can be lowered to 115 degrees as well. If the hot water heater is heard turning on more frequently than normal, gaskets, faucets, and pipes should be checked for leaks. Insulation for a home’s pipes can also be purchased.

Less hot water can be used by installing low-flow shower heads. They cost around to each. They save 300 lbs of CO2 each year for electrical water heaters, or 80 pounds for gas-heated water. People are more likely to use a greater amount of hot water in the winter months. The holiday season is the perfect time to start making changes.

Weather proofing your home’s windows and doors is something else that can be done. If the windows and doors are not properly sealed, the heat produced is just going to escape to the outside. This means the heating source will have to work even harder to heat the home. Applying caulk or weather stripping is an easy fix.

Homeowners can also invest in energy star appliances. These appliances will save energy during the holidays and throughout the year as well. Purchasing energy star appliances may also bring a tax credit the following year when filing taxes.

Using CFL light bulbs in place of standard light bulbs is another cost cutting measure that should be taken. If a homeowner continues this practice on into the rest of the year even more money can be saved.

Entertaining during the holiday season can be very fun. There will be a lot more dishes than normal. Instead of using the dishwasher to dry, they can be air dried.

Replacing air filters will also save energy. It is highly important in winter to maintain an effective filter. The heating unit will run more which in turn makes the need for a clean filter higher. Cleaning or replacing filters help energy consumption thus lowering the electricity bill.

One last thing to consider is when placing lights, only use them on the inside of the home. If one chooses to decorate the outside, use lights sparingly but decorate with wreaths, garland and other non-electrical decorations.

Energy use sky-rockets to all time highs during the holiday season. A study done in 2003 performed by the U.S. Department of Energy found that Americans use roughly 2,220 GWh (gigawatt hours) of electricity each holiday season by using standard incandescent holiday lights. Small changes make big differences when combined with other small changes. It is not so hard to make an impact on ones energy consumption.

Changing to a different light bulb, setting a timer, lowering a water heater setting, caulking a crack, or unplugging an appliance: all of these little things will make a big change to your holiday electricity bills.

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Bounce Energy’s Smart Saver versus Reliant’s Cap and Save

Posted on January 22, 2011 by admin

Bounce Energy’s Smart Saver versus Reliant’s Cap and Save

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Bounce Energy’s Smart Saver versus Reliant’s Cap and Save

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Which One is the Real Way to Save?

The Plan:

Reliant’s Cap and Save Plan is an indexed energy plan with a 12 month contract term. That means instead of the price being set at a fixed rate for twelve months, the price is indexed to the commodity price of natural gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). As anyone knows, natural gas is a volatile commodity and its price varies from hour to hour depending on a variety of market forces and world events such as trouble in the Persian Gulf, oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, and the amount of natural gas in storage in Texas. Theoretically, a consumer could lose their shirt if natural gas prices spiked like they did in 2008. However, Reliant has included a cap on their plan. If the price of natural gas increases to about .50 per MMBtu (one million British Thermal Units), consumers will not pay more than the indexed energy charge of 8.9¢/kWh (9.0¢ on the 100% wind plan).

How does indexing work? Reliant’s indexing plan is set up to provide consumers with a percentage discount. Reliant determines the discount by taking the settled price of natural gas at NYMEX (Henry Hub) every 15th day of the month, subtracting that from their initial natural gas price when the plan was offered (currently set at .50) and then multiplying the result by .003 MMBTU/kWh (million BTUs per kilowatt hours). The result of this is the natural gas Discount Factor (NGDF). For example, on November 5, the NYMEX price was .93. The NGDF was .00171. This number was subtracted from the Indexed Energy Price and resulted in a discount price of $.08729/kWh. If your bill was for 1,000 kWh, your electric bill would be .00 excluding the NGDF. When you figure in the NGDF, the discounted bill is .29 or a savings of .71. Ok, that’s really, really modest at best but it’s still a discount. Right?

What Reliant has only lately been making clear to its Cap and Save Customers is that the 8.9¢/kWh price is actually the base price and that is the only price used to calculate the NGDF. The TDU charges, which everyone pays for every energy plan in Texas, can amount to nearly 30% of a bill. So while you are paying .00 as your base price, there’s another 4¢/kWh that you must add onto your rate. So, if your rate was 8.729¢ (which includes the NGDF) per kWh, the TDU charges will increase your rate to around 12.729¢ — which is nosing near 13¢/kWh.

This begs the obvious question: why are people willing to pay more than 12¢/kWh for a 12 month indexed plan when there are so many other plans, both fixed and variable, that are at a significantly lower rate and include the TDUcharges in their rate? As of November 10, there were 70 other 12 month fixed plans (including other plans offered by Reliant) listed on powertochoose.org priced less than 12¢/kWh.

According to recent comments exchanged at the Texas Electricity Ratings Blog, Stephen Morisseau with Reliant Energy stated “Customers told us they want the security of a rate that will not go up, and the benefit of lower rates if prices fall.” In spite of repeated questioning, Morisseau would not address the fact that Reliant’s NGDF was incapable of cranking out the discounts its consumers signed up for. In fact, even if natural gas sold only for 1¢/MMBTU, Reliant’s NGDF would only return a discount of 1.347¢ from the base 8.9¢ price. Add in the TDU charges and customers would still pay around 11.5¢/kWh.

What are Reliant’s Cap and Save customers thinking? The key is in what Morisseau said: security. Reliant’s pitch to consumers is that their rate will be securely capped against a rise in the commodity price of natural gas. It sounds good, but this approach creates a perception that consumers should be afraid that natural gas prices are on the rise.

However, if you look at the NGDF, it’s pretty obvious that as long as natural gas prices stay low, Reliant will make a lot of money off the Cap and Save plan. If the actual natural gas price ever goes over .50 (Reliant’s Initial Natural Gas Price), Reliant will lose money. So, Reliant is betting an awful lot of money that natural gas prices will not rise through 2011.

And according to the US Department of Energy Energy Information Agency (EIA), natural gas prices are not expected to rise.

EIA’s Short Term Energy Report in the last week of October published:

“Prices are expected to remain below per MMBtu in October but rise to .68 per MMBtu by January as space-heating demand increases this winter. EIA has revised its projections for natural gas prices downward through 2011.”

And on Nov. 9, EIA stated:

“EIA has lowered the average 2011 Henry Hub price forecast from last month’s Outlook by .27 per MMBtu, to .31 per MMBtu, based on the upward revisions in the domestic production and inventory forecasts.”

In short, the 2011 forecast for Natural Gas prices is to undergo some seasonal fluctuation but should remain low overall. And take note of that revised average price: .31. Reliant’s Initial Natural Gas Price is .50.

Falling prices can’t be capped, Reliant’s Initial Natrual Gas Price and NGDF won’t let you save very much, and the price for this “security” is way higher than many, many other plans in the market including a few of Reliant’s.

Why shackle yourself to an expensive indexed plan that gives you “security” against high natural gas prices even though those prices are going to be low? Why keep paying for a 12-month plan with a high fixed base-price and a tiny discount that can’t compete with 70 other plans?

Instead, you can sign up for a variable plan that follows the effects of changing natural gas prices in the Texas electricity market and won’t increase your rate more than 10% from month to month. Bounce Energy’s Smart Saver plan is for consumers who want to lower their electricity rate with a month-to-month plan that allows them to take advantage of fallling rates and allows them to switch plans or providers without a termination fee. There’s no pricing voodoo or complex mathematics. It’s a simple deal. Right now, in the 77004 zip code area (Centerpoint), the Smart Saver’s introductory rate is just 10.8¢/kWh. There is no limit to how low your rate could go from month to month and it will never increase by more than 10%. With natural gas prices now forecasted to be low, there is a greater chance that your rates will decrease through 2011. Plus, there’s no commitment; you can switch to a Bounce Energy fixed rate plan where you can lock in a low rate if prices do go up.

So if you think you’re going to “Cap and Save” real money for the next 12 months with Reliant Energy, here’s a news flash: you won’t. Switch to Bounce Energy and start saving real money today.

Plus, customers who sign up with any Bounce Energy electricity plan are automatically enrolled in the Bounce Energy Rewards Program. Through the Rewards Program, customers receive exclusive gifts for paying your bill on-time. After paying on-time for 6 months, customers can choose to receive 2 movie tickets or a free companion airfare ticket. 12 months of on-time payments rewards customers with a bill credit on their electricity bill. After 18 months of on-time payments, customers can choose between a gift card to Starbucks or 2 movie tickets. Customers who pay on-time for 24 months will receive a free month of electricity. And after 30 months of payments, loyal customers are granted Platinum status where they will receive a 3% discount on all future bills when they pay their bills on-time.

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Posted in Energy | Tagged Bounce, Energy's, Reliant's, Save, Saver, Smart, versus | Comments Off

20% renewable energy by 2020

Posted on January 15, 2011 by admin

Raising the share of renewable energy from 8.5% to 20% in the overall energy consumption is a necessary contribution to the global fight against climate change and towards better control over our energy dependence. The various uses of renewable energy are examined: electricity through wind and hydraulic energies; electricity or heat through geothermal and solar energies; electricity, heat, and biofuel coming from biomass. The EU is a world leader in the use and deployment of technologies that exploit renewable energy sources, providing over 350.000 jobs and an annual turn-over of € 30 billion. Download: ec.europa.eu. ec.europa.eu
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Posted in Energy | Tagged 2020, Energy, Renewable | 25 Comments

New Services By Google and Microsoft Aim to Bring Energy Savings to Texas Homeowners

Posted on January 8, 2011 by admin

New Services By Google and Microsoft Aim to Bring Energy Savings to Texas Homeowners

New Services By Google and Microsoft Aim to Bring Energy Savings to Texas Homeowners

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New Services By Google and Microsoft Aim to Bring Energy Savings to Texas Homeowners

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As we all know, Texas summers can be brutally hot, and Texas winters can be surprisingly cold. Both seasons end up wreaking havoc on our utility bills as we struggle to keep our homes cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Add in all the other little things — the coffee maker, the computer, the TV, and all the other devices that spend most of their time plugged into your home’s electrical system — and many homeowners give up on ever finding a way to really control their Texas electricity costs. But as energy prices continue to rise, and as the pressures on the average homeowner’s finances rise right along with them, the need to find new ways to cut costs and save money becomes a lot more compelling. We know that we could probably cut back on our energy usage, but how do we know where to start? Our Texas electric bill tells us how much energy we’ve used, but only once a month, and that’s not very helpful. Even when we make changes, it could take months to tell whether they’re working, or if they’re saving us enough to be worthwhile. At the same time, major sources of inefficiency might be going unnoticed and unaddressed.

Two competing new services, PowerMeter by Google and Hohm by Microsoft, are on the way with some new tools to help Texas homeowners. Microsoft estimates that the average American home could save almost 0 per year on energy usage. While that number sounds big, they base it on extensive testing in 60 million homes across the country; and of all 50 states, Texas ranked lowest in energy efficiency. Of course, what that really means is that Texas potentially has the biggest opportunity to use less electricity, reduce our carbon footprint, and save a whole lot of money.

Both PowerMeter and Hohm promise the potential for big increases in both efficiency and cost savings by way of an energy monitoring device called a smart meter. Once connected to your home’s electricity supply system, the meter sends an ongoing stream of data to your home computer via a connected wireless device. Your computer then sends that information on to a data hub run by one of the two companies. There, your information is analyzed and re-packaged into a dynamic, user-friendly web interface for you to review and use.

The appeal of these applications for homeowners is that your energy usage is no longer reduced to a single, inscrutable number on your monthly utility bill. The two applications differ somewhat in how your utility data is presented, but the primary feature in both is an extensive analysis of exactly how all of that electricity is being used. For example, Google PowerMeter can help you identify how much energy you’re using on a constant basis — the low-level drain from “always on” devices that can, over time, add up to a major source of inefficiency. Microsoft’s Hohm goes a step further by making active recommendations about how a homeowner might cut back their electricity usage, increasing energy efficiency and lowering costs.

There are further differences between the two services. Google’s emphasis is on the numbers; it tells you exactly how much power you’re using on an hourly basis, and generates graphs of usage over time, whether that means the last hour or the last month. This is a great service for people who like their data raw, as it means that a homeowner can correlate usage to specific patterns during the day. For example, if you know your usage spikes around 7 AM, you can probably guess that it has a lot to do with your family getting ready for work and school. Therefore, you might be able to save money if everyone takes shorter showers, or if you lower the temperature on your water heater. PowerMeter can also analyze usage patterns over the past to predict what your approximate usage and costs will be in the future. So as you make changes and check your results, you can watch your projected bills rise and fall until you’re happy with them.

Microsoft Hohm, on the other hand, is staking its claim on reaching the masses. Already available nationwide, Hohm’s interface is a a more comfortable affair, replacing a lot of the hard, granular data with a condensed “Hohm Score” that compares your home’s real energy usage to its potential energy efficiency — that is, how much you’re actually saving versus how much you could potentially be saving. It also guides you toward possible sources of savings, ranging from large and potentially savings-rich projects like insulating your home, to small things like replacing conventional light bulbs with power-saving compact fluorescent bulbs. It also allows you to compare your energy usage to that of people in your neighborhood, city, state, and all across the country.

If you’re interested in monitoring your home’s energy usage, there are a few things to keep in mind, since the two applications work a bit differently. So far, Google PowerMeter forms its main partnerships with utility companies, and to date it hasn’t established such a relationship with any Texas energy company, so for the time being it remains out of reach for Texans. However, if you’re interested in PowerMeter, it’s worth keeping in mind that while Google is sometimes a bit coy in the beginning, when they do enter a market, they often take it over completely. Google also has an excellent reputation for development, and loves to give its users exactly what they want. While PowerMeter might not yet be a player in your area, they could become the biggest game in town in the reasonably near future.

Microsoft Hohm, on the other hand, partners primarily with device-makers rather than power companies. Anyone can buy and install a compatible device and be up and running, no matter where they live or who supplies their energy. But Hohm requires more of a time investment to reach its full potential. A new user of the service will start out by answering a substantial number of questions about their home — details about the building, what kind of appliances you use, etc. — and some homeowners may find the process a little daunting. (Apartment dwellers may even find Hohm to be of limited use to them if they don’t have ready access to some of these details.) The good news is, even a partially-completed profile can produce some very useful insights and advice, and you can always add information and refine your profile later on.

If you’re interested in using Microsoft Hohm, your first step should be to contact your energy provider and ask them for any relevant information they can provide. Then purchase a Hohm-compatible device, such as Blue Line’s Power Cost Monitor, and register for your free Hohm account. Texas homeowners leaning towards Google’s PowerMeter service will have to wait a while longer, but in the meantime, you should contact your energy provider and let them know that you want to see a Texas energy company on PowerMeter’s list of partners.

In the end, it’s worth bearing in mind that both services are currently in their nascence, and will doubtless see further development and lots of changes in the future. As smart meters become more common and the cost of energy goes up, homeowners will do well to find a way to make use of the information that a these new monitoring tools can provide. Google and Microsoft are already working to make this information easily accessible to their users, and the competition between them will undoubtedly bring out the best in both.

There’s a lot of money to be saved on energy usage in this country, and perhaps nowhere more than in Texas. To help you make sure that some of that money ends up in your pocket, Google PowerMeter and Microsoft Hohm offer two great ways to discover your home’s potential for energy savings, and make your home the most efficient house on the block.

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Energy Audit and Solutions in New Orleans, Louisiana

Posted on January 1, 2011 by admin

Energy Audit and Solutions in New Orleans, Louisiana

Energy Audit and Solutions in New Orleans, Louisiana

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Home Page > Home Improvement > Construction > Energy Audit and Solutions in New Orleans, Louisiana

Energy Audit and Solutions in New Orleans, Louisiana

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Star Energy Audits is the leading energy audit and Solutions Company in the state of Louisiana. Our mission is clear and simple. We help save homeowners money from rising energy costs. Our Energy Audits can help transform a wasteful, unhealthy, and uncomfortable home into an energy-efficient, more rigorously fortified, and tightly controlled dwelling while simultaneously lowering your home’s carbon emissions and making it a cleaner, healthier domicile over all.

Star Energy Audits is in a prime position to offer extensive rebates and discounts on energy-efficiency solutions as it has been working in concert with local utility companies and remaining active participants in various state energy-efficiency programs. These all help our clients get on the path to energy efficiency as quickly and affordably as possible. Our offers vary throughout the year, but can range anywhere from as low as 25% to as high as 70%. In fact, our solutions often end up being completely free, or at least extremely affordable after combining all the federal and state tax credits you qualify for.

As an 100% local company through and through, and have been actively involved in the energy efficiency and insulation industry for years in New Orleans and other surrounding areas in Louisiana.

We are proud members of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Our Home-Energy Experts and solution installation technicians are extensively trained and certified to perform energy audits. A Star Energy Audit is a diagnostic analysis of your home’s energy efficiency. Generally, an home audit consumes 3 to 4 hours to complete for most homes. Our solutions are simple, inexpensive and implemented by our own in-house technicians, nationwide.

We guarantee that you will save upto 20% to 45% on your energy bills no matter, whether you live in a new build home or multi-million dollar mansion. Star Energy Audits is popular for offering cutting-edge energy solutions that drastically reduce energy bills for our clients.

We are currently servicing:

New Orleans
Metairie
Kenner
Baton Rouge
Westbank
Harahan
River Ridge
Laplace
Slidell

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Star Energy Audits provides the most thorough, all-encompassing diagnostic home energy audits in the greater New Orleans area.

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