Invest in efficiency and watch your savings grow By Meghaan Evans
It is the middle of the summer, temperatures are
rising and so are your electric bills. It might be time to make an investment in energy efficiency.
Try employing these energy saving measures to collect major returns on your investments: • Install a programmable thermostat • Install a hot water heater “blanket” • Change your shower heads
• Upgrade appliances like your clothes wash- er or your refrigerator
• Replace old windows with energy efficient ones
Install efficient toilets Making all these changes at once could be dif-
•
ficult – if not impossible – but investing in just one can yield a significant return on your investment. For example, installing a new, energy efficient clothes washer can yield around a 24 percent re- turn on investment. Do your research, and make sure you are purchasing the right size applianc- es. A small, energy efficient washer will save you money, but if you have a larger family, having to do multiple loads could negate your energy savings. Multiple energy efficient upgrades will help you save no matter where you live or what time of year it is, but upgrading to efficient home cooling sys-
tems will help lower energy costs significantly dur- ing the hotter months of the year. Six percent of American energy consumption goes toward space cooling and it costs $11 billion per year for homeowners to power their air condi- tioners. You can reduce your energy use by 20 to 50 percent when you upgrade to energy efficient home cooling unit. One option is to install a split unit air conditioner and heating unit –they can be more expensive, but they are highly efficient, es- pecially in homes without ductwork. Another op- tion is to invest in an ENERGY STAR approved air conditioning unit, which can be 15 percent more efficient than a standard unit. Replacing appliances isn’t the only way to lower energy costs. One of the most important energy efficient improvements to make during the hot summer months is air sealing and insulating. By adding insulation in attics, floors over crawl spac- es and accessible basement rim joints, you can reduce your heating and cooling costs by an aver- age of 15 percent (and it could lower your overall energy costs by an average of 11 percent!). You can also lower your air conditioners ener- gy consumption by between 5 and 15 percent by cleaning your air ducts. You can install energy ef- ficient window treatments, which can reduce en- ergy costs by around 10 percent. Or, you can sim- ply turn on a ceiling fan, which will allow you to raise your thermostat temperature by four degrees, without impacting your comfort. Investing in any of these energy ef- ficient improvements will keep you cool in the summer, warm in the win- ter and will make significant changes to your energy bills. So do yourself, and your wallet, a favor and invest in a more energy efficient home!
Meghaan Evans writes on consumer and cooperative affairs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Arlington, Va.-based service arm of the nation’s 900-plus consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperatives.
7
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134