Energy-Savvy Tips for Rebate Seekers
You’ve thrown the windows open to save on air-conditioning, you’re working in natural light until dusk, but short of setting up house outdoors, it seems there’s not much more energy conservation you can achieve to get that 20% rebate the state’s touting, right?
Not so, according to energy experts.
Consumers eager to benefit from the state’s new 20/20 Rebate Program can trim utility bills by using many energy efficiency and conservation measures, from turning off computers to buying new appliances.
Under the terms of the state’s rebate program, which will run from June 1 through Sept. 30, California’s three private utilities--Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric--will reward those who reduce their power consumption 20% this summer with 20% rate cuts for each month they qualify. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers will receive a 10% reward.
For the duration of the program, the utilities will compare homeowners’ 2001 monthly bills to last years’ bills to calculate whether customers have achieved the 20% savings.
Although it’s impossible for each Southland household to achieve equal energy savings using the same remedies--home location, weather and appliance types determine savings opportunities--a combination of energy-reducing steps will help most homeowners achieve the cuts.
“There is no super-simple list that fits everyone. What saves energy in Palm Springs doesn’t necessarily apply in Santa Monica,” said Evan Mills, an energy analyst at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab at UC Berkeley. “But behavioral changes and some investments will definitely make a difference.”
Those behavioral changes, or conservation measures, include switching the thermostat setting from 75 degrees to 81 degrees, and turning off the lights when you’re not using them. Turning refrigerator settings above 37 degrees also conserves energy.
Efficiency measures, Mills said, are those that include physical changes in the house, such as exchanging incandescent lightbulbs for compact fluorescent ones or adding attic insulation.
“These are different strategies for lowering energy bills,” Mills said. “Consumers should do both.”
Most energy experts agree that the single greatest electricity guzzler in a typical home is central air-conditioning. Although it is used only during summer months, the annual cost often exceeds that of refrigerators, the second-biggest electricity user.
A one-story Pasadena house of 1,800 square feet, for example, with two adult occupants and one child, can save 17% in total energy costs by increasing the thermostat from 81 degrees to 84 degrees during the day, and 78 degrees to 81 degrees at night, according to Mills.
If that setting seems too warm, Department of Energy data show that during each 24-hour period, about 3% savings can be achieved on heating and air-conditioning bills for every one degree that residents lower or raise the thermostat setting. So by raising a thermostat that is usually set at 75 degrees in the summer to 78 degrees, consumers can save about 9%, or 9 cents for every dollar spent on heating and air-conditioning costs.
In homes that do not use air-conditioning, refrigerators gobble up the lion’s share of a household’s electricity bill. Experts advise consumers to replace models that are at least 10 years old with newer models that often are two to three times less expensive to run.
Jonathan Koomey, a staff scientist at the Berkeley lab, recommends that consumers purchase appliances--everything from computers to refrigerators--with an Energy Star label, which ensures that the products meet government specifications for energy savings.
Second refrigerators, those 20-year-old behemoths, often empty and tucked away in the garage, can gobble up about four times the energy of today’s more efficient appliances.
If they stand empty most of the year, experts recommend that homeowners give them away or unplug them. The same goes for extra freezers. Unplugging a near-empty, 18-cubic-foot refrigerator can save 10% in energy costs, and 15% by cutting off a 22-cubic-foot chest freezer.
Another excellent way to save energy, experts say, is to switch fuel sources, from an electric water heater, for example, to a gas one. That switch can boost energy savings by about 32%, although if natural gas prices continue to soar, consumers are advised to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of changing fuel sources, Mills said.
Elizabeth Brown, a program assistant for the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, recommends that homeowners turn their water heaters down to 120 degrees. Savings of 3% to 5% are possible in water-heating costs for each 10-degree reduction.
“If you keep your water heater any higher than 120 degrees, you’ll burn yourself,” Brown said. She also recommends the use of a water heater blanket and switching to smaller tanks.
Homeowners and renters thinking about buying a new clothes dryer shouldn’t wait until the fall to make the change. The average clothes dryer should be replaced every 10 years, according to Mills, and a gas dryer saves about 13% in energy costs over electric models, based on seven loads per week.
Better yet, experts say, hang clothes on a clothesline to dry during the summer, and save 6% over those three months.
“It probably doesn’t make sense to change appliances just for energy savings, but if you were going to change it in the fall or next summer, you may as well move up the timetable,” Mills said. “You’ll get an extra boost with this summer’s utilities incentives.”
A change in lighting--which uses about 1,000 to 1,500 kilowatt hours a year--is a simple, inexpensive way to save on energy costs. In most houses, according to Koomey, a very small number of bulbs use most of the energy. By replacing the incandescent bulbs that are used the most (usually kitchen bulbs) with compact fluorescent bulbs, homeowners can save two-thirds to three-quarters in energy costs.
Halogen torchier floor lamps are popular light fixtures today, but use almost as much energy as refrigerators. A fluorescent Energy Star version of the bulb is available at lighting stores. It costs about $10 and reduces energy use by about 75%. Switching to a fluorescent torchier that is used five to six hours a day can save 20 cents a day, Koomey said.
Homeowners and renters also are advised to remember to turn off lights when not in use, especially kitchen lights, which stay on all evening in many homes.
Lighting isn’t the only way to save energy. “Cool roofs,” or those that use lighter colors than the typical black or dark brown, can generate energy savings of 20% by cutting down on air-conditioning costs.
Landscaping also can provide unexpected energy savings. Energy analysts say that planting deciduous trees (those that drop their leaves in the fall) reduces heating and cooling costs by providing houses protection from the summer sun and allowing winter sunlight to warm the house. Vines also provide shading and cooling, and, grown on trellises, can shade windows or the side of a house.
Finally, energy experts recommend that computer users turn their machines off when not in use. It is not true that more power is used turning computers on and off than by running them all day.
Computers built before 1994 use about 200 watts of power, and a laser printer uses about 100 watts. If these machines are left on 24 hours a day, it can add up to $225 a year. Computers built after 1995 that have the Energy Star label save energy when turned off and on.
Experts also recommend that consumers plug their televisions, DVDs, VCRs and other electronic devices into power strips, and turn those power strips off when they are not being used. Leaking electricity costs American homeowners $4 billion a year.
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For more information about saving energy, visit https://HomeEnergySaver.lbl.gov.
