Saving Money and Energy, Isn’t Difficult

May 30, 2007

This past month, our family’s University City’s electricity bill came in the mail with a $95 credit. In today’s standard energy bill increase, this was a welcome surprise. The reason for the credit is directly linked to two of the three major energy improvements our family made this year.

First, we replaced all of our traditional light bulbs (incandescent lamps) with Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs or CFLs. CFLS fit into the same place as incandescent lamps, but they use less energy. Although they cost more on initial purchase, they last longer, and recoup their cost in energy reduction. These reductions are good for our family’s pocket book and the planet’s health. 

According to Energy Star, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy: 

If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.  HYPERLINK "http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls" http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls

The second energy money saver that took place in our home this year was installing a Whole House Fan. This project was more costly and labor intensive than twisting out light bulbs. The Whole House Fan was installed through the attic, and it cost $700. The United States Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) discusses how the fan works, “It draws cool outdoor air inside through open windows and exhausting hot room air through the attic to the outside. The result is excellent ventilation, lower indoor temperatures, and improved evaporative cooling.”  HYPERLINK "http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/homes/wholehousefan.html" http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/homes/wholehousefan.html 

We love using the Whole House Fan because we’re not trapped, closed up inside, with all our windows closed. We turn the fan on as the evening cools and a gentle, cool air flows across the house. Even though we have a 2,500 square foot home, we only have one heating/cooling zone. The Whole House Fan has helped cool down the upstairs because it gets rid of the hot air trapped at the top of the house. If a family elects to use a Whole House Fan as a supplement to air-conditioning, it will still help with saving both energy and the environment.

As with the Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs, savings with the Whole House Fan are seen over the long run. The Department of Engergy’s Office of EERE analyzes the savings:

 

Operating a properly sized 2-ton, 10 SEER air conditioner in Atlanta, Georgia costs over $250 per cooling season (1250 hours), based on 8.5¢/kwh, or roughly 20¢ per hour of runtime. A large 18,000 Btu/hr window unit air conditioner with a 6 EER costs more than 25¢ to operate for one hour.

By contrast, the whole house fan has a motor in the 1/4 to 1/2 hp range, uses between 120 to 600 watts, and costs around 1¢-5¢ per hour of use. http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/homes/wholehousefan.html

The last energy savings we have improved is our recycling. We built a platform for the recycle bins outside our garage door, next to the kitchen. In addition, we put our garbage can in the basement, challenging ourselves to one or maybe two bags of trash per week. We usually come in with one bag, and that’s with feeding and entertaining a large group of teenage boys every week. All of the teenagers know where to recycle their waste and participate in our quest to put little into Charlotte landfills. We are saving tax dollars by being good citizens of recycling. 

Our family has been inconvenienced little by our small attempts to save money and the environment. All of us in University City should plan how to put money back into our pockets while saving the planet.