100+ Ways to Improve Your Electric Bill: Air Infiltration

Over the next several months, we’re going to be telling you 100+ Ways to Improve your Electric Bill.  Many of these are low cost and no cost tips, and easy to implement.

We’d like to thank our friends at the Edison Electric Institute for the quality list.

This week we’ll be referencing Air Infiltration.  You might remember our post, Insulate on Saturday, Watch Football on Sunday, air infiltration (conditioned air leaking out and unconditioned air coming in) is a common problem that many people don’t see, but it can add up to big savings.

Here are a few tips:

• The single most important step in residential energy conservation is the installation of thermal insulation. Check current insulation levels, and properly insulate a new or existing home according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) specifications for your geographic area. Insulate ceilings, walls, and floors over unconditioned crawl spaces.
• Double-glazed windows (two panes of glass separated by a sealed air space) cut heat transfer by 40 to 50 percent. In extremely cold regions, triple glazing could be economically justified.
• Single-glazed windows should have storm windows. A wood- or metal-framed storm window provides a second thickness of glass and a layer of still air that reduces heat transmission markedly.
• Install storm doors at all entrances of your house. A storm door helps save energy because it reduces the air infiltration that occurs when the prime door is opened and also reduces the amount of heat transfer through the prime door when it is closed.
• Weatherstrip and caulk around all entrance doors and windows to limit air leaks that could account for 15 to 30 percent of heating and cooling energy requirements.
• In the winter, the air is normally dry inside your house. This is a disadvantage because, to be comfortable in dry air, people typically require a higher temperature than they would in a humid environment. Therefore, efficient humidifiers are a good investment for energy conservation.
• Keep the overhead door of an attached garage closed to block cold winds from infiltrating the connecting door between the house and garage.
• Find the obvious places where air can sneak into your home, then make repairs to plug the leaks by caulking, weatherstripping, and using plastic covers.
• Some of the major air leakage areas for the average home are: air ducts; window sashes and frames; fireplaces; door sashes and frames; plumbing utilities and wall penetrations; furnace flues; attic entrances; wall outlets; and recessed light fixtures.
• Fireplaces should have tightly fitting damp¬ers that can be closed when the fireplace is not in use. Open dampers allow the natural draft of chimneys to pull warm air out in winter and cool air out in summer.
• Close fireplace doors when not in use to reduce air infiltration and heat loss.

We’ll be back in the next few weeks for more tips.  But until then, you can read about all 100+ Ways to Improve your Electric Bill.

It’s a New Year… and a New Price!

Did you make a New Year’s Resolution to be more environmentally-friendly?  Well, Dominion has an inexpensive and easy way to contribute to the development of renewable energy with the Dominion Green Power® program…and as of January 1st, it’s even more affordable!

The Dominion Green Power program has reduced its price from 1.5 cents per kWh to 1.3 cents per kWh.  That may not seem like much, but trust me, it adds up.

A customer enrolled in the program’s 100% Option (meaning they are purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates equal to their entire monthly electricity use) and using 1,000 kWh per month, can expect to pay $13 more per month on their bill compared to $15 using the old rate.

Customers can also enroll in the Block Option.  Enrolling in the Block Option means the customer can purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) in any $2 fixed increment. Each block represents 154 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable energy and costs $2 (based on a rate of $0.013 per kWh).

Dominion Green Power’s rate is significantly below the national average price of 1.75 cents per kWh for similarly structured green pricing programs.

Your investment in Dominion Green Power is above and beyond Dominion’s renewable energy commitments.  For additional program information, including how to enroll, visit www.dom.com/VAGreenPower.

Do You Revolve?

Just the other day I was walking back to my office from the bank and saw a sign that I’m sure I’ve seen a million times before, but this time, it caught my attention.  It was a sign that said:

Help Conserve Energy Please Use Revolving Door
No kidding!  Why did I just now see this sign?  Maybe because I’ve been seeing them pop up all over the Richmond area. 

What’s the deal?  Why are the standard doors getting passed up?  And even more important, how does a gentleman hold open a revolving door for a lady?!

While doing some reading on Wikipedia, I found some information on revolving doors.  The article says that “revolving doors are becoming favored because they can be used as an airlock to minimize a buildings heating and air losses.” 

Even MIT did a study on these doors, they found that if everyone switched to using the revolving doors in one building, they would save nearly $7,500 in natural gas a year.  That’s something to take notice.  Looks like I’ll be using revolving doors wherever possible.

And for the men who believe chivalry isn’t dead and want to ‘hold the door open,’ I found the opinion of “Ask LaMont” of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

His response is clean and simple, I like it: “If the revolving door is moving, let her go first and enter the section after her, pushing enough to keep the door moving so that she doesn't have to. But if you're at a revolving door that isn't moving, enter first and push, taking care not too push so fast that you cause her difficulty.”

Be on the lookout for revolving doors to help conserve energy.

New Year’s Resolution: Win Thermostat Wars

First of all, welcome to 2012!

To kick off this year, we wanted to start with a New Year’s Resolution.  Ahhh….New Year’s resolutions….I have made many over the years, but never seem to stick with them.  (I’m sure many of you have been in a similar boat.)

Simply put, I get lazy.  That’s why I’m going with a convenient and easy resolution this year …one that will bring out my competitive side which is always good when I want to stick with something….did I mention it will save me money?!

As you all may recall from a previous post, I recently got married.  Since I insist on practicing what I preach (and saving money!), I keep my thermostat at 68 degrees during the winter for maximum efficiency.  We all know that heating/cooling accounts for about 45% of the bill!  This seems like a no brainer….you adjust the thermostat…that’s it!  No extra money spent.

But it seems some people (ahem, new husband) do not share my conservation enthusiasm.

There have been multiple mornings when I will say to myself, wow, it feels really warm for 68 degrees!  False.  Somehow the thermostat has magically set itself at 72 degrees.  I of course put it back at 68 degrees.

We have continued this struggle without ever mentioning it for some time now.  I have instead made it a habit to check the thermostat throughout the day to make sure it is at 68 degrees.

Now a marriage counselor may tell you that you need to compromise, but I’m going to tell you that for maximum savings, I must win the thermostat wars.  If you find yourself in a similar situation but cave and compromise, just remember that every degree is a 1-3% savings on your bill.  Good Luck!!