Dominion Service Area

Virginia has a new program to help homeowners save energy. Dominion Virginia Power got the go ahead from the States regulatory body to offer it’s customers new ideas to save energy that are designed to lower power bills.

Electric providers do not make money by selling more electricity. The finances of electric companies are controlled by a State Public Utility Commission or the Corporation Commission that oversee the power business. Along with oversight on the finances, these regulatory bodies insist that the power companies offer programs with new ideas to save energy that help their customers use less power.

When it comes to energy saving programs offered by a power provider, there is usually one program for the low-income and one for others that are over that income level. You will probably need to call Dominion or your power company to get the current income level for the different programs. The income levels are usually not posted on the companies web sight.

Two Important Facts About New ideas to Save Energy.

1.  Virginia has a new program with expanded services and you would be foolish not to check them out.

2.  Most every electrical provider in the country has programs to support energy conservation and lower power bills. All you need to do is ask.

Don’t just complain when the power bill arrives, be  proactive, call your provider and inquire about residential energy conservation programs.

For income-qualifying customers of Dominion Virginia, the new energy saving program centers around a home energy audit and home improvement measures.

Energy Efficient or Not

Home Energy Check-Up:

The program provides a low-cost and easy home energy assessment. Each household receives a report that outlines projected energy use and  potential energy savings through energy improvements. Households receive incentives based on the recommended measures and the measures the household is willing to implement on the day of the assessment.

The assessment is conducted by a home energy specialist that has had ongoing training and education in all areas of residential energy. With any luck, your energy auditor maybe a re-trained meter reader.

Duct Testing and Air Sealing:

One of the most cost-effective measures you can do to save energy is seal the heating/cooling duct system. Ducts that are in the attic and under the floor usually have air leaks that continue to allow your hard earned conditioned air to escape.

Not only do you save energy but you have a good chance of improving the indoor air quality too.

Keep it Tuned UP

Heat Pump Tune-Up:

To often older heat pumps develop very small leaks that allow small amounts of refrigerant to leak out. When this happens, the lower level of refrigerant pressure allows reduced energy efficiency. By having a qualified heating and cooling contractor service the heat pump, it can be kept operating at maximum efficiency.

Heat Pump Upgrade:

Heat pumps have undergone some amazing energy efficiency upgrades in the last ten years. Heat pump manufactures have done a great job of designing a unit that heats and cools the house and with less and less energy.

For Dominion, the higher efficiency heat pump that you install or up-grade to, the higher the rebate to help off-set the purchase and installation costs.

I’m a Contractor, I Have Tools

How to find a qualified contractor?

Before you dial up your nephew that once had a contractors license and put him to work on your home, you need to know that the work he does probably will not qualify for the incentives and rebates.

It is important when your talking about energy efficiency programs, tax credits and rebates, that you use a contractor that is approved by the power provider. The power provider needs to know that the work is being done correctly and to appropriate specifications.

Before you hire anyone to do any work that may have an incentive attached to it, call your power provider first.

In the case of Virginia and Dominion, a list of qualified contractors is available at www.dom.com/contractorsearch.

Additional Audit and Weatherization Programs:

Through out the country, low-income households can find additional weatherization services offered by their States Housing and Community Development departments. Almost every county in every State has a program that is designed to help the low-income save energy and reduce their power bills.

In Virginia, the Department of Housing and Community Development offers weatherization services. The department is staffed by experts in the home energy conservation field and all would be wise to take advantage of their services if possible. Before winter sets in again, make a note to contact your local weatherization assistance program.

To learn more about the new Virginia Dominion Power existing programs visit www.dom.com/savenowVA or call 1-(866) DOM-HELP ( 1-866-366-4357 ).

Thank you for stopping by detectenergy.com, it’s a good idea to save energy, for one thing, I won’t leave the light on for you…

A house with a hot upstairs

Sleeping on the front porch after a hot summer day was a straight out necessity. The upstairs of the 1940’s farm house had turned into a sauna and sleeping in the upstairs bedrooms was not possible. Even after the sun went down, the upstairs seemed to get hotter. Let’s look at some ways to cool a house without air conditioning?

Now that I spend time trying to figure out how a home can be more energy efficient, I think back to those hot summer days and wonder two things:

1. Where was the air conditioner?

I have seen several articles floating around that talk about air conditioning as being an unnecessary appliance. That people have gotten soft, and if people would just handle the heat like a caveman, they wouldn’t need those energy wasting air conditioners.

Growing up in that Northwest farm house, air conditioning was not expected. Sleeping on the front porch a few times a year was. The air conditioner was only for city folks that were not lucky enough to live on a farm.

Where was the air conditioner? It was still in the J.C. Penny catalog.

Oh, to be young again

2. Why did the upstairs get so hot in the evening?

When you’re sleeping on the front porch and your 10 years old, you don’t really care why the upstairs is so hot. It’s not something you try to figure out before you find yourself sleeping on the porch again. You like sleeping on the porch.

If the upstairs is too hot for sleeping and you would rather not risk sleeping on the porch, or anywhere else outside, then considering why the upstairs and the whole house is so hot in the evening becomes an important issue to solve.

Air conditioners are fairly energy efficient appliances, but they’re not free to operate. With the constant grinding of the A/C and the power bill increasing by the hour, a person has a tendency to think about why the upstairs is so hot and ways to cool a house.

Years Later:

The old farm house was being moved to a new location and I had a chance to look in the attic while part of the roof was removed. Instead of the attic being the dark, spooky cave of my childhood, it was an inviting place to explore with plenty of natural light.

Gable Attic Vent

I was surprised to see that the attic had nothing in it. No old magazines, no old socks or toys, no old carcasses of rats or cats. Of course, there was no insulation either and I could look down the chimney chase from the attic clear to the basement. This is a good place to start to answer the question of ways to cool a house.

The roof had no attic ventilation at the roof peak or the eves. The only ventilation was provided by two gable vents, one at each end of the attic. The roof shingles were always a dark color.

I understand very well now why the upstairs of this old house was so darn hot after a hot summer day. The attic collected the heat all day and then shared it with the downstairs all evening.

How to keep the attic from overheating and ruining a good night sleep.

Here’s 10 ways to cool a house before you add air conditioning. These will help your attempt to keep the home livable in the evenings – try these retrofits and improvements.

Solar Attic Fan

1. Solar powered attic fan

A solar powered attic fan works very well and is a one time investment in the amount of $450 to $800. When installed on your roof, the self-contained solar unit exhausts hot air from the attic whenever the sun hits the solar array with enough bright direct sunlight to operate the fan.

Best operation occurs when attic ventilation is added along the eve’s and the roof peak ventilation is limited.

2. Roof sprinkler system

Well, it works on flat commercial buildings, might work on homes too. Anything that will cool the roof surface will help keep heat from radiating into the attic space. Unfortunately, this may increase your water bill substantially. Sprinkler and hose, $20. Water bill around $300.

3. Really big trees

Shade the roof and you have a cooler attic and a cooler home. If you have a two story home and you’re just getting around to planting shade trees, this solution may take a while to materialize. One redwood tree 12 inches tall, $4.95. Expect shade in 40 years.

Caulk and Spray Foam

4. Air sealing the attic floor

Especially before adding insulation – don’t add insulation to the attic floor without air sealing the air holes and penetrations first. Best process, good drop light, knee pads, and a can of Great Stuff spray foam insulation. Material cost, $30.

5. Adding Additional roof ventilation

Ways to cool a house starts with attic ventilation. Most older homes simply do not have enough attic ventilation. Ventilation should allow air flow from the eve’s to the peak. Take out solid bird blocking and add screened vents at the eve’s. Add manufactured metal or plastic roof vents near the peak. During the installation of new roofing is the best time to add attic ventilation. Eve Soffit vents, $8.50. Roof peak vents about $12

6. Adding insulation

After air sealing, install insulation. Insulation will help slow the transfer of heat from the attic to the living space below. The more insulation the merrier. Building codes keep adding insulation, in some of the colder parts of the country, insulating to R-49 is code. That’s about 16 inches of insulation.

Don’t worry, this could be a do-it-yourself project. The big building supply stores have the material and the equipment you need to do the job.

Add insulation in the colder climates to keep warm, add insulation in the warmer climates to keep cool. Add 12 inches of blown fiberglass insulation for about $1.25 to $1.75 a square foot of attic floor space.

Seal the Knee Wall Floor Connection

7. Sealing the knee wall floor connection.

Many older, two story homes have knee wall attic space. This is the space along the walls of an upstairs room that has reduced headroom along the sides of the room. You know, your standing upstairs and you must be careful to stand in the middle of the room to keep from bumping your head.

The problem is the knee wall attic is often open to the space between the floor of the upstairs room and the ceiling of the downstairs room. This means the hot air in the knee wall attic can travel right under the upstairs floor and help heat the whole house.

Stuff some insulation in a plastic bag and stuff a bag between every floor joist opening in the knee wall attic. This will keep the hot air from traveling between the floor and ceiling. Sealing these floor joist openings is important during the cooling season and the heating season. Plastic bags $.50, insulation, $1.00 a bag.

8. Sealing chimney chase

In older balloon framed homes, the chimney chase is often open and allows heat and cold transfer between all floors, clear from the attic to the basement. For effective cooling and heating, these chase corridors should be sealed off. Spray foam insulation, $7.00 a can.

Box Fan, Draw Air Out.

9. Place Fans in Upstairs Windows

Place one or more big box fans in upstairs windows. Install them so they are blowing out the window. Close all other windows and exterior doors but leave the interior doors open all the way to the basement. Draw the cooler basement air up through the house and out the upstairs windows.

Basements are always cooler and can help cool the rest of the home. Hopefully, you don’t have a smelly tank of stove oil in the basement! A good box fan about $30.

10. Install solar panels

Usually when you install solar panels on a roof, the panels are placed on a racking system that holds the panels off the roof about 3 inches. The panels keep the suns rays from hitting the roof surface and slow heat transfer to the attic space.

One of the advantages of solar panels on a hot day is the shading they provide the roof. Maybe not as good for shade as a big redwood, but it’s still shade.

Most power companies will help you install solar panels. They know that when the weather gets hot and all those air conditioners start up, they need all the help they can get with ways to cool a house.

Wish I still had that old farmhouse with the big front porch and the big yard. I would have a few tricks ready for those hot summer evenings when the upstairs got so darn hot. After air sealing and insulating the attic, I would install a solar attic fan, mount some solar panels on the roof, place a couple box fans in the upstairs windows and roll out my sleeping bag on the front porch.

These are ways to cool a house, but you can still get a good night sleep on the front porch. Of course, these days it would take a better air mattress than it used to.

Thank you for stopping by detectenergy.com, hope you will stop by again real soon, but I won’t leave a light on for you…

Share the Ride, Share the Gas

I am all excited today, Bryan Gabriel took advantage of my invitation to send me more energy saving tips to add to my list. Thank you Bryan. Now that Bryan has broken the ice ( so to speak ) maybe you would like to add an energy saving tip or two. Just email your tips to don@detectenergy.com, and I will add them to the list.

Here are the 30 tips that Bryan sent me to add to the energy saving list. Since my original list contained tips numbered 1 through 75, this list will start at number 76. My original list is published on detectenergy.com, check out the original list and then add these to the end. If you would like to download the whole list of 106 tips, go to detectenergy.com and click on “Free Guides” that is on the menu bar. You will find the article saving title “106 to Saving Energy and Lower Power Bills” listed as a Free Download.

Adding Energy Saving Tips

76. If you need to run the faucet or shower before you get the hot water, save the water in a watering can and use the water for your indoor and outdoor plants.

77. At night close all the curtains and blinds to slow heat transfer.

78. Talk to your family about saving energy and these tips, Ask for their suggestions.

79. Try to charge your cell phone in the car while you are driving instead of using home electricity.

80. Make sure your bathroom fan has a damper in it so the exhaust duct is closed when not in use. Same for the clothes dryer exhaust duct.

Unplug Before You Sip

81. When you are done drinking coffee in the morning, turn off the coffee maker manually before it turns itself off.

82. If you rinse or presoak dishes before washing, try and reuse the soapy water over and over. Pour the soapy water from the bowl into the cup and from the cup onto the plate.

83. If you rinse recyclable containers before placing them in the recycle container, try to reuse that water over and over. Pour the water from the first bottle into the second and so on.

84. Paint interior walls and ceiling white or light colors to reflect more light all around the room, perhaps one CFL will light the room instead of two.

85. Outside around your A/C compressor or heat pump, make sure there is nothing like plants ( or your yard stuff ) blocking the free flow of air through the coils. Allow three feet of clearance on all sides.

86. In warmer climates, if you replace your roofing, install roof ridge vents to improve your attic ventilation.

87. Turn off TV’s, stereos, lights, etc., when not in a bedroom, such as when eating dinner in the kitchen.

88. Use a “smart” power strip with a control outlet and dependant outlets to control computers and peripherals. Stop vampire energy use.

89. Get a solar water heater for our pool or spa (really affordable and cost effective ).

90. Air seal attic top plates where every penetration exists (framing joints, electrical/TV/telephone wiring, water pipes). Use expanding foam spray.

91. Remove the heating registers and seal with caulk any gap between the metal register boot and the drywall or floor.

92. Inspect the exterior of your houses for cracks that could allow air (and insects, yikes!) to enter your home. Seal with caulk, expanding foam, or other appropriate measures.

93. Many bonus rooms are built over garages. Make sure there is insulation in the bonus room floor (garage ceiling).

94. Sometimes, laundry or utility rooms are added on after original construction, or converted from other spaces. Make sure these rooms are insulated or use weatherstripping to air seal the doors..

95. Check weatherstripping on decorative storm doors. It’s nice to have the main door open for light, but not if the storm door leaks like a sieve.

96. Check seals and gaskets on oven doors, keep that heat in the oven.

97. Use a small toaster oven instead of the big oven. Yes, you can bake in them! Great for just a few cookies at a time.

98. Weatherstrip doors leading to attics and basements, or other unconditioned spaces.

99. On a day when you are alone at home, turn off all water faucets, showers, etc. and look at your water meter. If the small dial or needle is moving, you have a water leak to find and repair.

100. If you need a small nightlight (like in a bathroom or child’s room) use an LED light that uses 0.5 Watts instead of the older incandescent ones that are about 4 Watts.

101. If your child is watching too much TV, turn it off and have ask them about their day.

102. If you have hardwood floors that feel cold against bare feet, put down a throw rug.

103. If your furnace and blower fan are located in a hall closet, make sure the access door is air sealed with weather stripping. Also, make sure there is adequate ventilation for the unit to work properly. You may need to contact an licensed HVAC contractor.

104. Check your attic and/or crawl space for HVAC ducts that have come loose.

105. If you are replacing exterior siding, consider adding some more insulation. (blue foam is only about 3/4″)

106. Consider installing a vestibule or mud room to help regulate air exchanges when entering and leaving your home. Plus, you get a bit more storage space.

Wow, 106 energy saving tips – I will see my power bill going down now for sure.

To see all 106 energy saving tips, follow this link. Hope this list of home power saving tips keeps you on your way to being a great Energy Spy.

Please feel free to share additional power saving tips that have worked for you and your home. I will add them to the list. Email your tips to don@detectenergy.com, use the subject, “More Monster Saving Tips.”

Thank you sharing Bryan Gabriel, Bryan emailed me the energy saving tips from number 76 to 106. Do you have some energy saving tips you would like to add to the list?

Thank you for stopping by detectenergy.com, please come back soon, but I won’t leave the light on for you…

Learning more about our power company and what they have to offer, besides power, can really help us understand conservation and how to improve our power savings at home.

It’s a monthly routine - 1. dread when the power bill arrives, 2. open the bill and feel your eyes bulge out, 3. whine and complain and then blame the kids, 4. pay the power bill so your power won’t be shut off ( which would cause the kids to whine and complain ).  And while all this monthly routine continues month after month, you don’t really know where the bill comes from or where the money goes, you just know the trouble it causes.

A lot of us bill-payers are paying our bills electronically. We receive the bill electronically and we click a button and pay electronically. Not only are we losing the personally feeling and touch of our money, but we are losing any and all personal knowledge of our power bill. Our power bill is not like our garbage bill. The garbage bill does not hold valuable information that could assist us in producing less garbage. The garbage bill is just a bill – so, just pay it. But the power bill needs to be studied and caressed, it holds the key to future energy savings.

Our electric bill is different. This bill holds plenty of information that can provide tips and incentives to reducing our power comsumption. It’s a shame we do not take the time and effort to closely anaylize each statement. Our power bill is the first notice that we are doing OK conservation wise or that we are basically just an energy hog. For now, let’s go back behind the power bill and gain a little understanding of just where the bill came from in the first place.

TVA Customers

The TVA  ( Tennessee Valley Authority )

Sounds to me like an airline that flies across the big pond to France. Guess that was Trans World Airlines ( TWA ).  Anyway, let’s take a closer look at TVA, one of the places where power bills get their start.

On May 18, 1933, President Roosevelt signed the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, as part of the flurry of legislation that marked Roosevelt’s first one hundred days in office. The TVA pledged to improve navigability on the Tennessee River, as well as provide flood control, reforest and improve marginal farm land, assist in industrial and agricultural development, and assist in the creation of a government nitrate and phosphorus manufacturing facility. The TVA was one of the most ambitious projects of the New Deal in its overall conception.

Today, the TVA has seventeen thousand miles of transmission lines that deliver power through 158 locally owned distributors to 8.5 million residents of the Tennessee Valley. These 158 locally owned power companies serve parts of seven States, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Generating capacity: Fifth in the nation.  Energy Sales: Third in the Country.  Power Rates:  Better than the national average.  Taxes Paid:   One of the region’s largest taxpayers.   Economic Development:   Among the top 10 utilities in the nation for achievement in economic development.

Revenues:  $11.25 billion.   Power Sales:   164 billion kWh.   Employees:   12,000.

The TVA operates 47 dams and hydroelectric sites as well as 18 fossil fuel generation plants and 3 nuclear reactors.

Needless to say, when these folks put out a power bill, they probably know what they’re doing. Let’s see, over 80 years in business and 8.5 million customers. Yep, that’s a power bill.

OK, facts and figures, the TVA is huge and so is your power bill. Now let’s move on to a few more things you probably don’t know about the TVA and it’s 158 distributors.

The TVA is into clean energy, renewable power, rebates and incentives for power conservation and energy efficiency. They are leaders in energy education and in supporting the low-income population with programs that encourage responsible power usage. Tennessee residents can get a rebate of up to $250 on their energy efficient home heating and cooling systems through the State Energy Efficiency Rebate Program ( SEEARP ).

TVA Energy Audit, Saving Energy

Take a TVA home energy audit and TVA will send you a free energy conservation kit and a customized energy report to help you understand where your home is wasting energy – and how you can fix those energy problems. The conservation kits include two compact fluorescent bulbs, outlet and light switch gaskets, two faucet aerators, hot water temperature gauge, home thermometer, a filter whistle, and a “How to Save” brochure. P.S.  if anyone out there can explain to me how the filter whistle is installed so it will actually work, please let me know. This seems to be a well guarded secret even by the whistle people.

Do-it-yourself Home e-Valuation Programs:  The TVA offers a do-it-yourself home energy survey program. Here you can use on-line calculators to see how much energy is used by a specific appliance and research the TVA Energy Library.  You can involve yourself and your home in an e-valuation program that helps you perform your own energy audit, finding for yourself where and how to save energy and money at your home.

The TVA represents the customer service and dedication to clean and safe energy and power conservation that is present in every power company. Power providers are far more than just companies that print and send out bills. They are often the first place we should go when we want to learn more about efficient housing, clean energy, and lower power bills. Truth be told, our power bills are not trouble makers, they are documents we should be analyzing and relying on to lead us towards a more conservative future.

Make friends with your power bill, then come on back to detectenergy.com, and hurry, I won’t leave the light on for you… Don Ames

Getting the Most out of Green

Increasing numbers of homeowners and homebuilders are incorporating energy efficiency features into new construction and remodels, with nearly 50,000 new green home projects registered as of March, 2011 according to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Unfortunately, some homeowners are finding that it takes more than a green building to live up to expected energy savings because it can be difficult for consumers to effectively measure and compare energy costs. According to local contractor, Shawn Allen, president of EcoVentures NW, “Homeowners are equal partners in optimizing energy efficiency improvements, but without a real-time power monitor showing their  energy use, many homeowners are not realizing the savings promoted by vendors and green building programs.

People install solar panels, extra insulation, premium windows, the latest lighting systems and Energy Star appliances only to be disappointed when the electric bill arrives and it is higher than expected.”

Many states and municipalities are considering legislation such as Oregon’s House Bill 3535 or San Francisco’s Energy Performance Ordinance that would require buildings to benchmark anticipated energy use. Non-profit organizations such as Energy Trust of Oregon and the California Center for Sustainable Energy aim to incentivize and educate utility customers about renewables and energy efficiency.

Green Plans & Green Home

Meanwhile, the USGBC has formed alliances with local, regional and national organizations to establish recognized standards for rating the potential energy efficiency for residential and commercial construction. The National Association of Homebuilders has estimated that more than “50 percent of builders are focusing on green building issues.”

But EcoVentures Allen explains, “All of these efforts are a great start, but without factoring in the resident’s actual energy usage, many of them fall far short of expectations in the real world. Once these new homes are built or new technologies installed during a remodel, the homeowner needs to have a dashboard to monitor their real-time electric consumption – just like having a gas gauge on a car.”

What Allen and others are discovering is that homeowners who have installed a power monitor that shows how and where energy is used in real time can reduce their energy use by as much as 25 percent more than those who have no visibility to their energy use.

“When we install solar or other efficiency upgrades, we recommend EcoDog’s FIDO Home Energy Watchdog as part of any installation so that homeowners can see exactly where they are using and saving energy with room-by-room visibility. In fact, some of our customers install FIDO even before making any efficiency upgrades and find that they start cutting their energy use simply because they become aware of where they are wasting energy,” noted Allen.

Fido by EcoDog, Real Time Usage Data

With his FIDO Energy Monitor, Glenn Willard, an EcoVentures customer in Tumalo, OR was able to see that his solar “inverter’s been shutting off and my boiler — marketed as an energy-efficient model — was using a lot more power than the manufacturer claimed. It’s just surprising, things that you have in your house, you think they’re totally shut off but, according to the power monitor, they’re not. The system shows exactly where you can reduce your energy consumption.”

EcoDog’s FIDO Home Energy Watchdog is a hardware/software system that comprises an energy measuring module — installed at the breaker panel — that communicates through the home’s existing power lines with a module linked to a PC via USB. Since it’s installed at the breaker panel, the power monitor is able to display energy usage detail at the circuit level using included software on the PC as well as remotely via text or e-mail.

The software tracks energy consumption throughout the home and gives recommendations to the user on how to reduce electric costs based on consumption and the local utility billing structure. FIDO can also be used to monitor and coordinate residential alternative energy (solar, wind, generator, etc.) installations.

Article provided by Shawn Allen@ecoventuresnw.com

P.S.  Ecoventures NW has recently changed their business name to Resource Conservation Technologies.

Thank you to Shawn for sharing this article, hope you all come back to detectenergy.com real soon, but I won’t leave the light on for you…

While it’s common knowledge that hybrid cars are more fuel efficient than ordinary automobiles, most consumers are clueless about how they work, and what makes them so much more fuel efficient. Knowing how they work can in fact help you make them even more fuel efficient. Driving a hybrid improperly can lessen the fuel efficiency, losing money you could be saving!

The Difference between a Hybrid and an Ordinary Car

An ordinary automobile has a gasoline powered engine that is solely responsible for the power of the car. Hybrids, on the other hand, have 2 or more different types of engines and/or motors that work together to power your car. In the case of hybrid automobiles, this is usually a gasoline powered engine and an electric motor.

Types of Hybrid Cars

Not all hybrids are made exactly the same. There are 3 major types of hybrids: parallel, series, and series-parallel.

Parallel hybrids are the most commonly used today. With these hybrids, the gasoline powered engine and the electric motor work parallel with each other. The gasoline engine is used only for moving the car forward. The electric motor takes over if the car is stopped. In addition, the electric motor can add more power to the engine if the fuel power isn’t enough.

In a series hybrid,  the gasoline engine is never used to propel the vehicle forward. The sole purpose of the engine is to burn fuel that, in turn, recharges the electric motor. The electric motor is then used to propel the vehicle forward.

Finally, the series-parallel hybrid is the most fuel efficient model available today. In this model of hybrid, the gasoline engine and the electric motor are two separate entities that can both perform the task of propelling the vehicle forward on its own. The electric motor can provide the gasoline engine an extra boost when needed, or it can take over completely—leaving the gasoline engine to recharge it instead. An onboard computer switches automatically to whichever mode will give the vehicle peak efficiency.

There are 3 major features that help a hybrid car be more efficient.

1.  Regenerative Breaking. Unlike a typical electric automobile, hybrid cars don’t need to be plugged in to charge their batteries. The batteries charge while you drive. With regenerative breaking, the electric motor shoulders slowing the car down when you put your foot on the break. As it slows the car down, it steals the excess energy and uses it to charge the batteries.

2.  Start-Stop. A hybrid car never wastes gas while the car is idling. The gasoline engine is automatically turned off whenever the car is not moving. Instead the electric motor takes over and idles the car instead. As soon as the car accelerates again, the gasoline engine takes over once again.

3.  Drive or Assist with Electric Motor. Depending on the model of hybrid car, the electric motor can take over driving the vehicle completely or provide a much needed assist when more power is needed. This allows the gas engine to be much smaller than usually. A smaller engine requires less energy to propel the vehicle forward due to the lessened weight—thereby wasting less precious fuel.

Tips on Getting the Most out of a Hybrid Car

Due to the way hybrids operate, there are certain driving tips that will help you make the most out of its features.

• Slow Your Hybrid Slowly. The regenerative braking can provide more energy to the batteries if the car is slowed down gently. Braking abruptly can cause much of the energy to be wasted.
• Maintain a Consistent Speed. It takes more energy to speed up than by maintaining a constant speed. Speeding up and slowing down constantly doesn’t get you to your destination any faster, and by driving at a consistent speed, you’ll have better fuel efficiency.
• Drive the Speed Limit. The faster you drive your car, the more overall energy you need. By keeping your vehicle down to the speed limit, you’ll not only be safer, but you’ll waste less energy.

Thank you for stopping by detectenergy.com, hope to see you again real soon, but I won’t leave the light on for you…

And thank you to Jodi Wegner for sharing this article.

1978 Louvre Windows

Usually I will drive a long ways in 90 plus temperatures with the windows down before I give into the air conditioner. Today was not one of those days. Yes, it was 90 plus degrees, and I gave in to the A.C. about 5 miles down the road.

The home I am visiting today is a double wide manufactured home constructed in 1974. Just by driving by this home, with the A.C. on in the car, I can guess the age of the home. There are certain construction materials that give away the age of a manufactured home built in the 70’s.

If it has the following, it is a manufactured home constructed in the 70”s:

1. Metal siding running vertically up and down the exterior walls.
2. Hundreds of screw heads visible as they attempt to hold the siding on.
3. Tall narrow louvre windows marking the location of the bathrooms.
4. Metal entrance door barely tall enough for a elf.
5. Metal skirting around the foundation that looks like it has seen duty in WWII

Add everything up, and you have a 1970’s manufactured home. Fortunately, someone has taken fairly good care of this home over the years.

Here again, there is a couple things that you can even spot from the street that indicates the home has had some TLC upgrades.

1. The roof is covered with newer metal roofing.

This update is very important to any home, but particularly important to a manufactured home. Allow moisture in the walls or the roof cavity and you are going to have a big job saving the structure of the home.

2. Some of the louvre windows have been replaced with newer vinyl windows. Louver windows crank open and look cool, but they are real energy wasters. Just try air sealing a louver window.

Damaged Plywood Decking

As I step up on the front porch, the CDX plywood sags and bounces like a trampoline. This plywood is the wrong material in the wrong place. It was not meant to be exposed to the weather. The whole porch is weather damaged way passed its lifetime and needs to be replaced before someone falls through. My guess is someone got a real good deal on some plywood.

There is a wood stove in the corner of the living room. A really nice wood stove, very efficient as wood stoves go. Looks like it was professionally installed because of the chimney box that goes up through the roof and the hearth pad and setbacks look correct.

The homeowner indicates they have heated the home with the wood stove the last 5 years. A couple electric space heaters sit in the back bedrooms as the wood heat does not travel into the bedrooms well. The electric furnace and heat pump have not been used in 5 years.

Wood for the stove is getting harder to get without paying the rising costs for the wood, so the homeowner is interested in using the heat pump again. This heat pump is one of the oldest ones I’ve seen in a while, it’s round with a smaller round cap sitting on top. Seems a raccoon has help himself to some of the wiring and most of the refrigerant line insulation.

Leaning Tower of Pisa

A heating contractor has already visited this heat pump and declared it deceased. The unit is old and the electrical panel has had the cover panel removed and left for the further inspection of vermin. I hear raccoons like exploring heat pumps. Considering the old refrigerant it has in the lines, it would be a real challenge to get it going again.

The home has a Coleman furnace in a closet in the hallway – this I could have guessed. The furnace filter has not been changed in about 6 years and it definitely looks like it. Even though the furnace has not been working in 5 years, it still has a multi-year buildup of dust and lint on the filter. The heat pump coil in the furnace looks pretty good, not too dirty, fins are straight. With the installation of a new heat pump, the inside coil will need to be replaced also.

The trouble with firing up a furnace that has not worked in a number of years, is the gross problem of the dust, dirt, spiders, webs, and critter droppings that have collected in the heating ducts. Start the furnace up and the home will fill with dust like a gravel road ran down the middle of the home.

With the help of the homeowners, I put a list together of repair and replacement items that will make the home safer, more energy efficient, and add years to its life.

Single Pane Window, R-1 Insulation Value

1. Windows:

Replace the remaining louvre windows and single pane metal windows with vinyl double pane windows will make the home more airtight and add insulation value. Use windows with a casing flange around the outside so you don’t have to see the 60 or so screwheads that hold the window in if the window flange is visible.

Two of the vinyl windows have broken glass – one was a rock from the lawnmower. For these windows, just the glass will be changed. 7 windows $2,800.

2. Front Porch:

The rotten plywood has to go. The porch will be replaced with pressure treated lumber and duradeck. The porch deck is only 22 inches off the ground, so it doesn’t need handrails. The porch is 9 x 18, 162 sq.ft. about $2,916.

3. Heat Pump:

Remove existing heat pump and give to museum. Install a new heat pump with a capacity of 2.5 tons of air with a Seer efficiency of 14. Replace the thermostat with a digital, programmable model. Heat pump and thermostat about $3,200.

Coleman Furnace With Evaporator Coil

4. Heating Ducts

Often times the Heating Contractor will have duct cleaning equipment and will be able to clean the ducts along with installing a new heat pump. If the Heating Contractor does not have the equipment, chances are they know a duct cleaning contractor that they have worked with before and can make the arrangements. Duct cleaing, $400.

Total cost of this project will be around $9,316. The home will have energy efficient windows, an energy efficient heating and cooling system, a deck that will hold up for many years, and a clean duct system that won’t irritate a mild case of asthma.

All in all, the home has been upgraded, will be safer, easier to heat and cool, and will be more comfortable – sounds like a better place to grow old. It’s time to head home, I’m already in a sweat, no way I’m riding along with hot air blowing in my face. Roll the windows up and turn the A.C. on “get me cool.”

Thank you for stopping by detectenergy.com, hope you enjoyed visiting this home, please come back soon, but I won’t leave the light on for you…

Once the solar panels are built and installed, the process of converting sun energy to electricity is clean and usually trouble free. The nice part about solar electric power is the reduction in carbon production from this type of energy transfer.

Energy is transferred to electricity without mining or burning coal – without drilling, pumping, and burning natural gas - without throwing millions of gallons of water off a dam, without mining, enriching, and storing radioactive uranium – or without planting thousands of sterile wind generators with turbine blades that are big enough to threaten airplane flight paths. Solar electric power is clean, renewable, and earth friendly power.

Most Americans do not have a personal relationship with a bunch of solar panels. About all most people really know about solar panels is from pictures in magazines and the short caption written underneath. Perhaps you have additional knowledge from viewing an ad on T.V. that promises solar electric production and then you never have to buy electricity from the evil empire again. Here in America, most of us have not touched a solar panel.

Let me introduce you to a solar array I have regular contact with. This array and I are personal friends, colleagues, we work in the same place, so we are buddies.

What Goes Into a Solar Panel

A solar panel, on the outside, is made of metal and glass. Inside, silicon crystals. The glass is strong enough to walk on and the panel weighs enough that two people work best when moving the panel ( 50 lbs ). The panels are usually mounted on an aluminum frame that is then attached to a roof or stand. The aluminum frame is light, strong, and resists rusting. Once a year, in the spring, the solar panel glass is washed with water and a soft brush.

Do Solar Panels Produce DC or AC Current?

The electricity that is produced by the panel is direct current (DC). To use the DC electricity in our home, we either need to change our appliances and light bulbs to use direct current ( like a flashlight ) or we need to run the DC current through an inverter and change it to alternating current (AC).

Then we can use the AC electrical power by connecting it to our homes electrical panel. The problem with an inverter is the expense and the lack of efficiency. You know, 24 watts DC in and 18 watts AC out, that sort of thing. The inverter on my friendly array is made by PV Powered, it’s a 30 watt inverter and weighs 750 pounds.

On Grid or Off Grid

When you hear about a country homestead living off the grid, it usually means they have solar panels charging a large bank of batteries that store the DC power until needed – like at night time for lights. It probable also means that they heat their home with a wood burning stove. The electric panels often times do not produce enough power to operate a furnace.

My array has 98 REC brand panels. Each panel is 39″ wide and 65.5 inches long. From their mounting location, they are all connected by wires that end up at the PV Powered 30 Watt inverter. The solar array produces about  23 watts so a few more panels could be added to the system before the inverter would need to be upgraded.

The Inverter Must be The Right Size.

It is important to have the inverter sized to the array. Heavier wires leave the inverter and travel to the side of the garage. The wires pass through a shut off panel then through a digital electric meter that keeps track of total kWh produced. From the meter, the wires connect to the electrical panel and then to the grid. An agreement was signed with the power company that sets the provisions of this net-metering system.

This is Called Net-Metering

During the times that the solar array produces more power than needed, the electric meter runs backwards and electricity is fed back into the grid. The electric company does not pay for the electricity that goes back into the grid.

Once a year, the amount of electricity that was used is balanced against the amount produced. If more was produced than used, then the excess is donated to the power companies low income weatherization program. Just how much the access power is worth to the low income program in dollars I am not sure.

On this day, the sun is centered in the sky and the temperature is a nice 63 degrees. The display on the front of the inverter indicates the 98 solar panels are producing 8.0 kilowatts of AC power. So how much electricity is 8.0 kilowatts AC. Converting to kilowatt hours, so far this day, my friendly solar array has provided 57.0 kilowatt hours of electricity by 3:14 in the afternoon.

Before the sun sets, even more kilowatt hours will be provided. A 1500 square foot home built in 1995 with good insulation levels, a natural gas furnace and gas water heater uses about 40 kWh per day. This solar electric power system will provide far more electricity than the average house could possibly use.

Instead of being connected to a house, this solar array is located at an office building where it proudly produces about 60% of of the electrical needs of the office. And, of course, this is good, clean, renewable electricity.

THE FIRST STEP:

In researching solar electric power for your home, you will need to research qualified Solar Contractors to give you proposals on your solar system. The best place to locate a qualified Solar Contractor is to contact your State Department of Energy. Ask the State to provide the names of the contractors that are certified with the State to install Solar and qualify for the State Tax Credit.

Another resource for identifying a qualified Solar contractor is your Power Provider.

THE SECOND STEP:

in deciding whether a solar array is appropriate for your home is to use a solar pathfinder to determine the suns path across the area where the solar array will be mounted. Need to make sure that the location provides enough direct sunlight without shading.

What’s Net-Metering:

Will I be asked to sign an agreement with my power provider that allows me to connect to the power grid? The answer is yes. Be sure and contact your power provider before signing a contract with a Solar Contractor.

A qualified contractor will have knowledge of the documents you need to complete for your power provider.

Power Bill and Solar Array Sizing

You will need to study your power bill and learn how many kilowatt hours of electricity you used in the past year. For a net-metering program, you do not want to produce more solar power than you can use in a year. Try to size your solar array so you produce about 60% to 75% of your yearly usage.

Hope you’re a little more knowledgeable about solar arrays, solar panels, and inverters and I hope you will have the opportunity to have your very own personal relationship with a bunch of panels that produce Solar Electric Power.

Thanks for stopping by detectenergy.com, come back soon, but I won’t leave the light on for you…Don Ames

Out and about again today, visit a smaller two bedroom, one bath home. The resident is complaining of $300 power bills. The problem is they can’t pay the rent and the power bill. Can this small, newer apartment really be that energy inefficient? Maybe the problem is the very expensive toaster.

The apartment is heated with thermal radiant floor heat from a gas water heater. Clear indication that a high electric bill is not caused by heating or hot water. A well installed thermal floor heating system is usually very energy efficient.

This apartment has four adults, two toddlers and two dogs. Clothes drying, cooking, dish washing, and curling irons come to mind as possible appliances that may be contributing to high electrical use. I notice that the microwave is sitting on top of the refrigerator so it probably does not get used as much as it should.

Speaking to the resident, I discuss dryer use and cleaning the dryer filter regularly and then ask about cooking and the lofty microwave. I am told that the range and oven is used frequently and the microwave was placed on the refrigerator because the counter lacked space.

Further discussion disclosed that it was not unusual to brown a couple of pieces of bread in the oven to make toast. Bingo, the old electric meter is heading north. The oven maybe handy for browning toast, but it is a very expensive toaster.

A toaster typical wattage is about 1,400. The range is about 2,600 watts. When you include the oven preheat, you have one expensive piece of toast. Toasters are a bargain at a purchase price of $12 dollars. After making a few pieces of toast in a toaster instead of an oven, the toaster has paid for itself in energy savings.

I also discussed power benefits of using the microwave oven as much a possible. Cheapest way to heat a cup of water for coffee is the microwave. The microwave oven needs to find a spot on the kitchen counter so it will be ready and handy to use. What ever you do, don’t turn your oven into a very expensive toaster.

Lifestyle and power knowledge is important in controlling power bills, have a good day and come back to detectenergy.com real soon….Don Ames

Real Time Football Data

When I think about real time power usage data, I am thinking about data that is being made available that very second. Data that is being reported in real time is like watching a football game live. You know that the running back just added 10 yards on to his total because you just saw the run on the T.V. That’s real time.

It is being reported that the Green Button program being offered by many power companies allows customers with a Smart Meter to see their power usage in real time, like a live football game. By signing up for the program with your power provider, you can have access to real time power usage data from the comfort of your own computer, iPad, smart phone, etc. I have new information that this may not be true.

On the website, ourenergypolicy.org, the news article states, “Utilities around the country have begun to sign on to the initiative and commit to provide their customers with real-time energy use data.”

I find that most articles and news sources about the Green Button plainly state real time data.

I think I may have jumped to the wrong conclusion concerning the Green Button and real time power usage data. What I consider real time may not be what the Green Button considers real time. The Green Button and I may not be watching the same game, or at least, the Green Button is watching a taped delayed version.

Start Here for Energy Data

In my article Pushing This Green Button Will Lower Your Power Bill, detectenergy.com, I made the assumption that the Green Button Program offered by power companies provided the customer with real time data. I my article under the heading, What does all this mean to the average consumer? I boldly stated,” It means that if you sign up for the program, you will be able to get real time energy usage data on your computer or other connected device, iPod, smart phone, etc.”

A couple sentences later I pronounce,”Click on the Green Button and the computer will take you to the pages that are displaying your energy usage right at that time of day.”

After I posted my article on homeenergypros.lbl.gov, I began receiving some comments – which is one reason a person like myself would post to an energy website in the first place.

A comment by Kevin Strong pointed out that I might be using the wrong definition of real time. This is important, not only do I want my articles to be accurate, I want the Green Button to be real time like my football definition, not like the energy policy news reported above.

Kevin comments,”Green Button data is NOT real time.  It is typically at least a day old, and is hourly interval data.  Here in California, the residential smart meters have one reading taken per hour, and then these are typically only uploaded over the smart grid to the utility in batches.  I think every 8 hours at minimum, if not only once per day, and then only made available to customers the day after.  My understanding is that this is the way most smart meters will work nationwide.  The smart grid is not designed for real-time data coming from smart meters.”

PG&E Provides the Green Button

The more I think about it, in order to have real time energy use data, the data would have to never leave your house. It would have to go directly from your smart meter or electrical panel to your computer or other monitor. Power monitors like FIDO by EcoDog retain their advantage by providing actual real time usage data.

Information found on the PG&E website does not identify the Green Button as providing real time usage data, PG&E states that, “Customers can designate up to 13 months of data to be delivered in a single file. If the customer has not had a Smart Meter connected to the network for that long, then the customer can only download the amount of interval data since the transition.”

PG&E goes on to say,”Making detailed energy usage information available in a standardized file format encourages awareness of energy use as well as innovation among third parties for new customer-focused applications.” The information from PG&E talks about detailed energy use data, but does not mention a word about real time.

I think the most people, myself included, have incorrectly assumed that the Green Button was going to provide real time energy usage data. Thanks to Kevin, I think I have found an error in my assumption.

I am going to follow up on this Green button, real time problem – get the straight information, reconsider the implications concerning conserving energy and get back to you. There appears to be an importance difference between real time energy usage and detailed energy usage. Stay tuned to detectenergy.com for future, detailed updates.

Thank you for stopping by detectenergy.com, hope you come back in real time, but I won’t leave the light on for you..