Guide To Home Energy Efficiency Programs

A Dozen Things To Do To Become More Energy Efficient

1. Turn In Your Soda Pop Fridge

 A second refrigerator or a freezer in the garage may be costing you $200-$300 a year. Turn in your old, functioning second unit and earn a rebate from your utility or the Appliance Recycling Centers of America, INC. (ARCA).

2. Upgrade Your Insulation

Adding insulation to your attic or unheated crawl space can save up to $200 year on your heating bills and help to cool your house in summer. While ensuring you leave adequate space for attic ventilation R-25 to R-38 values are recommended. Be sure to get several contractor quotations.

3. Replace Your Heating System with a High Efficiency Gas Furnace

Replacing your existing system with a high efficiency forced air gas system can cut your gas-heating bill, depending on your heating season, by up to 40%. Don't forget to obtain at least three price quotes and ask for the ENERGY STAR® label.

4. Improve Your Cooling Systems

Installing a Whole House Fan will use one-tenth the energy of a central air conditioner and save you up to $100 a year. If you must replace your air conditioner, look for the ENERGY STAR® label.

5. Look for ENERGY STAR® Appliances

More efficient refrigerators and clothes washers can now cut your electricity use for these appliances by 30 to 50%. Rebates are available from your utility, so phone around to your local appliance stores and ask for ENERGY STAR® labeled appliances.

6. Seal Your Duct System

While your replacing your furnace, don't forget that your leaky ducts could be losing 10 to 30% of generated heat. Sealing and insulating those ducts could save you between $50-100 in heating and cooling costs.

7. Invest in High Performance Windows

If your windows need to be replaced because they are cracked or broken, replacing those windows with high performance windows will save you about $100-200 a year on your heating and cooling bills. High performance windows are double-glazed windows with half an inch air space and a low emissivity coating. Ask your window salesperson for ENERGY STAR®. Windows are rated and labeled for their heating and cooling performance by the National Fenestration Rating Council. Check out their web site for more information on labeling and identifying high performance windows at http://www.nfrc.org/

8. Rethink Your Lighting Design

Identify the lighting fixtures which you use the most and change your incandescents to compact florescent lamps. Even though you will pay $4 to $12 for a CFL at your local store, over a five-year period you could realize savings of $60 to $120 per lamp, depending on use and electricity rates. ENERGY STAR® fluorescent floor lamps (torchieres), indoor and outdoor hard-wired lamps, and motion sensors are also available.

9. Replace Your Water Heater

• Top-Rated Water Heaters, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
• Water Heater Tips from the Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN)

10. Building/Purchasing a New Home?

You may pay more for an energy efficient new home but will pay much lower energy bills and live in a house with superior comfort. Energy efficient new homes incorporate high levels of insulation, high performance windows, efficient heating and cooling systems and super efficient appliances.

• U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR® Homes Program
  
  The U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR® Homes Program recognizes homes that consume 30 percent less energy than the Model Energy Code, as ENERGY STAR®. Qualifying homes with a rating of 86 or higher are registered as meeting the ENERGY STAR® requirements and receive a Certificate of Validation from EPA.  As an ENERGY STAR® Ally, CHEERS ( the California Home Energy Rating System) can help rate and label the energy efficiency of new homes in California. www. cheers.org
• Title 24 – California's Energy Efficiency Building Code
  
  California's energy efficiency building code Title 24 is upgrading insulation levels in attics, walls, and windows as of June 2001. Check with your local building department or the California Energy Commission to find out how these changes will affect the energy efficiency of new homes.

11. Go Solar!

The California Energy Commission is offering cash rebates on eligible renewable energy electric-generating systems. Qualifying technologies: solar photovoltaics, small wind turbines and fuel cells from renewable sources.

You can get a rebate of up to $3,000 per kilowatt, or 50 percent off your system purchase price (whichever is less), making it more affordable to generate your own electricity using renewable energy.

This program is called the Emerging Renewables Buy-Down Program.   For further information:

• Phone the California Energy Commission Energy Call Center.
• 800-555-7794 inside California
• 916-654-4058 outside California
• E-mail the Call Center at renewable@energy.state.ca.us
• The following information is available for download from the Energy Commission's Website:
  • Guidebook and application forms
• Faxed copies of the program forms, and lists of eligible equipment and participating retailers, are available by calling the California Energy Commission Facts Line at 916-653-6830.
• Write to:
  California Energy Commission
  Emerging Renewables Buy-Down Program
  1516 Ninth Street MS-45
  Sacramento, CA 95814-5512

12. Educate Your Contractor

Do you have a remodeling or renovation project underway? Adding an addition?

• Talk to your contractor about increasing the insulation levels or installing high performance windows.

Re-roofing your home this summer?  Consider these ideas:

• Ask your roofing contractor for a white colored material and save 20% on your air conditioning bill at no additional cost.
• Find a contractor who can install photovoltaic tiles or paneling.