Web sites can help compute home energy savings

By Emery Jeffreys

Save hundreds of dollars per year on their energy bills by using online tools.

Homeowners can't cut the price of energy services charged by Florida utility companies. Energy consumers can do the next best thing -- cut energy consumption which helps realize long term savings.

"For every degree you set the thermostat above 78 degrees, you can cut your energy bill from 7-10 percent," said C.J. Drake of Progress Energy. "During heating season you can reduce energy cost by 7-10 percent for every degree the thermostat is set below 70 degrees."

There are dozens of online tools to help figure out how much power a home is consuming or wasting — if you dare to know how much money you are losing every month. The amount can pile up month after month and year after year.

One of the best online resources was developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

The Home Energy Saver (HES) website brings advanced building simulation software to the Web to help consumers identify methods that will save them the most energy and money. By visiting the site, you can quickly determine how much money you would save by installing insulation in your attic, and where you would find the best products and a good contractor to do the job.

The HES site is divided into two sections, "Energy Adviser" and "Making It Happen." Energy Advisor computes a home's total energy use based on information that you enter. Once you supply your ZIP code, Energy Advisor shows the energy use, bills, or energy-related carbon dioxide emissions for your area's typical house, and a comparable energy-efficient house.

By answering a few basic questions about your home, including its floor area, the number of people, type of heating and air conditioning equipment, and fuel prices, to get a custom-tailored energy bill breakdown. The more information entered, the more these recommendations become tailored to the house.

Energy Adviser also provides a customized set of energy-saving improvements for your house. These improvements cover all of your home's major energy-using systems: space heating and cooling, water heating, lighting, major appliances, and a host of "miscellaneous" appliances that are an important factor in energy bills.

"Making It Happen" provides time-saving links to hundreds of Internet sites with practical, detailed information about energy-efficient homes, products, service providers, utility programs, and on-line reading materials. An Answer Desk provides answers to frequently asked questions about home energy use in terms that the average homeowner can understand.

"It would take a user months to learn how to use each program separately." says Evan Mills, Home Energy Saver project leader and a researcher in Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD). The site offers a rich array of consumer decision-support information. And since it is Web-based, there is no software to install."

Accuracy of online tools

How precise are these tools? Your mileage may vary. Some may have a margin of error. The real value for consumers is the physical survey that is required to collect the information and input it into the calculator.

The value of investments

Despite soaring energy costs, a majority of Americans still hesitate at the cash register when it comes to investing dollars to improve home energy efficiency.

Rising home energy costs typically don't lead homeowners to make significant investments in energy-efficient improvements, unless costs remain high for several years. For many homeowners deciding whether to invest in more energy-efficient windows or upgrade a heating system the biggest question is what it will do for the resale value of their home.

3 big tips

1. Audit your home

First, figure out where your money is going. To chart your own energy consumption, log onto Home Energy Saver, which is sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Energy. Type in your ZIP code and give a description of your home and the Web site will be able to calculate how much energy you use and where you can save.

2. Shopping tools

It's the major appliances in your home that can cause big dents in your utility bill. Grab the rebates. See if you'll get rebates for buying energy star appliances. Find out at energystar.gov.

But if you want other energy-saving tips, like the fact you'll save more electricity with an ink-jet printer rather than a laser printer . . . check out the National Resources Defense Council Web site.

And to figure out just how much air conditioning you need, you can use a calculator at consumerreports.org.

3. Make minor adjustments

Heating water accounts for a big part of most people's electric bill. To save hot water, take five-minute showers instead of baths. Do only full loads when using the clothes washer or dishwasher. You could save up to $63 a year by switching to cold water in your laundry. Detergents formulated for cold water get clothes just as clean.

And when it comes to cooking appliances — size matters. Try to use your microwave oven as much as you can.

Big investments, long-term payoffs

 Add wall insulation. It is expensive, but the walls are the largest outside surface area of the home.

 Upgrade windows. In Florida it makes the most sense only if you plan to upgrade your windows for other reasons — aesthetics or noise-insulating value.

 Consider a furnace or heat pump upgrade. If your furnace is older than 10 to 15 years or your boiler is older than 20 years, a new heating or cooling system may be more efficient.

 When a major appliance dies, look for the federal Energy Star rating in choosing a replacement. Resources

 Try a do-it-yourself home-energy audit. Many local utility companies offer them online.

 "Visit "A Consumer's Guide to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy" offers saving tips