Easing Up On Energy
Even though they use an electric heat pump furnace to warm their home in the winter, Mick and Kathie McCormick have no particular complaints about electricity costs for their home in Penn Township.
But when temperatures drop below 30 degrees Fahrenheit, a supplemental oil furnace kicks in, using as much as 1,000 gallons of fuel per season.
"We paid over $4 a gallon, which is quite a bit higher than in the past," Kathie McCormick said of this season's delivery, up from last year's rates of $2 to $3.
"And I don't think it's going to be significantly lower in the future."
And although their electric bills are currently manageable, the McCormicks anticipate higher costs in 2010, when Allegheny Power rate caps expire.
Taking a proactive approach, the McCormicks turned to Michael Merck of Pittsburgh-based West Penn Energy Audits, which conducts diagnostic home energy assessments.
As part of the audit, Merck identified key ways the McCormicks can limit their energy use, which mostly includes "sealing things up and improving the insulation," Mick McCormick said.
The audit also led the McCormicks to replace all light bulbs with fluorescents and compact fluorescents and to install on-demand hot water, allowing them to heat small amounts of water as needed instead of heating a large supply continuously.
At one time, the McCormicks used a wind-powered water pump, but abandoned the technology after the windmill manufacturer went out of business and replacement parts were unavailable.
The McCormicks say they will consider installing geothermal heat and solar energy.
"The investment is something we have to assess," MickMcCormick said.
With natural gas prices also predicted to rise this winter by 43 percent, the McCormicks are not alone. Many other consumers are assessing ways to cut energy costs.
While many experts say energy audits can reap savings, finding an auditor can be difficult.Although utility companies will sometimes arrange audits for clients in distress, those not in crisis must navigate alone.According to Joel Morrison, executive director of the West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund, demand is growing for the service, which to date is unregulated."You may not think it's a problem, but when Oprah Winfrey goes on TV and she tells people to get an energy audit, there's a problem with that: There are no national standards for what should be in an audit. There are no national standards on who should be conducting the energy audit," he said.Charged with helping to deploy clean energy technologies throughout the West Penn Power service region, the nonprofit agency sponsors PA Home Energy, a program focused on helping reduce home energy use. The program is tied to Energy Star, an energy rating system maintained by the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Department of Energy.To realize its goal, Morrison said PA Home Energy established its own standards last year for home energy audits, requiring its contractors to receive certification from the Residential Energy Services Network and the Building Performance Institute and to undergo a mentoring process.Acting as a clearinghouse, PA Home Energy now maintains a list of 25 companies that do audits. But demand for their services is growing."This is a topic that is just exploding," Morrison said."We are getting probably 20 or 30 calls a day, and we just physically can't keep up with them."Although Morrison is based at Penn State University in State College, many of the auditors are based in the Pittsburgh area.Their tools include infrared cameras that detect air infiltration, heat loss or gain, insulation levels and moisture.They also use tools called blower doors to test for air infiltration or pressure imbalances, while combustion analyzers measure for carbon monoxide and duct blasters identify duct leakage.Other tools measure gas leaks and humidity levels in the home.Audit costs often run between $200 and $700, but the savings is hard to average, Morrison said, since consumer situations vary.Michael Merck, who conducted the McCormicks' audit, said auditors use a complex software system to calculate savings compared to the cost of improvements."The audit doesn't stop after testing your home, it begins there," Merck said."The true audit begins when the auditor sits down at the laptop and begins 'modeling' the house. You need training; you need to be certified. All that stuff is very important."Morrison said before homeowners seek professional help, they can prevent excess energy use by switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, using Energy Star appliances and identifying air leaks in the home."All of us have drafts in our home. It's important to identify where those drafts are and cut those drafts off. The highest return for your investment is air sealing."
Gary Kleemann, owner of Standard Insulating in Lyndora, agrees that air infiltration accelerates heat loss. But heat also is lost through lack of insulation."It's the one thing you can do to a house that you know will pay for itself," he said of proper insulation.According to Kleemann, the preferred insulation is blown-in cellulose, which has a higher R factor, or insulating capability, than fiberglass, but costs about the same.A contractor for more than 30 years, Kleemann said retrofit blown-in insulation became popular with the energy crisis of the 1970s."It's very common to look at housing ... from the 70s back that has no insulation whatsoever," he noted."Energy was so enormously inexpensive that the wasted dollars were few, based on the cost of fuel. Nobody really cared about it."Kleemann said although a peek into any attic will reveal whether a roof is insulated, it's more difficult to tell what lies behind walls.Energy auditors will thermally scan a house with infrared photography to pinpoint what zones are leaking heat, but less technical methods also exist."If you're used to this sort of stuff, you can actually rap your walls with your knuckle and (hear) whether your wall sounds hollow or not. You can also drill some test holes in the wall and ... see what's in there."The first thing, of course, is people know their house is cold and they're consuming inordinate amounts of energy," he added.Dangers for do-it-yourselfers include over-insulating or insulating in the wrong places, which can deter air movement and result in mold."People will insulate against cold rather than insulate against heat loss. That's the biggest mistake we see everywhere."Kleemann said improper insulation also can trap unwanted elements like carbon dioxide, moisture and, to some degree, radon."You're not just trapping heat," he said.
While Kleemann and other contractors can offer help with insulating, other kinds of help are emerging.According to Charlie Young, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, the 2008-09 state budget includes $100 million to help homeowners and small businesses install solar energy technology and $92.5 million for installing energy conservation tools and weatherization."We are still putting together the programs on how those are going to be structured — whether they are going to be rebates or loans," Young said."In short, they're not yet available, but we are working as quickly as possible to make them available."Hal Saville of Mars, set to teach the continuing education class, A Consumer's Guide to GreenLiving, at Butler County Community College this month, advises consumers to poise themselves to seek the funding."They should be planning for it: contacting contractors and getting quotes ... so that when those grants and rebates become available, they can take advantage of them, Saville said."The money will go pretty fast."Saville also anticipates a potential lack of contractors to do audits and upgrades, since some type of credentialing could be mandated.Doug Colafella, manager of corporate communications at Allegheny Power, which operates as West Penn Electric, said the utility company is gearing up for the rate cap expiration by limiting rate increases to 25 percent the first year, with additional increases spread over subsequent years if necessary.The company also is planning a five-year education plan, focusing on energy conservation and efficiency.As for existing programs, utility companies distribute brochures on energy use and steer qualifying clients toward assistance programs like the Energy Help Fund, Low Income Usage Reduction Program, Low Income Energy Assistance Program, Customer Assistance Referral Evaluation Services and the Dollar Energy Fund.The Community Action Partnership of Mercer County, which serves Butler County but is based in Sharon, administers a home weatherization program for qualifying households.According to Morrison, technology and products also exist to build energy-efficient homes from the ground up. But for most consumers, the challenge lies in modifying existing homes to adapt to a changing energy market.For families like the McCormicks, that means hiring an energy auditor and taking heed of the results."We're in the process of working on what needs to be done," Kathie McCormick said of the insulating and sealing projects suggested."And we should have things done before winter."For more information about energy audits and saving energy, go to www.pahomeenergy.com, www.wppsef.org, www.staywarmpa.com, www.energysavers.gov or www.energystar.gov.
