Posts Tagged ‘Energy Savings’

Discover how to the energy efficiency experts check out energy saving ways to help you from losing your money. More Energy Savings mean less carbon emission and less global warming.

Energy efficient lighting not only contributes to a better environment but also saves huge energy costs. By retrofitting lights you can upgrade your existing lighting system to more energy efficient one. LED retrofit is about replacing certain parts of the lighting system with others that make more sense, with respect to saving energy.

Energy savings may not be apparent immediately, but are realized only over a period of time. The savings that occur over the life time of the energy efficient device is sufficient to pay for the cost of the equipment and generate further returns.

LED retrofit technology is becoming more and more popular as a relatively straightforward and simple solution for energy savings. Commercial facilities and cities use a lot of power and the modern lifestyle also does not make it easy to reduce energy consumption. But just by adopting the LED retrofit lighting system in your office or home, you can contribute a great deal to making the planet just a little bit greener as well as reduce your energy consumption cost.

The ordinary lighting fixtures that are installed in homes and offices consume a lot of energy. Homeowners can make a wise investment towards lighting retrofit and save energy costs by more than 40%. It is estimated that if all the buildings in the US were to be upgraded to the LED retrofit lighting system, the demand for electricity can be reduced by over 30% and energy savings of above $250 billion can be made.

If you conduct an energy audit, you will understand how much energy is being wasted in your home or office, and how much savings can be made by switching to a more energy efficient technology. Retrofitting ensures guaranteed cost savings as well as positive cash flow.

An LED retrofit lighting system is expected to have a payback period of 3 years and a return of slightly above 30% can be expected. This is considering the cost of retrofit equipment, installation and maintenance.

The US Department of Energy conducted a study which found that 50% energy savings can be made in a cost-effective way by retrofitting walkway lighting. This can be achieved while still easily meeting the minimum recommended illumination levels for walkways.

LED fixtures cost more to purchase than the traditional light sources. There are many factors that contribute to the effective and economic performance of LEDs, so a range of payback scenarios exist. But a lower wattage luminaire significantly reduces the payback period. Keeping an eye on the desired level of illumination and selecting the least wattage that will help you achieve that is the best way to reduce the payback period.

LED retrofits are now available for display lighting, underwater lighting, cove lighting, residential and office space lighting, architectural details and other lighting applications. The technology is also dramatically improving at a rapid pace. Along with improvement in the chip performance and reduction in price, the payback periods of LED retrofits will continue to come down.

Did you know that lighting represents up to 15 percent of your home energy use? Did you know you can achieve energy savings of up to 75 percent on your lighting, without compromising the look and feel of your home? These tips from PSE will help you understand more about home lighting and the options available to help you save energy, money and the environment. For more information, visit PSE.com.

The concept of saving money by making energy efficient improvements to your home or business is nothing new, but what is new is the magnitude of money you can save, now that energy prices have spiraled upwards. Combine this increased capacity for energy savings with an increase in tax credits and grants provided by federal and state governments that can be applied to many energy saving home improvements and you have the perfect storm to motivate almost anyone to make energy efficient improvements.

WHERE DO YOU START?

Any plan for saving energy should always start with the simplest and most basic improvements. This is necessary to ensure your money is spent in the most productive way since the whole point is to save money and not to throw it away by spending more money than necessary for any energy saving home improvement.

For example, if you have it in mind to add solar panels to make power for your home, but have done little or nothing to first reduce your homes electrical needs, you will require a much larger solar power system and will spends an excessive amount of money to compensate for not having taken care of the little things first.

START WITH LOW COST METHODS TO STOP WASTING ENERGY

Duh, but hey, this first step is often missed, and is generally the least expensive and most rewarding step as compared to obtaining the highest ROI (Return on Investment) or how much you spend versus how much you save and how quickly you recover your costs.

Before I list any energy saving ideas, let’s put things into perspective and create a clear motivation as to why the small steps are so important and can be so rewarding.

Let’s say you were sizing a solar power system and wanted to know how large the system should be for your home. You need to take many things into account, but for this example, let’s say we just wanted to look at your lighting needs.

Taking a quick walk through the home reveals there are 60 light bulbs in your home. In most cases only a portion of the lights are being used at any time, but to get the best example of your energy needs, we’ll calculate that one-third or twenty bulbs would be used in all your rooms on a typical afternoon, for a total power requirement of 1600 watts.

Since the average solar panel has an output level of 170 watts, you would need nine panels to provide 100% coverage for your lighting. At a cost of about $450 per solar panel, your total cost would be $4050 — not including installation.

Now, if you first reduce your power needs by updating your lights from incandescent bulbs to CFL’s (compact fluorescent lights), you will reduce the power needs of these twenty bulbs to one-third their previous level at a cost of $3 per bulb or a total of $60 dollars. Now that your lighting load has been reduced from 1600 watts to only 500 watts, you can now get by with three solar panels at $450 each for a total cost of $1350 plus installation.

As you can see, by spending $60 on simple CFL’s, you will have saved over $2700 on your solar power system… and that’s just one item, so let’s take a bold and fresh look at why we should be motivated and thankful to experience the benefits of saving energy by not wasting energy.

As you read the list of energy saving ideas below, look past any initial expense or labor involved and see only that the benefits will always exceed the initial cost and effort. When looking at these improvements in that light, the expenses and tasks can become enjoyable, plus you can always remind yourself that in the process of saving energy, you are being very green by helping to improve the planets environment.

Also, if you wanted even more information on the rewards of making energy saving improvements, search for my book, The Rewards of Making Energy Efficient Choices and you’ll obtain an even clearer idea of how to best go about saving energy in the most practical way.

- Replace all incandescent bulbs with CFL’s or LED’s

- Replace conventional dryer vent with a dryer vent seal

- Replace bathroom exhaust wall switches with 30 to 60 minute timer switches

- Clean the coils in your refrigerators and freezers twice a year

- Install water saving shower heads

- Don’t run your clothes dryer on very cold nights or on extremely hot and humid afternoons

- Replace computer power strips with Energy Saving Smart Power Strips

- Replace weather stripping on older doors and windows

- Caulk any cracks around windows, doors, siding, etc.

- Wrap your water heater and/or boiler with an insulation blanket

- Install programmable thermostats with winter settings no greater than 68 degrees and summer settings no less than 74 degrees

- Insulate hot water and heating pipes in your basement or any unconditioned space

- Replace filters twice annually in your forced air heating and air conditioning systems

- Turn off televisions when not being viewed

- Seal off unused windows and wall cavities in basements and attics

- In hotter climates, install curtains or shades on southern and western facing windows and close them during the afternoon until the sun sets

- In cooler climates, be sure to open southern and western facing shades or curtains during the day to allow the suns free energy in. Close them once the sun sets.

Most of these improvements cost less than $100 each to perform and yet they can provide significant savings throughout the year. Some of the suggestions cost absolutely nothing and simply require a change in habit. Overall, you can significantly reduce your energy use, significantly reduce your carbon footprint and enjoy a greener home and lifestyle by making these low cost energy saving changes.

If you don’t know where to get your products or aren’t sure exactly what to look for, simply search online for the ‘best energy saving products’ and start there, but do start. Don’t put it off a moment longer and just make it so. As i already demonstrated, you’ll be happy you did.

After you have taken care of all the minor energy saving improvements, you can opt to move onto more aggressive and more expensive items such as increasing your homes level of insulation, replacing doors and windows, upgrading your heating and cooling system and more. Since these items can take much longer to recover their costs, it would be best to have an experienced weatherization inspection performed by a Weatherize America representative so that you can determine your best options.

Blind Coverings are the best way to conserve energy when it seems impossible in the hot Arizona summer months; however, blinds make a difference. Blind Chalet has created an energy calculator to give customers an idea of the impact.

Window treatments are an efficient and cost effective way to conserve energy. During the summer months the sunlight that enters into the home through the windows and doors loses about 20 to 50 percent of the total energy. More energy enters in one square foot of clear glass than an entire insulated wall. This increases the workload of the air conditioner by 50 percent. In hot, arid environments such as Arizona it is important to have effective window coverings for energy conservation. Blinds reduce energy consumption, lower energy bills, prevent the sun from fading the interior, and maintain a comfortable and consistent temperature within the home.

Window coverings can control the amount of energy that enters into the home and the style determines the efficiency of the blinds. The shading coefficient measures the window treatments ability to block solar energy from entering into the home. Customers should keep in mind the lower the shading coefficient the more the blinds keep the home insulated.

Blinds Chalet has created an energy calculator so customers can calculate the most energy efficient window treatments for their home. The tool is easy to use; the customer simply enters the square footage of their home, then Blinds Chalet lists several styles of blinds and lists their estimated energy savings. The calculator displays a savings from $200 to $400 dollar savings on average sized homes. Windows that face east and west need more protection from sunlight than windows positioned on the north and south sides of the house.

The most efficient blinds are honeycomb cell shades and wood or faux wood blinds. It is important to know the color of the blinds makes a difference because various colors respond to light differently. Dark colors tend to absorb more heat than lighter colors and shiny surfaces reflect the light.

Blinds Chalet, has more than 25 years of experience in dealing with many different types of window coverings. Blinds Chalet offers consumers the best in attractive blind options, while also offering high quality blinds that are made from some of the most durable materials available. Blinds Chalet has a variety of blinds that are available for any home, any style of décor, and any budget. For information on what types on blinds, blind accessories, and any other home decorating needs, please visit www.blindschalet.com.

There’s no doubt about it: if you’re a patriot, you should feel great about recycling.

Think about it. Recycling saves trillions of kilowatts of energy every year. It conserves our natural resources. It makes our country’s air, water and soil cleaner by limiting pollution, and it stimulates our economy by creating new jobs.

Politicians and pundits from both the Left and the Right strongly agree that we should decrease our dependence on foreign oil. So recycling makes you a true patriot who’s doing something to make the people and economy of our great nation cleaner, healthier, richer and stronger!

I can see some folks in my mind’s eye (not you, of course!) with a slight sneer of disbelief on their faces. So allow me to share some basic statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency and other reputable sources that back up my argument.

Be a Patriot: Save Energy!

In 2003, the energy savings from recycling 54 billion aluminum cans exceeded the energy equivalent of 15 million barrels of crude oil, or the amount of gas the U.S. uses in one day.

Another way to look at it: recycling 1 can = 3 hours of TV, so in 2003 the U.S. saved enough energy by recycling cans to run 162 billion hours of TV, or about 25 hours of TV for every man, woman and child on Earth.

The Center for Ecological Technology found that the glass industry uses 50% less energy to create glass from recycled glass than from raw materials.

Americans recycled about 40 million tons of paper products in 2003, creating an energy savings of 163 trillion (yes, with a “T”!) kilowatt hours of electricity.

Recycling one pound of plastic soda bottles – or PET plastic – saves 1200 BTUs of energy (1 BTU is the amount of energy needed to raise a gallon of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit).

2005 saw the U.S. recycle 5 billion pounds of PET plastic, which equals a savings of 60 trillion BTUs of energy.

Be a Patriot: Conserve Natural Resources

Americans disposed of 83 million tons of paper products in 2003. According to the EPA, by recycling nearly half of that, we saved 705 million trees and 290 billion gallons of fresh water.

4% of U.S. annual oil consumption, or roughly 219 million barrels of oil, goes into the manufacture of plastic. Thus increasing the amount of plastic we recycle can make a significant impact on oil use.

In 1997, the U.S. recycled 13 million cars, which conserved 32.5 billion pounds of iron ore, 18.2 billion pounds of coal and 1.5 billion pounds of limestone.

Aluminum can be recycled forever. Over 2/3 of all aluminum ever created is still in use. Most of the 1/3 not still in use is aluminum cans in landfills.

Be a Patriot: Limit Pollution

Recycling just half of your annual recyclable household waste saves 2400 pounds of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. Many scientists contend that human-released CO2 is a leading cause of global warming.

Recycling household and car batteries keeps heavy metals such as mercury, lithium and cadmium from being released into our air and water. Heavy metals, when consumed by people and other animals, cause numerous health problems and diseases.

The EPA estimates that 200 million gallons of used motor oil are improperly disposed of each year. Recycling used motor oil keeps it from polluting your ground and fresh water.

Americans dispose of 270 million waste tires each year. Illegally-dumped and stock-piled tires are fertile breeding grounds for rodents and mosquitoes, and illegally-burned tires release oil and soot into the air and ground water.

Be a Patriot: Stimulate the Economy

Recycling creates a net gain in jobs – 5 to 1 over landfill management.

Jobs created by recycling cover a wide variety of skill sets, including basic labor, manufacturing, entrepreneurship, advanced science and engineering.

Recycling creates new “green” technologies designed to take advantage of the reclaimed resources.

The National Recycling Coalition reports that recycling has created 1.1 million jobs, $236 billion in gross annual sales, and $37 billion in annual payroll.

So there you have it. Patriotic people recycle! I challenge you to come up with another activity that every family in the country can so easily do to make such a huge difference in so many critical areas of the health of our great nation.

Product Description
Advanced Lighting Controls is edited by Craig DiLouie and written for engineers, architects, lighting designers, electrical contractors, distributors, and building owners and managers. Advanced lighting controls, indicated by research as the “next big thing,” are now mandated by the ASHRAE/IES 91.1-1999 energy standard, the basis for all state energy codes in the U.S., and are becoming the norm rather than the exception in new construction. This book provides in-de… More >>

Advanced Lighting Controls: Energy Savings, Productivity, Technology and Applications

Going Green In Your Home Is An Ebook To Provide Simple Tips To The Home Owner On Organic Foods, Recycling, Recycled Products, Energy Savings, Rain Barrels, Drought Tolerant Landscape And Solar Products.
Going Green In Your Home.

The Bottom Line on Energy Savings

How can it be that during bad economic times, large power consumers have more opportunity to reduce power costs. The answer is simple…flexibility.  When the demand for product is lower than normal there may be  more opportunity to make product during times of the day when electricity costs are lower.

For example, in many electricity markets there is an on and off peak period.  For many locals, the on peak period is from approximately 8:00am – 8:00pm while the off peak period is from 8:01pm to 7:59am.  The price of electricity is significantly lower during the off peak period and therefore it may make sense to shift production to the off peak as much as possible.

Many industrial power users in de-regulated markets purchase power from the regional Electricity Market.  The price of power goes up and down throughout day depending on the demand for electricity and availability of generation.  In these markets there is “predicted price” data available to power users so they can vary how much power they are using depending on upcoming price fluctuations.  By planning more usage when the price is lower the company can save money.

Companies must also be diligent in identifying electricity waste and understanding how the facility uses electricity. The best way to understand electricity use and identify waste is to install an “electricity monitoring” system.  These systems centralize data from power meters that feed electricity to the facility from the utility. They can also gather information from meters throughout the facility’s own power distribution system that feed power to equipment and machinery.

The result is timely data that is easy to access and provides visual and tabular information depicting the use of electricity.  These systems can not only identify waste, they can also reproduce the electricity bill (usually before you even receive one) and calculate carbon reductions due to energy efficiency and saving initiatives.

Additionally some of these systems have the ability to actually manage selected electricity loads in the facility and back off load when it is economically beneficial to do so.  This can result in significant savings by also reducing peak demand charges and waste kWh.

About the author:  A. Crossley is a staff writer for www.EnergyReporting.com , a website that provided information and news regarding energy efficiency, alternative energy, power generation, energy management and control.

Residential Energy Savings and Performance Contracting: The Big Business Advantage.

A collaborative effort may be just what we need to boost excitement into the minds of homeowners. Large companies use something called “Performance Contracts” to acquire financing for Energy Conservation Projects. A Performance Contract is usually provided by an ESCO, to a large business entity. Applying Performance Contracts the same way an (ESCO) Energy Service Company does to big-business, could be a worthy option. Performance Contracts are offered to municipalities, school districts, stadiums and other corporate entities; but not to private residential homeowners. Unfortunately, millions of energy savings dollars could have already realized, if Performance Contracting was extended outside Corporate America. Is this just another case of “The Big Business Advantage?”

To understand if there is an advantage, you need to know a little about what Performance Contracting (PC) is. Performance Contracts essentially guarantees “a minimum amount of energy savings” from the installation of energy efficient equipment and energy conservation strategies. Energy savings are derived from a detailed Energy Audit, which reveals where energy savings should be applied. The audit also reveals energy savings strategies along with a given “Pay Back time, for each strategy. The “Pay-back” demonstrates length of time it takes, to get a return on their investment. A simplified example of a Pay-back is; lighting retrofits will cost $6,000 and will save $2,000 annually. Therefore; the payback will be 3 Years ($6000/$2000) = 3, meaning, it will take 3 years to pay down the cost, the (4th year + )is “pure savings”.

There are many other advantages, such as energy monitoring. It is to the ESCO’s advantage to monitor the saving because they have “guaranteed” the savings. The ESCO also assumes responsibility with a “Promise” or “Guarantee”. The promise goes something like this; if Company X does not see X amount of savings during a given amount of time, we will pay you the difference! Furthermore, the cost/debt of the Energy Retrofit will be covered by future energy savings. To give you an example; company X is a Convention Center with badly needed equipment upgrades. Company X is also spending 20-30% more energy than necessary and for a Convention Center that could equate to millions of dollars of additional cost. However, Company X can’t afford the project from its current operating budget. See any similarities to homeowners? Fortunately, in enters the ESCO that can not only help secure financing, but, PM the installation, repair, service and track energy savings for the project. The icing on the cake for the Company X is the” Performance Guarantee”!

So, why is it good for Residential Markets?

o Financial cost is the main reason that most energy strategies are not done in the residential market.

o The effects of Global Warming from Green House Gases are largely dependent on how much pollutants humans make and how much energy we use. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, resulting from petroleum and natural gas, represent 82 percent of total U.S. human-made greenhouse gas emissions. When we reduce energy and pollutants, demand and supply is also reduced.

o A National Research Council study dated May 2001 stated, “Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth’s atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and sub-surface ocean temperatures to rise.

o According to (EIA) Energy Information Administration, statistics show that Residential Carbon Emissions for 2005, was 5,956,978,731. If we treat residential market like the business market we have a chance of saving a minimum of 15% Carbon Dioxide Emissions from our homes, only. The Presidents Global Climate Change Policy projects an 11% reduction in Carbon Dioxide, which is inclusive of all industries.

o Reducing our dependence on foreign oil. According to the (NRDC) Natural Resources Defense Council, we spend more than $200,000 dollars/ per minute — $13 million per hour — on foreign oil. This is $13 million dollars with Zero payback.

o An investment in consumer Performance Contract financing would result in a payback of 20-30% in energy cost. Those savings could go back into our pockets and trickle down to our economy.

o Finally, efforts have already been made towards Performance Contracts and the Residential market. The Department of Energy and HUD have put together a collaborative effort to make public housing more energy efficient. The collaborative effort, referred to as “Energy Performance Contracting for Public and Indian Housing” is a recipe book detailing the benefits and procedures of Performance Contracting. The Guide Book was originally printed in 1990, nearly 18 years ago.

Audits are usually done by C.E.M.s. Certified Energy Managers.