Reduce My Summer Electric Bill (Part 2 of 2)
Note: This is a two-part series about reducing your summer electric bill. AskDrPower receives no financial incentive for references made to third-party services. They are there for your information only.
In part 1, we covered the easy wins. In this article, we will go over options that require more time commitment for those who are handy or are ready to make a bigger investment.
Get Shady. Good shading alone can account for majority of savings.
Plant a tree. Yes, you can plant a tree! You can use this how-to list or this helpful video. Some utility companies even offer discounts or help with planting trees for shading your home, so you can also check with them. Consider a deciduous tree that will cast its shadow on your home in the summer time and allow sunshine to warm your home in the winter when the leaves have fallen. Besides having a nice tree, people are often surprised how much this natural shading can work both ways in the summer and winter.
Install outdoor shade. Consider outdoor shade if you have hot sunlit rooms. Install an outdoor shade so that your AC doesn’t have to work so hard. Here is one possible sun shade. Other forms of shading include outdoor awnings over south- and west-facing windows, and indoor blinds/curtains/shutters that minimize the amount of sunshine entering your home. Along with trees, proper shading can cut some electric bills by more than half. While you are at it, you can also add some comfort and scenery to your home.
Hire a professional to hone in on your home’s problem.
If you believe you have a problem bigger than you can handle, it’s time to call in a professional. We will go over some information you should know before blindly investing in hired help.
Consider a thermal scan for cooling loss. As we said before, people are surprised how leaky their home is. A thermal scan of your home will help you understand the temperature difference in you walls, floors and windows. You can search for a good energy auditor or HVAC contractor from this website. Additionally, we recommend watching this video and reading this article to know what to expect. Sometimes, this comes with a home energy audit.
Get a HVAC Audit. A home energy audit of your home’s HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems and the building “envelope” by a qualified professional will provide you with detailed recommendations for improving your living comfort and reducing the amount of energy you use for heating and cooling your home.
If you live in California, you can find HVAC professionals in your zipcode with this website. This is probably the most thorough route and may include other tests mentioned. It may cost you, so check with your state to see if they offer rebates. Additionally, we recommend watching this video to know what to expect.
Review and balance air ducts for cooling. If the temperature in different rooms vary a lot, it may be due to an unbalanced duct system. You can troubleshoot this for yourself, or get a full HVAC energy audit to evaluate your specific home situation. Here is also a good video showing DIY tips and things you should look out for.
Before investing any money, read this article from the EPA. The EPA does not recommend cleaning air ducts unless you really need to. Balancing is different from dust cleaning, so its good to know the difference and their benefits.
Get a blower door test. Doors are leaky. One approach is to get a blower door test from an energy auditor. If you want to go that route, here is a website you can use to find a good energy auditor or general contractor. Read this study to know what to expect and what to ask for.
Invest in better cooling for the long haul.
If your electricity bill really hurts, consider options that require more installation and investment upfront. We will cover some tips and information you should know before swiping that credit card.
Research HVAC options before equipment dies. Look at the age of your equipment and consider either retrofitting it or replacing it. Your old AC may be 30-50% less efficient than a new one. Sometimes an overall replacement is a better way to spend your money than retrofitting it to last a little longer. Consider both before acting. Before you purchase anything, review your other recommendations and act on any easy air leaks (covered in part 1) first. This will help assure you size the AC unit appropriately and not pay for more than you need for your home.
Here is an article with a good overview of the jargon and process. In addition, the American Council for An Energy-Efficient Economy has put together a good resource to help you evaluate heating and cooling equipment. Also, here is an article to review possible problems with your existing AC that you may not be aware of. If you’d like to learn even more, here’s an excellent guideline for purchasing a new AC provided by the American Council for An Energy-Efficient Economy. They recommend that you evaluate your climate and budget to get the right unit. Check with your utility for additional qualified systems and possible rebates they provide. A good contractor in your area should know about any available rebates.
Speaking of contractors, if you don’t already have one, you can search for one from this website. Here are two sites with tips on choosing an HVAC contractor: Energy Star tips and ACEEE tips.
Lastly, make sure that the unit is installed properly. Failure to do this right can decrease efficiency by 30%. Learn about getting a quality installation here. You can use this checklist to help compare quality contractors.
Add multiple temperature zones to minimize cooling loss. We mentioned multiple temperature (or HVAC) zones as an option in part 1 of this series. To refresh your memory, multiple zones means that the cooling duct is built to deliver different temperatures to different zones in your home. You can read more about temperature zones in this article. This can account for 70% of savings if done right for homes that are wasting so much electricity treating the entire home as one zone.
Unlike the DIY suggestion before of just closing air vents, we are suggesting that you work with an energy auditor or HVAC professional to properly install multiple temperature zones.
Install a whole house fan instead of an AC. Do you have hot days and cool nights? Use that natural pattern to cool your house with a whole house fan. It works by pulling air out of your home and up into the attic. This then forces fresh air into the rest of the house through open windows, as shown in this quick video. You can read about benefits and instructions to install one here.
This can either be a DIY project or one for a contractor. If you choose a contractor, ere are two sites that offer solid tips on selecting one: Energy Star tips and ACEEE tips.
Install a cool roof or green roof. Consider getting a cool roof, which would reflect sunlight (and the heat) away from your home. Here is a good overview from the Cool Roof Rating Council. They have two calculators among other resources to determine if a cool roof is right for your home. You can also watch this video for an overview.
Stay cool.
