Clean Energy Worked on My House
Posted on April 23, 2012 by Bob Jenks
Tags, Climate and Conservation, Consumers and Utility Customers
Last fall, I wrote about how I had signed up for an energy retrofit of my house through Clean Energy Works Oregon. Clean Energy Works is a non-profit that allows utility customers to do home energy efficiency upgrades and pay for the upgrades through a charge on their utility bills. In that earlier post, I described the program and what made it attractive to me. Let me start with the advantages to the Clean Energy Works program:
The first is one-stop shopping. You can sign up for the program and Clean Energy Works arranges the various contractors, so you don’t have to contact furnace installers, insulation installers, and window installers separately. A lead contractor will assemble the team to complete the work on your house.
The second is the ability of Clean Energy Works to bring Energy Trust of Oregon incentives on certain measures together with federal stimulus money to reduce the cost of the energy efficiency upgrades. You don’t have to pay for the retrofit up front, apply for incentives, and then wait for them; the incentives are instead provided up front as a discount on the overall cost of the project.
The third is the ability of Clean Energy Works to include some items that are not directly related to energy efficiency. For example, in our home we added a bathroom fan and carbon monoxide detectors. Before the upgrade, our house was drafty. Now with it sealed up tight, we need to be able to get moisture out and we need the CO detectors.
The final advantage of Clean Energy Works is that it is tied to a loan that is then paid back on your heating bill over the next 20 years. The interest rate is 5% and early payback or refinancing is allowed.
What We Did
My wife and I decided to do a deep retrofit to our 80 year old home. This included having shingles taken off the outside of our home so insulation could be blown in. Additional insulation was also installed in the attic. Our house had been quite drafty and we had it sealed up pretty tight. The final tests showed an amazing improvement in eliminating air leakage. We replaced the natural gas furnace, which was installed in the 1970s,and converted our hot water to gas and installed a tankless water heater. This last step was expensive, and there are lower cost alternatives—natural gas water heaters with tanks that are nearly as cost effective, for example. On the other hand, my family tends to use a good deal of hot water. I personally find the shower a great place to think about my upcoming day, so if I am going to use extra hot water, I should make my hot water system as efficient as possible.
It is important to note that we did not have to go so deep and do as much as we did. We could have had a less expensive upgrade. By doing less, we could have tried to more closely match the reduction in our utility bills with the cost of the loan. But we felt this was a good opportunity to invest in our home, recognizing that we would get not just lower bills but greater comfort, and we would also reduce the carbon footprint of our home. In addition, as energy costs rise, the value of the savings will increase. Our house went 80 years without any insulation in its walls, but will now always be insulated.
The energy audit suggested that we would see energy savings of greater than 30%, which we knew would not fully cover the loan, but would still offset a significant portion of it.
The Results
Wonderful.
The comfort level in our retrofitted home is amazing. The house is no longer drafty. The temperature is consistent from room to room. It really is an amazing difference and is much greater than I had expected. We expect that this improvement will also follow us into the summer. With good insulation and a well-sealed house, we should be able to cool the house at night and in the morning with windows and fans, and close up the house during the day to maintain a comfortable temperature.
The second benefit, which I was not even expecting, is in air quality. The new furnace comes with a significantly better filter, and a gentler fan (at least on its low setting which is normally all that is required to warm the house). My dust allergies that rise up in the winter heating season disappeared this year.
Finally, after several months of bills, we can conclude that the promised savings is there. In March, for example, my electric bill is down 47.5% and my gas bill is down by 32%. The total bill savings was a little over $100, while the cost of the loan on the measures was about $20 greater than the bill savings. The savings has varied each month. When tracking bill savings, it is important to recognize changes in weather, changes in the number of days in the billing cycle, and our home usage. In December, our savings was only 21% on electricity and 24% on gas. But last year we went to visit my wife’s family over the holidays, so we had lower than normal usage. After making adjustments of weather, billing days, and occupancy, my best estimate is that my electric bill has declined by about 40% and my gas bill by about 30%, and that covers about 80% of the cost of the loan.
As electric and gas prices increase, the savings will grow, but the loan amount will not. In the long run this investment is cost effective and will save us money. In the short term, we are paying a little more each month, but our comfort and quality of life have improved.
I was quite surprised that the electric bill went down so much. The primary driver of this is the conversion of water heating to gas. However, having a more efficient electric fan in the new furnace contributes, and the new system has reduced the need to occasionally use an electric space heater upstairs, where there is only one heating vent. Finally, I note that the effort and investment have also reminded my family of the value of conservation and I am less likely to find lights and televisions left on in rooms that are empty.
The Disclaimer
We are very happy in our retrofitted home. It was well worth doing and the results have been better than we expected. At the same time, this was a significant endeavor. We had contractors working inside and outside of our house for several weeks. My lead contractor was great. His commitment to air sealing my house and eliminating leaks was extremely strong.
But a different house with different contractors will likely get a different result.
To keep up with CUB, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
03/29/17 | 4 Comments | Clean Energy Worked on My House