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How to Cut Your Energy Bills in Half
Yes, really. These five leak-plugging, warmth-trapping, efficiency-enhancing ideas could slice your home's energy usage by up to 50%.
By Josh Garskof. Excerpted from the October 2007 MONEY.
The run-up in energy prices is setting the stage for what may go down in history as the Great Thermostat Battle of '08. As winter sets in, the bill payer in your household turns the heat down. Another family member - typically the one who enjoys wearing shorts year round—promptly turns it back up. And so on. The result: a one-two punch of overheated fuel bills and chilly family dinners.
Sidestep this scenario by tackling one or more of the five home projects described here. They're listed in descending order of potential long-term savings on your energy bill; your own payback can vary significantly depending on where you live and how energy efficient your house already is. If your place hasn't been touched since Lindsay Lohan was born, doing all five projects can knock as much as 50% off your fuel bills—plus reduce what a certain moviemaking former V.P. would call your carbon footprint. The project costs range from $50 to $6,000, but you may be able to recoup the dough in energy savings in as little as three years. (If you can't recoup in seven years, a project probably isn't worth doing.)
To find out where your home's biggest energy inefficiencies are—and therefore which project is likely to give you the biggest bang for your buck—complete the online worksheet at hes.lbl.gov, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. For the most exact picture, hire an independent home energy auditor for $300 to $500 (go to resnet.us to find one). He'll analyze your home and give you a detailed report showing your biggest energy shortcomings and how to fix them.
Need more incentive? Three projects will earn you a combined credit of up to $500 on your 2007 federal taxes, provided they meet guidelines set by the International Energy Conservation Code (see energystar.gov for details). You qualify for the credit, however, only if you do the work before New Year's Day. So get moving—and save money, the planet and maybe even your marriage.
Don’t feel like tackling a big project? We’ve also included five easy-to-find energy savers, labeled Quick Fixes, that each cost $100 or less.
PROJECT 1: Upgrade Your Heating and Cooling Equipment
- Annual savings: As much as 25% to 50% on your fuel bills
- Up-front cost: $3,000 to $6,000 for new furnace and air-conditioning unit, including installation
- Tax credit: $300 for central AC system; $300 for water heater; $150 for furnace or boiler¹
There's no getting around it: Replacing your entire heating and cooling system is a big, expensive project. But if your system is more than two decades old, the new one should easily pay for itself in three to seven years. In the long term it can save you more money than any other home improvement project.
That's because most older furnaces, boilers, hot-water heaters and central air-conditioning units are shockingly wasteful. Your system might operate with as little as 50% efficiency, says Paul Scheckel, an analyst at the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, a nonprofit energy-efficiency services company. That means half the fuel you put in gets wasted. Thanks to tech advances, new heating and cooling equipment commonly operates with 80% to 96% efficiency.
Should you convert from an oil heater to a natural gas one? True, gas is slightly cheaper these days in most areas. But the cost of converting would probably be higher than the savings you'd get, says Scheckel. Compare the efficiency of various boilers and furnaces at energystar.gov. The higher the AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency) rating, the better.
NOTES: ¹Total credit cannot exceed $500. Go to energystar.gov for details.
PROJECT 2: Patch Leaky Ducts
- Annual savings: About 10% to 20% on your heating and cooling bills
- Up-front cost: About $50 if you do it yourself; $500 to $3,000 otherwise
Even if you have the most efficient furnace and air conditioner known to man, if the ducts that funnel that precious hot or cold air around your house are in bad shape, you'll still lose way too much energy. "Most air ducts are riddled with leaks," says physicist Max Sherman, head of the Energy Performance of Buildings Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Leaky ducts in your basement and attic are especially costly: Who wants to waste temperature-controlled air in parts of the house you rarely enter? Sherman says he's seen ducts that let a third of the air passing through the attic or basement escape.
This is an easy do-it-yourself project. Just run your hands along any ducts that extend outside your living space (such as the attic and outdoors) while the heating or cooling system is running, and feel for air leaking out. Don't try to seal those spots with duct tape, Sherman warns: It always comes loose. Instead, buy a puttylike duct mastic such as RCD Corp.'s No. 6 Mastic (about $33 for two gallons) and paint it on the gaps.
If you want the mother of all leak blockers, though, you'll have to hire a contractor who uses Aeroseal (to find one, go to aeroseal.com). Aeroseal is a high-tech material that gets blown into your ducts and literally finds the gaps, sealing them more effectively than you could the old-fashioned way. The drawback: It costs $500 to $3,000 and is available in only 24 states so far.
PROJECT 3: Seal the Envelope
- Annual savings: Up to 10% on your fuel bills
- Up-front cost: About $100 if you do it yourself; $500 or more if you hire out the job
- Tax credit: 10% of the cost of storm windows¹
Small cracks and gaps in your house's shell can allow about a third of the heat and air conditioning in a 10-year-old house to escape, says Scheckel. "The vast majority of these holes are easy to find and close up."
In the attic, look for gaps around anything that comes through the floor, such as pipes, fan ducts and electrical lines. Use an expanding-foam spray such as Great Stuff ($6 for a 12-ounce can) to seal them. (Next to the chimney you'll need to use fireproof sheet-metal flashing. Hire a handyman to do this for a few hundred bucks.)
Put your hand near wall outlets and switches around the house. If you feel drafts, turn off the power, remove their covers and use paintable caulk such as Dap Acrylic Latex Caulk Plus Silicone ($3 for a 10.1-ounce tube) to seal the seam between the electrical box and wallboard and any holes in the box.
Your regular storm windows are just fine; you probably don't need to buy the fancy double-paned replacement kind, says home energy auditor Jerry Thatcher of Energy Diagnostics in Valparaiso, Ind. "Salesmen say they cut heating bills by 40%," says Thatcher, "but there's actually very little improvement over single-pane windows with storms." Caulk cracks around window trim and apply self-stick foam weatherstripping such as M-D Building Products All-Climate Edam Weatherstrip ($16 for 17 feet) around and between the sashes.
NOTES: ¹Credit cannot exceed $200. Go to energystar.gov for details.
PROJECT 4: Add Insulation
- Annual savings: About 5% on your fuel bills (if you have some insulation already) to 25% (if you have none)
- Up-front cost: About $1,100 to insulate the attic and foundation yourself; about $2,000 to $4,000 for a handyman to do it
- Tax credit: 10% of the cost of materials¹
Insulation wasn't standard for newly built American houses until the mid-'70s oil crisis. So if your home is older than that, check out your attic floor—it's the place you'd be most likely to find the stuff. None? Consider adding it to the attic and the basement. Even if there's some insulation there already, you may benefit from adding more. At ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_04.html you can find out how much makes sense for your house.
You can do some of this job yourself. Let's say you live in a cold climate and your attic is uninsulated. You'll want to roll six-inch-thick fiberglass batts, such as Owens Corning R-19 Kraft-Faced Insulation ($30 to $40 for an eight-foot roll), over the entire floor. A 1,000-square-foot attic will need about 13 rolls. Wear a respirator such as a 3M Sanding and Fiberglass Respirator ($6 for two), keep the attic door closed and use a window fan.
In the basement, the place to insulate is where the masonry foundation meets the wood walls. For this job many experts recommend Touch 'n Seal—a polyurethane foam you spray on—rather than batting, in part because it's better at staying put. Cost: $600 for 600 "board feet," the amount you'll need for the typical basement, plus a $50 applicator gun.
Most people don't need additional wall insulation, but if you do, it'll cost you an extra $3,000 to $7,500. Crews remove one row of siding for each story of your house, drill holes in the sheathing every 16 inches or so and blow cellulose fiber (ground-up newspaper) inside. You'll need to touch up the paint when they're done.
NOTES: ¹Credit cannot exceed $500. Go to energystar.gov for details.
PROJECT 5: Replace Old Appliances
- Annual savings $50 to $150 on electric bills per machine
- Up-front cost About $500 to $1,500 per machine
Most major appliances (such as refrigerators and dishwashers) that are more than 15 years old are major energy wasters—and likely worth ditching in favor of this year's models. No need to guess, though. See for yourself with a gizmo called Watts Up? ($100 for the standard model). Just plug any of your existing appliances into the thing and it will calculate the machine's annual electrical consumption. Compare that number with electrical usage ratings on new products at energystar.gov and you'll know precisely whether upgrading is worth the money. (Speaking of worth the money: Because you won't need to use this device regularly, consider sharing it—and the cost—with your neighbors.)
The Quick Fixes
- Compact fluorescent bulbs: about $5 each
Annual savings: About $5 each
The biggest problem with fluorescents is that their bluish light can make even the healthiest homeowner look ready for his last rites. To minimize the operating room glare, says Jeff Miller, president-elect of the International Association of Lighting Designers, buy only name-brand bulbs that are labeled "soft" or "warm" light. Keep in mind that wattages are different than you're used to: The GE 26-watt compact fluorescent bulb ($5), for example, gives off as much light as a 100-watt regular bulb.
- Air filters: about $30 a year
Annual savings: Up to $100
That's if you change air filters in your heating/cooling system every three months, according to the U.S. Green Building Council. Choose a pleated model—it'll do a better job. Best of all, it's cheap: High-efficiency one-inch-thick versions for the home (pictured) run from around $85 to $100 for a case of 12, or roughly $7.50 apiece.
- Programmable thermostat: about $100
Annual savings: $100
Models like the Honeywell Seven-Day Universal Thermostat ($100) take the chill out of lowering the temp: Your house will automatically be cool when you're out or asleep, warm when you're around and conscious (and vice versa in the summer). You can easily install this little device without calling a pro, and it'll pay for itself in a year.
- Water heater blanket: about $20
Annual savings: $34 a year for a gas heater; $54 for an electric one
Water heaters made 10 years ago aren't well insulated. If yours dates to 1997 or before, it can lose about 3°F of heat an hour. Wrap it in the insulating Thermwell Water Heater Blanket ($20) and it won't have to work so hard to keep warm. The blanket will pay for itself in just a few months.
- Smart power strip: about $30
Annual savings: $30 per strip
Most electrical devices gobble energy even when they're shut off. Unplugging them is a hassle—so get the Smart Strip (about $30). Plug in your printer, speakers and other peripherals and they'll get power only when your computer is on. Same goes for TV and stereo equipment. Each strip will pay for itself in about a year.
© Time Inc. Reprinted with permission. Does not constitute MONEY endorsement of Lowe’s or any products/brands.