Cutting Fuel Costs At Home

URL Home Improvement Betsy Schiffman

Even though oil prices fell to below $28 a barrel on April 10, off of a high in late February of nearly $40, Americans are more energy conscious this spring than they have been in years. On the heels of the "my SUV is bigger than yours" years, recent high gas prices have been painful reminders of how much it can cost to heat one's home and fill one's tank.

Once again--or at least until prices at the pumps dip low enough--public attention is focusing on the cost of energy. As it does every time prices go up, there are growing murmurs about alternative fuel sources, ending dependency on Mideast oil, conservation, etc., etc. In the past these murmurs tended to subside with the return of low gas prices--but there could be a genuine hope that the current war might inspire more long-term changes on both a national and a personal basis.

Even if the war in Iraq is wrapped up quickly, experts maintain that it could be as much as several years before its oil network is brought back online. Moreover, continued political uncertainty in Venezuela and civil unrest in Nigeria have contributed to a depletion of global oil reserves and prices--so there's no guarantee that prices will stay down indefinitely. (There never is.)

So it's not a bad idea to start saving money on fuel at home now. Unfortunately, many at-home energy conservation solutions involve expensive or complicated equipment that most Americans don't need--or know what to do with. In many instances such devices may not pay for themselves in energy savings for years. However, there are many ways of conserving fuel that don't cost homeowners thousands of dollars.

Washington might be able to provide some help too. Last month Illinois Republican Rep. Jerry Weller introduced legislation called the "Save America's Valuable Energy Resources Act of 2003" that proposes allowing home builders/owners to obtain tax credits for building energy-efficient properties or improving energy efficiencies of existing structures.

We asked several experts for low-cost tips to conserve fuel at home and we found that you don't have to go into debt to reduce your energy costs. After all, it's hard to justify spending thousands of dollars (and in some cases, tens of thousands of dollars) to save what may be a negligible amount of money in energy savings.

High-end energy-efficient appliances, for example, are environmentally friendly--and they may actually pay for themselves over the long-term, but they're not for everyone. They're often the most expensive models on the market and, depending on each household's energy usage, they could take years to pay for themselves. There are, however, some inexpensive easy things that everyone can do. Here are some low-budget tips that could save you money.

Windows There's no way of avoiding the fact that windows simply aren't energy efficient. Cold air leaks through in the winter and heat comes in during the summer. Even window replacements--considered a highly efficient way to insulate the home, thus cuttting down heating costs--don't always pay for themselves. Remodel Magazine's 2002 Cost Vs. Value report (an annual study that looks at the average cost of remodeling jobs and the percentage of costs that may be recouped) found that on a national average, homeowners that replaced ten 3-by-5-foot double-hung windows spent on average $15,502 for an upscale job--and 77% of that cost was recouped in the resale value of the home. (Although, if one were to throw energy savings in the mix, the percentage of costs recouped could climb up slightly.)

"There's no doubt that new windows or storm windows will save energy," says Larry Spielvogel, a consulting engineer for trade group American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. "The concern becomes the amount of money saved relative to the cost of installation. Windows tend to be expensive to begin with and they are expensive to install."

Spielvogel also says that, in general, windows are massive energy suckers. Even the most efficient windows lose about ten times as much heat as a wall. So apart from removing all the windows in one's house, how can the average homeowner lessen window-related energy losses? Try weather-stripping all doors and windows. Weather-strip or weatherseal tape closes up cracks and crevices where cold air could be leaking in. Although it's not a permanent solution--it should be replaced every few years--it is very inexpensive to do, even if you hire a contractor to do it, and helps insulate the house. In fact, one package of ten feet of foam weather-strip should only cost a couple of dollars.

Air-Conditioning/Heating System Perhaps the easiest, least expensive and most effective thing homeowners in cold climates can do is replace their heater/air-conditioner thermostat. A basic thermostat can cost as little as $20 and a fancy programmable thermostat only costs $100. A thermostat may last up to 20 years--and could deliver up to 35% in annual energy savings. A high-end thermostat allows homeowners to program the thermostat to start and stop at certain times and, depending upon your heater and home, if you can install zone valves, you might be able to zone off the parts of the house that aren't being used and don't require heat/air-conditioning. Although wood stoves seem like an attractive alternative, they're hardly environmentally friendly--and for folks living in Western states, they may even be banned or there may be restrictions for usage.

Seeing how air-conditioners often account for 20% of energy usage, it's an important appliance to draw efficiencies from. An older air-conditioner can be made more efficient without being replaced. About 70% of all air-conditioning systems are retrofitted--that is, people upgrade existing systems rather than replace an entire system, according to Eric Evans, the vice president of air-conditioning at Copeland Corporation, a division of St. Louis, Mo.-based Emerson Climate Technologies (nyse: EMR - news - people ). An old air-conditioner may not be retrofitted for everything, however: For example, it may not be possible to upgrade an older air-conditioning system for zoning (zoning off different parts of the house at different temperatures).

The important thing to consider when looking at new air-conditioning systems is the compressor. Although a compressor can be replaced, they tend to be expensive. An efficient air-conditioner compressor, however, could reduce energy usage by 15%. One thing most air-conditioning users might do, if they can, according to Scott Ceasar, vice president at engineering firm Cosentini Associates, is install a $300-to-$400 air-conditioner soft starter (which limits the voltage used by starting the motor in a softer, slower mode). It could pay for itself in energy savings quite quickly--depending, of course, on whether one lives in a warm climate and how often the air-conditioner is used. Spielvogel also recommends insulating air-conditioning ducts or heating pipes to prevent energy from being lost

Water Heater One of the biggest energy suckers in the home is the water heater. On average, it accounts for between 15% and 25% of household fuel costs. If an annual fuel bill, for example, is $1,000, the water heater is responsible for between $150 to $250 of that. Replacing an existing water heater with something substantially more expensive (several thousand dollars) may cut down fuel usage, but it could take a long time before the energy savings cover the premium cost. What one can do, however, to reduce water-heating costs is install water-efficient fixtures, such as low-flow showerheads, which only spray 2.5 gallons per minute as opposed to the four gallons per minute. Also, Spielvogel suggests buying a water-heater jacket--which should only cost about $15 to $20--to insulate the heater and prevent energy losses.

Also, if the homeowner lives in a warm climate where the swimming pool is a central part of the home, a solar pool heater could pay for itself quite quickly. One homeowner told us, anecdotally, that while living in Florida he spent about $200 a month heating his pool and Jacuzzi. He took the plunge and bought a solar pool heater for several thousand dollars--and after two years it paid for itself.