Energy Saver Guy

Archive for April, 2010

Ice dams are caused by poor home insulation, here’s how to fix that.

Fact: With the high volume of snow and many nights below zero we have had this winter, many people are having problems with ice dams on their roof.

Why is it that when you drive down the street some homes have ice dams and huge icicles hanging down of their roof and some don’t?

Tip: Ice dams (large buildup of ice on the drip edge of your roof) form because:

1. There is snow on your roof

2. The heat escaping upwards out of your home (because of bad insulation and air sealing) turns the snow into water.

When the water hits the overhang part of the roof, there is no heat loss from below so it freezes.  It builds up more and more everyday.

3. In the old days they would say “you need more venting ” (to vent the heat loss out)

4. The only solution is to have your attic air sealed and insulated better. Spray foam insulation is used to seal penetrations

(pipes, wires, chases) and  in my opinion you need to blow in 12 to16 inches cellulose to achieve R50

5. Don’t forget to seal the attic hatch or stairs with a rigid foam “topper”. Video coming soon for this.

Savings: NYSERDA says that treating your attic is one of the fastest paybacks you can get.

For example; cost to air seal and insulate attic, $3000. Savings per year,$600. Time to recover your investment, 5 years.( pure savings after that)

Please pass the message on that full membership at EnergySaverGuy is FREE!!!

Stop by the site and watch some energy saving videos!!!

Check out the site for more energy saving tips,   www.energysaverguy.com

Check out our sponsor’s website  www.greenenergyny.com

Thank you for your support and participation.                                                                                                 If you have any questions please call Pat at 518-583-3341

Thank you for sharing this email with your friends.

Talk to you next week,

David, Pat and Cameron

Fact: Even on these cold winter days there is often hot sunshine pouring through your windows.

Tip: Open up the shades and blinds where the sun is shining in, usually the South and West sides of the house. When you place some dark objects in the sun, you’ll get full effect of the solar heating (something like a dark rug or a bigger dark colored book). Wait 15 minutes and you will be amazed how warm the dark colored object is!!

Savings: Free heat is freeheat no matter what way you look at it.

Check out the site for more energy saving tips,   www.energysaverguy.com

Check out our sponsors website  www.greenenergyny.com

If you live in National Grid territory, You can get a guaranteed better rate on electricity and natural gas by switching to Ambit Energy as your supplier.

National Grid still bills you so nothing changes except the price is guaranteed cheaper

Click customer enrollment on the top right and start saving today.

Let the sun shine in !!!

Weekly Energy Saving Action Tip from Energy Saver Guy.com

Savings: 3-4% per month on electric bill December through February

Fact: You refrigerator represents 5% of your electric bill.

Tip: Fill two large plastic soda bottles with water. Leave 3-4 inches at the top for expansion. Set them outside to freeze. Place one in the fridge and when it turns to water replace it with the frozen one from outside. This will keep your food cold, reduce your electricity use, save money and help nature.

In other news the Energy Saver Guy podcast has 5 shows for you to enjoy. Click the link below to go to the site and listen in.

1. About us

2. The power of self discipline with Patrick Donnovan

3. Business benefits of renewable energy with Jiminy Peak CEO Brian Fairbank

4. Sensing Sustainability with Sensri

As always please send us your feedback or questions.

Enjoy,

Pat, David and Cameron

High energy bills go away, today!

Energy Saver Guy.com

Hello Energysavers,

EAT WHAT YOU BUY!!!

FACT: According to National Geographic’s new magazine, Green Guide, “the average American household throws away some 14% of its food purchases, either because the food spoils or because we cook too much and toss the leftovers (2008).”

TIP: Check your refrigerator and shelves to see what you already have, pulling older items to the front. Then make a weekly menu before shopping, so you know how much you need, and include leftovers in your meal list. Plan on eating perishables first; keep fruit in site so it won’t be forgotten.

SAVINGS: Your family can save an estimated $11.30 per week. That’s $590 a year simply by eating the food you buy.

ENVIRONMENTAL SAVINGS: If all Americans reduce food waste by 10%, we wpould prevent millions of pounds of pestisites being applied to an area roughly the size of New Jersey.

Thanks,

Pat

Hello Everyone,

Autumn is in the air! Warm days cool nights. We have had a beautiful stretch of weather here in upstate N.Y. in the last couple of weeks.

Just a reminder from last week, it’s time to take the window A/C units out, which will cut down on air leakage as the heating season starts. This week we are going to talk about base load ( benchmark)  energy usages, in this area (upstate N.Y.) in late September, early October we do not use energy for heating or cooling. If you use natural gas for heating and electricity for cooling, your May and September  utility bills are usually the lowest.

Here’s an example, last May we used 350 kilowatts of electricity, last October we used 310 kilowatts . In August we used 550 kilowatts so 550 minus 330 equals 220 kilowatts for A/C in August.  220 x  15 cents per kilowatt equals  $30 for cooling during August. In December we used 480 kilowatts, the higher usage is because it get’s dark earlier in winter ( more lights) , the furnace fan is electric and  you also spend more time indoors using electricity  in winter. As a note, we do have an electric dryer (my bad)

Talking about natural gas, we use  8 or 9 therms in the benchmark months. We heat hot water and cook with natural gas. During February we used 150 therms of natural gas, so it took 140 therms to heat the house during February.

It is inexpensive to lower your ” baseload” usages because it’s mostly lifestyle changes. It is more expensive to lower your heating and A/C usages because you have to tighten up the house (reinforce the thermal barrier) by insulating, weatherstripping and air sealing.

Our baseload electric usage is very low because we worked at it a little bit, here are some of the things we’ve done.

-CFL lightbulbs (Watch video)

-Motion sensors on outside lights

- No exra  fridge or old  freezers

-Reduced phantom load (electronics either unplugged or surge protectors off)

-EnergyStar fridge (vaccuum coils in the back to keep them clean)

-Clean the dryer vent and hard pipe it to increase airflow and reduce energy use

-Shut off lights when not in the room

-Our base load natural gas is very low because we worked on it a little bit;

-We keep our hot water setting VERY low in summer and low in the winter

-We use the “vacation setting ” on the heater when away for more than a day

-We wash clothes in cold water

-We use our propane grill a lot, (outside living)

-Members please take a look at our energy savings calculator

- http://www.energysaverguy.com/members/156.cfm

I hope these few pointers help you and talk to you next week!

Any questions? E-mail me at answers@energysaverguy.com

Have a fun week,  Pat

High energy bills go away, today!