Comments on: Energy Efficiency Saves You Money, Really!

By: San Diego Loves Green – 9 Energy-Efficient Home Gadgets For 2013

San Diego Loves Green – 9 Energy-Efficient Home Gadgets For 2013 — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:02:00 +0000

[…] these costs. There are a variety of smart thermostats available on the market. Some come as part of a complete energy management system that allows you to operate the thermostat from your […]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:18:00 +0000

We have to be realistic about our statistics as well.

If you want to tell someone who lives in an uninsulated house how much they would save, how long it would take to recover the investment, you have to start with how much they spend for electricity and other energy inputs now. You can’t use country-wide average expendatures. Their bills will be much higher than average.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:45:00 +0000

No one is disputing the fact that saving energy will have a positive impact on our environment. Energy efficiency in particular, is something that is easy to implement by anyone, however, we should be careful not to over-promise, or else we risk alienating people, which will be counter-productive. We need to be realistic in our expectations.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:08:00 +0000

Im really not sure that PK47 wants to understand what you are trying to say. These figures match with many other authors. Saving Energy is a viable solution to many of the environmental problems we have at present.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:09:00 +0000

.What you really need to look at is the total energy bill for an non-insulated house located where there are climate extremes.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:53:00 +0000

Let’s take Florida, one of the worst states in terms of energy use, with almost 9 months of non-stop cooling, and 3 months of intermittent heating requirements. Furthermore, assume that heating/cooling accounts for 50% of the average $130.52 monthly electricity bill. (In Florida heating/cooling is almost exclusively electric, no heating oil or gas).
Even in the worst case scenario, our savings will be no more than $16.32/month ($130.52 x 50% x 25%). A $1,500 High R-Value insulation job can be recovered in about seven and a half years. This is 4 times longer than what the author(s) claim. The numbers simply do not agree with what is claimed here. Efficiency is great, but at what cost?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:22:00 +0000

You’ve got to consider the heating oil, natural gas, etc. as well.

And an average bill doesn’t tell the entire story. Someone living along the coast in CA is going to use little electricity for AC. Someone living in Texas, Oklahoma, etc. is going to be paying a lot.

What you really need to look at is the total energy bill for an non-insulated house located where there are climate extremes. Using a national average is not meaningful as many houses are already insulated, others use little electricity for heating/AC.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:32:00 +0000

I am not suggesting anything. The US EIA claims that the average electricity bill (for all 125 million homes in the US) is $103.67. That is the TOTAL average for all seasons, including heating in the Winter, and cooling in the Summer. Clearly, the cooling/heating cost is less (40% ??), than the total, or about $41 per month.

http://38.96.246.204/cneaf/electricity/esr/table5.html

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:13:00 +0000

Are you suggesting that the average home in places which experience cold winters spend only $100 per month for heat?

Are you suggesting that the average home in places which experience hot summers spend only $100 a month for AC?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:06:00 +0000

We all love energy efficiency, but the claims made here are nowhere near what the actual savings will be in practice. Let’s take home insulation for example, which is the cheapest efficiency improvement that we can make: An average house will need approx 1,500 sq feet of insulation at a cost of about $1,500. We can assume that we did an excellent job and we can expect from now on to be saving 25% of our Heating/Cooling costs, which account for about 40% of an average home’s electricity bill of $100, therefore our monthly savings will be $10.00 (100 x 0.4 x 0.25). At this rate, we will recover our initial investment in about 150 months, or more than 12 years. Of course we will be saving money, but what about our investment? Isn’t it the same as if we are giving back all of our savings for the next 12-13 years? What about inflation? What if we move, as most people do, before our investment is fully recovered?

Where did the author get the information that we can recover our initial investment in just two years? Can you give us some specific examples?

By: Anumakonda Jagadeesh

Anumakonda Jagadeesh — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:27:00 +0000

Energy Efficiency is the need of the hour especially for developing countries. Each Kwh saved is Each Kwh generated. WASTE NOT AND WANT NOT SHOULD BE OUR POLICY.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
Wind Energy Expert
E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com

By: The Green Jobs Source for Tuesday, January 10, 2012 « Blue Green Alliance Blog

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:22:09 +0000

[…] CleanTechnica blog looks at how being more energy efficient can save big money, and how energy efficiency […]