Please share ideas for reducing energy consumption/JEA bill. (homeowners insurance, appliances)

[904jax]

JEA has raised its rates approximately 69% since 2004 and is set to raise its rates by nearly 10 percent in October. Dramatic rate increases have made energy consumption a major concern for many JAX residents.

Please share your ideas for reducing energy consumption and saving money on your JEA bill.

Here are the changes we made to reduce our energy consumption by 25-30%:

1) Tinted windows subject to direct sunlight.
2) Replaced the majority of light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs.
3) Regularly replace our HVAC air filter.
4) Installed a water amplifying shower head.
5) Set AC at 81 during the day and 78 at night.
6) Planted Bahia grass, which requires almost no irrigation water and fertilizer.

A few notes about our changes:

a) The water amplifying shower head reduced our water consumption by 1000 gallons per month in addition to reducing the amount of electrify required to heat hot water. Water amplifying technology has improved substantially over the past few years. There are many water amplifying shower heads available on www.amazon.com.

b) Compact fluorescent light bulbs have also improved substantially over the past few years in terms of light quality and features, such as being dimmable. Compact fluorescent light bulbs have disposal issues, but many models last nearly a decade making it less of an issue.

c) Our JEA bill ran $207 in August, 2010 in a 1750 sq. foot house with my wife at home.

[fsu813]

i think you covered most of it- only other ing i can think of is insulation. JEA will come out and do a check of your house to see where air is leaking out so you ca insulate it.

[KerryB]

Well, the real kicker would be less living space with lower ceilings. Coupled with good insulation & some solar panels, you'd basically be almost totally off the grid if you did it right & your appliances were close to self sufficient. Then you could tell JEA to go fly a kite. If you produced enough energy & had a small electric car that charged at home, then you'd really start to stick it to em.

I really think our energy use/gluttony is gonna end up biting us all in the booty eventually if we don't start doing things better & more efficiently.

[stevep]

I'm not recommending doing this, because these are costly upfront but.... you can check the SEER rating on your ac unit, because that's one of your biggest electricity draws. The higher the SEER, the more efficient your unit is, so an older, lower seer unit will cost more money to run. You can also look into a tankless water heater. Also, the new washing machines/dryers are more efficient.

[Robyn55]

Have someone check out your A/C duct work. Duct leaks are the number one source of energy waste in Florida.

Try window coverings that control sunlight in rooms. I still use old fashioned plastic vertical blinds because I can control the sun - and the sun doesn't kill them (ours are 15 years old - and the only maintenance we've done in 15 years is taking down the slats a few times and washing them with a hose and sponge).

A tankless water heater will work for a lot of people. We looked into them when we replaced our water heater about 4-5 years ago. Back then the tankless heaters had problems when you had multiple water using things in action at the same time (like the washing machine - the dishwasher - and a shower). Perhaps the tankless water heaters are better at "multi-tasking" now.

Turn down the temp on the hot water heater if you have it set really high. Install/use a programmable thermostat to get your desired temperatures. Look into zoned A/C (more suitable for new construction than retrofitting old construction IMO). Get energy efficient units when you need to replace your old units (also look into 2 speed fans on A/C units - there used to be variable speed fans - but there weren't any when we replaced our A/C unit about 3 years ago). Run appliances that throw off heat (like dryers) when it's relatively cool (to save A/C in the summer - and heat costs in the winter). Heating/cooling and hot water are the things we use most of our power for. A normal person can probably achieve 80% of maximum power cost savings tinkering with these 2 things.

I don't like CFLs because of the quality of the light and the disposal issues. Just bought my first ceiling LED bulb. Only cost $70 . I don't think the technology is ready for prime time yet. So I'll use this one - and take another look at what's out there in a year or so.

And finally - keep fingers crossed for relatively mild summers and winters (haven't had those lately)! Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by KerryB

Well, the real kicker would be less living space with lower ceilings. Coupled with good insulation & some solar panels, you'd basically be almost totally off the grid if you did it right & your appliances were close to self sufficient. Then you could tell JEA to go fly a kite. If you produced enough energy & had a small electric car that charged at home, then you'd really start to stick it to em.

I really think our energy use/gluttony is gonna end up biting us all in the booty eventually if we don't start doing things better & more efficiently.

I agree about really high ceilings - especially those 2 story monsters. But if you're going to use fans (I don't inside but many people do) - you'll want ceilings that are about 10 feet or a little more.

I still have problems with solar panels due to windstorm insurance requirements. I have an insurance company windstorm inspection coming up - and I'll ask the person who comes out to the house what the story is these days. I get pretty sizeable savings on my homeowners insurance as a result of windstorm discounts. Wouldn't make much sense to install something that saves $X in power costs if I had to pay 2X extra to my insurance company. But - like I said - the inspector will be an expert - and I'll see what the story is. Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by stevep

I'm not recommending doing this, because these are costly upfront but.... you can check the SEER rating on your ac unit, because that's one of your biggest electricity draws. The higher the SEER, the more efficient your unit is, so an older, lower seer unit will cost more money to run. You can also look into a tankless water heater. Also, the new washing machines/dryers are more efficient.

I got a new washing machine about 2 years ago (15 year old Maytag died). And the writeups on those new "energy efficient" front loaders were pretty dismal (perhaps they saved a little energy - but they had lots of other problems). Also - they cost a ton. You'd probably wind up in the same place in terms of $$$ by buying a cheaper unit - using warm/cold water - and washing only full loads (so you run your machine less often).

FWIW - with the new A/C units - people will run into problems replacing an older compressor with a newer Puron unit if they have an older air handler designed to work with Freon. It's a really big investment replacing the whole system. So I'd advise most people to wait until the old system is dead before replacing it (takes quite a while to amortize the cost of a new system even if it saves some on the electric bill). Robyn

[EricBoyd]

I'm of the belief that any reduction in our energy consumption will be offset by rate increases. While it probably won't be dollar-for-dollar, these utility companies still need income to operate. Just because consumption might go down, the power generators and electrical distribution equipment must still be maintained and repaired to stay in operation.

Sorry, I know that was off-topic. Carry on...

[Ryde41]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

Have someone check out your A/C duct work. Duct leaks are the number one source of energy waste in Florida.

We just changed both our a/c units and found several huge holes in the duct work. Hopefully our electric bill will be lower now that the duct holes are repaired and the units are more efficient. We also recently covered some transoms with wood blinds. I don't know why we waited 18 years to do it! But now they are covered. It feels cooler in there already.

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by EricBoyd

I'm of the belief that any reduction in our energy consumption will be offset by rate increases. While it probably won't be dollar-for-dollar, these utility companies still need income to operate. Just because consumption might go down, the power generators and electrical distribution equipment must still be maintained and repaired to stay in operation.

Sorry, I know that was off-topic. Carry on...

Not OT at all IMO. And don't forget that outfits like JEA have large amounts of debt to pay off. Robyn