Tuesday, July 31, 2007
By J.B. Smith
Tribune-Herald staff writer
It’s not easy going green, but four Waco-area households are giving it a try.
The Tribune-Herald recruited four families to be guinea pigs in a two-month experiment to answer the question: How much energy can a Waco family save if they really try?
- Their home: About two years old, 3,100 sq. feet in Sun West subdivision
- Their bills: Electricity $150 to $440+; gas $22-$200+
- Their wheels: 2002 Chevy Tahoe, 2005 Toyota Avalon
- Who's living at home: Retired psychologist Frank and retired nurse Patricia
- Their home: 2,000-plus- square-foot house built in 1911 along Waco Drive
- Their bills: Electricity up to $400 in summer; gas stove and water heater
- Their wheels: 1996 Chrysler minivan, 1992 Honda Accord; Jose, an attorney, travels in a five-county area for work
- Who's living at home: Jose, Tracey and daughters, ages 5 and 10
- Their home: A 1960s ranch house in Woodway
- Their bills: Electricity is up to $400 in summer
- Their wheels: Hyundai Santa Fe
- Who's living at home: Omar, a computer tech and trademark official at Baylor University, Carolyn and 13-year-old son
- Their home: 3,000-square-foot 1980s home in Woodway
- Their bills: Electricity is up to $900
- Their wheels: A sport utility vehicle and a car
- Who's living at home: Gemma, a stay-at-home mom; Alan, a doctor; 4-year-old son; and college-age daughter
We didn’t have a clue how to answer that question when we came up with the idea of the Energy Diet. But we knew it was an important one in these days of skyrocketing utility bills and gasoline prices and growing environmental concerns. Despite advances in energy efficiency, America dwarfs the rest of the world in per-capita energy use, with the average American using twice as much as the average German, Japanese or Briton, according to the International Energy Agency.
Most of that energy comes from burning coal, natural gas or petroleum, which adds more global warming gases to our atmosphere. And in Texas, the growing appetite for electricity could mean more coal-fired power plants in this area, raising the specter of smog pollution.
One solution to pollution is to use less energy, either by investing in energy-efficient cars and electric devices or by changing lifestyles by driving less and living more simply.
“Therein lies one of the answers,” said Ramon Alvarez, senior scientist with Environmental Defense in Texas. “We can reduce the amount of fossil fuels we use by getting more juice out of every drop of oil and every piece of coal we burn.”
But how hard is it to cut back on electricity, natural gas and fuel? We’re about to find out.
Our families in July began tracking their gasoline purchases and miles driven, while taking weekly readings of their gas and electric meters. Now it’s almost August, traditionally Texas’ hottest month, and they’re going to try seriously reducing those costs.
TXU helped us get started by lending an expert to make house calls. The expert, senior communications manager Jon Bennett, drove down from Dallas with TXU spokeswoman Sophia Stoller to analyze each of our families’ energy habits.
Our families took Bennett’s advice to heart. They’re already pricing new air conditioners and insulation and making smaller moves to lower their energy bills.
The energy tour began in the new Sun West subdivision in the South Bosque area of Waco. Frank Graham, a retired psychologist, and his wife Patricia, a retired registered nurse, have experienced summer electric bills of $150 to $440, and winter bills around $200.
The house, at 3,100 square feet, is only two years old and was built to relatively high energy standards.
But Bennett found some ways to save: compact florescent bulbs, better roof ventilation, a lower water-heater setting, a more efficient swimming pool system and better shade. He suggested the Grahams build a trellis with vines to shade one side of the house.
Frank Graham embraced those ideas but balked a bit at the idea of raising his thermostat several degrees to 78. (A follow-up: Two days later, the Grahams were on their way to enacting no fewer than 15 of Bennett’s suggestions, including ditching the freezer in the garage. And they’re keeping the thermostat at 78 degrees.)
“Turning on fans has made a difference,” Patricia said.
Frank said the goal is to reduce their usual monthly bill by 10 to 15 percent. Meanwhile, Patricia said keeping up with fuel purchases for the Energy Diet has caused the couple to cut back on their driving and to use their Toyota Avalon more instead of their SUV.
Climate control culprit
Bennett had to do a bit of sleuthing at the home of Gemma and Alan Northcutt on Riverview Drive in Woodway.
Gemma explained that their elecricity bill went as high as $900 this past winter, with summer bills in the $400 to $500 range.
And yet, as Bennett noted, she was keeping her thermostat at a balmy 82 degrees on a summer day — higher than most people’s comfort level. But on further questioning, Gemma revealed she keeps the thermostat above 78 degrees year-round, even in the dead of winter.
Which explains the $900 bill.
“The only way you could get a bill that high would be to run it above 78 degrees and use electric heat,” Bennett said.
But what about those high summer bills? A trip to a side air-conditioning unit — an old, faded Rheem — answered the question.
“This is a very old unit,” Bennett said. “It’s a prime candidate for a change-out. You could get 60 percent more cool air for the same amount of electricity. Changing this out would pay for itself in less than five years.”
He estimated a new energy-efficient unit would cost about $6,000.
He said the Northcutts could also save by turning down their water heaters and running their swimming pool systems less frequently.
“A swimming pool can cost you about $100 a month in electricity,” he said.
- Buying an energy-efficient air conditioner with a SEER rating of 10 or more can cut costs. Be sure to keep your filter cleaned and keep vents closed in unused areas.
- Keep blinds closed on windows that let in afternoon sun; considering awnings or plantings to help shade your house. Install double- or triple-pane windows or consider tinting.
- Make sure you have adequate insulation in ceilings, walls and floors.
- Never underestimate the power of fans. They can keep you 4 to 5 degrees cooler than the surrounding air temperature.
- Insulate your water heater to reduce heat loss, and keep the temperature setting at 120 degrees.
- Refrigerators and freezers are most efficient when full, but not overloaded. Keep them out of direct sun and away from heat-producing appliances.
- Avoid opening the oven door to check on food. Opening the door for even a second or two can drop the interior temperature by as much as 25 degrees, wasting energy and increasing cooking time.
- Electric ovens retain heat after they're turned off, so turn yours off minutes before your dish is fully cooked and let it finish.
- Glass and ceramic pans cook as quickly as metal, at lower temps.
- Don't run your dishwasher unless it's full, and let the dishes air dry.
- Use energy-efficient light bulbs, such as compact fluorescent bulbs.
With such changes, the Northcutts might be able to reduce their typical summer bill from $500 to as low as $250 or $300, he said.
Gemma agreed to price air-conditioning units. She followed up on her word.
“I learned so much from the visit,” she said. “It was amazing.”
Burden of ‘beasts’
The home of Jose and Tracey Villanueva was a harder nut to crack.
As Bennett approached the porch of the old two-story house on West Waco Drive, he noticed vintage window units chugging away.
Turns out the Villanuevas live upstairs with their two daughters, ages 5 and 10. But during the day, they shut off the upstairs air conditioning and go downstairs, where Jose has his law practice and Tracey home-schools the girls.
Not a bad strategy to save money, Bennett said. But those old window units are about 25 percent as efficient as a new model, and probably contribute to 75 percent of last month’s bill of nearly $400. He predicted a bill of at least $450 in August.
“The window units are the beasts in this house,” he said.
But Jose said he’s not looking to replace them. The family owns several rent houses and may soon move out of this one and make it a rental house. In that case, he can’t justify investing in new units.
“If I spent a bunch of money for efficient units, the renter is not going to thank me,” he said. “They just want something that’s going to keep them cool. . . . I can’t pass that cost on.”
Still, the family hopes to keep their bill under $400 this month by more modest improvements, such as weather-stripping and tower fans, plus lifestyle changes such as shutting the air conditioning off in the heat of the day and going to the pool or the library.
Looking for more savings
Heading back to Woodway, the TXU crew finds Omar Pachecano at his early-1960s suburban-style home on Estates Drive.
The drapes are drawn against the heat, and in the bedrooms new energy efficient window units are purring quietly, supplementing the central air.
Pachecano, a computer and trademark specialist at Baylor, has been making lots of energy efficiency improvements to the house, including roof ventilation.
He shows off his teenage son’s room with its Xbox, speakers, computer, television and VCR all connected to a power strip, which can be turned off to avoid the “vampire power” that such appliances used even when switched off.
The Pachecanos had a bill around $180 last month for a house just under 1,500 square feet. Not bad at all, Bennett said.
“You’ve done a lot of good things here,” he said. “But there’s always room for improvement.”
By the time they parted, Pachecano agreed to consider adding insulation in his attic and floor. Since then, he has priced them and is moving forward with the project.
Pachecano family’s goal is to keep his bill under $300 in August.
The Pachecanos also hope this month to cut down on driving their car, a compact Hyundai SUV. He said they’re used to making 30 or 40 trips a week, but now they’re trying to do more errands on the way home from work.
And they hope to get their son to become energy-aware enough to remember to turn off lights when he’s not around. “We’ll be having conversations with him,” he said. “It’s going to be a constant repeat. But we’re as guilty as he is about those things.”
jbsmith@wacotrib.com
757-5752
