Prepared for Enterprise Community Partners

Why Should You Care about Energy Use? It saves money Using less energy means lowering utility bills and saving money It reduces carbon emissions Carbon emissions are linked to climate change that results in more common severe weather events (hurricanes, heavy rains/floods, and droughts)

Why Should You Care about Energy Use? Electricity is generated from power plants

Why Should You Care about Energy Use? Image Source: Señor Codo via flickr under a CC license Power plants produce emissions that can be harmful to human health and contribute to global warming. GREEN & HEALTHY LIVING: Energy Conservation Enterprise Community Partners | 4

Why Should You Care about Energy Use? The more electricity used... the more Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emitted

CO2 Contributes to Climate Change & Affects... CO2 Contributes to Climate Change, Affecting... Eco-System Changes Catastrophic Weather Events Source: http://arcticportal.org/climate-and-sea Source: http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2006/09/adapt_to_climat.html Hurricanes Extreme Drought Source: http://skattertech.com/2005/08/hurricane-katrina-satellite-images/ Source: http://trendsupdates.com/poor-countries-oblivious-to-climate-change/

Major Home Energy Usage Space Conditioning (Space heating and Space cooling) together make up over half a typical home’s energy use (54%). Leaving windows open while the heater or A/C is a huge source of energy loss and equates literally to throwing money out the window Source: US EPA

Reading an Electricity or Natural Gas Bill There are different units of measurement for energy, depending on the form of energy Electricity is measured in kilowatt hours (kWh) Natural Gas, (used for heating, hot water, cooking, and sometimes clothes dryers) is measured in Therms 1 therm = 29.3 kWh

Energy Conservation Exercise 1 How Much Electricity Do I Use? Input your monthly electricity use (kWh) and cost($) into the worksheet Trainer should ask residents to take out their electricity bills and walk through each of the sections of the bill similar to the Video “How to read an Electricity Bill”. Portions of the Electricity bill that the Trainer should point out for residents are: -Total kWh used -Total amount due -Breakdown of charges – both for distribution and generation – so residents can see the component costs -Historical use (often included as a table displaying monthly kWh usage)

Ways to Save Energy Heating and Cooling If possible, avoid space heaters as they are very inefficient and become a fire hazard if something is placed on them Buy Energy Star air conditioner In addition to being energy inefficient, Space Heaters can be dangerous if people put something on them or a blanket slips over them.

Why You Shouldn’t Open Windows in Winter The Stack Effect Window is opened in an upper floor unit 2) Heat rushes out and draws warm air up from other units 3) Cold air is drawn from the outside to replace air Stack effect is the pressure driven flow produced by convection (the tendency of warm air to rise). The stack effect exists whenever there is an indoor-outdoor temperature difference It becomes stronger as the temperature difference increases. As heated air escapes from upper levels of the building, indoor air moves from lower to upper floors, Replacement outdoor air is drawn into opening at the lower levels of buildings. Source: Steven Winter Associates

Ways to Save Energy Ways To Save Energy Appliances: Look out for Phantom loads – little lights, LCD displays, and other indicators that remain ON even if your electronics are OFF Turn off computer when not in use (not just sleep…OFF) Use a timer or smart surge protector Phantom loads account for up to 10% of your appliance energy use—even when you’re not using them!

How a Smart Strip Surge Protector Works Smart strips sense when a master appliance is turned off and switches peripherals off When the master electronics are: Turned ON, all peripherals are turned ON Turned OFF, the peripherals are turned OFF Smart strip available in most stores Control Outlet: Plug your independent “Master” electronics here Dependant Outlets: Plug your peripherals in here

How a Smart Strip Surge Protector Works Smart strips sense when a master appliance is turned off and switches peripherals off “Master” electronics Peripherals DVD Television Cable box Surround Sound Printer Computer Monitor

How a Timer Strip Surge Protector Works: Timer strips allow residents to set times of the day to turn the outlets ON or OFF Smart strips and timer strips are available in most stores as well as online at sites like smarthome.com Timer Switch: Set the time of day to switch outlets ON and OFF Timed Outlets: Outlets switched ON/OFF depending on timer setting

Refrigerator & Freezer: Ways to Save Energy Refrigerator & Freezer: Clean the coils on the back of your refrigerator Ensure back of the refrigerator has several inches of clearance from the wall Clean out frost from your freezer Set your refrigerator to 37 degrees, no colder When purchasing, choose an Energy Star appliance Refrigerators and freezers work by expelling heat from the inside of the unit to the outside via the coils on the back. Anything that makes this job more difficult will require the unit to use more energy. -Dust that gathers on the coils acts like a sweater to the coil and prevents it from getting rid of heat -Not giving the unit enough clearance from the back makes it more difficult for cooler air to clear out the heat As weird as it sounds, frost on the interior of the freezer actually makes it more difficult for the freezer to freeze your food. It acts as an insulator between your food and the freezing unit. Source: http://factoidz.com/how-to-clean-refrigerator-coils/

Ways to Save Energy Water: Install an efficient showerhead (<2 gallons/minute) Less heated water down the drain saves energy Set clothes washers to use only cold water Showering with warm or hot water takes energy. Using less water from the showerhead means you use less energy. Changing from a showerhead that uses 4 gallons per minute (not uncommon) to one that uses 2 gallons per minute saves, 20 gallons of hot water during a 10 minute shower. Source: http://www.pricepfister.com

Ways to Save Energy Lighting: Replace incandescent lighting with compact fluorescent (CFL) CFLs use 66% less energy than incandescents Turn lights off when not in use

Ways to Save Energy Through Purchasing Energy Efficient Products Energy Star is an EPA program that identifies energy efficient products Look for the blue Energy Star label TVs Refrigerators Dishwashers Air Conditioners Computers Clothes Washers

Ways to Save Energy Through Purchasing Water Efficient Products WaterSense is an EPA program that identifies water-efficient products Look for the WaterSense label Toilets Showerheads Sink Faucets

Energy Conservation Exercise 2 WATT Do They Take? How is operational cost impacted by: Settings Wattage Usage Appliance Size Trainer to lead discussion about how operational cost is impacted by: Settings (computer monitor awake vs. asleep) Wattage (high vs. low) Usage (hours per day) Appliance Size (large vs. small)

This Resident Cut Their Bill in Half Before: Electricity used: 540 kWh Bill Amount: $107.99 After the Electricity bill reading exercise and the discussion of reducing electricity use, lets look at a resident who implemented a number of these measures.

…They Save Over $300 Per Year After: Electricity used: 216 kWh Bill Amount: $49.29 Discussion: Have Residents get into small groups to brainstorm how this resident saved this much energy. The answers are on the next slide. How did they do it?

How Did the Resident Cut Their Bill in Half? Switch all lights to Compact Fluorescent Replace Fridge with Energy Star model Replace Dishwasher with Energy Star model Line dry laundry

How Did the Resident Cut Their Bill in Half? PLASMA No space heater use No blow dryer use Non-plasma television Almost no A/C use in the summer