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Home Vitality Arrangements
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Home Vitality Arrangements Presentation What is Cool Urban areas? Neighborhood Groups Making a Pledge to Settle A dangerous atmospheric devation Giving Demonstrated Brilliant Vitality Arrangements something to do Building Nearby Coalitions Changing the National Cognizance What's the Issue?!
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Introduction What is Cool Cities? • Local Communities Making a Commitment to Solve Global Warming • Putting Proven Smart Energy Solutions to Work • Building Local Coalitions • Changing the National Consciousness
What’s the Problem?! Facing Down The Energy Crisis, Economic Recession and Some Really Big Questions How do we stop global warming locally? Do we need fossil fuels? Is there a cheaper, safer way to power this country? History of our Energy Crisis: Heat
*Conrad Schneider, "The Dirty Secret Behind Dirty Air: Dirty Power" June 2004 Coal Health Facts “Coal-fired power plants are among the largest contributors to particulate pollution, ozone, mercury, and global warming.” The American Lung Association Air Pollution from power plants annually cause*: 23,600 Deaths 21,850 Hospital Admissions 554,000 Asthma Attacks 38,000 Heart Attacks $160 Billion in Healthcare Costs
Facts about coal Coal accounts for 83% of CO2 emissions for electricity production It takes one pound of coal to power your TV for 4.5 hours One pound to power your lamp for two evenings The average US household uses 9.5 tons of coal per year
What Are You Gonna Do About It? Local Solutions to Global Problems Renewable Energy Investment Energy Efficiency Energy Activism
Xcel Energy Windsource Windsource is a no-hassle way to get all your electricity from Wind Power instead of coal. Subscribing to the Windsource program for around $12 a month helps to save carbon and build our renewable energy infrastructure Purchasing 800kwh of wind a month is equivalent to removing 9.7 tons of CO2 from the air!
Colorado Carbon Fund Offset your CO2 with local renewable energy! Giving back to the community Calculate your CO2 footprint 20$ per ton of CO2
Energy Efficiency Introduction Why Is It A Good Idea? What can I do on my own? How can I make a larger investment in efficiency?
Why is Efficiency A Good Idea? Easy-A lot of savings for a little effort Low Cost-It’s a secure investment Buy Local-Boost your local economy buy using your dollars on local contractors instead of non-local power companies Carbon Footprint-Efficiency saves our resources and slows global warming
Do-It Yourself! Top 5 Ways to Save Money on Energy Bills and Cut Down on your CO2 Footprint • 1. Program your thermostat or purchase a programmable thermostat. • 2. Install CFL Light bulbs • 3. Perform a basic energy audit • 4. Seal up leaks • 5. Lose/Manage Your Vampire Appliances
Setting your thermostat below 70 degrees will subtract 7-10% from your energy bill! Follow this tip to watch your energy bill begin to drop…
Do-It Yourself! Program your Thermostat • Make the thermostat follow your schedule. • When you leave the house for work every morning or when you’re sleeping you spend money heating your house. • Set your thermostat to be cooler in the winter and warmer in summer when you don’t need it.
How many CFL Light bulbs does it take to change the world?
Do-It Yourself • Compact Florescent Light bulbs Replace your old light bulbs with CFL light bulbs before they burn out. A regular light bulb spends 30% more energy than a CFL. In the first 3-4 months a CFL light bulb will pay for itself through reduced energy use. In the remaining 3-4 years of its life, one bulb will save you about eight bucks a year. CFL light bulbs typically hold 5 milligrams of mercury. A glass thermometer carries 1 gram of mercury. That is 200 times less mercury. You can recycle the bulbs at any Ace Hardware or Home Depot.
Do-It Yourself! Home Energy Audit- Find The Leaks! • Leaks are found in the walls, outlets, attic and floor of your home. • In the construction business this is called the envelope. • Keeping the envelope of your home sealed will be the key to saving money and energy.
Do-It Yourself! Home Energy Audit- Find The Leaks! Start with checking your house for energy leaks or windy drafts. I.e. windows, doors, light sockets, fireplaces… -Have you spent enough quality time with your attic?
Do-It Yourself! Home Energy Audit cont. Check your water heater to see if it is warm to the touch...consider turning it down to around 120 degrees. Make sure hot water pipes are well insulated, especially if they are located outside the house. Uninsulated outdoor pipes may burst!
Do-It Yourself! Seal Up The Leaks Use caulking on cracks Purchase a window kit Rubber weather stripping Foil tape or a glue called mastic fills leaks on your heating and air conditioning ducts.
Do-It Yourself! Replace/Manage Appliances
Do-It Yourself! The “Kill A Watt” power meter -finding “phantom” loads and “vampire” appliances - Predicts your power usage and bill!!! shut off all your appliances with 1 switch on a power strip
EnergyStar Upgrades Should I buy a new appliance? The easiest thing to do is check the age of your appliances. 1992 or older! Refrigerators – 10-14% of your electricity! Make sure when you are buying a new appliance that it is Energy Star rated
EnergyStar Upgrades Buying an EnergyStar Refrigerator/Freezer can cut energy usage in half! Monthly Savings: http://www.xcelenergy.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/docs/UsingElectricityAtHome.pdf Kwh Per Month Monthly Bill
The Dollar Breakdown Unmodified Household Heat loss Standard thermostat Energy Leaks Low Insulation Electricity wasted Incandescent light bulbs Phantom loads Inefficient, old appliances Efficient Household • Heat efficient • Programmable thermostat • Leaks are plugged up • Thick Insulation • Electricity saved • CFL light bulbs • Power strips • Energy Star appliances
$$ Rebates + Cheap Audits $$ A few ways to get some extra cash while being more energy efficient Don’t need to find all the rebates, you just need get the right contractor
Pro Audits from Xcel What to expect? Air Blower Door test Room by room inspection Thermographic scan $90 with Air Blower Door test $120 with Thermographic scan and Air Blower Up to 60% off normal price http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11190
Weatherization Assistance Program Recovery Act has added $79.5 million to Weatherization and Training in CO and has added 25 times more money to the Federal Weatherization Assistance budget for a total of $5 billion Income Level- At or below 200% of poverty for your local poverty level Per Unit Assistance-$6,500 instead of $2,500
Weatherization Assistance Goal of weatherizing 1 million homes a year. 15 million US households qualify. Apply now and tell your neighbors and friends to apply. If we don’t use it we lose it. Leaving money on the table could mean that congress doesn’t fund this program in future years
You can receive money back if you upgrade… Xcel Energy Rebates • Improve Insulation 20% of the cost up to $300 – You need to be at R20 or below to qualify • Hot water heaters $40-$100 • Natural gas furnace $80-$120 • Swamp Coolers $200-$500
Brought to you by the Obama Recovery Act… Recovery Act Efficiency Improvements-30% of the cost up to $1500 Windows, Insulation, Sealing Central Air, Heat Pump, Furnace/Boiler Geothermal Pump/Solar Water Heater-30% of the cost up to $2000 Biomass Fuel Stoves- $300 Credit Small Wind- 30% of the cost up to $4000
Think about Solar Photo by Gray Watson
Free Solar Energy…Well Almost A $15,000 investment in an average photovoltaic solar system can cover your home’s entire electricity bill, which also eliminates your home’s dependence on coal This means that your electrically generated carbon footprint will shrink to almost nothing! This $15,000 investment will pay for itself in about 8 years.
Solar Savings Xcel Solar Rebates $3.50 a watt Federal Tax Credits 30% of the cost of the system Rebates and tax credits offer as much as 50-60% in savings
Solar Savings An average home uses 7,500 kW/hr per year Average CO home’s electric bill is $780 a year and will increase 8-10% per year. Consider organizing a neighborhood solar bid for even bigger savings. Finding 4-5 other neighbors committed to solar can save you thousands more on each unit! Learn more at 1bog.org
Grassroots Change Starts With You • Changing the way we heat and light our homes is an easy task as long as we work together • We need to make our voices heard in city hall, the state capital and Washington DC. • Help others take advantage of the energy opportunities that you just learned about. • What can you do to make sure we have a safe, secure energy future?
Tell Your Story The more the public hears about efficiency and renewable energy solutions the more our energy use will change in this country. We need to share our success stories with the public. Post your stories on www.coolcities.us or email them to me.
5 Steps to Host Your Own Who do you know? Set Date and Time Inviting the participants Present at the meeting Follow up