When we first moved to Austin their environmentally friendly energy program was completely subscribed, mostly by the city itself, and there was no way to buy in. Now, they’ve extended their program considerably and have no waiting list to join. So we did. It isn’t cheap, but not terribly pricey either. With the normal program you have your cost per KWH which varies depending on how much energy you use, plus an additional fee on top of that which remains constant per KWH regardless of how much you use. With the GreenChoice program we swap out that second fee for another higher fee. They use the additional money to buy energy from renewable resources. According to the utility’s website these sources include wind, solar, and methane gas that is captured as it escapes landfills.
Our electricity usage varies considerably from month to month. If it is hot and we use the A/C we can use as much as 1819 KWH (like we did last August). In more temperate months we can use as little as 505 KWH (last November). So in month’s like August the plan will cost us $33.65 while in November-like months it will cost only $7.58. The interesting thing is that the GreenChoice fee is actually fixed until the end of 2022. So I suppose if we lived here long enough it might actually be cheaper (as the regular fee is bound to increase over time).
My goal is to see if we can break even for total cost, even with the 18% premium we are putting on ourselves for the eco-friendly energy. We have taken both large and tiny steps to help minimize our energy usage. These include:
- Replacing all of our attic ducting.
- Servicing the A/C unit to keep it clean and working as efficiently as possible.
- Regularly replacing air filters in the furnace.
- Replacing 10 incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (which I got for $.97 each by the way).
- Installing a programmable thermostat (and using it to turn off the system when we are away).
- Putting little foam thingies around all outlets and switches along the exterior walls to block airflow from outside (they go under the cover so you can’t see it).
- Making the computer and monitor sleep more quickly and turning them off when not using them.
We are seeing a difference already. In September we used $60 less electricity than we did in August. The weather was very similar. The reason? We replaced the ducting and cleaned the A/C coil at the beginning of September. Now the other changes we have made won’t have as dramatic an effect, but every little bit helps. We even have a few more things we’d like to try (time and money willing).
- Solar Panels for the house (Austin has a great rebate program, that when coupled with tax incentives almost make this worth while).
- Solar hot water heaters. (Similar incentives to the solar panels).
- An energy monitor like TED. You install these at your meter or breaker box and they wireless transmit your current energy usage to a small display. They have been shown to cut usage by about 15-20 percent.
- Installing more insulation in the attic.
- Sealing gaps in siding, around windows, and around doors.
- Installing an attic fan to help cool it down during the summers.
- Solar screens for the windows. They are basically big screens that go over the entire window and block out some of the light and add a bit of privacy. Not something you’d ever do in Washington, but light is something we have plenty of down here.
- Installing new energy efficient windows. Get this, I hear they have dual pane windows now. Two panes, what will they think of next?
Tags: Austin, Austin Energy, efficiency, Energy, energy efficiency, GreenChoice, solar, TED, The energy detective
light? what is that again?