Get Started

First things first! Lowering your energy usage BEFORE you install a PV system will save you money and reduce your carbon emission load. A PV system costs thousands of dollars. For every dollar you spend increasing your energy efficiency, you will save $3 to $5 dollars on the installed cost of your new PV system. Why? Because by decreasing your electrical load you not only decrease your utility bill but also decrease the size of the system needed to meet your needs. It is that simple!

Here are some basic concepts to get you started saving energy and money. Even if you never put in a PV system, you can make a difference by conserving.

·         TURN OFF all lights and appliances when not in use. Your parents nagged you but they were right! If you left two 100 watt light bulbs burning needlessly 2 hours a day, that would add up to 146 KW a year!  It is amazing how those watts add up. Turn things off!

·         REPLACE incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. They use ¼ to 1/3 the energy and they typically last 7 to 10 times longer. If your home has ten 100watt bulbs being used an average of 3 hours per day that adds up to almost 1100KW annually. If those bulbs were replaced with compact fluorescents, you would use approximately 330KW, saving $770KW! And don’t forget that the typical incandescent bulb would have burnt out by years end. The compact fluorescent would probably last another 7 to 10 years!  Instant savings at minimal cost.

·         UPGRADE your old appliances with newer ENERGY STAR rated appliances that consume much less energy. Refrigerators may look the same on the outside, but differences in the insulation and compressor motor efficiency can save you 1000’s of KW/year!

·         ELECTRIC WATER HEATERS are often the biggest single annual electrical load in a residence. Older units are poorly insulated and often the piping is too. Retro insulation helps. An ON DEMAND heater may be a solution. Common in Europe, they are available in both gas and electric versions.

·         WASHER & DRYER:  Washing and drying clothes use substantial energy to heat the water and run the machines. The typical American clothes washer uses about 40 gallons of water per load. Consider a horizontal axis washer that uses about 20 gallons of water per load.  And remember, you have to heat that water so every gallon you save is lowering your heating costs.  Some machines have very high spin speeds which wring out almost all the water before the clothes go into the dryer, reducing drying time and further reducing energy costs. Putting up a clothesline is inexpensive and the smell of sun-baked clothes sure beats dryer sheets. Let the sun do the work for you!

·         PHANTOM LOADS: Have you ever wondered why some appliances like your TV, DVD, stereo, etc. turn on instantly? That is because it they are always “on” and drawing a small amount of electricity. Your computer and it peripherals are the same. Most homes are full of these hidden energy consumers that run 24 hours a day. An energy audit using a watthour meter will reveal the loads for each item in your home. You can easily be using 100 to 300 watts PER HOUR!  That adds up to 3 to 9 KW per day for the convenience of instant on.  One simple solution is to install a power strip in your entertainment  or computer center that allows you to turn off all these appliances when not in use with one switch.  

·         ELECTRICAL ENERGY AUDITS can identify where your power is going or being wasted. You can do it yourself RESOURCES or you can hire DCSE AUDITS to do your audit. 

This list is by no means complete and we hope you will be encouraged to explore the RESOURCES listings to find more ways to reduce your energy footprint.

If you have read this far perhaps you will implement some of these steps to save electricity and make your own contribution towards mitigating the growing planetary carbon overload. Your PV installer should be working with you to lower your electrical consumption BEFORE you put in your system. To do otherwise is just spending money you don’t really need to spend!