Fix a Leak Week

Did you know that this is Fix a Leak Week? The EPA launched its program with a demonstration in Phoenix. They set up two demonstration toilets, 2 facuets, and a shower head in a Phoenix residents driveway to demonstrate how much water can be wasted from leaks.

Fix a Leak Week in Phoenix

The EPA's Watersense site has lots of information on how to save water including information to consider if you are purchasing new toilets, faucets, or showerheads.

Rebates Available for Appliance Purchases

If you are an SRP customer and considering buying a new clothes washer or dishwasher before the end of the year, then you should check the rebate offers available by clicking on the following link. To qualify, purchases must meet the defined energy ratings.

SRP Appliance Rebate

I couldn't find a similar program for APS customers; but, if someone knows about one, please leave a comment.

How to Use Less Water and Save a Little Money

SRP's website has some water saving ideas. It indicates that toilets are the biggest water users in the house. So, if you need to replace a toilet consider getting one that is high efficiency. We switched to a water saving shower head at the beginning of the year and have been happy with it. The difference was not real noticeable and after a shower or two it seemed perfectly normal. If you have a water saving idea - share it here by leaving a comment. I'd particularly like to hear from someone who is using a smart irrigation controller to see if they are happy with it.

SRP Daily Energy Usage

When I got our electrical bill from SRP this week I noticed that it had a note on it - "As a customer with a Smart Meter on your home, you can go online anytime to My Account and view your daily electricity use. Sign up at www.srpnet.com/myaccount." So, today I went and signed up for an on-line account. Sure enough, I was able to click on "Smart Meter Daily Usage" and see our daily electrical use for the last month. It even breaks out off-peak usage and on-peak usage. I'm going to try to use this to see if we can reduce our electrical usage. It is a bit difficult to see if small changes at home will affect this because the outside temperature obviously has a big impact on electrical usage from day to day.

Not all SRP customers have a smart meter. For more information - Smart Meter.

You should also know that SRP has a discount in conjunction with ACE Hardware for 20% off new or rebuilt solar shade screens purchased between 7/1 and 9/30. For more information on this and other offers - SRP Offers.

Rocket Scientists Weigh In On Saving Gas

I found a pretty interesting article through Google Reader from Market Watch (The Wall Street Journal Digital Network). They interviewed some rocket scientists regarding whether it is better to drive with you tank full or half empty in order to save gas. It seems like the most common answer is the best thing you can do is make sure the tires on your car are inflated properly. Click on the link below to read the full article.

Gas Savings: It's Not Rocket Science

1975? 2008? Same Story on Energy

I was going through some old things I'd saved from my youth this past weekend and found some interesting things. Some things I have no idea why I saved them and others were still meaningful. One of the things I found was a page of Jan. 23, 1975 Des Moines Tribune that my aunt had sent me. It was an article about the author of the Nancy Drew books. What was more interesting to me now was an article written by John Shuttleworth on the same page about energy. Read this and see if you think it could have been written this year,

As I've stated before in this column, last year's so called "energy crisis" was only a mild foretaste of the chronic, desperate and very real age of energy scarcity that now looms over the world. Tomorrow, in short, appears rather bleak. Or does it? Perhaps we're not really facing a scarcity of the power we need to turn our machines or heat out homes after all. Perhaps it's just been so easy to burn coal, gas, and petroleum all these years that we've overlooked a far richer - and pollution free - source of power.

He goes on to discuss the appeal of solar power. We all know that solar power never took off in a big way following the 70's energy crisis. Hopefully, this time we'll make more progress in our ability to capture and use solar energy.

Saving Money on Gas

The US Department of Energy and the EPA have a pretty informative site on fuel economy, http://www.fueleconomy.gov/. You can compare cars side by side for mpg (miles per gallon), safety, greenhouse gas emissions, and more. There is information on hybrid vehicles and tax rebates offered, finding the lowest gas prices, how to drive more efficiently, and more. You can even calculate the mpg you get on your current car and compare to other people with the same or similar car. One example of the suggestions to improve your gas mileage is to make sure you aren't carry any excess weight. It may be time to clean out the trunk or back of your car and remove anything that doesn't need to be there.

Advanced Technologies for Remodeling Projects

I recently learned about PATH, Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing , which is coordinated by HUD. Their purpose is "dedicated to accelerating the development and use of technologies that radically improve the quality, durability, energy efficiency, environmental performance, and affordability of America's housing". There is lots of information available on their site including:

• Top 10 Remodeling Projects


• Homeowner information on Tax Credits & Rebates for Remodeling & Appliance Replacement


• Home Maintenance Tips


• Information for Home Buyers

plus more...

A/C Servicing - Who to Believe

SRP has a program where you can schedule a 16 point service check-up for your air-conditioning system for $29.95. You call them up and they send out one of their contractors. We decided to do this since it would less expensive than having the service done by the company that installed our a/c system. They came out today and gave us a whole list of things that they recommend be fixed up to and including replacement of the whole system. We had him give us a written list of what he thought was wrong with the system. This is a system that is currently working. So, it is difficult to know if what they are recommending is really needed or not. So, here are our next steps:

1) Look up the company who did the service today at the Arizona Registrar of Contractors site. I can see that there are two resolved complaints and that the company has been in business since 2002. I strongly recommend that you look-up any contractor on this site for any type of work before signing a contract with them.

To look-up contractor by license number (license number is usually in ads and on invoices as ROC#)
To look-up contractor by name

2) Someone else from his company will come out in a few days to give us estimates on replacing the whole system or just the inside air-handler. The outside unit was replaced several years ago but the inside unit is original to the house. It can be difficult to replace an inside unit only and make it fit with the existing outside unit.

3) After we have this written estimate, then we will have the company that replaced the outside unit come out and review the recommendations and provide an estimate for any work they feel needs to be done.

4) If we feel that it is needed, get an estimate from a third company as well.

5) See what we can do to validate the information provided. For example, he said the inside unit was working harder than it should. We can compare our electric bill to the typical electric bill for a house our size. SRP sent us a year end statement that shows we are paying more than the average amount for a house our size. Is this due to the a/c unit or other factors?

6) Research incentive programs and tax breaks that might help off-set the cost if we replace the unit. We already found one - SRP PowerWise Cool Rebate.

We'll keep you posted on our experiences. If you have any recommendations, please leave a comment.

Hot Water Heater

I bet your hot water heater has this dial too. It not only regulates the temperature of the water as you use it daily, but it can go on vacation too.

Why heat water all week long while you are in Maui. Or Des Moines, wherever vacation takes you. Set your water heater to a lower temperature or "vacation" while you are on vacation and save some cash. It's the green thing to do.

Live in Chandler, Thinking of Buying a new Washer? Wait!

According to the AZ Republic, the Chandler City Council voted to approve a plan to give Chandler residents a $100 rebate if they purchased a high-efficiency clothes washer after April 1. A mailing in March is to inform residents of the details of the program. Apparently, high-efficiency washers can save an estimated 7,000 gallons of water per year.

Articles from The Chandler Republic:

2/28/08 - Get a load of this: Rebates
2/29/08 - City Council Meeting Followup

Lowest Gas Prices

Did you know that there is a website where you can find low gas prices? It is PhoenixGasPrices.com . Scroll down the left side of the home page and you can do a search by city and type of gas. The prices are reported by members so they don't include all stations. But, with prices as high as they are, it might be worthwhile to find the cheapest gas near your home or on your way to work.

Energy Star Home Advisor

We are always looking for ways to reduce our energy bill. This time of year in Arizona it is not too bad; but, in the summer the air-conditioning bills can get pretty high. Energy Star offers a Home Advisor on its website, just click the link below. You answer just a few questions and it provides some recommendations for your home. A lot of the recommendations are pretty basic; however, it can still be a useful tool. For us, we should probably take a look at how much insulation we have in the attic.
By entering your ZIP code and some basic information about the types of fuel used to heat and cool your home, the ENERGY STAR Home Advisor can provide you with recommended home improvement projects to increase energy efficiency and comfort in the area where you live.

Energy Efficient Homes

Did you know that in Maricopa County you can call The Salt River Project (SRP) and Arizona Public Services (APS) and find out the untility bill for any residence? Let's say you like the home on Elm and the home on Ash. You're weighing the pro's and con's of each home and you want to know how much the electric is going to cost you. One home is larger and is a two story. You can ask the homeowner, ask to see past bills or call the utility company. They'll tell you what the high and low bill are for the year. Sometimes they'll have the average for you too.

Once you have these numbers, you then need to figure out if the home was lived in all year, how many people lived in the home and any other particulars. Now, if the one on Ash was vacant all year, the figures won't be very useful. However, if the home next door has the same floorplan you can call about that home.

SRP : (602) 236-8888

APS : (602) 371-7171

What else can you do to get an energy efficient home?

1. Look for Energy Star appliances.
2. Look for a programmable thermostat.
3. Look for dual pane windows. You can usually see a black rubber gasket between the glass.
4. Look for sun screens. Especially on the south and west windows.
5. Look for ceiling fans.
6. Look for an attic fan.
7. Look for tall trees shading the home.
8. A neighbor to the south or west that shades your home. Or, with condos and townhomes may even be attached to your home will provide a relief to your energy bill.
9. A neighbor above you (condos) will decrease your utility bill.
10. A garage on the south or west side will take the brunt of the summer heat.