Your Newspaper - HomeStyle - Brave New World

Posted on: June 8, 2011

Brave New World

Go ahead, take the leap: Three big home energy conservation moves to make right now

By Dan Rafter
CTW Features

For the long haul: Solar panel installations might seem expensive up front, but in the long run, homeowners will see a strong return on investment. Image courtesy Westinghouse Solar

Michael Kowal can't understand why every home, especially in southern climates, doesn't boast a metal roof.

Scott Hublou wonders why more homeowners don't install devices that allow them to monitor how much energy their home is consuming in real time.

And Gary Mull wonders when more homeowners will look past the upfront costs and embrace the long-term savings of solar power.

These men and the strategies they champion are at the forefront of home energy conservation.

Even though many homeowners say they want to be energy-efficient, they have a tough time committing to big changes. Here, these experts detail the benefits (and costs) of three major home improvements that can rake in major savings.

Cool roofs take the heat off

Not enough homeowners look to the top of their homes when mulling ways to reduce energy bills, says Kowal.

As president of Custom-Bilt Metals in Chino, Calif., he sells what he calls "cool" roofs, or metal roofs with coatings and paint that reflect more of the sun's energy. This means the attic under these roofs don't get nearly as hot during the warmer months. Home air-conditioning units, then, don't have to expend as much energy keeping these residences comfortable during the hottest days of summer. Kowal points to a University of Florida study showing that a home with a cool roof allows the air-conditioning unit to reduce energy use by 30 to 35 percent.

"That's an enormous impact on people spending $200 to $300 a month on electricity for the summer," Kowal says.

Metal roofs are also more durable than traditional roofs and can better withstand severe weather. Today's metal roofs are more attractive than older versions, Kowal says. His company, for instance, makes a cool metal shingle that looks like asphalt or composition roof shingle.

Cool roofs are more expensive to install. Kowal estimates that it costs the typical homeowner 10 to 20 percent more to install a metal cool roof. But Kowal also points out the payback time can be short. Homeowners in the South will save $80 to $100 a month on their electric bills during the hot months, he says.

[headingEasy energy monitoring[heading]

Hublou, one of the co-founders of Redwood City, Calif.-based EcoFactor, knows homeowners say they want lower energy bills, but they also don't want to change their behaviors to accomplish this. So EcoFactor offers software that can manage the behavioral changes for them.

EcoFactor software, which is sold through utility companies, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) service companies, phone companies and cable companies, studies the energy usage history of homes and outside weather data. Thermostats connected to EcoFactor software automatically adjust the ideal temperatures in a residence.

How busy is EcoFactor's software? It analyzes 24,000 points of data each day from inside individual homes, local weather stations and other geographic inputs to determine exactly how much energy a home should be using at any time.

According to EcoFactor, this monitoring can reduce heating and cooling costs by up to 30 percent. Homeowners don't have to do a thing once the software is installed.

"We think of our service as the next step," Hublou says. "We're like an autopilot or cruise control on your car. Our service does things for you that you'd do yourself if you were paying attention."

[headingSavings found in solar[heading]

Solar power isn't new, but many homeowners still consider it to be a futuristic and costly technology. Mull, who is vice president of marketing for Westinghouse Solar (Campbell, Calif.), wants to convince them otherwise.

According to Mull, homeowners can quickly recover the costs of installing a rooftop solar system on their residences. With the help of state and federal incentives, homeowners can expect to pay about $15,000 to install a 3-kilowatt rooftop solar system on their homes, which can produce enough energy to power a standard four-bedroom home.

Then, based on the average amount of energy used by a typical homeowner and the average yearly increase in energy costs, Mull calculates that this system would save about $130,000 in energy costs during its lifetime.

"I can't think of many investments that are better than that," Mull says. "The question I always ask homeowners is this: 'What could you do with $130,000?' "