Rethink Energy

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This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy team (AIRE). This county program helps you make smart energy decisions that save you money and leaves a lighter footprint on the environment. Got a question? Email us at [email protected]!

Snow has definitely arrived! What can you know with snow? Try this!

Look at your roof and the roofs of surrounding homes. A light snow (not 20+ inches!) can tell you a lot about the efficiency of a home. About an inch of snow is best to identify issues. Fast-melting roof snow can be a symptom of inadequate insulation or warm air leakage into the attic — or both.

Not all areas of missing snow are indications of energy issues. Hone your eye by taking note of tree limbs over a home, high winds, and areas where direct sun may create funky patterns on a roof. Nevertheless, this is a quick way to take inventory of what might be happening in your home.

We talked about energy audits previously. Uneven snow patterns on your roof would be a good reason to give an energy audit professional a call. They can examine a home and make informed recommendations to improve insulation and comfort. An audit can uncover other energy efficiency issues as well.

Stay safe out there and keep an eye on your roof. It might be trying to tell you something.

The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy team (AIRE). This county program helps you make smart energy decisions that save you money and leaves a lighter footprint on the environment. Got a question? Email us at [email protected]!

You’ve heard it all before at year’s end. Blah blah blah make a change. Blah blah blah eat more kale. Blah blah blah save money, set a goal, make a resolution, etc.

Before you pop some champagne and celebrate the new year with friends, it never hurts to start thinking about the year to come. With the landmark Paris climate agreement, our global community is taking unprecedented action together toward a more sustainable planet. Our collective action is where the rubber meets the road.

Resolutions related to money and health top most resolution lists, but we’d like to ask you to rethink how those can relate to energy. Regardless of the personal changes you decide to make in your life, the New Year is a great time to join other Arlingtonians and create a climate of change in our community.

“What can I do to save energy?” That is one of the questions we hear most.

Take one minute and click this link to take the Winter Rethink Energy Challenge! Reducing your energy use is easy, saves you money, and helps make Arlington a more sustainable community.

Arlington’s energy team challenges you to rethink energy over the coming year by trying one or more of the Rethink Energy Challenge tips. Come join us!

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy team (AIRE). This county program helps you make smart energy decisions that save you money and leaves a lighter footprint on the environment. Got a question? Email us at [email protected]!

A treasurer of an Arlington condo asked us what utility actions can be taken in a condo building. Contrary to popular belief, there is zero correlation between the age of a building and its energy performance. What matters most is how the building is managed.

Let’s dig into this a bit.

Condos are some of the most sustainable places to live. These units usually require less energy to heat and cool than single-family homes because they share walls, floors, and ceilings. Multifamily properties also tend to be located on Metro corridors, making it easier for residents to walk and take public transportation. That’s all good news.

The downside of condo living is that most condos charge a flat association fee. This means that there is no incentive to use less water, or energy if also included. This is called the ‘buffet effect.’ That isn’t necessarily great news.

Why should you care how much water or energy your neighbor uses? Higher utility bills mean higher association dues. Condo prices and association fees generally have an inverse relationship, so higher association fees often depress the unit sale price of a condo.

How can you protect your investment and keep costs down? Here are three ways to start:

Track utilities — You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Use a free tool like ENERGY STAR’s Portfolio manager. Apartment and condo buildings can now compare their usage to a national database using ENERGY STAR’s 1-100 scale. Utility usage should be a regular item at condo Board meetings.

Offer rebates for residents to retrofit water fixtures — Water bills are often the highest cost utility for condos and represent a huge opportunity. Hyde Park is an example of an Arlington condo that successfully offered rebates to residents to replace toilets with high efficiency models. They ran the program for three years. Other properties have given out or installed water-saving faucet aerators free of charge for residents that voluntarily agreed to install them.

Replace lighting with efficient LED lighting — LED lights use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs and last 25 times longer. Ballston Park is a good example of an Arlington Condo building that is proactively managing their building to keep costs down. In 2011 they performed a retrofit of 330 common area lights from incandescent to LED bulbs. They reduced the wattage of their bulbs by 85%. Some properties that have one master electric meter for all units have also handed out free LED lights to each unit to raise awareness of this issue. Dominion Power is currently offering lighting rebates to properties to retrofit their common area or garage lighting.

Would you like a member of the Rethink Energy Team to attend you Board Meeting to discuss energy? We would love to support your property to take action and save money. Email us at [email protected].

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy team (AIRE). This county program helps you make smart energy decisions that save you money and leaves a lighter footprint on the environment. Got a question? Email us at [email protected]!

• Why get an energy audit?
• What does it cost?
• When should I do it?
• What is the payback?

Here is more information to nosh on over the holiday weekend. Don’t let energy waste gobble up your savings.

Why get an energy audit? An energy audit is still the best way to pinpoint the critical energy inefficiencies in your home, create a plan to fix comfort issues, and help you to make a decision when buying a home.

Who should I call? Thanks to all of the ARLnow readers who shared their experiences regarding energy audits in the comments section of our last post. Please continue to share your experiences. Who did your energy audit? What did it cost? Did you make changes? Are you more comfortable? Have you seen a difference in your utility bills?

We recommend that residents use a BPI certified auditor. These highly trained energy specialists ensure that your energy auditor will be knowledgeable and well trained. Search here for an auditor in the area.

What does it cost: Cost depends on the size and complexity of your home. For a ~2,000 sq. ft. Arlington home an energy audit will general run between $400 – $600.

When should I do it? The dead of winter and heat of summer are both ideal times to get an energy audit. The temperature difference between the outside of your home and inside is more dramatic. This allow for thermal cameras to more clearly detect issues with insulation and find drafty air leaks.

What is the financial payback: Every home is unique. The audit will provide you with a detailed report that explains how much air leakage you have along with a prioritized list of actions you can take. Each proposed action will include an estimated financial payback. Payback also comes in less tangible ways like a more comfortable and safer home.

Poll: Which of these best describes your house in the winter?

If you clicked anything but Just right, consider an energy audit this winter!

These photos (above) are good illustrations of what the thermal imaging camera sees during an energy audit. Notice the color bar to the right of both photos showing the colors that correspond to the surface temperature. These images both show missing insulation that would not be visible during a visual inspection.

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy team (AIRE). This county program helps you make smart energy decisions that save you money and leaves a lighter footprint on the environment. Got a question? Email us at [email protected]!

We’ve had an overwhelming response to our first few posts with over 15,000 readers and many questions submitted. Thank you! Please keep sending your questions to [email protected].

It’s amazing that you can buy a $25,000 car and it comes with a label telling you how much fuel it will use (in miles per gallon). When you buy a >$500,000 single-family home in Arlington you have no idea if the utility bills will be $200 a month or $1,000 a month. Let’s rethink that.

We often hear residents describe drafty rooms, high utility bills, temperature fluctuations from room to room, or other home energy issues. Sound familiar? An energy audit is still the best way to pinpoint the critical energy inefficiencies in your home, create a plan to fix comfort issues, and help you to make a decision when buying a home.

The one question we get the most about an energy audit is: “Who should I call to do an energy audit on my home?” We’re the government and we get our hands slapped if we recommend one vendor over another. Instead, we would love to hear who you used and what your experience has been with an energy audit. Post a comment below and share your energy audit experience. Let’s see if we can make the comments the Angie’s List equivalent for energy audits in Arlington.

Your neighbors want to know:

• Who did your audit and were you pleased with them?
• What did you spend on the audit?
• Were you surprised with the findings of your audit?
• Did you make changes?
• Are you more comfortable?
• Did you see a difference in your utility bills?

One thing we do recommend is that residents use a BPI certified auditor. These highly trained energy specialists ensure that your auditor will be knowledgeable and well trained. Search here for an auditor in the area here.

Don’t forget to post a comment below and share your energy audit experience with your neighbors.

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy team (AIRE). This county program helps you make smart energy decisions that save you money and leaves a lighter footprint on the environment. Got a question? Email us at [email protected]!

1. Energy vampires are in all of our homes.
2. They suck (energy), not just on Oct. 31, but all year round.
3. You can easily identify and stop them (no garlic or wooden stake necessary).

Happy Halloween ARLnow readers. Do you have vampires lurking in your home?

Yes, energy vampires exist in all of our homes! Believe it or not, electronics actually use energy while they are switched off or are in standby mode. They’re called “energy vampires” because they “suck” energy, the lifeblood of your home, all year round.

The typical American home has 40 devices that are continuously sucking power. It’s only a small amount of power per house, but it adds up. This collective vampire power accounts for around 10% of all electricity used in U.S. homes, or an estimated $3 billion dollars wasted annually.

Some of the main energy-sucking culprits in your home could be your TV, stereo system, router, game console, microwave oven, or cell phone charger. Many culprits have clocks or lights that continue to operate after the appliance is turned off. Other devices may give no indication that they are using power when not in use, such as your DVR.

Arlington libraries can help! They have Kill-A-Watt devices that can be checked out to see what is sucking energy at your house, how much, and what it is costing you. This is fun for kids and adults (school science experiment — hint hint).  

How to stop energy vampires:

• Unplug devices when not in use.
• Plug your devices into a power strip and turn the strip off when not in use.
• Buy ENERGYSTAR appliances
• Activate sleep mode instead of a screen saver on your computer

Saving energy and money is a treat you can enjoy all year long.

Please send your energy questions to [email protected] and don’t forget to take the Rethink Energy Challenge!

Reducing your energy use is easy, saves you money, and helps make Arlington a more sustainable community. Arlington’s energy team challenges you to Rethink Energy over the next month by trying these simple actions — you could save $50 per year!

The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy team (AIRE). This county program helps you make smart energy decisions that save you money and leaves a lighter footprint on the environment. Got a question? Email us at [email protected]!

How many Arlington County employees does it take to change a light bulb? I’m sure the inventive ARLnow readership will all have a field day with this in the comments. We look forward to reading your responses. (insert popcorn eating gif here)

The number of County employees it takes to change a light is up for debate, but in reality the County has changed more than 10,000 lights from old inefficient lights to new LED lights. The County is saving more than a million dollars annually from these upgrades.

The next time you are at the Ballston Common Mall parking garage, look up. The County just upgraded 1,675 lights to LEDs. The garage is much brighter and uses 60% less energy. The garage lighting upgrade alone will save about $50,000 annually. So, how does this focus on lighting help you?

I’m glad you asked. You can get a free LED bulb any Saturday in October from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by Arlington’s Central Library (1015 N. Quincy Street) with an old incandescent bulb and swap it for an efficient LED bulb. It’s that easy. LED bulbs dim beautifully, last a really long time, and sip energy. Come get a free bulb. We offer a money back guarantee.

Thanks for reading our first post. We are just getting started. Our Rethink Energy column will run at noon, every other Saturday. Get excited and start checking ARLnow on the weekends. In future posts, we will take your questions, provide tips to save money and energy, review energy savings gadgets, and more.

Send your energy questions to [email protected]. The Rethink Energy Team will answer them in future posts.

Be Smart, Think Less.

Smart lighting choices lead to less energy use.