I lost electricity again.  It was a beautiful partly sunny unusually warm day for early winter and we lost power.  There are many reasons for power outages and this one was a “transformer fire” somewhere far away but on our line.  Thankfully, it lasted for only a couple of hours but it was inconvenient and a reminder of the more damaging and costly blackouts of the previous few months.  We lost power for 6 days during Hurricane Irene with its high winds and flooding rains and then, soon after, nearly 75% of our town lost power for days during the recent freak late October snowstorm.  This blackout was a reminder to buy a generator that can supply emergency power to our house sparing us the loss of lights, water for toilets and showers, and heat and importantly help us avoid the cost of replacing spoiled food and drink that needs to be thrown away if not refrigerated.

Need a generator?  Good luck!  You are not alone and you should expect to find long waits for out of stock portable generator inventory to be replenished and completely booked up contractors who can do the professional installations necessary to outfit your house and enable the emergency power supply to find your lights and appliances etc.   Find someone now and get on their list immediately for installation in a month or so and maybe you will have a generator in place before the next big power outage.

During the snowstorm, we miraculously did not lose power. Families escaped to relatives or friends’ homes if they could.  Two of my daughter’s friends stayed with us for the week that school was out.  It was a fun adventure for the girls and ok with us blessed with uninterrupted electricity but it was no fun at all for those without power.  Those with generators were generous and gracious hosts and those without generators swore they would finally buy an emergency power supply so they wouldn’t have to face power outages without an alternative. 

Whether your neighbors decide to buy a (relatively) simple generator that they could run extension cords to or a bigger portable unit that plugs into a separate fuse box to sends electricity to only the most critical areas in the house like the refrigerator to keep perishables fresh, well pump to keep the water flowing and sump pump to keep the basement dry, they will be better prepared for the next blackout event.  If they can afford to, they should even consider purchasing a big whole-house unit that starts up automatically and powers the entire house and, somehow, is barely audible above the hum it emits.  In certain areas of the country, generators are just not a luxury but an insurance policy against perishable products.  And with more and more people working from home, a loss of electricity can be more than a minor inconvenience.  You can only be so productive while sitting and working in the local coffee shop or library.

So what kind of generator should you purchase?

After you determine how much of the house you need or want to power and how much you can afford to invest to do so, you can begin looking at the many shapes, sizes and types of generators.  Be sure to ask

According to its Website, the CT Solar Lease program is no longer taking new applications as of August 16.  This program provided a financing vehicle for solar electricity installations that was a lease instead of purchase option, wrapping in all state and federal incentives into a fairly attractive option.

The most recent program was about 40 percent more expensive than the one it replaced, leading me to wonder if the next round will be even less attractive. 

For solar electricity to be competitive with utility-supplied power, incentives are still required.  Otherwise it is going to be relegated to hobbyists and those who can afford to be green as a life choice, not an economic one.  If we're to reduce our dependency on imported oil, as well as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we'll need comprehensive energy policy that enables programs like CT Solar Lease to fund a large number of installations over a long period of time.  This program has been on-again, off-again for quite some time.

HomeESP is proud to announce that we have a partnership with Clean Energy Experts, a leading solar energy contractor referral network.  Clean Energy Experts provides HomeESP site visitors and members with referrals to reliable and reference-checked solar energy contractors in 35 states across the U.S.

Please click here to get your FREE solar energy quote from one of the best solar contractors in your area!

If you are seeking payback, geothermal heat pumps are a losing proposition.  As much as I am fascinated by the possibility of geothermal (ground source) and air-source heat pumps to save energy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, I can’t recommend geothermal for anyone other than an eco hobbyist – and one with a big checkbook (see end of article for a free download of our Geothermal Payback ROI calculator spreadsheet).

The installation cost of a retrofit of conventional forced air heating and cooling with geothermal heating is made up of three major elements: ground/water loop to source and sink heat, compressor and air handler, and labor and markup.  The ground loop is most often a series of wells holes drilled to accommodate a refrigerant line set which is buried in a special heat conducting concrete.  The drilling of the wells and installation of the refrigerant lines is where the big cost disadvantage of geothermal is found: this can account for as much as 50 percent of the cost of the total installation depending on site conditions and the heating load for the home.

Yes, we will be closer to home energy utopia when everyone has energy efficient appliances in their home.  However, there is a right time and a wrong time, from an investment standpoint, to buy new Energy Star appliances.  Simply stated, if you have to replace an appliance do so with an energy efficient model but don't be misled into thinking that you should replace an appliance that still has a number of years of good service left.

Industry experts believe the average life span for some home appliances are as follows: Refrigerator - 20 years; Clothes washer - 13 years and dryer 18 years; Range/oven - 18 years; and dishwasher 12 years.  Energy efficient appliances will reduce your utility bills but for your home energy investment, you are better served if your appliances are near the end of their life. 

For the rest of the discussion, let's assume you need to replace old worn appliances in disrepair.

There are a few things that are basic truths about investing for energy efficiency as a homeowner. Perhaps the most overlooked in all the hype about geothermal heating and air conditioning is that the average homeowner moves every eight years or so (according to the National Association of REALTORS®).  That means that at most, you'll have seven years to breakeven on a major capital improvement to your home - and it's nearly impossible to do so with Geothermal (or ground source) Heat Pumps.

A quick look at the math reveals all you need to know - geothermal heat pumps are not economically justifiable.  We're going to use a hypothetical 3,000 square-foot, two-story colonial home in Connecticut as our basis for this article (your mileage will vary).

A retrofit installation, where there already is adequate forced-air heating and cooling duct work throughout the house, is the least expensive option. All the contractor has to do inside/alongside the home is replace the current A/C compressor and air handler.  Geothermal system components are much more expensive than their traditional A/C or heat pump equivalents.  The cost for two zones (two heat pumps, two air handlers, two line sets for refrigerant) can range between $15,000 and $20,000 just for the hardware.

The site work for the Earth Loop, the part of the system that is the "ground source" for constant temperature, will need to be done regardless of the home's existing heating and cooling systems.  In most situations, this means drilling multiple wells into which a heat sink coil can be permanently installed. For a home of 3,000 square feet, this can cost as much as $20,000 all by itself.

When you add the cost of permits, installation (including accessories), project management and the contractor's markups, your total cost of a retrofit geothermal system can reach $45,000 to $60,000 depending on where you live, site conditions where your ground loop will be installed, the brand of equipment, whether or not you will derive domestic hot water from your system, and the needed capacities of your system.

If you're considering a solar electric array to power your home, there may not be a better time to get moving. Why?  Consider:

• Incentives in many states have been re-funded, the US offers a 30 percent tax credit (a direct reduction of tax liability, not a deduction from income).
• Interest rates are very low, and may be heading higher as the economy improves.  If you have good credit and employment income, lenders will still open their wallets to you -- although the process is not nearly as easy as it was before.
• Contractors are not as busy, so their labor rates are much more competitive
• Solar panels have dropped in price due to a reduction in demand. 

Navigating incentives and figuring out how they apply is not easy, but there are a couple of ways to get at the data.  First, you can visit DSIRE, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency, where you'll quickly find more information than you wanted!  Select your state and "residential incentives only," and it is more manageable.  To learn how this will work for you in your specific situation, have a state-licensed solar integrator (fancy word for contractor) come to your home, evaluate your site for solar (not all houses face the sun the same way), and as part of his/her proposal, they will identify applicable incentives for your installation.

We live in Connecticut, and current incentives make it possible to have a nearly break-even cash flow with current utility prices on what's known as the CT Solar Lease program - and utility rates will only go up, so future years of CT Solar Lease installations should be cash flow positive.  Exciting times!

Here's a no-nonsense article about the economics (with and without incentives) of home energy systems that convert solar energy into hot water or electricity.  Great reading!  From homepower.com, a very informative resource.

In the four months since we replaced 18 bulbs in our home with Compact Fluorescent Bulbs  (a.k.a. CFLs) dimmable and not, we've reduced our electricity use by 10 percent!

For a quick estimate of your possible savings by switching to CFL bulbs, please visit this link within HomeESP.

If you're interested in a more detailed spreadsheet for CFL savings, you can...