Ways to cut energy costs that won't leave you penniless or shivering
-
Constantine Paliouras of Pro Energy Consultants shows Kerry McGee how he uses instruments to detect air leakage in her Mt. Lebanon home. -
An air flow detector is used in the stairwell. -
Constantine Paliouras points to air flow from window seams in the home.
Share with others:
Temperatures were mild during most of October -- the month Hall and Kerry McGee moved into their Mt. Lebanon home.
Their new house was about the same size as their former Squirrel Hill home, so the McGees expected their utility bills to be about the same amount. But when they received their first gas bill, it was $100 -- more than twice the average $40 bill at their previous residence.
Although the McGees and their two young daughters had been warm in their Squirrel Hill home, they often felt cold in their new house. They started bundling up in sweaters and stopped using some rooms and even entire floors.
"It's changed the way we live in the house," Ms. McGee said.
Their short-term attempt to control costs was to sign up for their gas company's budget plan, so they could at least count on consistent payments.
And then they started thinking about how they could save money on their utilities, especially their gas bill, in the long term.
For many homeowners and renters, it's a consideration as reliable as the changing of the seasons. When the temperatures go down and the hours of sunlight get shorter, many see their energy bills go up, and they start looking for ways to push those bills back down.
In surveys that Equitable Gas conducts, conservation and energy-saving tips are usually among the top areas of interest for customers, spokesman Scott Waitlevertch said.
Equitable provides natural gas service to about 275,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Allegheny County. It also serves customers in adjoining counties and as far away as West Virginia and Kentucky.
Last year, the utility announced it was starting a three-year pilot energy conservation program with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. The program provides rebates to customers who purchase Energy Star-qualified heating equipment.
Installing energy-efficient furnaces, refrigerators and other appliances is one of many techniques consumers can use to save money on utilities.
Methods range from the expensive, such as replacing windows, to the inexpensive, such as inserting child safety plugs into electrical outlets. They can involve the complex, such as shopping for gas or electricity, and the simple, such as closing doors to rooms that are not in use.
First Published January 27, 2011 12:00 am
