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Whole House Energy Management

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By Scott Albrecht, IAQS, AOS, CMI, NTP
Rising energy costs are hitting Americans hard these days. Not only do we use more electricity than we ever did before, we’re paying more per kilowatt-hour (kWh). And the cost continues to rise. On 7/01/08, Sierra Pacific Power Company was granted an increase of >10%. However, the problem with electricity isn’t just inflation; its also that the quality is getting worse because of the demand from new technologies.
Think about your home or business. All the appliances you use have a motor that runs on electricity. Washers, dryers, refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, dish washers, vacuum cleaners, ceiling fans, HDTVs… they are all made to operate most efficiently when running at full capacity. But in reality, most people don’t operate their appliances at full capacity and money is wasted. Literally thousands of times a day, power surges and electrical spikes run rampant through your home, inflicting a perpetual assault on the life and performance of your appliances – especially big-ticket items like high definition televisions.
And then there’s noise; the all-too-familiar static you hear on your radio receiver, the “hum” of the fluorescent lamp, the “snow” you see with a weak TV signal and much more we can’t see or hear. Worse, the interference or noise created from all the various electronic appliances, lights and games we plug in, harms these very same devices, causing premature failure. Our homes and businesses are filled with them. This wasteful electronic noise drains more wattage than it uses, adding unnecessarily to your electric bill.
We need an electronic body guard for our homes and businesses. “Whole house energy management systems” have existed for years and are used by the military as well as industrial and utility companies. They are now available on a small scale for your home. Why haven’t we heard of this technology before? Because up until recently, it wasn’t cost effective; electric rates in America were very low: 2, 3 or 4 cents per kilowatt-hour. Now they are between 8 and 14 cents per kWh, and in some places, over 19 cents per kWh; New York City is 22 cents per kWh and Hawaii is 33.5! At cheaper rates, energy management systems did not make sense, but as rates skyrocket, you may want to consider them.
Miles-per-gallon, mpg, measures fuel efficiency of our cars. With electricity, the  efficiency measurement is called the “power factor.” In an AC electric power system, it is the ratio of real power to apparent power, and is a number between 0 and 1 (0 being the least efficient). Today, the average American home operates at a power factor of 0.77. In other words, 23% of the electricity is wasted. Fortunately new technology for residential and light commercial uses can increase that power factor from 0.77 to 0.98 – lowering usage and saving you money.
Look for energy conditioning technology that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy and is UL tested and listed. Any licensed professional should be able to install such a device in an hour or less.
The most cost-effective product will do all 3 of the following in a superior way: power factor optimization; equipment protection with whole-house surge and spike shielding; and electrical harmonic noise filtration. But buyer beware; there are many manufacturers of similar products that can only address a single issue – not all 3. The savvy home-owner should compare benefits, specifications, warranties, and the return on investment.
Most people don’t realize the benefits of ultra-clean, ultra-efficient energy powering their homes or businesses: just 500,000 such small systems will reduce the need to generate 17 megawatts of electricity, saving 42,500 tons of coal or 231,000 barrels of oil and reduce carbon dioxide by 98,250 tons, nitrous oxide by 42,000 pounds and sulfur dioxide greenhouse emissions by 221,500 pounds annually. How green is that?
References:
1. Reno Gazette Journal, July 1, 2008; Sierra Pacific Power Rate Increase.
2. www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/pdfs/mc60405.pdf
3. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor_correction
4. www.continentalpowercorp.com/residential.htm
5. www.ecotrustenergy.com/4usa
For more info, contact Scott W. Albrecht, specializing in Indoor Air Quality and Home Energy Consulting at Preferred EcoSystems, at 775.626.6800 or 4usa@ecoquestintl.com.

whole-house-energy-management-300By Scott Albrecht, IAQS, AOS, CMI, NTP |

Rising energy costs are hitting Americans hard these days. Not only do we use more electricity than we ever did before, we’re paying more per kilowatt-hour (kWh). And the cost continues to rise. On 7/01/08, Sierra Pacific Power Company was granted an increase of >10%. However, the problem with electricity isn’t just inflation; its also that the quality is getting worse because of the demand from new technologies.

Think about your home or business. All the appliances you use have a motor that runs on electricity. Washers, dryers, refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, dish washers, vacuum cleaners, ceiling fans, HDTVs… they are all made to operate most efficiently when running at full capacity. But in reality, most people don’t operate their appliances at full capacity and money is wasted. Literally thousands of times a day, power surges and electrical spikes run rampant through your home, inflicting a perpetual assault on the life and performance of your appliances – especially big-ticket items like high definition televisions.

And then there’s noise; the all-too-familiar static you hear on your radio receiver, the “hum” of the fluorescent lamp, the “snow” you see with a weak TV signal and much more we can’t see or hear. Worse, the interference or noise created from all the various electronic appliances, lights and games we plug in, harms these very same devices, causing premature failure. Our homes and businesses are filled with them. This wasteful electronic noise drains more wattage than it uses, adding unnecessarily to your electric bill.

We need an electronic body guard for our homes and businesses. “Whole house energy management systems” have existed for years and are used by the military as well as industrial and utility companies. They are now available on a small scale for your home. Why haven’t we heard of this technology before? Because up until recently, it wasn’t cost effective; electric rates in America were very low: 2, 3 or 4 cents per kilowatt-hour. Now they are between 8 and 14 cents per kWh, and in some places, over 19 cents per kWh; New York City is 22 cents per kWh and Hawaii is 33.5! At cheaper rates, energy management systems did not make sense, but as rates skyrocket, you may want to consider them.

Miles-per-gallon, mpg, measures fuel efficiency of our cars. With electricity, the  efficiency measurement is called the “power factor.” In an AC electric power system, it is the ratio of real power to apparent power, and is a number between 0 and 1 (0 being the least efficient). Today, the average American home operates at a power factor of 0.77. In other words, 23% of the electricity is wasted. Fortunately new technology for residential and light commercial uses can increase that power factor from 0.77 to 0.98 – lowering usage and saving you money.

Look for energy conditioning technology that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy and is UL tested and listed. Any licensed professional should be able to install such a device in an hour or less.

The most cost-effective product will do all 3 of the following in a superior way: power factor optimization; equipment protection with whole-house surge and spike shielding; and electrical harmonic noise filtration. But buyer beware; there are many manufacturers of similar products that can only address a single issue – not all 3. The savvy home-owner should compare benefits, specifications, warranties, and the return on investment.

Most people don’t realize the benefits of ultra-clean, ultra-efficient energy powering their homes or businesses: just 500,000 such small systems will reduce the need to generate 17 megawatts of electricity, saving 42,500 tons of coal or 231,000 barrels of oil and reduce carbon dioxide by 98,250 tons, nitrous oxide by 42,000 pounds and sulfur dioxide greenhouse emissions by 221,500 pounds annually. How green is that?

References:

1. Reno Gazette Journal, July 1, 2008; Sierra Pacific Power Rate Increase.

2. www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/pdfs/mc60405.pdf

3. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor_correction

4. www.continentalpowercorp.com/residential.htm

5. www.ecotrustenergy.com/4usa

For more info, contact Scott W. Albrecht, specializing in Indoor Air Quality and Home Energy Consulting at Preferred EcoSystems, at 775.626.6800 or 4usa@ecoquestintl.com.

Filed Under: Green Living Tagged With: energy savings, green

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