Saving money on energy depends on the specifics of your home

11:42 AM EST on Monday, December 5, 2005

BY DAVID McPHERSON and TIMOTHY C. BARMANN
Journal Staff Writers

Part nine of a series

Over the past eight Mondays, The Providence Journal has presented a series of stories designed to help readers cut their energy bills this winter.

Bracing for Winter

Hear and see more from Journal writer Tim Barmann

Keep up with the weekly multimedia series on how to cut home heating costs...

The Bracing for Winter series has drawn a huge response from readers -- more than 150 calls and e-mails.

Some were questions; others were suggestions about how to save energy.

Today, we present the questions of six readers and attempt to provide answers. In many cases, the selected questions had been asked by more than one reader. We've also edited some of the questions for clarity and space. Next week, we plan to share some of the tips our readers have passed on to us.

Q: I have a 3-bedroom home with a gas hot-air heating system. On very, very cold days, how low can I set my thermostat to conserve gas without causing any other problems? (Pipes freezing or breaking)

Ginnie Hogan, Riverside

A: The American Red Cross, State Farm Insurance and other groups recommend that during cold weather homeowners set their thermostats no lower than 55 degrees if they are going away.

Q: How will lowering the thermostat when I go out affect my cocker spaniel? Can dogs do well with the lowered temperatures?

Natalie Pfanstiehl, Newport

A: Some pets will do just fine with lowering the temperature in your house as low as 55 degrees, said Dana Farbman, a certified veterinary technician with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, based in New York City.

"The average healthy cat or dog would have no problem with that," she said.

But pet owners should also consider how much fur and body fat the animal has.

"The average dog, Labrador retriever, or golden retriever probably wouldn't have much of an issue. With a greyhound or other short-coated animal with little body fat, keep the house at more elevated temperature."

Younger or older animals may need warmer temperatures as well, she said. How can you tell if your pet was cold during the day when you arrive home?

"If they are going and seeking out places for warmth, if they seem to be uncomfortable as far as cold, if they do seem to have a change in their normal day-to-day patterns, then maybe the house is a little too cool."

Other pets, such as birds and reptiles, have different temperature needs, she said. For example, some tropical birds could develop respiratory issues if they are place in cold, drafty or damp areas, she said.

Q: I would like some information on how I can save on my electric bill. My house is heated by electricity.

Pearl Blankenship, Warwick

A: Electric heat is among the most expensive ways to heat a home. One reason is that energy is lost in the generation and transmission of it and therefore less efficient than heat produced in a home using natural gas, propane or oil furnaces, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Steps that can be taken to reduce the electricity consumed for heating mirror the suggestions made for oil and natural gas heating systems. These include maximizing insulation, installing energy-efficient windows, reducing air leakage, using zone heating and regularly replacing or cleaning filters in forced-air systems.

Energy-efficient windows are important in any house, but even more so in electrically heated homes. The U.S. Energy Department recommends windows with U-values of less than 0.40 in homes heated by electricity. Installing storm windows -- even over double-pane windows -- will help as well.

Programmable thermostats are available for electric heating systems just as for other types of systems. Be sure to select the correct kind. There are line-voltage thermostats -- often used in baseboard electric heaters -- and low-voltage thermostats used in other kinds of electric heat systems.

Q: I would like to know if you have any idea where you can find out what the daily rate for oil in our area is, and also what the various oil companies are charging.

Frances Fayne, Cranston

A: The State Energy Office surveys home-heating oil dealers in Rhode Island on a weekly basis to find out what prices they are charging. The agency then compiles the prices and releases the highest, lowest and average price it finds. However, it does not release any dealer information. That is, it doesn't identify which dealer is charging which price. Doing so, the agency has said, would deter oil dealers from cooperating with the survey.

The average prices are released on Mondays (or Tuesdays after a Monday holiday) and are available at the Energy Office's Web site, www.riseo.gov. The results are usually published the following day by The Providence Journal in the Business section.

Prices charged by individual oil dealers can be found at www.newenglandoil.com, a Web site produced by Energy Data Corp. of Portland, Maine. Because oil dealers provide the data voluntarily, it may not include every oil dealer in a particular region.

Daily price updates are more difficult to come by, but consumers interested in the general direction of oil prices can monitor prices for heating oil futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

This information is published daily Tuesday through Saturday in The Journal's Business section, and more detailed information is available at the exchange's Web site, www.nymex.com. Consumers should be aware that the Nymex price is a wholesale price, not a retail one that they should expect to pay.

Q: Is is possible and safe to vent your clothes dryer into the house?

Sandy Hopkins, Providence

A: While it is possible to vent the dryer into the house, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said it's a bad idea.

"Absolutely not," said Scott Wolfson, a spokesman for the commission, in Washington, D.C.

Doing so, he said would create an excessive amount of moisture and humidity, which could promote mold growth in the house. And there is also a concern about deadly carbon monoxide gas getting into the home, he said.

The bottom line: "It should be vented and the exhaust should be outside the house," he said.

Q: I have an 8-year-old gas boiler that is 80.4 percent efficient. Does it make sense to replace that with a new boiler that is 90.6 percent efficient? If I spend $2,000 to replace the boiler, how long will it take me to save that $2,000?

Bill San Antonio, Saunderstown

A: It's true that a more efficient heating system will use less fuel to produce the same amount of heat than a less efficient system.

But a spokeswoman for the federal government's EnergyStar program, which promotes the purchase of energy-efficient products, was taken aback by San Antonio's question. She said there was plenty of life left in his boiler -- perhaps another 12 years.

"We generally don't recommend changing for efficiency," said Rachel Schmeltz, product manager for EnergyStar.

But if he is unhappy with the boiler for some reason, or is planning to buy one anyway, she said the EnergyStar Web site can help figure out the payback period of purchasing a new one.

The Web site has an Excel spreadsheet that calculates savings and weighs them against the initial investment of buying a new gas-fired boiler. According to the calculator, it would take 4.9 years to recoup a $2,000 investment.

But this is really a guess. The calculation assumes that gas rates will remain at their current levels. If energy prices continue to rise, the payback period would be shorter. But if they fall, it will take longer to get your money back.

Timothy C. Barmann covers energy issues, utilities and technology. He can be reached at tbarmann@projo.com