When energy prices go up, smart consumers fight back

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Garret Felder, staff intern

After a Memorial Day weekend of rising temperatures and maxed-out air conditioners, many homeowners find their energy bills competing with the inflating fuel digits at the local gas station. But as energy, in any form, continues to increase in price, people can find ways to minimize their electric bill and endure the summer heat.

&8220;What we classify as peak alerts are more of times when prices to generate electricity are high,&8221; said John Doran, the director of marketing at Freeborn Mower Cooperative Services. &8220;You will hear those on the radio stations and see them on television asking people to conserve energy in between that 4 and 8 p.m. timeframe. And we did not have one of those this past weekend, but we did cycle some of our central air conditioners and we did control our electric water heaters.&8221;

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Between Alliant Energy and the Freeborn Mower Cooperative Services, energy conservation is not only a desire by the companies, but they also hope home owners will use less of their resource.

&8220;We have a county lines newsletter that we mail to our members every month and we’ll do bill inserts on how to conserve energy,&8221; Doran said. &8220;We have Energy Star appliance rebates out there to try and help consent people to choose an appliance that will use less energy. And we also have load management programs with our central air conditioners so that if it does get into a peak time or when prices are a little higher we can go ahead and cycle air conditioners and control hot water heaters to try and decrease our demand.&8221;

As department stores probably sold their entire stock of air conditioners and fans, the local heating and cooling companies also probably expect to install numerous air conditioners and make countless service calls within the next week.

Yet with the need for a cooler home during the muggy summer days of Minnesota also comes the chance to save money on the monthly energy bill. And the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the two local energy companies have just a few ways to get more comfort for your coins.

&8220;Pulling blinds of course is going to help keep your home cool, which will have your air conditioner run less and will save you electricity,&8221; Doran said. &8220;Basically what is on our website (www.fcms.coop/energy/index.html) is what we promote to our people as what are the key things to do. Other things are to seal up any joints in your duct work, which gets more in the heating season than the cooling season, but it can help with air conditioning as well.&8221;

While most homeowners try to get more bang for the buck when it comes to air conditioners, a smart homeowner searches for the right equipment for the long run. Alliant Energy suggests that new homeowners use energy-smart windows, doors, ceiling fans and air conditioners for their new homes. Alliant Energy even directs homeowners to energy-smart dealers in their local area through the company’s Web site www.alliantenergy.com. Although energy-smart products may cost more at local building supplies store, according to Alliant Energy, they will also give back to the owners through energy savings in just a few years.

Another major tip to homeowners deals directly with furnace and air conditioning equipment. Freeborn Mower Cooperative Services also recommends changing the air filter of the equipment regularly at the companies website. The Minnesota Department of Commerce suggests a homeowner should change the air filter at least once a month to promote more energy efficiency.

The final tip that all three sites suggest is: weatherizing doors and windows along with finding and sealing air leaks of a home. According to Alliant Energy, the simple task of caulking your windows or doors or using weather-stripping can decrease a homeowners cooling bill up to 10 percent.

Some other tips offered by these companies and the Department of Commerce to improve home energy efficiency include:

– Installing a programmable thermostat to change a home’s air temperature while it is empty.

– Upgrading attic and wall insulation to values of R-45 in the attic and R-20 in the walls to keep the cool air in the house.

– Keeping the outside compressor unit clean of debris to prevent the system from having to work harder.

– Completing a home energy audit to analyze where energy is used and how energy use can be cutback.