Warming up to savings

After years of feeling comfortable with the regional, low electric rates of the Tennessee Valley, power customers seem suddenly to be understanding the need to save energy -- and money.

At stake are not just the dollars customers would spend on their power bills, but also the dollars they might spend on home improvements. But to capitalize, customers first must have an energy audit, and the waiting lists for that service are growing longer and longer.

"We have seen a significant rise in energy audits this fiscal year," said EPB spokeswoman Lacie Newton. "In fact, we have already provided over 800 free audits so far, and we project we will end the year with at least a third more audits than last."

EPB began the free home energy evaluation program in partnership with TVA in July. Through it, customers qualify for refunds of up to $500 for specific energy efficiency improvements to their homes, she said.

There are other programs and incentives, too.

The Tennessee and Georgia Energy Star programs already reimburse some appliance purchase costs if the appliances are specific energy savers. TVA, in conjunction with local power companies in the valley such as EPB, also offers breaks with its Energy Right program.

And federal stimulus money is paying for five times the normal number of Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia home weatherization projects.

But almost all the perks start with an energy audit.

INSIDE AN AUDIT

Duane and Jerilyn Sanders, of Flintstone, Ga., recently had EPB do an energy audit in their eight-year-old home.

"A neighbor told us about it," Mrs. Sanders said. "They found that her heating system had a problem, and she's thinking about getting it replaced (rather than repaired) because of the tax breaks available."

Greg Epperson, the EPB energy auditor who checked out the Sanders' home, found that their thermostat was key to their $395 electric bill.

Last summer, with sun streaming in ceiling-high windows onto the thermostat, the cooling system in the house never shut off, Mr. Sanders said. So he thought he was doing a smart thing when he moved the thermostat to the other side of the wall -- into a coat closet.

"I fixed a problem, but I created another problem," Mr. Sanders said.

"In there, it can't register the temperature of the rest of the house," Mr. Epperson told the couple. "So now it tells the heat to run and run."

He also cautioned the Sanders to put the thermostat on a setting and leave it there.

"Every time you move it more than one degree, it will bring on your heat pump's auxiliary heat. ... Then you're using about five times the energy," the auditor told them.

Mr. Epperson's final report also recommended some heat pump tune-ups and some sealing work around vents. If the Sanders have the work done and EPB approves it on a second inspection, they can receive a credit on their power bill for 50 percent of the cost -- up to $500.

MEETING DEMAND

The demand for energy audits has increased so much that both Tennessee and Georgia officials who operate weatherization programs have held special certification programs to hire more trained auditors.

Allen Gentry's zero-energy building trades program at Cleveland State Community College has ramped up classes to take advantage of the trend.

At the school, the Energy Efficient Residential Construction program offers a Zero Energy Housing Certificate to students. Now several new non-credit classes also train weatherization auditors and installers.

"I tell my guys and ladies (in the program), 'You've got to get dirty (by crawling in home attics and crawl spaces), but what you're doing is making life better for the homeowners,'" Mr. Gentry said.

Jeff Patterson, who oversees the weatherization programs of the North Georgia Community Action Agency, said the audits help his team prioritize a home's needs.

Every Northwest Georgia county his agency serves has a waiting list for the audits and weatherization, and the waiting lists exceed the agency's funding, he said.

Solar systems designer Thomas Tripp with Big Frog Mountain Co. in Chattanooga also is a big fan of energy audits. In fact, he said he won't do a design for prospective customers until they get one and do their best to bring down their energy use.

"There's a huge resource of energy we can tap into just by eliminating a lot of waste," Mr. Tripp said.

"Tennessee homes use more electric power than any other state," he said. "You've got to work at both ends of the stick."