Commercial Appeal columnist Wendi Thomas sang the Energy Dr.'s praises in yesterday's paper:Insulate from utility bills, dust bunnies
By Wendi C. Thomas
Sunday, March 28, 2010
It's the bill we love to hate -- the one from Memphis Light Gas and Water Division.
Last winter, I waged a one-woman war against the utility company.
My bills had been slightly obscene, and as I've inherited my father's energy frugality (his answer to the cold: put a sweater on), I went most of this winter with the thermostat set on 55.
Never mind that it was so cold, my nose was running constantly and visitors wouldn't take off their coats.
After listening to me whine on Twitter, the utility company offered to send to my rescue the Energy Doctor, to help me find ways to conserve energy.
Energy Doctor Wil Williams came to my house about a week ago.
Our first stop: the furnace, also known as the box of shame. Williams pulled out a dark gray, filthy air filter from a slot on the side.
When was the last time the filter had been changed, the doctor wanted to know. As I started going back to sometime in 2009, he stopped me. Change it every 90 days, he said. If you don't, the unit has to work harder and longer, and that increases your energy consumption.
Pet fur, household dust and nearby construction can make a dirty filter even dirtier.
Then, we went to look for the returns, the vents at the bottom of the walls. Two of my returns were blocked by furniture, which makes the heating and cooling systems work harder.
And when we pulled the furniture the recommended 6 to 8 inches away from the returns, let's just say I did not know I was hosting an international dust bunny convention.
My double-pane windows were saving me energy, Williams told me, but when he pulled up the blinds on a kitchen window, there were spider webs in the corner.
Spider webs are the household equivalent of canaries in the mine -- they speak to places where air is getting in. Williams suggested an insulation strip in the groove where the windows slide up.
Outside, we looked at the air-conditioning unit, which should be cleaned annually to keep the condenser from burning out and working harder than it has to. A cleaning will cost around $100, he said, but a new unit could run me $1,300 for parts and labor.
"We only address things when they quit," Williams said -- and he's right. Even though he put the fear of the energy gods in me that day, I still haven't had my HVAC dude clean the condenser.
Back inside, he found that the sealing at the doors to the outside and under the window sills was good, and offered another energy maxim: "The battle of air and heat is won or lost at the windows and at the doors."
He left me with maintenance tips -- but he didn't leave me with a bill.
The Energy Doctor service is free to customers, said utility spokesman Chris Stanley.
To make an appointment to have one come to your house, call 528-4188 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday -- but be advised there's a waiting list of up to 10 weeks.
"Tennesseans use more energy than any other state in the nation," Stanley said. "Part of this is, electricity has been so cheap here."
The other part? "Housing stock here is traditionally not well-insulated and energy-efficient and we can get to weather extremes here."
Williams taught me a lot I didn't know -- like that lights make up only 7 percent of my total energy consumption -- so sitting in the dark all winter wasn't a well-informed, bill-reducing tactic.
Keep your fridge and freezer set on factory settings, any cooler and you're increasing your consumption, Williams advised.
And increased consumption translates into my real beef -- a high utility bill.
But armed with a prescription for lower usage from the Energy Doctor -- and returns free from dust -- I'm hoping for a lower bill this month.
