Optimizing Your Energy Usage And Solar Savings
Besides going Solar with Sunly, there are many other ways you can improve your energy efficiency and save money. While these changes alone will save you money, most do still require some electricity use. You then have the advantage of using your solar system to offset those additional electricity costs. Double win!
Transportation and heating/cooling costs are the biggest energy consumers so let’s start by exploring ways to improve your energy efficiency in these areas first!
Transportation
Electric cars are becoming more and more common and EV charging stations are popping up like Starbucks! Let’s say you switched to an electric car and installed an EV charger at your home. On average it costs $1,100 per year to run a gas-powered vehicle, and only $485 per year to run an electric one. By making the switch you are saving around $600/year! The expense is now on your electric bill which means your solar system can absorb that cost as well!
*Did you know that we at Sunly can set you up with your own EV charging station? Contact us today to find out more about getting a Siemens EV Charger!
Heating/Cooling
Maybe you are not quite ready to trade in your car for an electric vehicle just yet. There are still many ways to improve the energy efficiency of your home while saving money. Heating/cooling the home and heating water are the top two energy consumers of the home. Efficiency PEI offers rebates for installing ENERGY STAR certified heating equipment such as heat pumps and solar domestic hot water heaters. Check out the available incentives from Efficiency PEI here: Energy Efficient Equipment Rebates. But what exactly are these and how do they work to save you money and improve energy efficiency?
Heat Pumps
Often people decide to switch from using propane/electric heating/cooling because heat pumps can save you a lot of money. Heat pumps use 50% less energy than electric furnaces! Heat pumps work like your refrigerator. They use energy to move heat from one location to another. They pull heat out of the air or ground and transfer it to your home. An advantage of a heat pump is that it works to both heat and cool your home, so you do not require a separate AC system. Heat pumps do not create energy-they just transfer it! Electricity is just needed to power the system but not to create the heat. This is what makes heat pumps so efficient!
Solar Domestic Water Heaters
Solar domestic water heaters use 60% less energy that the average heating system. They are generally designed for use with an electric/gas back up water heater. This way when insufficient solar energy is being produced you do not get stuck having an ice bath. Solar water heaters come in a wide variety of designs and the panels can be installed on your roof or the ground. They can cut your water heating costs by up to half! If you have an electric back-up heater, you will save about $280 a year or approx. $5,200 over the lifetime of the water heater. ENERGY STAR certified solar water heaters can also cut your carbon dioxide emissions in half- preventing 4,000 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere every year. This is like not driving your car for four months/year!
As you can see, Heat Pumps and Solar Domestic Water Heaters are both great ways to improve the way you use energy to heat/cool your home. Both of these will ultimately save you money compared to what you are using today but you can maximize your savings but combining them with a solar electric system. If you do not have these things yet but intend to get them, a solar system can be planned to compensate for the increased demand and cover your costs!
Solar Electric Rebate Program
By going solar, you will be using net metering which is where you produce electricity from solar panels throughout the day and use most of it. The rest of it goes to your local provider, like Maritime Electric. This excess electricity gets banked as credits and when you need that electricity you will automatically get it from the grid. If you use more than you have banked, the electric company will just charge you for the excess. The average Sunly client reduces their energy bill by 76%!
With so many options where do I begin?
An energy audit is the first step in getting a customized plan for your home. It will provide important information about what upgrades will save you the most energy and will be the most effective at lowering your monthly costs. A highly trained certified energy advisor will provide a comprehensive energy assessment, along with a detailed report that show you where your home is using and losing energy along with how to reduce that loss. Let us help get your journey started by heading over to Efficiency PEI’s Network of Excellence to find the right contractor for you.
Happy saving!