Dainel Quick

In the city of Provo, Utah there is a new superhero, sponsored by Provo City Power, on the streets intent on increasing the energy efficiency of the citizenry, Switch It Man.

Switch It Man is still relatively new in his community, but he has begun to have a more noticeable effect on the city.  He is now offering rebates to the general public for weatherization and for adding insulation to their attic/ceiling and outside walls. Rebates are also available for upgrading outside windows and central air conditioning units. In each case, the upgrade needs to meet particular energy standards.  Switch It Man also is offering rebates to upgrade your old appliances with new ones that use energy-efficient technology. To participate, you need to be a Provo Power customer in good standing, complete the application form, and submit documentation (sales receipts, etc.) within 90 days of purchase. Got an old appliance? Switch It Man says, “Switch It!”

Switch It Man also offers substantial rebates and incentives associated with energy audits.  They offer two different kinds of audits, a cheap one for 15$, valued at 150$, or a slightly more expensive and extensive one for 30$, valued at 700$.  Interestingly, the city of Provo will reimburse the 15 or 30 dollars if you take any of the suggestions offered by the auditor. 

The Energy Audits for the city of Provo are performed by ProEnergy Consultants.  I was given the privilege of shadowing an energy auditor, Zachary Parduhn, as he inspected a house in west Provo.  At 10am on April 12^th we arrived at the home of Mr. Buttars on Lake Shore Dr, Provo, and unloaded the gear.  It was truly remarkable how Zach was able to fit everything into the back of his VW, but somehow he managed.  Mr. Buttars was ready and waiting for us to begin.  So we donned our booties over our shoes and got to work.  In general a home energy audit usually takes about 2-3 hours to complete.  Before we could actually began the energy audit, Zach, officially known as a home energy consultant, had to gather as much information as he could about Mr. Buttars, his family, and his home.  Their home was built in the year 2000 and has a floor space of about 3,500 square feet distributed into 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.  The home has eight foot ceilings and is generally kept at 70 degrees Fahrenheit.  At this point Zach expounded on the benefits of a programmable thermostat, which when used properly can save as much as 6% on an energy bill.  Zach said that home energy conservation is different in each case, because every family in every home has unique needs and unique expectations.

Once he had gathered enough information, he installed a blower door into the front door frame.  It was a red canvas that was expandable in order to fit the door frame perfectly.  There was a circular hole in the bottom where we placed an industrial strength fan, which we set to blow out the door.  This acted like a giant vacuum in order to amplify the home's natural air flow.  The door was pretty cool it measured the air coming in and going out, and could fairly accurately predict how large the house was in square feet by the speed of the airflow.  So it was pulling air from the inside, which forced air to enter the home through “leaky” spots.  Place where air and energy can get in, it can also escape.  This is not just an issue for energy, but also it can let in unwanted dust, allergens, moisture and other contributors to your family's discomfort.  In other words, if you do have big holes in your home, you're probably suffering from a lot more than just needlessly high energy bills.  ProEnergy Consultants claims that most of their energy audits not only improve the energy efficiency of a home, but dramatically increase your family's comfort as well.

Next, we walked around the home using an infrared camera.  It was pretty sweet.  When pointed at walls you can see clearly the effects of the insulation and where heat was escaping.  When pointed at the wall you could see the studs where there was no insulation.  I mean it can't see through walls but it did allow us to see streaks of where there were issues, when with the naked eye it would have been impossible.

 It was interesting to see in the pictures where energy can escape.  In most every case the corners of rooms were leaking energy through the exterior walls.  Windows and doors without fail were leaking through the corners of the frames.  An interesting discovery to me was how much energy is lost through power outlets.  I didn’t realize that since all electricity is run upwards and into the attic to one spot and then run to the grid, that the air flow from a poorly insulated attic can just vacuum warm air up the outlet and out of the house.  The moral of the energy audit story is that the attic needs to be well insulated at all costs.