When you conduct over 3000 Home Energy Audits per year you’re bound to run into some interesting opinions. Many people believe certain things about home energy consumption that are just not true. These “Energy Myths” have often been inherited from one generation to the next. “Grandma always said…” is the typical preface to many of these energy myths. But a whole lot has changed in the last 50-100 years that makes grandma’s recommendations obsolete. Sorry Grandma. So after hearing many different Energy Myths from many different energy customers, the staff of Conservation Consultants got together and compiled some of the most common ones into a list of… drum roll please…

Pennsylvania energy-buffs may have noticed the term ‘net - metering’ being tossed around local news recently. In June 2006 the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the board that governs the creation and distribution of energy in the state, decided to allow net metering in an effort to join the other 39 states nationwide that already have such regulations.

Are you interested in installing an alternative energy system in your home, but can’t swallow the price of solar panels or wind turbines? Let the federal and state government help pay the bill! New tax credit laws have recently been passed by Congress and state legislatures, including Pennsylvania’s, which help corporate, business, private, non-profit and agriculture sectors, as well as homeowners, to pay for alternative energy systems. This is the government’s way of encouraging individuals and groups to save energy and money by utilizing the growing capabilities of energy systems that don’t depend on an outside power company. By creating your own power and either using it right away, storing it in a battery system, or selling it back to your electric company (see the article on Net Metering) you can keep tons-literally tons-of harmful pollutants from being released into the air, water and soil.

Water bills have several components different than other utilities that are mostly unknown to customers. Listed on your bill is the meter size, which for a residential home is usually 5/8” or 3/4”. Based on this size there is a minimum charge for using water (between $10-15/month). Then any usage above this minimum, which can vary widely, is charged per 100 gallons. If your water utility also provides wastewater treatment, then based on your usage the utility makes a standardized determination of what water goes from your house and down the drain into the sewer system.

Electric bills are perhaps the most confusing because usage is measured in units of kilowatt-hours or kWh, which is something that you can’t actually see or measure in the usual way like gas and water. Simply put, kWh are the amount of electricity used by 1,000 watts in one hour. Electric meters don’t specifically record kWh, the difference read between one month and the next must be multiplied by the ‘meter multiplier.’ This number, which is usually 12, converts the number that the meter reads into kWh, a number that can then be multiplied by the electric rate. This electric rate is actually the sum of several customer charges including generation, transmission and distribution. The current rate of electricity in the Pittsburgh Area (through the Duquesne Light Company) is $0.11/kWh, but this rate is subject to change as the utility company petitions the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) for a rate increase.

In a home that has gas heat, this is almost always the largest bill in the household. Gas usage is measured in Mcf or 1,000s of cubic feet of gas and is charged on a slightly more changeable rate than other commodities. This is because gas supply is provided by sources outside of the local area and the gas commodity charge is dependent on market availability (just as gasoline prices vary day by day). As a result of this sometimes gas companies have to include a ‘gas cost adjustment’ on a bill, which can be very confusing as it adds more numbers into an already confusing mix. Since the projected cost of gas is not always what the actual costs ends up being, the gas company makes a ‘cost adjustment,’ either slightly increasing or decreasing the monthly charge.Gas bills usually fluctuate based on the seasons, higher in the colder months and lower in the warmer months, because most heating systems run on gas. When you look at your usage history graph you should see a spike around the winter months and a decrease once spring comes. It helps to be aware of all the gas-consuming appliances in your household, if you don’t already know this, go through room-by-room and check. Gas appliances may include furnace, stove, dryer, in-wall space heaters, hot water tanks and fireplaces. Once you have this information you can address any seasonal spike as well as your yearlong usage with several gas-conserving techniques that include:

Everyone gets them. Those pesky reminders that gas, electric and water are not provided free by the ‘Utility Fairy,’ but are rather commodities for which we must pay. Utility bills are the necessary result of the ease with which we turn on our TVs, wash dishes and stay warm on cold nights. They also serve as monthly updates on our daily lives, how high or low the thermostat was set, how long the lawn sprinklers were left on and when the new freezer was installed. With the right information anyone who gets a utility bill can assess their own usage, understand where their money is being spent and consider ways of subtly changing their habits to lower both usage and bill amount.