Updating your client’s house to make it more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly requires educating them on a few upgrades. Installing a solar electrical system or replacing hot water tanks can set them back thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.

They may not save enough money on these types of upgrades to cover their investment for decades. However, there are several quick and inexpensive green upgrades they can make that will start paying off quickly.

1. Install Faucet Aerators – $10

   An aerator is a device that fits on or into the end of a faucet. It forces water through tiny holes, restricting water flow but making the flow feel stronger. It can be used on either kitchen or bathroom sinks and can be found in water-saving shower heads. An aerator can cost as little as $10 and can lower water use by up to 50%. Using less water also means less energy to heat the water, resulting in further savings.

2. Buy Compact Florescent Light Bulbs – $3 Each

   Changing light bulbs from incandescent to compact florescent is the easiest green switch of all. Compact Florescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) are inexpensive and can save up to $40 over the course of their lifetime. They last 10 times longer than incandescent and use much less electricity. According to Energy Star, CFLs use up to 75% less energy than normal incandescent bulbs. Replacing all old light bulbs immediately with CFLs saves the most.

3. Replace an Old Dishwasher – $300

   According to Energy Star, if you replace a dishwasher built before 1994 with a new Energy Star model, you will save 10 gallons of water per cycle. At one cycle a day, that’s 3,650 gallons of water per year. New energy-efficient dishwashers start at around $300. Between the cost of the water and of heating it for the dishwasher, payback on this upgrade can be achieved in about three to four years.

4. Install Ceiling Fans – $50

   Ceiling fans are popular in the south but not as common in cooler climates. However, they can make both your air conditioner and heat unit operate more efficiently. Ceiling fans circulate the air in the house, drawing the cool air from the air conditioner and distributing it around the house. They also push warm air from the heat pump down from the ceiling back into the living space to reduce the amount of time the furnace has to run.

The Bottom Line

Let you customers know that going green isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. There are many inexpensive and cost-effective changes that make a noticeable difference. Once the savings from these changes start accumulating, they can be used to start investing in larger upgrades.

Original article found on SFGate

CFLs are growing in popularity because of energy efficiency. They use less energy, less wattage and have the same light quality. But what’s the difference between the Incandescents and CFL’s? The Aiken Standard breaks it down for you.

Incandescent bulbs will begin to phase out phase-out next year under federal legislation passed in 2007. Under the measure, all light bulbs must use 25 percent to 30 percent less energy than today’s products by 2012 to 2014. The phase-in will start with 100-watt bulbs in January 2012 and end with 40-watt bulbs in January 2014. By 2020, bulbs must be 70 percent more efficient.

According to EnergyStar, if every American home replaced just one light with a CFL, enough energy would be saved to light 3 million homes for one year, to save about $600 million in annual energy costs and to prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to those from about 800,000 cars.

Incandescent light bulbs create light by passing electricity through a metal filament until it becomes so hot that it glows. These bulbs are familiar to most people and are the most inexpensive option as far as upfront costs.

However, they are not as energy efficient, lasting only 700 to 1,000 hours, they emit 90 percent of their energy as heat.
In CFL’s, an electric current is driven through a tube containing gases. This reaction produces ultraviolet light that gets transformed into visible light by the fluorescent coating on the inside of the tube.

CFL’s last up to 10 times longer than incandescents and use up to 75 percent less energy. This translates into more than $40 saving per bulb in energy costs over its lifetime. They come in a variety of shapes.

They do have some cons. They contain a small amount of mercury, four milligrams and are more expensive than incandescents. The bulb takes a few seconds to produce light as the gas warms up.

LEDs Use light-emitting diodes to produce light. The movement of electrons through a semiconductor material illuminates the diodes. These types of bulbs use at least 75 percent less energy and last at least 15 times longer than an incandescent bulb.

Original article can be seen on TMCnet.com

In many households, up to 20% of the energy cost goes to lighting. This is mainly because of incandescent, or traditional, light bulbs which are notoriously inefficient. Only about 5% of the electricity incandescent light bulbs use is converted to light. The rest is wasted electricity that is turned into heat.

This is why you have heard so much talk about using energy saving lamps and light bulbs like compact fluorescents.

Your potential customers have probably been asking you how they can save money on their energy bills. Speak with them about energy efficient lamps and light bulbs from Service Partners.

Using energy saving lamps can have a huge impact on home energy cost savings. Not to mention, the lower energy consumption will result in a cleaner environment.

As you know, compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, are popular replacements for incandescent light bulbs and are about four times more energy efficient. Your client may need to be educated in this area. They will see a 15 watt CFL, and perhaps misunderstand the brightness of the light. Generally, a 15 watt CFL is compared to a 60 watt traditional incandescent light bulb. Your customers can see the energy savings right there. They had been using 60 watts of power per bulb, and now will only use 15.

CFL’s are designed to fit into traditional light fixtures. Some people find the spiral CFLs somewhat unattractive however; they are easily covered by traditional light fixtures and lamp shades. At Service Partners, we also have globe CFLs for bathroom vanities and hanging lamps, they also fit into a standard base of any lamp.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs last 8 to 15 times longer than incandescent bulbs. What this means to your customers is this: CFLs last three to five years while traditional bulbs last an average of six months. Your customers will not only save on energy costs, they will also save on replacement costs. Energy saving lamps are a win-win for you and your customers. Call Service Partners today at 877-779-9969.

Nationwide, artificial lighting consumes about 10% of a household’s electricity use. Use of new lighting technologies can reduce lighting energy use in homes by 50%–75%. Upgrading 15 of the inefficient incandescent light bulbs in homes could save your customers about $50 per year.

New Light Bulbs: What’s the Difference?

Traditional incandescent bulbs use a lot of energy to produce light.

• 90% of the energy is wasted as heat
• That lost energy is money we are throwing away

Newer energy-saving light bulbs provide the choices in colors and light levels you’ve come to expect. The new lights are also much more efficient – so they save money.

What Are the Lighting Choices for your customers?

Three of the most common energy-efficient lighting types include halogen incandescents, CFLs, and LEDs. Compact Flouorescent Lamps are very popular and can be found in our Energy Efficient Lighting section.

CFLs – about 75% energy savings

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) are simply curly versions of the long tube fluorescent lights you may already have installed in a homeowners’ kitchen or garage. Because they use less electricity than traditional incandescents, typical CFLs can pay for themselves in less than nine months, and then start saving you money each month. An ENERGY STAR-qualified CFL uses about one-fourth the energy and lasts ten times longer than a comparable incandescent bulb that puts out the same amount of light.

CFL bulbs are available in a range of light colors, including warm (white to yellow) tones that were not as available when first introduced. Some are encased in a cover to further diffuse the light and provide a similar shape to the bulbs you are replacing. If you are looking for a dimmable bulb for a homeowner, check the package to make sure you purchase a CFL with that feature.

Fluorescent bulbs contain a small amount of mercury, so don’t forget to remind homeowners that they should always be recycled at the end of their lifespan.

Source: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.