For those of you who live near or might be visiting us in Denver, the Blossoms of Light at the Denver Botanic Gardens is a great night out. And it reminds us about how valuable saving electricity is for our wallets!
The most recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that for all sectors – Residential, Commercial, Industrial and Transportation, electric rates “year over year” in September rose from 13.34/kWh to 14.23kWh or some 6.67%. That may not seem like much but the US Department of Labor reported real average hourly earnings increased 0.8 percent so you’d be behind the curve by over 5%. But there are solutions that can work for your house, City, County and more!
LEDs are the first step – easy, affordable and they can be financed at interest rates < 5%! And wow, those savings can add up
Add to that your LED can last upwards of 50,000 hours vs. maybe 1,500 hours for Tom Edison’s incandescent lights and you will save even more in not buying or installing new lights.
What I’m not doing is trying to sell you an LED – I am trying to show you how the math can work for you in improving the budget in your building at home or at work. The math keeps getting better – you’d need 200btu to boil a quart of water vs. about 0.08 kWh on the same stove and with less emissions in the air! We can keep going with your chillers and boilers and you get the picture.
Energy efficiency isn’t about saving the earth – though that’s a nice bonus – it’s about saving our wallets at home, the office and the school district! Don’t take my word for it – try Energy Star Portfolio Manager, contact your local utility and check out the rebates and grants available at North Carolina State’s DSIRE tool – Go Pack Go!
And don’t forget us here in Denver – we can finance these retrofits and have for over 45 years!