2013 Update: The Dollars and Cents of My Home Energy Audit

My wife, Sheryl, and I have a condo at Crown Harbor in Alameda:

• Crown Harbor

In a series of blog posts, I outlined the process we followed to make some energy improvements to our home:

• A Modest Proposal: Results of My Home Energy Audit
• A Modest Proposal: Improvements based on My Home Energy Audit

In 2013 we signed up for green energy supplied by the city of Alameda.

• I've reduced my carbon footprint with Alameda Green

I entitled the modest proposal blog posts based on the fact that we wanted to spend a modest amount of money in exchange for modest savings. Now that years have passed, I can share more of the monetary results. If I wanted to be really accurate, I could have expressed the energy reduction in terms of units of energy (e.g., kilowatt hours) instead of dollars. I mention this because by signing up for Alameda Green, Sheryl and I volunteered to pay more for our energy in exchange for not polluting the planet. Had we not done that, our dollar savings reflected in the calculations that follow would have actually greater than what is shown; however, for the sake of simplicity, I am just using the dollar amounts.

Here is what we spent in 2011:

Item	Cost
Building envelope sealing	$1,409
Attic insulation	$1,249
Building Permit Processing	$250
BPI Safety Compliance Test	$499
Duct replacement and airflow balancing	$1,550
Return duct sealing	$473
Total	$5,430

From Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), we received a rebate of $1,216. With the help of Advanced Home Energy who performed the work, we also filed a rebate request with the Alameda Power Company. We received a check for $2,300 from Association of Bay Area Governments. In addition, as part of filing 2011 taxes, taxpayers could get a credit by completing Form 5695 — the Residential Energy Credit Form. The Federal Tax program limited the credit to $500 per residence, and since we had already received $450 for the installation of our tankless hot water heater in 2009, we got a $50 credit that time. In June 2012, we received another rebate from PG&E for $201. In July 2012, we received another rebate from Alameda Power for $82.

Item	Cost / Savings
Out of pocket	$5,430
1st PG&E rebate	-$1,216
Residential Energy Credit	-$50
Alameda Power Rebate	-$2,300
2nd PG&E rebate	-$201
2nd Alameda Power Rebate	-$82
final total	$1,581

Our condo is 1,977 square feet. We have been watching our electric and gas costs since the work was completed in April 2011.

Various factors affect our results like: average daily temperature, price increases from year to year (particularly for the green energy), how much company we have, how long our showers are, or whether or not my wife straightens her hair with a hot iron. :-) Even given all that, we have seen reasonable savings. Looking at the year 2011 as a whole, we saved $186. For 2012 as a whole, we saved $441. For the just completed 2013, the savings were $265. At this rate, given our $1,581 expenses, we will recoup our investment in about 3 more years. So given our willingness to pay for green energy, it will take a total of 6 years.

If you look at our minimum and maximum payments, you can see what a best case scenario would look like.

As I noted in my original blog post, we undertook this project not for the money, but because we felt our house was broken. When you borrow money to pay $646,000 for a condo, another $1,581 to make it right doesn't seem all that wrong.

Measurement of home energy savings is alive in the lab.