Make no Mistake — we are fully
engaged in a war on energy waste —
saving one building at a time, from
residential to commercial to institutional to houses of worship. When you
stop to consider the savings potential,
retrofitting ultra-efficient technologies
into existing energy-hog structures
offers the greatest potential for curbing wasteful use of energy. inside city
boundaries, folks often become
enslaved to their heating, cooling, and
water-heating equipment because the
cost of operation of energy-wasting
appliances keeps escalating.
ed smith is a retired York City
policeman; toni is a York City councilwoman. they live modestly in a
York City neighborhood and lived
with an 80% efficient gas-fired furnace approaching the end of its life,
having dutifully served their heating needs for 30-years. a 10-seeR
(seasonal energy efficiency Rating)
2.5-ton central air-conditioning system had been installed (replacement
of a 6-seeR system) a decade ago.
it was time for the smiths to consider their home’s future energy-use
regarding new heating and air-conditioning. They’d read and heard about
Federal tax Credits (
www.energys-tar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.
tx_index) and wanted to explore the
options available.
toni’s work with York City politics
meant she was in close contact with
other branches of local, state, and
federal officials. toni is a dedicated
public servant who doesn’t shy-away
from speaking up as an advocate for
her constituents. Her italian heritage
and feisty personality serve her well
in local politics, which can, at times,
require a dedication and perseverance
beyond most folk’s abilities. ed’s no
slouch either and he still has his officer’s hat with its bullet-hole through
the brim, a reminder of how close he
came during one pursuit of a crook.
toni knew that state Representative eugene DePasquale had installed
a geothermal heating/cooling system
in his home, an urban geothermal retrofit. the gas company had recently
contacted DePasquale to ask why his
meter reading had come up zero for
several months! The systems installed
for the DePasquale residence were saving them more than $4,000 each year
and the smiths wanted to know if they
too should consider geothermal or just
upgrade what they had. They wanted
cost comparisons with projected savings. Just to complicate things a bit
more, they asked for anticipated costs
following deregulation of electricity
in 2011.
DePasquale authored Pennsylvania’s
new energy bill, which offers low-inter-est loans for those who qualify, thereby
leveling the playing field by making
new high-efficiency HVaC systems
affordable for virtually anyone (http://
keystonehelp.com/index.php). the
law has two central requirements: the
installing contractor must be enrolled
in the program, trained, and listed
for the installation to be eligible; and
a certified energy audit must be performed both before and after to verify
reduction in energy use. ed and toni
had already done enough homework
to determine that they qualified for the
loans. all that remained was crunching
the numbers and figuring out how a
ClimateMaster TT038 stands ready to step in and conserve energy.
geothermal system could be installed.
First pass Manual-J heat loss/gain
calculation revealed the following:
existing 75,000-Btuh gas-fired 80% •
furnace (net output = 60,000-Btuh)
was serving a 59,371-Btuh load on a
0°F day, a virtual match.
existing 2.5-ton 30,000-Btuh •
10-seeR a/C unit was meeting
the 29,520-Btuh cooling load on
a 95°F day.
in order to meet the Pennsylvania
keystone eligibility, contractors must
attend training, which centers on proper
installation techniques along with a
ton of useful information regarding
infiltration/exfiltration issues that can
easily rob of home of 40% (or more) of
its energy production. i kept hearing
Mom’s, “Close the door — you’re heat-
ing the Great outdoors,” admonition
from our childhood!
in my mind’s eye, i was seeing structure losses as Death by a thousand
Cuts from the myriad of structural
penetrations made by trades people
where each individual cut or hole
drilled wasn’t seen as a big deal unless
you could add them all up. That’s what
a blower-door test will reveal — how
much your structure resembles a slice
of swiss cheese!
