{"id":453,"date":"2018-09-23T12:20:25","date_gmt":"2018-09-23T19:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/?p=453"},"modified":"2018-10-03T10:33:05","modified_gmt":"2018-10-03T17:33:05","slug":"energy-efficiency-how-to-calculate-if-its-worth-the-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/energy-efficiency-how-to-calculate-if-its-worth-the-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"ENERGY EFFICIENCY: When is it worth the cost to upgrade?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/blog-Whats-a-Seasonal-Energy-Efficiency-Ratio-SEER-1024x768.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-521\" src=\"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/blog-Whats-a-Seasonal-Energy-Efficiency-Ratio-SEER-1024x768-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/blog-Whats-a-Seasonal-Energy-Efficiency-Ratio-SEER-1024x768-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/blog-Whats-a-Seasonal-Energy-Efficiency-Ratio-SEER-1024x768-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/blog-Whats-a-Seasonal-Energy-Efficiency-Ratio-SEER-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Clients often ask how they should go about deciding if the cost of more energy efficiency is worth it.\u00a0 This is NOT meant to be the end all be all on energy efficiency.\u00a0 \u00a0I&#8217;m just offering a few simple things that you can do to get a feel for whether the extra investment might be worth it-or not.<\/p>\n<p>For example, a common thing that our clients have to make a decision on is what SEER value to go with on their HVAC units.\u00a0 Should they go with a 16 or a 19?\u00a0 How can they decide whether it&#8217;s worth it to pay more for that 19 SEER vs. the 16 SEER?\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">It&#8217;s not always a black and white thing, well it can be but that might take too much time, so you can solve for the basics and if it looks like it might be worthwhile, then ask a few more questions and get more information to make the decision more clear.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>STEP 1:\u00a0 <\/strong><strong>FORMULA to calculate how long it will take to recoup your savings:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Divide the initial cost of the energy-saving investment by the projected annual energy cost savings.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Investment\/savings per year= how many years to recoup<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For example, if going up in Seer value on an A\/C unit costs $3000 more per unit and the projected savings is $300 per year, then $3000\/$300=\u00a0 10.\u00a0 It will take 10 years to recoup your investment and start paying off.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Will you still be in your home 10 years from now?\u00a0 \u00a0If so, then&#8230;.<\/li>\n<li>Will the material or item still be working at that point?\n<ul>\n<li>Many technologies are evolving so fast that it could very well be obsolete in 5, 10 or 15 years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Will maintenance costs\u00a0 increase or decrease?\u00a0 If so, then factor in the increase or decrease in cost\u00a0 for this.<\/li>\n<li>How will the upgraded product influence resale or desirability of your home?<\/li>\n<li>Is there any enjoyment factor or aesthetic, other than cost savings, that would make it worth it to you even if you didn&#8217;t recoup your money?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After answering these questions, it starts to become clear as to whether you should spend that extra money on more energy efficiency.<\/p>\n<p><em>Here&#8217;s a quick example:<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If going from a 14 SEER to a 16 SEER saves you approx. $81 per year and you paid $1000 more for the 16 SEER, then it would take approx. 12 years to recoup your money.\u00a0 Then I always take into account having to pay up front for future savings, which causes me to discount it a bit.\u00a0 I say a bit- there are formulas for this- but I just discount it a bit depending on how long I will have to wait to recoup the savings. The further the spread of efficiency between 2 things, the greater the savings; but that doesn&#8217;t mean that the savings is necessarily worth it,\u00a0 although it often is.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick Side notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>HVAC systems:\u00a0 Your heating and cooling costs account for approximately 40-45% of your total energy bill so they are one of the first areas to investigate, as far as energy efficiency goes.\u00a0 Units last between 10-15 years, so if you plan to stay in your home for less than that, and it will take 10 years or longer to recoup the investment, then it might not be worth it unless there is evidence that a buyer would value that enough to pay enough to offset the cost.<\/p>\n<p>Appliances:\u00a0 As far as appliances are concerned, they account for approximately 15% of your energy bill.\u00a0 My suppliers have told me if an appliance was made in the 1990&#8217;s- it&#8217;s almost a no brainer that an energy efficient upgrade will pay off.\u00a0 \u00a0 If appliances are newer, you have to be aware of the likely life of the product and make sure that the product won&#8217;t have to be replaced or that you won&#8217;t move before you recoup your money.\u00a0 If you are deciding between 2 things with one having <em>just\u00a0a little better<\/em> energy efficiency, then paying the higher price probably won&#8217;t pay off in a significant way.\u00a0 One thing that can reduce your bill significantly are programmable water heaters.\u00a0 Program them to not heat up during on-peak hours or times when nobody is home.\u00a0 Otherwise, they are constantly heating up when there is no need to do so.<\/p>\n<p>Windows:\u00a0 Energy Star estimates that energy efficient windows can save up to 15% on your energy bill so they&#8217;re pretty important.\u00a0 Energy efficient windows contain something called Low E, which is microscopically thin layer of metallic oxides that both reflect the sun&#8217;s ultraviolet rays and control infrared light .\u00a0 New windows can cost anywhere from $8,000- 50,000+ and could take decades to pay off so if your existing windows\u00a0 are pretty good already, then going up to a little bit better windows probably won&#8217;t pay off.\u00a0 However, if windows are outdated with very little protection, it could be a wise investment.<\/p>\n<p>Insulation:\u00a0 Insulation is an area that can return more money than was invested, as far as resale on an existing home.\u00a0 This is a big deal in energy efficiency but I will leave it for a future post.<\/p>\n<p>I hope this helps a bit but it can definitely get complicated.\u00a0 Our trades and suppliers are always willing to educate people on the ins and outs of the various products and help them make these decisions.\u00a0 In addition, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/\">Energy.Gov&#8217;s site<\/a> has a comprehensive collection of information on everything from windows to heating and cooling.<\/p>\n<p>If any of my readers can shed any more light on this subject,\u00a0 please do.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few other links that might be of interest:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/zeroenergyproject.org\/buy\/zero-energy-homes\/\">Net Zero Homes<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/real-estate\/2018\/09\/18\/energy-efficient-windows-can-save-hundreds-dollars.html\">Energy Efficient Windows\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clients often ask how they should go about deciding if the cost of more energy efficiency is worth it.\u00a0 This is NOT meant to be the end all be all on energy efficiency.\u00a0 \u00a0I&#8217;m just offering a few simple things that you can do to get a feel for whether the extra investment might be &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/energy-efficiency-how-to-calculate-if-its-worth-the-cost\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;ENERGY EFFICIENCY: When is it worth the cost to upgrade?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[57,34,36,47,42,52,53,55,56,54],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":553,"href":"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453\/revisions\/553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.buildnaz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}