Home Energy Efficiency

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2011/12/calc.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:275;s:6:"height";i:183;s:4:"file";s:16:"2011/12/calc.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:3:{s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:16:"calc-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:14:"calc-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:16:"calc-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:0;s:14:"optimized_size";i:0;s:7:"percent";i:0;}s:5:"sizes";a:1:{s:4:"full";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => already_optimized
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

)
1662780517 
1324598400

It’s cold outside… and maybe inside, if your house isn’t properly insulated. Home energy efficiency is a big issue and a new study gives Alabama high marks – and low marks – for how the state handles it. WBHM’s Tanya Ott has our story.

Randy Rice has lived in his house for 13 years. He’s lived there and often shivers there…

“Certainly believe that the air was leaking upstairs. We could feel some breezes. I just saw dollars flying out the window.”

Rice replaced the windows five years ago and it helped. But he still worries about leaks around the windows. So he called in Amanda Godward, owner and energy auditor with Ecotelligent Homes.

Godward’s first step is to interview customers like Randy Rice. She takes house measurements, checks out insulations in the attic and windows. Then, she goes all high tech with the “thermal infrared scan”.

“We use this to find flaws in the insulation, in the walls, without having to do any destructive testing.”

She turns on a fan that pulls all of the air out of the room. It creates a vacuum so cold air from the outside is pulled inside. She can see, on a scanner, all the little cracks and holes where air is sneaking in.

“… around windows, around light fixtures. And by not sealing those air leaks you’re allowing your house to have drafts, which causes it to be uncomfortable, but also letting the air that you paid to heat in the winter time literally fly out through those leaks.”

Godward did an energy audit on Randy Rice’s home a while back. She suggested changes like heavier insulation in the attic, caulking light fixtures and windows, and replacing weather stripping. She’s back at the house today to see if it made a difference.

“Yellow is hot and purple is cold,” she says, looking at the scanner. “so we’re looking for areas that are purple because that’s where the cold air from outside is being drawn into the warm house.”

When all’s said and done, Godward announces that the air leakage is reduced by 15 percent. For Randy Rice that translates to about $150 in savings each year.

“In 4.5 years I should actually be saving money and able to pay off what I’ve invested today.”

Efforts like this by homeowners and measures by utility companies and others are what the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy used to compile a state scorecard for 2011. Alabama has the unique distinction of being on two lists – “States in Most Need of Improvement”… and “The Six Most Improved States”. So basically, we’re doing better than we used to, but there’s still a long way to go. Michael Sciortino is the council’s senior research analyst.

“Alabama had been sitting at the bottom of the score card for some time, and this past year the state passed some very impressive building codes so new buildings in Alabama are now built, what we call, ‘Smart from the Start’, and from the get-go they’re saving energy that otherwise would have been wasted.”

Sciortino says the state has also been offering good loan programs for folks who want to get help paying for an energy audit like the one Randy Rice had done on his house.

Short of having a full-blown energy audit done, energy auditor Amanda Godward says the easiest fixes include caulking windows, putting those little foam gaskets around your electrical outlets and switching to compact fluorescent lights. Want to know how much switching to compact fluorescent lights could save you? Check out this online energy savings calculator.

 

What to know about the mass Gen Z protests in Nepal

At least 19 people have been killed in the protests and more than 200 others were admitted to the hospital due to injuries, according to Nepal's Civil Service Hospital.

Hollywood stars boycott Israeli film companies in response to Gaza crisis

Emma Stone, Ava DuVernay and Gael Garcia Bernal are among more than 2,000 who signed the petition.

Supreme Court will weigh in on Trump’s tariffs. Here’s what to know about the case

Two lower courts have said some of President Trump's tariffs are unlawful. Now the Supreme Court has agreed to examine the issue.

Iran and the IAEA are expected to resume cooperation under agreement backed by Egypt

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency signed an agreement in Cairo to pave the way for resuming cooperation, including on ways of relaunching inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities.

Birmingham youth choir returns to the stage after golden buzzer moment

The Birmingham Youth and Young Adult Choir returns to NBC's "America's Got Talent" Tuesday evening after having won one of the show's golden buzzers earlier this summer.

The MAHA plan for healthier kids includes 128 ideas, but few details

The Make America Healthy Again commission is proposing more than 100 moves to address the root causes of childhood chronic disease. Critics say other Trump administration moves contradict the goals.

More Environment Coverage