Knowledge Is Power. Turn It On.

BY: Todd Hoener, GVEA Energy Efficiency Specialist
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 4/3/08 Section A3

Of all your expenses, probably the toughest bill to manage is the electric bill. That bill is dynamic—you don’t pay for it upfront. If you don’t have the money for gas you might walk. If you can’t pay for heating fuel you might burn wood instead. However, with electricity, you use it today and pay for it later. This time lag can become a problem if money is tight and you’re not carefully managing your daily electric use.

However, you can utilize your electric meter and your bill to help you manage electric use and budget expenditures. Your meter and bill are your friends, not foes. With electricity, you buy kilowatt-hours (kWh). The function of electric meters is to record the kWh of electric-use between billing periods (about 30 days).

Continue reading →

Lighten Your Electric Bill: Install New Lights

BY: John Davies, CCHRC Research Director
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 03/13/08 Section A3

There are many different types of energy efficient lighting available. For indoor use, typical choices involve replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (CFL) or old fluorescent tubes (T12) with newer ones (T8 or T5). LED lighting is available for some uses such as holiday and closet lighting, exit signs, work lights, etc., but for general illumination they are still somewhat expensive and limited in availability.

Replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs is as easy as unscrewing the old bulb and replacing it with a CFL of comparable light output, usually measured in lumens. The energy savings can be 50-80% and most bulb types are readily available. This is a classic no-brainer, although there are some limitations—they don’t work very well at low temperatures, if at all, and switching the light off and on many times per day can significantly shorten the bulb life. They are perfect for locations where they are likely to be on for several hours per day such as kitchens, living rooms, play or work areas, and bedrooms.

Continue reading →