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CNN Sunday Morning
What Steps Can Be Taken to Save Money on Energy Bills?
Aired July 08, 2001 - 08:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: OK, gasoline prices are dropping slowly as the summer driving season heats up, but other energy costs are not. The cost of electric power is rising. So how can you conserve energy and save money? We have some answers, hopefully. We turn now to Vera Gibbons, a writer with "Smart Money" magazine. She's got some tips for us. Hi, Vera.
VERA GIBBONS, "SMART MONEY" MAGAZINE: Hi, Kyra. How are you?
PHILLIPS: All right, I'm feeling good. Good to see you. After reading your tips I'm going to attempt these. Let's get right to them. Let's kind of hit on each one. You've got eight of them for us, OK?
GIBBONS: OK.
PHILLIPS: First one...
GIBBONS: OK.
PHILLIPS: ... unplugging the fridge. How much of a difference can this really make?
GIBBONS: Right. Well, if you have an inefficient refrigerator, it could be costing you upwards of $100, $125 a year to run. They're big energy hogs. So if you've had the same refrigerator since the 1960s or the 1970s, it might be time to trade that clunker in for an energy efficient unit.
PHILLIPS: All right, here...
GIBBONS: It'll cost you money up front, but you'll save money in the long run.
PHILLIPS: Sure, and a couple years down the road I bet it'll make a difference.
GIBBONS: Right.
PHILLIPS: All right, number two, Kill A Watt.
GIBBONS: Um-hmm. Here we're suggesting that you replace your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs or CFLs. Not only do CFLs last longer, 10,000 hours as opposed to about 1,000 hours, but the quality of these bulbs has improved considerably over the last couple of years and you can save upwards of 50 percent on your lighting bill, depending on how many bulbs you replace.
PHILLIPS: Wow, that's a big difference.
GIBBONS: A huge difference.
PHILLIPS: All right, getting your ducts in a row. Oh, yeah.
GIBBONS: Fifty-three percent of American households have A.C. units and about two thirds of those units have some sort of refrigerant problem, either too much refrigerant or too little refrigerant. It's a very easy problem to fix. It will cost you about $50 to $100 and right off the bat you're going to see your cooling bill drop by about 10 percent. Now, leaky duct systems are more complicated, more expensive to repair, but call your technician and have them come in and do a complete home inspection and if you've got leaky ducts, consider having them sealed.
PHILLIPS: Are there any tips -- I mean how do we know if we've got a refrigerant problem or a leaky duct? Is there something we can notice right away?
GIBBONS: Well, if you've seen your bills go up and you don't know what the culprit is, it could be any one of these. It could be any one of these things.
PHILLIPS: There you have it. OK. Here we go. This is a big one probably in our area, number four, cool the pool costs.
GIBBONS: Pool pumps use more juice than any other common electrical appliance, including the refrigerator. The problem is we run these pump eight, 12 hours a day. If you were to cut that in half and run them four to six hours a day, for example, you could save $50 right off the bat. Another way to cool the pool costs is to install a pool cover. You can save about $50 a month on your heating bill or up to about $250 for the season. Plus you're going to keep all that junk out of your pool -- the debris, the leaves, the bugs, all of that stuff, and it's easier on the filters, as well.
PHILLIPS: All right, now you talk about planning for the winter. You can actually call the local utility and oil companies and see if they'll lock in rates?
GIBBONS: Yeah. Sure. You can call your utility company or your oil company and see if they'll lock in rates for the coming winter. Now, there's no guarantee you're going to come out ahead, but based on the way things have been these last few months, the chances look pretty good that you will come out several hundred dollars ahead.
PHILLIPS: All right, drive a better bargain. I'm going to hit on -- I'm going to get to the last one here. Drive a better bargain. You're saying you can check gaspricewatch.com to find out about mileage. Also, your suggesting to trade in your SUVs for a station wagon. I don't know, that's going to be tough here. I don't know if people are going to do that. GIBBONS: Well, you know, SUVs get, what, like 12 miles to a gallon? Trade that in for a station wagon that gets 28, Kyra, you're going to save like $2,000 on gasoline.
PHILLIPS: Yeah, and look like the Brady bunch. OK, use power off hours...
GIBBONS: Hey, station wagons are big.
PHILLIPS: Offering rebates or credits on your bill? I didn't know that.
GIBBONS: Right. Many utility companies will offer rebates or they'll give you credit on your bill if you do things like run your pool pumps or your A.C. units during off peak hours or if you trade in your old A.C.s or your old refrigerators for energy efficient units, they'll give you credit for that as well. You should call your utility company and see what type of incentives they're offering to help you cut your costs, because many of them are offering some pretty decent programs.
PHILLIPS: You're right, and everything is negotiable. And before we let you go, off means off. There's that standby power thing that we always forget about.
GIBBONS: Exactly. TVs, stereos, all of those major appliances use what's called standby power. So even when you're not using the stuff, you want to unplug them because standby consumption alone represents about nine percent of your electricity bill. So off means off. Unplug that stuff.
PHILLIPS: Vera Gibbons, "Smart Money" magazine, great tips. I'm going to call you after my next bill. I'm going to try these, OK?
GIBBONS: OK. Sounds good.
PHILLIPS: Except for the SUV. All right.
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