How to Get Utilities to Pay for Energy Upgrades

Okay, okay, okay. I am a day late on publishing this week’s article. Better late than never, right?

So each day I get phone calls from people asking questions about getting an energy audit performed on their homes. What are the benefits? How long does it last? What does it involve? But there is one question that gets asked about 75{2e537dc160f52cffa61474df167a5f85f9d18261513837a380b0d37216fb9262} of the time. Any guesses? Here it is…

Is this utility incentive program a scam?

I give the same answer every time….No. So this week I thought it would be good to show you a real life example of a house we recently completed an energy audit and the energy improvements.

Here is the profile of the home we audited:

Single-family house in West Little Rock (Pleasant Valley)
Approximately 2,500 square feet
House Air Leakage = 4,550 cubic feet per minute (cfm) – This should be around 2,500 cfm
Duct Leakage on First Unit = 38{2e537dc160f52cffa61474df167a5f85f9d18261513837a380b0d37216fb9262} leakage (should be 10{2e537dc160f52cffa61474df167a5f85f9d18261513837a380b0d37216fb9262} or lower)
Duct Leakage on Second Unit = 18{2e537dc160f52cffa61474df167a5f85f9d18261513837a380b0d37216fb9262} (should be 10{2e537dc160f52cffa61474df167a5f85f9d18261513837a380b0d37216fb9262} or lower)
Attic Insulation = Had R17 value (about 4.5 inches) – This should be at R38 (or 11 inches)

This was a pretty big job so here is what we proposed:

Look at those utility incentives! More specifically look at the duct sealing 1 incentive. These are incentives offered by Entergy of Arkansas. Here is the summary breakdown of this project:

The incentives covered 53.7{2e537dc160f52cffa61474df167a5f85f9d18261513837a380b0d37216fb9262} of the costs!

So to answer the question of how to get your utility companies to pay for 54{2e537dc160f52cffa61474df167a5f85f9d18261513837a380b0d37216fb9262} of the costs of energy upgrades?

Simply get an energy audit. It’s free in most areas.

Although it may not be 54{2e537dc160f52cffa61474df167a5f85f9d18261513837a380b0d37216fb9262} (I’ve see both lower AND higher…..up to 100{2e537dc160f52cffa61474df167a5f85f9d18261513837a380b0d37216fb9262}), the energy auditor can tell you how much they will pay during the audit.

FYI, how did we do on the project?

We increased the insulation depth from 4.5 inches to 12 inches of blown cellulose
Reduced the air infiltration almost 40{2e537dc160f52cffa61474df167a5f85f9d18261513837a380b0d37216fb9262}
Reduced duct leakage in both units to approximately 5-9{2e537dc160f52cffa61474df167a5f85f9d18261513837a380b0d37216fb9262}