ELECTRIC NOTES
WANT EFFICIENT, SAFE LAUNDRY? DITCH THE LINT
Household chores like laundry seem fairly safe. But hidden problems like lint buildup in a dryer could lead to higher energy bills due to inefficiency and, ultimately, hazardous conditions in your home.
“Lint is the bane of our existence,” said Brian Wallace, president of the Coin Laundry Association in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. “We have to clean lint, not only as a safety issue, but to keep our energy costs down and ensure proper performance.”
At coin-operated laundries, dryers are key to customer satisfaction. Other amenities pale if clothes don’t dry fast enough, so laundry owners remain adamant about maintaining proper air flow through commercial dryers. With 30 to 50 dryers at an average laundry, operators clear trash cans full of lint every day from their screens.
The same principle applies at home, although on a smaller scale.
“Cleaning the lint filter after every cycle is one habit we want to encourage,” said Jill Notini, communications and marketing director for the Washington, D.C.-headquartered Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM). “Repetition builds a habit.”
AHAM urges consumers to clean the lint filter after each load and occasionally remove the filter and wash it with a nylon brush and hot, soapy water to remove residue. This simple chore not only improves air flow and energy efficiency, but also reduces the chance of a dryer fire.
Statistics on dryer fires show no difference between the natural gas and electric dryers, according to John Drengenberg, consumer affairs manager for Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a Chicago-based nonprofit that tests and sets minimum standards for electric-consuming items. “If you forget to clean the lint screen too many times you’re going to get a buildup, and that’s where ultimately you could have a problem,” he said.
Manufacturers whose products carry the UL mark are required to ship dryers with safety instructions that specify cleaning the lint screen before or after each load. These instructions also recommend keeping dryer exhaust openings and adjacent surrounding areas free from accumulated lint, dust and dirt, and having qualified service people periodically clean the dryer’s interior and exhaust duct.
Without adequate air circulation, heat flow becomes stymied, clothes take longer to dry, and it costs more to operate the appliance. Like ovens and stoves, dryers apply extreme heat on potentially flammable materials.
“You wouldn’t leave something cooking unattended for long periods of time—at least you shouldn’t, for safety and edibility,” Drengenberg noted. “Dryers, though, often run up to an hour or more, forgotten in a basement, garage or utility space.”
This out-of-sight, out-of-mind practice makes it essential that a dryer be maintained on a simple and regular basis.
Stay Safe, Energy Efficient and Lint Free
For energy-efficient and safe dryer performance, lint must be removed from the dryer and vent to allow air to circulate freely. Here are ways to avoid lint buildup:
• Clean the lint filter after each load.
• Occasionally remove the lint filter and clean it with a nylon brush and hot, soapy water.
• Periodically clean the back of the dryer where lint can be trapped.
• Keep the area around and on top of the dryer clean and free of clutter.
• Have a qualified service person clean the interior of the appliance and venting system once a year.
• Thoroughly clean the vent system if you notice your drying times have increased.
WISE INVESTMENTS IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The economic uncertainty we’re facing these days has many of us putting money into something with which we feel comfortable: our homes. Making a few upgrades around the house generally pays big dividends. And when boosting energy efficiency is one of them, the decision becomes a no-brainer.
For any energy-efficiency work done at your residence during the coming year, Uncle Sam will foot 30 percent of the bill—not a bad deal! Through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—better known as the stimulus bill—the Internal Revenue Service offers a personal tax credit of up to $1,500 for energy-efficiency improvements made to existing homes during 2009 and 2010.
The credit covers 30 percent of the cost of adding insulation materials and exterior doors, windows and roofs designed to help reduce a home’s heat loss or gain. It also includes efficient central air conditioners, air-source heat pumps, hot water boilers and biomass stoves.
For weatherization-related work, the credit covers only the cost of materials. With heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, as well as biomass stoves, installation costs also count toward the credit.
So how does the math work out? Say you spend $1,000 on new insulation. You would get, in the form of a tax credit, $300 off your tax bill. If you spend $3,000 to purchase a new HVAC system and have it installed, you’d have a $900 tax credit to show for it.
To take advantage of the program, a home improvement must have taken place after February 17, 2009 (the day the stimulus bill was signed into law), and products must meet specific energy-efficiency criteria. A few rules of thumb will help you determine those criteria.
For exterior windows and skylights, rely on the Energy Star label. For other efficiency upgrades, request what’s called a “Manufacturer Certification Statement” that the product or component qualifies for the tax credit. Many manufacturers post these on their websites, but be sure to verify that the product does qualify before making a purchase. You can also visit www.irs.gov/recovery to review guidelines for eligible purchases.
Energy tax credits reduce taxes owed dollar for dollar and can be carried forward to following years. While they can help boost any refund you receive, you won’t receive a check directly for the credit amount. You can file for energy tax credits using IRS Form 5695, with a total maximum value of $1,500 for improvements made in 2009 and 2010.
CRUNCH THE NUMBERS ON NEW YEAR’S SAVINGS
If your New Year’s resolution to spend less and save more always fizzles out by March, don’t fret. You can save money on your energy bill each month by making just a few small changes around the house. Here’s how:
• Save up to 20 percent on heating by installing a programmable thermostat that automatically lowers the heat when you leave the house for more than five hours or when the family goes to bed for the night.
• Save 1 percent to 3 percent on heating costs for each degree you turn the thermostat down. For optimal savings, set the thermostat at 68 degrees while at home and 65 degrees before you leave the house for the day.
• Save up to 20 percent on heating and cooling bills by sealing air leaks around doors and windows with caulk and weatherstripping. This inexpensive energy saver will pay for itself within a year.
• Save at least 25 percent on air conditioning when you replace your energy-inefficient central AC with one that has a seasonal energy-efficiency ratio (SEER) of 13 or higher.
• Save up to 40 percent on what you spend to run your refrigerator by replacing an old unit with a new Energy Star model.
• Save more than 50 percent on energy for cooking when you use a microwave instead of a conventional oven to heat meals.
• Save more than 10 percent on your water heating bill by lowering the water heater temperature from 140 to 120 degrees.
• Save 75 percent on energy for lighting by replacing incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. They last about 10 times longer and will save you about $30 or more in electricity costs over the life of each bulb.
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