{"id":239,"date":"2015-07-06T17:58:56","date_gmt":"2015-07-06T17:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/?p=239"},"modified":"2015-07-06T17:58:56","modified_gmt":"2015-07-06T17:58:56","slug":"think-energy-efficient-features-save-you-money-think-again-study-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/?p=239","title":{"rendered":"Think Energy-Efficient Features Save You Money? Think Again, Study Says"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NEWS<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Think Energy-Efficient Features Save You Money? Think Again, Study Says<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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By<\/span>
\nChrystal Caruthers<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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\"energy-efficient\"<\/a>
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photo: Tuomas Kujansuu\/iStock
\ngraphic: Greg Chow<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Going green at home usually comes with a hefty price tag\u2014new windows, a geothermal heating system, and Energy Star appliances cost thousands. Most homeowners justify the cost by factoring in potential monthly savings on their utility bills.<\/p>\n

But according to\u00a0a surprising new study<\/a> by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, those savings might be overblown. Its\u00a0conclusion: The initial costs of retrofitting a house with energy-efficient features\u00a0far outweigh the eventual savings.<\/p>\n

Wait\u2026What?!<\/p>\n

The study evaluated a sample of 30,000 low-income Michigan households that participated in the nation\u2019s largest residential energy efficiency program. Each household was\u00a0 given about $5,100 worth of energy-efficient improvements\u2014new furnace, attic and wall insulation, and weatherstripping. Over the lifetime of the upgrades, the researchers found that the homeowners saved an average of only $2,400. That\u2019s half the cost of the renovations, and less than half of the projected energy savings.<\/p>\n

While the researchers did find that the homeowners saved about 10% to 20% each month on their energy bills, they decided that the\u00a0savings did not justify the cost.<\/p>\n

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But the report stops short of telling consumers to ditch the idea of energy-saving refurbishments entirely.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what the researchers didn\u2019t<\/em> delve into: whether or not the upgrades were installed properly, whether the\u00a0upgrades were installed all at once or over a period of years, or even whether there was any sprucing up beyond\u00a0the furnace and insulation. Most Realtors\u00ae with the National Association of Realtors\u00ae\u00a0Green\u00a0Designation<\/a> (and I once was one) know that it takes several levels of energy efficiency retrofits to make a substantial difference. Old appliances would need to be swapped out with Energy Star models. Single-pane windows would need to be replaced with double-pane low-emissivity windows<\/a>, preferably with an argon core. Rooftops would need to be silver-coated<\/a>, and insulated doors<\/a>\u00a0would need to be installed at every entry. And that\u2019s just for starters if you want to get really serious.<\/p>\n

Brian Wheeler<\/strong>, spokesman for Consumers Energy<\/strong>, a Michigan utility company, disagrees with the study\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not an accurate reflection of the energy efficiency work we do,\u201d he said. \u201cSince 2009, we\u2019ve helped Michigan homeowners and businesses save over $850 million in energy costs. That\u2019s a significant difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

The folks at the Energy Policy Institute\u00a0did not return repeated requests for an interview. But in a prepared statement, Michael Greenstone<\/strong>, the group\u2019s\u00a0director, said, \u201cEnergy efficiency investments hold great potential as a means to fight climate change. However \u2026 the projected savings overestimate the reality on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in reality, a low-income family that pays about $2,000 a year in utility bills would probably welcome a 20% savings. Maybe to the economists conducting the study that\u2019s an insignificant amount of money. But in the real world, that\u2019s $400 that a family could use to buy food, pay down debt, or go to the dentist. Reality check!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWS Think Energy-Efficient Features Save You Money? Think Again, Study Says By Chrystal Caruthers 6:00 am ET July 2, 2015 photo: Tuomas Kujansuu\/iStock graphic: Greg Chow Going green at home usually comes with a hefty price tag\u2014new windows, a geothermal heating system, and Energy Star appliances cost thousands. Most homeowners justify the cost by factoring … Continue reading Think Energy-Efficient Features Save You Money? Think Again, Study Says<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240,"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions\/240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}