Energy Efficiency in Lincoln – December 2021

When we choose to be more energy efficient, we see benefits environmentally and economically. According to the EPA, energy efficiency can lower greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, as well as decrease water use. It can also lower utility bills, create jobs, and help stabilize electricity prices. If you are interested in how to become more energy efficient in your home or office, keep reading to hear what local experts suggest!

Energy Saving Tips

To learn more about how to better use our energy, we went to our local public power provider, Lincoln Electric System (LES). They offered us their top five energy saving tips, so we can all learn to conserve our energy and be more efficient.

1. Weatherize your home. Heating and cooling your home can account for a large part of your home’s energy use, especially in a four-season state like Nebraska. Find and seal any leaks or cracks, paying special attention to windows and doors. Install weather strips wherever necessary.

2. Optimize your home’s climate control. Have your system serviced seasonally to ensure the equipment is operating correctly. Change your filter regularly and keep air registers free of obstruction. Use ceiling fans and space heaters to relieve some short-term burden on your HVAC system. Communicate with your family and/or housemates about the importance of energy conservation and your goals to save energy. Reward them for their energy-saving activities!

3. Switch to smarter lighting. Get smart about lighting! Update your bulbs to ENERGYSTAR rated LED bulbs. Use task lighting, such as under-cabinet lights or desk lamps, to focus light exactly where you need it. Where applicable, put lights on timers and motion sensors to ensure they are only on when they need to be.

4. Light right during the holidays. Using LED holiday lights can reduce the energy cost of decorating your home for the winter holidays by up to 75% when compared to incandescent lights. LEDs also typically last longer than traditional lights. Lincoln’s annual holiday event, Zoo Lights Powered by LES, uses 100% LED lights to create pure holiday magic.

5. Talk to each other. Communicate with your family and/or housemates about the importance of energy conservation and your goals to save energy. Reward them for their energy-saving activities!

Efficient Heating and Cooling

Your HVAC system is a great place to start when trying to make your home or business more energy-efficient. John Henry’s Plumbing, Heating, & Air Sales Manager Jesse Hengelfelt shared with us how your HVAC system can both increase and decrease the cost of your utility bill and the amount of energy being used in your home or business.

“Any system that has not been properly maintained over the years suffers from energy loss,” Jesse said. “For example, when a furnace filter clogs, the unit must work much harder to accomplish the same goal of keeping you comfortable. Many months of dealing with a clogged filter not only wastes energy, but costs you extra dollars on your utility bill.”

Jesse said energy efficiency is on the forefront of most homeowners’ minds, and it’s evident by the increase John Henry’s has seen in homeowners wanting to raise the efficiency of their heating and air equipment. John Henry’s can help with this by supplying one’s home or business with highly efficient heating and air equipment, or on-demand water heaters. They also offer service plans on plumbing, heating, and air, which are great ways to keep your existing equipment running at peak efficiency.

“Our highly trained service profesionals aid in keeping these units running at top efficiency,” said Jesse. “Homeowners continue to take advantage of lower energy use through two-state and variable-capacity heating and cooling components. The heating and cooling industry is always pushing forward toward new, more efficient technologies, and it appears that American homeowners and business owners are welcoming these innovations.”

Biggerstaff Plumbing Heating & Air also offered some advice to home or commercial building owners to protect themselves from high costs—and even save themselves 30%-50% off of heating and cooling bills. It includes ensuring that your filters and condensate lines are checked regularly; clean filters at regular intervals are a must. Further, remember the two major energy burners in commercial office buildings—the lights and the heating and cooling systems. More efficient light fixtures using LED technology will save energy and money, and for heating and cooling, high-efficiency equipment with modulating/inverter technology is also available.

Custom Cooling & Heating, Inc. recommends that consumers maintain their existing equipment with regular maintenance by an HVAC technician. Dirty filters, clogged evaporator and condenser coils, and improperly charged systems are all culprits in driving up utility bills. Residential heating and cooling systems use approximately two thirds of the total energy consumption of the home. Custom Cooling encourages their customers to evaluate their current energy usage versus potential savings of all new systems available. Currently, inverter driven compressor systems are leading the industry in performance and efficiency. Ductless mini-split units also offer superior efficiency for problem temperature areas of the home, such as sunrooms, master bedrooms, basements, and additions. Custom Cooling is here to help by recommending insulation, windows, or other solutions to assist their customers’ energy and efficiency issues before installing a new HVAC system.

Attic Assessment

The attic may not be the first area of the home you think of when it comes to being more energy efficient, but it plays an important role. We spoke to Rex Schroder, owner of Attic Energy Efficiency, to learn more about what homeowners can do with their attic to become more energy efficient.

“The attic is the most wasteful part of a home when trying to be energy efficient,” explained Rex. “The biggest problems in an attic are conditioned air leaking into it, not enough insulation, and poor ventilation. All three of these issues can lead to mold problems, high utility bills, and an uncomfortable home.”

Rex has over 10 years of experience in the industry, and he uses an all-inclusive approach that goes above and beyond the code. He can customize services to fit your needs—and your attic! After taking advantage of Rex’s energy efficient services, his clients find themselves saving up to 65% on their utility bills.

“Our company is expertly-trained to optimize your attic space to improve temperature control in any building,” shared Rex. “By installing baffles from a soffit vent and up the rafter bay, we are able to insulate every available inch of attic floor space. Without baffles, some space would remain uninsulated and allow drafts of cold air to leak into your home or building. We can also improve ventilation and increase airflow into your attic, which reduces moisture problems and helps with temperature control. We use cellulose instead of fiberglass insulation, which has a higher R-value per inch than fiberglass.”

Attic Energy Efficiency offers attic ventilation analysis and upgrades, as well as other energy efficient techniques to help transform uncomfortable, inefficient homes into comfortable and efficient ones. Rex adheres to a high standard of integrity and honesty and says he will never sell anything to a customer that he does not absolutely believe they need. Attic Energy Efficiency is a small business contractor with big business results!

Comfortably Efficient

Pat Killeen, owner of Engineered Controls believes both comfort and energy efficiency are achievable with the right tools.
“Today more than ever, building owners want their facilities to be environmentally responsible and healthy places to live and work,” emphasized Pat. “They also want to optimize the energy usage without compromising comfort. Together a tall order to accomplish, but at Engineered Controls that technology is available today.”

Engineered Controls can play a very big part in assisting new and existing building owners with controlling their buildings’ energy costs. Considering the fact that a building’s lighting and HVAC loads account for nearly 80% of a building’s energy usage, there are plenty of energy strategies that a Building Automation System can provide maximizing the energy strategy options available to building owners. Essentially, Engineered Controls can assist in total building control and help provide a healthier and more energy-efficient environment for occupants.

Streamline Your Way to Savings

The Streamline Energy Solutions team of energy-efficiency specialists operates with the goal of saving energy—and saving you money. They pride themselves on being a one-stop shop for all of your home energy-efficiency needs, providing various insulation and weatherization services, coupled with a crucial blower door test, to create immediate improvements in how your home uses energy.

“One of the biggest things we recommend to create the maximum impact when someone wants to insulate their home is to air seal it,” said Streamline Co-founder and BPI-Certified Auditor Jen Keller. “We’ll locate all the

accessible crevices in your attic, including around your fixtures and top plates and seal them so to prevent conditioned air from leaking into the attic space. That preps the attic for us to insulate with blown-in fiberglass. We prefer this product over cellulose because it doesn’t settle over time, does not absorb moisture, and is a lot cleaner product. Of course, the baffles we install in an attic are a crucial step in the process, too, because they keep the insulation from blocking air flow through your soffit vents and provide necessary ventilation. Proper attic ventilation reduces the risk of ice dams in the winter and the build-up of condensation in the attic space, which could lead to mildew or mold.”

Streamline uses CertainTeed Insulsafe SP blown-in insulation not only because it doesn’t settle but also because it provides better coverage, excellent sound control, lasts for the life of your home to reduce long-term energy demand and costs; is environmentally sustainable and formaldehyde-free; and comes with a limited lifetime warranty. Another fabulous offering from Streamline Energy Solutions that is not universal to all insulation companies is a blower door test because not everyone is BPI (Building Performance Institute)-certified to administer them.

“It depressurizes—or creates a vacuum—where it pushes as much air as possible, then a manometer measures the amount of cubic feet of air per minute that goes out of your home,” Jen explained. “We complete a blower door pre-test before air sealing and insulating, then retest afterward to show the immediate results. The increased efficiency adds to the value of your home, increases your comfort and, importantly, improves the air quality in your home, so it’s also great for people with allergies!”

Streamline is proud to be a registered contractor for the LES (Lincoln Electric System) Sustainable Energy Program to engage a rebate for achieving increased efficiency through their practices, and it immediately comes off of homeowners bills. If your home qualifies, you can receive up to $.50 per square foot in instant rebates to help subsidize the cost of the upgrade. LES will be continuing their rebate program through the end of 2021 and into 2022.

Jen also owns Halo Custom Lighting, which can help you light up your home with permanent energy-saving LED lighting for the holidays—or all year long. This sister business has become tremendously popular with versatile and fully customizable lighting options for your home.

Home and Office Improvements

Did you know that tinting your home and business windows can add another layer of savings, comfort, and employee productivity? Pro-Tint can provide you with energy efficient solutions for your space. With more than 45 years of industry experience, you can count on them to install window tinting answers with expertise and confidence, all toward protecting your investment and increasing your comfort, privacy, and safety.

“It might surprise you how many options are available for window tinting,” said Pro-Tint Owner Kristie Strahm. “They include sun control window films, which prevent fading and glare, block heat and harmful UV rays, add years to the life of your furniture, and extend the life of your cooling system. Pro-Tint also offers Safety and Security Film tints to protect your home or business against flying glass shards, at the same time protecting you against break-ins and blasts.”

Yet another option is Dual Reflective (DR) Window Film, which is ideal for both commercial and residential window applications where reducing hotspots, increasing occupant comfort and productivity, and conserving energy are equally important. DR Interior Window Films deliver excellent solar performance and are the ticket for maintaining a great view to the outside. They provide more than 99% UV block to limit fading and sun damage, an excellent level of heat rejection to reduce energy required for cooling, and outstanding glare control for enhanced occupant comfort and productivity!

In addition to the windows, your roof can affect your home or office’s energy efficiency. A proper roofing system, including the right insulation and ventilation, makes a tremendous impact on the

efficiency and climate control of your home. The family-owned Neemann & Sons of Lincoln can help you accomplish just that—and more. They recently added Halo Lights to their lineup of innovative, energy-saving efforts. Not only can you show off your Christmas spirit with lights for the season, but these lights serve up a fantastic, new permanent solution to all of your outdoor lighting needs.

“We install blown-in insulation, proper ventilation, energy-efficient windows, and LED Halo Lights, all of which will help any homeowner achieve lower utility bills and feel good about contributing to energy conservation,” said Terry Neemann.

Contact these local professionals today to relish in the benefits that come with energy efficiency!