February 2023 EnergyWiseSM Tip: Healthy Lighting

Summer brings longer days and more natural light, but that doesn’t mean your lighting habits can’t affect your energy use. Efficient lighting choices and smarter habits can help you take full advantage of daylight while minimizing electricity costs. Make the most of your summer lighting. Here’s how: • Use daylight whenever possible. Open curtains or blinds during the morning and early evening. • If you’re still using old incandescent light bulbs, replace them with LEDs, which use up to 80% less energy and last longer. • Install dimmer switches or motion sensors to reduce wasted light in unused spaces. • Encourage kids to turn off lights when leaving a room. • Use outdoor solar lights or energy-efficient landscape lighting for evening illumination. • Keep light fixtures and bulbs clean to ensure maximum brightness and efficiency. Small changes in lighting can lead to noticeable reductions in energy use, especially when lights stay on longer during family-filled summer days. Smart lighting doesn’t just save energy—it creates a more comfortable, better-lit home environment.

Keeping your home cool in July doesn’t just depend on your air conditioner—it also depends on how well your home keeps that cool air inside. Leaky doors, windows and attics can let the summer heat seep in, forcing your air conditioning system to work harder and raising your energy bills. Here’s how to seal up and stay cool: • Check for air leaks around windows and doors. Replace worn weather-stripping or use caulk to seal gaps. • Close fireplace dampers when not in use to prevent hot air from coming in—or cool air from escaping. • Use door sweeps to seal gaps under exterior doors. • Add insulation to your attic or basement. Proper insulation helps maintain a consistent indoor temperature. • Use thermal curtains or shades on sunny windows to block out radiant heat. • Close doors to unused rooms to reduce the space your cooling system has to manage. By keeping the cool air in and the hot air out, your home will stay more comfortable and your air conditioning will run less often. It’s a simple way to reduce summer energy use and stay chill—even on the hottest days.

A do-it-yourself home energy audit is a great way to identify where your home is losing power—and discover simple fixes that can save you money. Here's how to get started: • Check for air leaks: Inspect windows, doors and attic hatches for drafts. If you find any gaps, seal them with weather-stripping or caulk to prevent cool air from escaping. • Inspect attic insulation. Proper insulation helps keep your home cool in summer and warm in winter. If the insulation is sparse or uneven, it may be time to add more to keep your home comfortable and energy efficient. • Review your lighting. Replace any leftover incandescent bulbs in your home fixtures with energy-efficient LEDs. These use up to 80% less energy and last longer, saving you money in the long run. • Evaluate your appliances. Older appliances consume more energy. If your fridge, washer or air conditioner is outdated, it might be time to upgrade to a more energy-efficient model. • Track your energy use. Ask your electric provider about smart meters or online tools that let you monitor your energy consumption. This can help you identify patterns and areas to improve. By completing a simple energy audit this summer, you can reduce energy waste and set yourself up for year-round savings. For a more in-depth evaluation, consider scheduling a professional energy audit.

Summer vacations away from home presents an opportunity to reduce the energy your house uses. By making some adjustments before you leave, you can avoid wasting electricity on empty rooms and come home to a lower utility bill. Before you leave: • Set your thermostat several degrees higher or use vacation mode if your system offers it. • Unplug nonessential appliances like TVs, computers, coffee makers, and chargers. • Turn off lights or use timers for security purposes. • Close blinds or shades to keep out sunlight and reduce indoor heat. • Turn down the water heater temperature or switch it to vacation mode. • Make sure all windows and doors are fully closed and locked. Even though you won’t be home to use energy, your appliances and systems might—unless you plan ahead. These simple steps take just a few minutes but can result in meaningful energy

By: Energy Efficiency Program Manager Cory Fuehrer As summer heats up, it’s great to know your home’s air conditioning system can provide relief. It’s also good to know you can find a cold beverage in your refrigerator to cool down with. That wouldn’t be possible without the refrigeration process pioneered in 1834 by Jacob Perkins, who introduced the first commercially successful vapor-compression refrigeration system using ether. For air conditioning systems, a refrigerant evaporates inside a coil and changes from a liquid to a gas. As it does, the refrigerant absorbs heat from inside your home and the system transfers it out. The amount of heat removed and how efficiently it is done depends in large part on the type of refrigerant used. For nearly 200 years, the refrigeration industry sought to develop the perfect refrigerant that would be efficient, non-corrosive, non-toxic, and non-flammable, with no ozone depletion and global warming potential. However, the first air conditioners and refrigerators employed toxic or flammable gases, such as ammonia, sulfur dioxide, methyl chloride or propane that often resulted in fatal accidents when they leaked. Then, in 1928, Thomas Midgley Jr. created the first non-flammable, non-toxic chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gas: Freon® (R-12). However, by the mid-1970s, scientists discovered CFCs such as R-12, were causing major damage to the ozone layer that protects the earth from ultraviolet radiation. In the 1980s, this lead to the adoption of hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants like R-22. Compared to CFCs, HCFCs have a significantly lower potential to deplete ozone. But in the 2000s, climatologists began to correlate the use of HCFCs to climate change. To address this concern, the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 required transitioning to new refrigerants like R-32 and R-454B. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers classifies these refrigerants as “A2Ls”. Starting this year, newly manufactured refrigeration and air conditioning systems must employ A2Ls. When compared to older refrigerants, they provide environmental benefits, improved efficiency, faster thermal recovery and regulatory compliance. They also help homeowners avoid the increasing costs of retiring refrigerants. Even still, don’t feel you need to rush out to replace all of heat pumps, air conditioners, refrigerators and freezers. Existing equipment and the parts, including refrigerant, used for servicing and repairing them are not subject to the new regulations and can continue to be used through equipment end-of-life. The supply of R-410a and R-134a will still be available, as was the case in prior refrigerant transitions in the 1990s and early 2000s. However, when you do find yourself in the market for a new refrigeration appliance, heat pump or air conditioning system, contact your local utility or visit www.energywisenebraska.com. They may have EnergyWiseSM incentives available to reduce the cost. Your local utility, in partnership with Nebraska Public Power District, wants to help you get the most value from the energy they provide.

One of the easiest ways to manage your energy bill in the summer is to be smart about your thermostat. Raising your thermostat by just a few degrees can lead to noticeable savings, and combining it with good cooling habits makes your home more comfortable and efficient. Try these strategies: • Set your thermostat at 78 degrees when you're home and higher when you're away. • Use a programmable thermostat or smart thermostat to automatically adjust settings when you’re sleeping or out of the house. • Don’t set the thermostat lower than usual to try to cool your home faster—it won’t work and it wastes energy. • Pair your thermostat with ceiling fans to circulate cool air and make higher temperatures feel more comfortable. • Keep internal heat sources like ovens and lamps away from the thermostat. • Make gradual temperature adjustments rather than big swings. If your air conditioner seems to run constantly, consider having it serviced. A well-maintained system cools more efficiently. Smart thermostat use, combined with seasonal maintenance and good airflow, can make a significant difference in your energy bill this July.

By: Energy Efficiency Program Manager Cory Fuehrer Have you stopped at or driven by a convenience store in the middle of the day and noticed the canopy lights over the gas pumps are on? Or have you noticed a streetlight in your area that never shuts off? What about a glaring yard light that irradiates over much more than the owner’s yard? Finally, when is the last time you entered a room and found the lights were left on after the last person left? These are all examples of improper or needless use of electricity through illumination.  Through the 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, the U.S. Energy Information Administration found that electricity consumption for lighting accounted for about 6% of the electrical use in U.S. homes. That equates to 81 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity. In similar surveys for commercial buildings and industrial facilities, lighting accounted for about 17% (208 billion kWh) and 6% (53 billion kWh) of total electricity use in those areas respectively. Unfortunately, it is estimated that about half of all energy used for lighting is unnecessarily lost. Here are the leading causes of wasted lighting energy: Over-illumination – using too much light or leaving lights on unnecessarily. Inefficient fixtures – light is lost within the fixture before it can provide illumination of the desired area. Inefficient light source – bulbs like incandescent bulbs waste energy by creating much more heat than light. Poor fixture design – Some are not properly shielded and/or aimed sending light where it is not needed or desired. Poor design usually leads to glare. The picture to the right illustrates this problem. The fixture on the left either lost its shielding or never had any causing light to go directly into the observer’s eyes. The fixture on the right is properly shielded. Most of the light produced strikes the area being illuminated before reflecting into our eyes. Uncontrolled lighting – lack of lighting controls, occupancy sensors, or dimming systems allow lights to run unnecessarily. Not utilizing natural light – not taking advantage of natural daylight when and where it is available can lead to increased reliance on artificial lighting. Now that you know the primary causes, here are the solutions: Energy-efficient lighting – Switching to energy-efficient LED lighting and using smart lighting controls. Proper fixture design – Ensuring light fixtures are shielded and aimed correctly by directing light only where it's needed, reducing waste and glare. Natural light utilization – Maximizing natural daylight through window placement during building design to reduce the dependence on artificial lighting. Lighting controls – Installing and integrating occupancy and daylight sensors, smart switches, smart building systems and task lighting to optimize energy use. Your local electric utility, in partnership with Nebraska Public Power District, wants to help you gain the most beneficial light from the energy you purchase. They even offer EnergyWiseSM lighting incentives to help you make the most efficient choice. To find additional information, contact your local utility or visit www.energywisenebraska.com.

The comfortable spring weather is more likely to nudge you to open your windows than to turn on the air conditioner—and that makes this the perfect time to make sure your a/c is in shape for the summer heat that’s just a few months away. The best time to service your home’s air conditioning system is when you don’t need it. If you put it off until it’s 90 degrees outdoors, you could be dealing with some down time that can leave your home pretty uncomfortable. Annual service is important because your technician will lubricate and clean moving parts and check for—and repair—potential problems. That will make it more likely that your system will run smoothly all summer. Choose an a/c tech who is licensed by the state. Chances are the same tech can come back in the fall to tune up your heating system.

If you’re lucky enough to have an unused room to convert to a home office, a home gym or a home theater, add one more item to your “to do” list: Call an electrician. Setting up any of those rooms involves moving in a lot of big electronic equipment live a treadmill, a giant-screen TV, computers and printers, and stereo components. It’s quite possible that the electrical receptacles in the room won’t be able to handle the equipment that uses as much electricity as those pieces do. You also might not have enough outlets for all of the things you’ll need to plug in. Sure, you can buy a power strip that allows you to plug multiple pieces of equipment into a single outlet. But that power strip won’t add any juice to the circuit that powers that single outlet—which means you can overload it and set yourself up to trip your circuits or even cause overheating or a fire. So before you start using your home gym to get in shape, get the room in shape first. Ask a licensed electrician to inspect the room’s outlets and power supply and determine if you need to upgrade.