Energy Efficiency – Heating America This Winter

The subject of energy efficiency is a major concern in America during the winter months. The President a few weeks ago announced new actions to bring energy efficiency to consumer households across America. This is not done easily, but before America can just throw energy efficiency into every house there are few details that need to be considered.

1. Does America have the infrastructure to handle energy efficiency?
2. What do local city leaders think about energy efficiency?
3. Will having households with energy efficiency make an overall change in the American energy usage on an individual level?
4. How does this new plan affect the type of heating consumers use?
5. What type of heater would be best with the average heating cost expecting to rise this winter?

Infrastructure of Energy Efficiency

America is known as the home of the brave, but that does not mean they are the best at efficiency. It doesn’t mean they are the worst either, but when it comes to pushing forward on energy efficiency some places are ready and some are far behind. States like California have been going through a economical growth which has caused some struggles with keeping up on energy. Wholesale energy pricing was fixed for the consumer, which was a result from deregulation. However, the final insufficient transmission infrastructure also limited the opportunities to transfer energy from one part of the country to the other. Which brings up the question how to do we get the correct infrastructure for states like California? And how would local leaders respond to new thinking about efficiency?

Local Leaders and Energy Thinking

Purdue University produced a map showing the carbon footprint of the US. This map shows that the west coast is cleaner than the east coast, but that does not mean that the east coast is not doing what they can to move forward in the right direction. Mayor de Blasio, of New York City, revealed his NYC Built to Last plan in 2014 to address energy use in the city’s buildings. He hopes to reduce 80% of the city’s emission by 2050. His big topic was the issue of heating fuels, and he hopes to reduce 50% of the heating oil’s that were causing health issues for the citizens of NYC. The City of New York turns on their heater starting Oct. 1 and they plan to continue to move forward in keeping their city healthy and warm. Seeing Mayor de Blasio taking a strong stand on energy efficiency lets America know that local leaders are ready for America to be a healthy energy efficient country from the city to the state to the national level.

Housing, Rich, and Average Joe

The lower 90% of households in America use about 7,198 kWh of energy a year. What is shocking is that the top 1% of household owners use four times more energy the bottom 90%. The top 1% average 33,654 kWh a year! So this shows some interesting facts about energy use and how to become an energy efficient nation. One of the major difficulties for America is convincing wealthy people to save energy when they want to use more of it. Convincing a wealthy person is going to be difficult because they worked hard and now they want to spend their money and live in a more comfortable environment. This is where having technology that can produce the same results with energy efficient methods as traditional energy methods becomes important for the overall energy usage of the United States. Average Joe could still do things to be more efficient, but it is the Jones’ that America needs to convince to change their energy style.

Types of Heating Energy

Heating cost projections for the 2015-16 winter

• Natural Gas – increase cost by 13%
• Propane – Increase cost by 9%
• Electric – increase cost by only 2%

Natural gas is projected to increase by 10% in the west, and 15% in the Northeast due to pipeline locations and differences in regulations. Only 5% of the US uses propane as a primary heating source and as seen above the increase is not as ideal of a heating source. Last, but not least, is electric heating which looks to only increase by 2%! Also, electric heating is the leader in terms of efficiency and healthy heating for this winter.

Heating Efficiently & Healthy

As the winter grows closer to our front doors and bedrooms it is important for Americans to be both warm and efficient. We at Eheat believe is it possible to be warm, healthy, safe, economical, effective and efficient this winter.How? Our Envi-heater operates off only 4amps (4-5 light bulbs), using fan-less convection airflow to limit allergens (healthy), and our “cool to the touch” exterior allows for a safe heater in every room. The Envi Heater is made in America!  And we want to make America great both economically and in energy efficiency. Join us and the leaders of the this great nation by being energy efficient this winter.

Stay warm, pay less!

Special Note: With the extreme El Niño predicting to cause some major weather changes, having a reliable and healthy heating source will be needed by every American. See this blog for more info on El Niño: https://www.eheat.com/blog/el-nio-and-the-winter-of-2015/