Saving Energy: Success Stories

Ronald J. Mallicoat, Sr. - Clinton, Iowa

We would like to share an energy efficiency success story that began nearly 30 years ago when we purchase our home in 1974. Our house, built in 1914, was the original farmhouse on a 10-acre property.

Our three-bedroom home originally had a stucco exterior, no sidewall insulation, very little insulation in the attic, a huge stoker furnace converted to gas, and a large electric water heater with its own prime-time meter. We also had a small greenhouse heated by a gas boiler.

As the price of energy increased swiftly in the 1970s, our utility bills reached an all-time high of $142 average per month. We really could not afford to do much, but we also could not afford to do nothing.

By 1989, we had cut energy costs almost in half to an average of $77 per month. I attributed our energy savings success to all the information, encouragement, tax incentives and rebates that our utility company has provided along the way.

I also attribute our success to modern-day technology. We installed an Amana 96% fuel-efficient furnace in 1983.

In April 1998, we replaced our 23-year-old air conditioner with a new high-efficiency Amana unit. With the rebates that both Alliant Energy and Amana offered, our new air conditioner cost less than the one we bought 23 years ago. We thank you!

Our story proves that working people can afford to save energy and that there is a payback. Of all the bills I pay, I consider my utility bill represents the best value for services provided.

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Steven Avalos-Bock - Grinnell, Iowa

I live in a rather old home—built probably nearly 30 years before it was moved to its present site in 1903. When I moved here in 1996, there was less than four inches of old insulation in the attic.

Thanks to the subsidy provided by IES (now Alliant Energy), I was able to hire a contractor to install proper insulation in part of the attic and I installed fiberglass batts in part on my own.

I have compared the bills paid for a year before I insulated the attic (7/96-6/97), and the next 12-month period (7/97-6/98) since the insulation was installed. The difference in my bill is dramatic!

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Sandra Cordrey - Muscatine, Iowa

I moved to Muscatine in May 1995. My family and I moved here from California, so when we had our first winter we had no idea how cold it could be. We had several drafts throughout the house.

As we began looking around, we found that the windows along with the storm windows were in bad shape. We could not afford to replace all 33 windows, so my husband and I began replacing the caulking around the inside and outside.

The difference it made the following winter was remarkable - we could no longer feel a draft walking through the room. And I believe it has definitely reduced my heating bill.

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Carol Carber - Dubuque, Iowa

In April 1996, my husband and I purchased our first home. It's an old home that was built in the very early 1900's. Our first winter in this home left us wondering if people had thicker skin back then.

We immediately put in a new programmable thermostat. That helped us control our heating bills somewhat. However, our bills were still incredibly high and the house was still incredibly cold.

This past fall we took a look in the attic and found there was only four inches of insulation. With the help of a cousin, my husband and father blew in 12 more inches. This made a world of difference upstairs.

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Alfred C. Erickson - Mediapolis, Iowa

In 1985, I designed and installed an environment management system in my home. It is centered on a greenhouse, which is used solely as a means of recovery and use of solar-derived heat.

It is a "set it and forget it" system that manages the seasonal heating and cooling requirements of my home.

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Milton Koons - Dubuque, Iowa

My story is simple. In August 1998 I decided to use your energy rebates and purchased six fluorescent bulbs to replace the incandescent bulbs I was using. For six fluorescent bulbs I paid $55, but after receiving the rebate my total out-of-pocket expense was around $13.

The reasons for my purchase of these new bulbs were the lure of the rebate, long bulb life and low energy usage. After replacing six old bulbs in my home in high usage areas with the new bulbs, I was excited to see the immediate savings on my energy bills.

I have watched my energy bill drop an average of $8 per month in November and December 1998. With the added fact that these bulbs will last better than five years, it becomes clear I have begun to save energy as well as money!

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Lacene Ferrell - Fairfield, Iowa

We put in hot water coils under our tile floor. It has kept us very toasty warm during this cold winter.

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Terry Reeg - Dubuque, Iowa

Our house, built in the 1970s, had the original windows and the old redwood siding.

We installed all new Lincoln windows and sided the whole house. We also installed a new insulated garage door to keep our house arm this winter, since it's an attached garage.

Another energy efficiency improvement we added was a White Rodgers thermostat. The original thermostat was analog and we couldn't program it to change the temperature in the house on its own. Now we can save by letting the new digital thermostat take over the temperature.

Being first-time homeowners and young parents, we are always looking for ways to improve our energy efficiencies!

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Tammy L. Smith - Newton, Iowa

During this project we decided to replace our 13-year-old Wards washer and dryer with brand-new Maytag Neptunes. My husband works for Maytag, so with his rebate from the company and the rebate from Alliant Energy, we could justify the expense.

What also helped was the promise of lower water usage and less wear and tear on our clothes. Soon after that, we purchased a used Maytag electric stove,.

We also made some other improvements to our home, including adding another bathroom. We updated both bathrooms with Delta faucets that monitor the water temperature.

We have replaced some of our drafty and deteriorating windows with Bradford vinyl replacement windows. They are much easier to clean, and we've noticed significant difference in our heating and cooling bills. The upstairs stays cooler in the summer.

We have a very long list of all the things that need to be done, but we're very happy with the start that we've made, and we feed confident that we made the right choices with the products that we chose in our projects. It shows in our decreased energy bills, and in the new comfort levels of our home.

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Jim and Marge Wolfe - Marshalltown, Iowa

We had a house built in 1964 here in Marshalltown, and we still live in the same house. At the time this house was built, I had no special concerns for energy efficiency, and neither did the contractor.

As the energy crunch came along and the costs of energy increased, I began looking at what we could do to improve the energy efficiency without spending a lot of money.

In 1971, we had an 8" layer of rock wood insulation blown into the attic over the existing 2" of fiberglass blanket insulation. In time this settled somewhat and I decided we still could use an addition depth of 8" (1983).

Also in the '70s I built a set of insulating doors on the inside of our south-facing double sliding glass doors. This reduces heat loss through the glass door when the insulating doors are closed.

We also planted deciduous trees to help shade the house in summer. Since I have always done my own vehicle maintenance, I insulated the garage sidewalls and ceiling with 3½" fiberglass.

In 1982, a neighbor had a solar collector that he was going to throw away if I did not take it from him. I rebuilt it at a minimal cost, and it performed well until last year. It was losing efficiency, so I rebuilt it again (new double-wall Plexiglas glazing) last summer and it is very efficient again.

Also in the 1980s I sealed potential air leaks in the house using foam under the bottom siding board and insulating materials under the outlet covers. In 1988 we installed a high-efficiency gas furnace and we have an insulating blanket on our gas water heater.

We have gradually been finishing the basement and insulating the outside walls win the process. We also have replaced many of our incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient types.

Now that I am retired, it is good to have an energy-efficient home. It is not large or fancy, but it's very comfortable for two people. When the time comes to replace the original siding, I plan to increase the R-value of the sidewall insulation.

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Anni Johnson - Fulton, Illinois

I'm so excited about the energy savings we have at our house. When we wanted to redecorate, I had two problems to contend with:

1. A beautiful river view from our 21-feet wide living room windows had been hidden by the drapery treatments in the past because of the western exposure afternoon sun.

2. Cold air seeping around the 7-feet-tall thermal, double-pane windows.

I found the answer in blinds called Optix, which I found through my interior decorating business, advertised as "sunglasses for your windows." They are similar to mini-blinds, except they form a solid shield, thus forming a third "pane" that eliminates the draft of cold air in the winter.

What I didn't know until they were installed was that they absorbed heat like a solar panel. With these blinds on the west and south windows, in the winter our furnace runs noticeably less often in the afternoons when the blinds provide most of our heat.

In summer, of course, the blinds also create heat, so we still needed another solution to that problem. That was solved by installing reflective, transparent roller shades between the transparent blinds and the windows.

The combination of the shades and blinds works wonderfully to cut down on the heat entering the room, thus reducing our air conditioning bills in the summer.

The highest cooling bill in 1998 was $117. 55; the highest heating bill was $103.74 for our two-story home that has approximately 2,000 square feet of living area.

Whenever we compare utility bills with friends and family, their bills are always higher, even though their homes are smaller.

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Sharon A. Matthias - Potosi, Wisconsin

I have an old house built in 1845 - handmade brick. The living room walls were cracked with old wallpaper we couldn't wash. I had insulation put in between the old wall and the new wall, and installed new painted drywall.

The room is so much warmer and we're saving $20 a month on heat. Our three-bedroom house costs between $300-600 a year for heat.

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Nancy Erickson - Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

I am forever working on my 100-year-old "farm house" (now in the city). I've made dozens of recent improvements, including a new roof with better ventilation, new doors, and a setback thermostat.

The least expensive and most significant improvement was insulating and repairing my old stacked limestone foundation - it was very drafty!

I bought a roll of fiberglass insulation, and where settling of stones left gaps and breezes, I "tuck-pointed" between the openings. I used small pieces of insulation and forced them into the cracks with a putty knife. I also added insulation in the sill box area.

What a difference! It took about two hours and less than $15 for one wall (about 12 feet) of insulation. When all four walls are done, I'll resurface the face of the walls with "Quikrete" (about $3 per bag).

So easy - and already my utility room in the basement is warmer. I hope this idea helps others owners of houses with stone foundations!

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Pam and Jeff Gubin - Beaver Dam, Wisconsin

We bought our 100+ year old house five years ago. Since then, we have had 21 new windows installed (usually 2-3 at a time), put in a programmable thermostat, which we turn down at night and not have it back on again until we get home from work the next day, remodeled the kitchen and put insulation in three outside walls.

And last but not least, we had aluminum siding put on. All these things have really made a difference in our energy use. We enjoy your show - it has many great tips!

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Mike Copple - Portage, Wisconsin

We have done many things to improve the energy efficiency of our home. Having insulation blown into the attic was probably the best thing we did, as the house felt more comfortable right away!

Other steps taken include:

• Weatherstripping around doors and the attic opening;
• New attic vents installed;
• Caulk, foam and paint on siding and windows;
• New storm doors installed;
• Insulation around the exterior base of the house;
• A new high-efficiency water heater and wall heater;
• Plastic/tape on windows where applicable; and
• Low-wattage light bulbs.

Many of these services were provided by Energy Service or Community Action.

I would like to look into solar power as a viable energy source for the future, either self-owned or purchased from an energy company.

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