Energy Conservation Center
How to properly dispose of Compact Flourescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) in New Smyrna Beach:
- The Tomoka Landfill on Tomoka Farms Road and the DeLand transfer station both take CFLs from residents for disposal at no charge.
- It has come to our attention that the Home Depot on SR 44 will take your old bulbs if you bring them in there, as a courtesy for customers. They do not have a formal disposal program, but she said they are happy to help any customers throw away old bulbs properly.
Please use one of these two options to dispose of CFLs.
List of Holiday Energy and Safety References
Alliance to Save Energy Holiday Tips Edison Electric Institute Bright Ideas Energy Ideas Clearinghouse_ LED Fact sheet Holiday Decoration Safety Tips Holiday Safety Tips_electrical and fire |
Leaky ductwork in your A/C system can cause your energy costs to skyrocket. Find out how to spot leaky ducts and what to do to repair them from the Department of Energy- click here!
LinksUS Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy |
The Utilities Commission has just teamed up with the University of Central Florida to study the demand for solar energy in our community. The findings will provide valuable information about the economic viability of solar energy and could be used by UCNSB to determine the possibility of starting a program in our city. Click here for additional information.
What does SEER mean?
SEER Ratings and What They Mean
from http://www.smarterwayinc.com/seer.asp
SEER rating is the method used to describe the efficiency of a particular equipment system. SEER stands for "Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio". The systems purchased today typically range from 10.00 SEER to 18.00 SEER. If you have a home and the current system is 10-15 years old, you may have a system that ranges from 6.0 SEER to 10.00 SEER. Of course at the time it was installed, 10.00 SEER was considered "High Efficiency". Today, with all the focus on conservation and energy savings, that "High Efficiency 10.00 SEER" from 10-15 years ago is growing obsolete.
In the chart, the left column indicates operating costs and the gradually decreasing scale shows how with a higher SEER rating (numbers along bottom of chart) the operating costs are reduced. In essence, if you would have spent $100 to operate an 8.00 SEER system, by installing a 14.00 SEER system, your operating costs would drop to $57.00 as opposed to the $100 spent operating the lower efficiency system. These are estimates only, and designed to show that with the higher the SEER rating, the lower the operating costs.
If you have a 6.0 SEER, and you installed a new 12.00 SEER or 13.00 SEER system, you would cut your power consumption in half (in regard to your AC System). Considering that in many cases the central air system represents the largest draw on power in your home, any improvement is a wise decision.
The systems today are very advanced as you move up in the efficiency range. They cost a bit more at initial purchase, but when you calculate the energy savings -vs- dollars spent they pay for themselves fairly quickly.
Here's an example:
Current system is 6.0 SEER and power bill runs $150.00 per month.
A 10.00 SEER system is $1500.00 and your power bill may be $125.00 per month.
Upgrade to a 14.00 SEER system for an additional $800.00 and your power bill drops to $90.00 per month.
The price between the 10.00 SEER and the 14.00 SEER is $800.00. The monthly savings equate to $35.00 per month (14.00 SEER -vs- 10.00 SEER). Take the $800.00 difference and divide that by the $35.00 savings and you would pay off the improved system through energy savings in 22.86 months.
The benefits are: improved power bill, increased value of home, and your system won't be obsolete in 2 years. Bear in mind, the ratio of savings varies from household to household as people live differently in each case. The example given above is strictly as an example and there is no guarantee that you will see that exact example in your home.
From the Department of Energy: (http://www.eere.energy.gov/)
SEER stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, the Department of Energy’s measure of energy efficiency for the seasonal cooling performance of central air conditioners and central air conditioning heat pumps.
The 2006 standards raises the energy efficiency standards to 13 SEER for new central air conditioners and to 13 SEER/7.7 HSPF for new central air conditioning heat pumps. The standards apply to products manufactured for sale in the United States as of January 23, 2006. HSPF stands for Heating Seasonal Performance Factor, the Department of Energy’s measure of energy efficiency for the seasonal heating performance of central air conditioning heat pumps.
The standard for split-system air conditioners, the most common type of residential air conditioning equipment, represents a 30 percent improvement in energy efficiency. For split-system heat pumps, the new standard would represent a 30 percent improvement in cooling efficiency and a 13 percent improvement in heating efficiency. The standard will also increase the cooling efficiency of single-package air conditioners and single-package heat pumps by 34 percent and the heating efficiency of single-package heat pumps by 17 percent.
