Efficiency Kansas program helps fund home improvements

Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative’s partnership with the new Efficiency Kansas program from the Kansas State Energy Office is making it easier for HREC members to improve the efficiency of their homes and businesses.
Rural Girard resident Brent Houk was the first Heartland REC member to utilize the program to make his home more efficient, adding floor and ceiling insulation to his home, as well as upgrading his old electric furnace to a state-of-the-art ground source heat pump.
The improvements, along with some additional weather sealing work, will save the Houk family an average of $141.75 each month on their heating and cooling costs. Since the Efficiency Kansas loan payments are lower than the Houk family’s anticipated savings, the Efficiency Kansas program makes an expensive upgrade easily affordable, all while improving the comfort and value of the family’s home.
When he first contacted Heartland REC about the Efficiency Kansas project, Brent Houk knew his home’s heating system was in need of an upgrade. His 15kW electric furnace used resistance heat, which can get expensive. Houk tried to lower his bills by supplementing his home’s furnace with heat from an old wood stove, but that turned out to be a high maintenance solution.
The first step in the Efficiency Kansas program was to have a certified audit done of his home, and for that, Houk turned to Mark Easter of Pinnacle Infrared. The testing confirmed that Houk’s home was well built, and a good candidate for a new heat pump.
“This house was really built well,” said Easter. “It is really tight.”
Additional insulation is almost always the first item recommended for people who want to reduce their heating and cooling bills since the insulation almost invariably pays for itself within two or three years.
The energy audit showed that by adding $390 of R-19 insulation to the area below his living room, Houk will save $242 every year. R-45 batts of insulation in his ceiling cost Houk less than $800, and will save him almost $400 every year.
“I knew the attic blanket was needed,” said Houk.
Adding insulation above the garage sealed the area off from the living space above it, effectively reducing the square footage of the home’s conditioned space.
But for Houk, the big ticket item was the ground source heat pump of course.
The benefits of a ground source heat pump put it head-and-shoulders above anything else when it comes to heating and cooling a home. A heat pump moves heat from one place to another, and is therefore much more efficient than furnaces that create heat. And because it uses the thermal mass of the earth as a heat sink, a ground source heat pump can produce BTUs of heating and cooling for a fourth of the cost of a traditional electric furnace.
The cost of installing a ground source heat pump, however, can scare some people off. Pittsburg contractors CDL bid Houk’s new system at $18,565, including the coil and pipe to the pond that would serve as the ground loop.
Running the numbers, Easter calculated that the new heat pump would more than pay for itself after 18 years, and even after that, the investment made in the ground loop will keep paying off since it will be usable for decades.
With the project approved by the State Energy Office in Topeka, the work progressed quickly.
Houk was able to do the sealing and insulation work himself, and it took three days to get the new heat pump installed.
“Getting the ground loop in place took a day,” said Houk. “Setting the pump took a day and then one more to get the unit installed and everything rerouted.”
The key to the system’s efficiency is the 900 feet of pipe looped at the bottom of a pond 350 feet from the house. The thermal energy in the pond’s water will provide the means to keep Houk’s 2400 square foot home warm in the winter. It will also serve as a heat sink in the summer as the heat pump reverses and serves as an air conditioner.
One final bonus for the Houk family...because geothermal heating falls into the same renewable category as solar panels and wind turbines, they are eligible to receive a 30 percent tax credit on the entire cost of the new heat pump system when filing their taxes this year.

Click here to visit the state's official Efficiency Kansas web site

EFFICIENCY KANSAS Q&A:

What is Efficiency Kansas?
Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative is partnering with the State Energy Office to offer Efficiency Kansas no-interest home energy efficiency loans to HREC members.
The project empowers members to make cost-effective home improvements that make homes more energy efficient. Because the amount of money saved is greater than the cost, overall utility bills drop.

How is the loan repaid?
The loan payment is incorporated into the member’s monthly electric bill.

Are there any other fees for this interest-free loan?
Each monthly payment will include an additional $2 to reimburse the State Energy Office for their administrative costs, and an additional $1 to Heartland REC for their administrative costs.

What happens if I sell my house?
The Efficiency Kansas loan is unique because the loan is tied to the location. If you sell your home, the new homeowner will be obligated to take on the repayment of the Efficiency Kansas loan as part of their monthly Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative electric bill.
It is critical that a potential homebuyer is informed of this obligation before the sale is finalized. When you sign up for the Efficiency Kansas loan you will also sign paperwork that obligates you to inform any potential homebuyer of the Efficiency Kansas loan.

How do I decide what home efficiency improvements I should make?
The first step in obtaining an Efficiency Kansas loan is to have your home audited by a certified energy auditor that has been approved for the Efficiency Kansas program. This list of approved auditors is available through the Heartland REC office or by visiting www.efficiencykansas.com
This home energy audit is crucial in determining what home improvements will be the most cost effective.
The person who audits your home will present you with a thorough report, and will provide you with a prioritized list of suggested home efficiency improvement projects. You can choose how many of the suggested projects to take on, but you must do them in order. (For example, if the #1 project recommended is attic insulation and the #2 project is the installation of a heat pump, you can do only #1 or you can do #1 and #2. You can not elect to make improvement #2 without doing #1.)

Who will do the work?
Once you have your list of recommended projects, you will need to contact local contractors and have them provide you with a bid for the work. Feel free to get several bids so that you can make the best choice in selecting which contractor works on your home.
Once you have selected contractors, you will take those bids and work with your auditor to form an Energy Conservation Plan. Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative will review this plan and submit it to state officials for final approval.
When your project is approved, you will be notified by Heartland REC to contact your contractors to start work.

What if I am not satisfied by the work done by the contractors?
You are hiring contractors to work on your home. They must perform the work described in the bid to your satisfaction. However, contractors are not permitted to adjust the bid amount. All bids are final.

How do the contractors get paid?
When the work is done, you and the inspector who performed the home energy audit will complete a Notification of Project Completion form to be submitted to Heartland REC. As part of this process the auditor will retest your home. Heartland REC and representatives of the State Energy Office may also test your home after the improvements are complete.
After the work is completed, Heartland REC will send a check to the member, who is then responsible for issuing payment to the contractors.

When will I see the new charge on my electric bill?
After the check is issued to the member we will begin adding the loan repayment to the monthly electric bill.
Because your savings (which might include using less propane, depending on how you heat your home) will offset the loan amount, your family’s budget should remain unchanged.
You can also repay the entire loan at any time

How to I get started?
First, call Heartland REC to confirm that you are elligible for the Efficiency Kansas program. Heartland can also provide you with a printout of your monthly power usage information to provide to your auditor.

Any other Questions?
For more information contact the Member Services office at Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative at 620-724-8251, or the State Energy Office in Topeka at 785-271-3328.

More Heartland News >>