Cascadia Scorecard News
October 2006

Five ideas on making it easier for consumers to make better decisions about energy and their home.

In the market for a new fridge, but unsure if it’s really worth it to pay a bit more for a super-efficient model? The short answer is yes: over the life of your fridge, you’ll probably save a bundle on your power bills—much more than you paid for the extra efficiency.

But as things stand right now, it’s hard, too hard, for the average shopper to know that. It’s a problem that’s crying out to be fixed.

You see, consumers face a dizzying array of choices. And while energy-efficiency labels, such as Energy Star, are better than they used to be, they’re far from perfect: they still force buyers to do some tricky math to figure out the long-term costs and benefits of an efficient fridge or furnace. Plus, in today’s highly mobile society, homeowners may not know if they’ll be around to reap the benefits of an energy-saving investment.

All of which means that, when making big purchases, consumers tend to skimp on efficiency features. On average, shoppers tend to opt for a cheap power-waster over a more expensive power-miser, unless savings on utility bills let them recoup their cost within three short years. And that isn’t true just for refrigerators. It also goes also for dishwashers, washing machines, furnaces, light bulbs, and even insulation. This short-sightedness doesn’t just mean our power bills are higher than they need to be. It also leads to higher climate-warming emissions, poorer air quality, and an economy that’s more vulnerable to energy shocks.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways we can help shoppers, homeowners, and home buyers take the long-term view of energy efficiency:

• Calculate your savings: Detailed home energy calculators—like this one from the US Department of Energy—can let you see for yourself how much money you can save by boosting your home’s efficiency. Or, better yet, you can pay for an energy audit, conducted by a qualified technician, to help you identify the best efficiency investments for your home. If you’re on a budget, start with steps that have the shortest payback time, like fixing air leaks to the outside of your home; the savings will help pay for more upgrades down the road.
  

• Slap a (better) label on it: How much will it cost, month to month, to own and operate a new fridge? It’s hard to know, based on what you see on today’s labels. But if a prospective buyer saw a single number that combined the purchasing price (amortized over, say, a 10-year lifetime) with the monthly cost of running the fridge, they could see for themselves whether a more efficient model costs less over the long term.

• Help for home buyers: Looking for an efficient house—and willing to pay a little more for it? Soon, the Portland-area Multiple Listing Service—which lists all houses for sale in the metropolitan area—will start including energy-efficiency features, such as Energy Star appliances and great insulation, in its database of homes. With luck, other cities will follow Portland’s lead.
  
  Letting energy-smart consumers find the homes they want could subtly boost demand for more-efficient homes. If higher demand translates into higher offering prices for energy-saving homes, then current homeowners could be more confident that they can recoup the costs of long-term efficiency investments when they sell.

• Give cash back with expanded rebates: Many utilities around Cascadia offer rebates for super-efficient appliances. (See here, here, and here for examples.) It’s a twofer—the efficiency saves ratepayers the cost of building new electric plants, while helping consumers save on their monthly power bills. Expanding the scope of these programs, and even sweetening the incentives, would help boost efficiency and protect the climate.
• Spell out efficiency with feebates: Feebates—which combine a fee on energy-wasting products with a rebate on energy misers—are the ultimate efficiency incentive. Consumers would see long-term energy costs reflected directly in the purchase price. Then, consumers wouldn’t have to agonize over what the most efficient model might be: that information will be contained right on the price tag.