Ack! Our energy costs are going up because too many of us are making the wrong judgment calls about how to save energy. Here’s why we’re having a disconnect.

Do you see your energy bills rising even if you’ve implemented up to three projects to save energy? In the first of our two-part Q&A with an expert on consumer attitudes toward energy efficiency, we look at the energy-saving truths many of us ignore. Hint: Replacing windows isn’t your best bet. Tomorrow, we’ll show you what you can do to actually start seeing some savings.
Suzanne Shelton is president and CEO of Shelton Group, a marketing agency specializing in sustainability and energy efficiency. Shelton Group’s annual Energy Pulse research report — released last fall — tracks consumer attitudes toward energy-related topics.
HouseLogic: So our energy bills are going up?
Suzanne Shelton: Yes, for many of us, even though we may think our energy use is going down.
HL: How come? SS: Energy is the only product we buy on a daily basis where we have no idea how much we pay for it. It would be different if we had to feed dollars into a machine to make the power run in our homes.
The way we use energy now is the equivalent of walking into a convenience store every day and filling our pockets with candy and walking out. Then the bill comes at the end of the month and we’re saying, “There’s no way I ate that much candy!”
This is an inherent problem with the way we use energy, or it will be, at least, until we live like the Jetsons and have nifty energy dashboards in our homes.
HL: Why are we using more energy now — what are the main culprits? 
SS: Several things. We simply have more stuff plugged in now than we did five or 10 years ago — Xboxes, electronics chargers, iPads — and some of those things are energy hogs.
For example, plasma TVs use as much energy as a refrigerator. They’re getting more efficient now, but if you had the old square CRT and replaced it with a flat-screen plasma, you’re instantly paying the utility much more than you did before.
People are buying an Energy Star refrigerator, but then putting the old one in the garage as a beer fridge. For example, a friend of mine was in the process of selling her house. She wasn’t living there and she had the HVAC turned off, but she had an old refrigerator inside, plus a freezer plugged in on the back porch. Her utility bill came in at $50 a month and she was furious. “I’m never there!” she said. “The lights are off, the heat’s off, how can this be right?”
I said, “Are your appliances plugged in?” And so she unplugged the freezer and her refrigerator inside. It cut her bill in half.
HL: Do we also think that if we’re saving energy in one way, we can use more of something else?
SS: Yes. People tell us in focus groups, “I bought these CFLs so now I can leave the lights on and not pay more. I bought a high-efficiency washer and dryer because I want to do more laundry without paying more. I ate the salad, so I can have the chocolate cake.”
Psychologists call it “moral licensing,” but we at Shelton Group call it the “Snackwells Effect,” as in, they’re low-fat, so I can eat all of them.
HL: What’s the reason for this disconnect?
SS: Most of us have no idea how our homes really work, so we don’t know how to make the biggest impact. That’s why consumers run out and replace their windows first, when that should probably be fifth or sixth on the list of energy-efficient improvements to make, and they totally ignore effective activities like caulking and sealing that cost far less.
HL: I’m surprised people replace their windows first.
SS: The aesthetic draw of new windows is really strong; we love to be around pretty things. You can also talk yourself into it because you think it’ll improve your resale value. But more than that, if you put your hand up to a window, even an energy-efficient window, you can feel that it’s hot or cold, so people just assume that’s where the biggest problem is.
But for the average home owner, new windows aren’t the best use of your home improvement dollar in terms of saving money on your energy bills. Everyone’s situation is different, but other projects usually cost far less and offer a faster return on your investment.
HL note: Consider this: If you spend $12,000 on windows and save 7% to 15% on your energy bill, according to Department of Energy data, when you could have spent around $1,000 for new insulation, caulking, and sealing and saved 20% on your energy bill, you made the wrong choice if your only reason for undertaking the project was reducing energy costs.
Thursday: What you can really do to make a difference in your home energy costs? Hint: At least four to five projects. We’ll tell you what they are.

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Existing-home sales, low mortgage rates, and a spike in home builder confidence point to a housing turnaround.

Rebounding from another slow year, the housing market is picking up steam. Prospective home buyers are taking advantage of low mortgage rates, and home builder sentiment reached its highest level in more than 4 years this week. Housing is also gaining a bit of attention on the campaign trail. Democracts and Republicans took part at a South Carolina rally promoting home ownership. Read these headlines and more in this week’s Friday Five. HouseLogic: Home Sales Rise in December
Existing-home sales continued on an uptrend in December, rising for a third consecutive month and remaining above a year ago, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

CNN Money: Mortgage Applications Surge Amid Record-Low Rates

Mortgage loan applications surged 23% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, as record-low interest rates convinced many home owners it was time to refinance into lower-cost loans.

Wall Street Journal: Home-Builder Sentiment Hits Highest Level Since Mid-2007

U.S. home builders’ sentiment rose in January to the highest level in 4 1/2 years, the latest in a series of signs that the housing market is finally beginning to recover after a prolonged bust.

The State: Rally for Home Ownership Bridges Political Divide

Hundreds turned out in a diverse crowd for a rally designed to head off prospective federal legislation that could hurt home buyers and owners. The well-publicized rally attracted Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, along with U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), and former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, a Republican.

 HouseLogic: Time for GOP Candidates, and Obama, to Step Up on Housing Policy

If you’ve been paying attention to the Republican presidential candidates lately, you wouldn’t guess that housing is one the most important issues on voters’ minds. Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich — the top three finishers in most national polls — have been fairly quiet on the issue. Instead, the leading Republican contenders have been narrowly focused on attacking President Barack Obama’s jobs record.

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If you’re having trouble with CFLs, you’re not alone by a long shot. We chatted with an expert about the issues, how you can use CFLs successfully, and your alternatives.

If there’s one topic that has people talking, it’s CFL lighting. Here are just a few of the comments HouseLogic has received about CFL longevity or the lack thereof:

“… I find myself having to by [sic] those CFLs which cost more and only last three or four months. Additionally, they don’t create much light, which, given the quality of the light, is probably not all bad.”

“It is incredibly frustrating to read myths about how long-lasting CFLs are. They simply are not. I’m lucky to get more than three or four months out of one. You might think it’s great to have them for the energy savings, but at least tell the truth about their complete lack of durability.”

“… We live in the mountains, and our electricity goes on and off frequently due to high winds and damage to the power lines. This apparently decreases the life of CFLs … In my case, a CFL [lasts] no longer than a regular bulb, and the cost is at least 10 times more than a regular bulb.”
Based on your comments and some of my own puzzling issues with CFLs, HouseLogic asked me to explore why the bulbs haven’t lived up to many of our expectations — now that federal requirements for lightbulb efficiency have begun to phase in.
Our bathroom CFLs just kept blowing out

When my husband and I moved into our new home four years ago, we decided to replace all our incandescent bulbs with CFLs to be green and save on energy. We had a decidedly mixed experience with the quality and color of light — and the shades of meaning apparently implied by the label claim “instant on.” (Some CFLs take time to hit full light strength.) For instance, our hallway lights warmed up so slowly we went back to regular bulbs.

But the most frustrating location for CFLs was in our two bathrooms, where they hung upside-down in wall-mounted bell-shaped enclosures over each sink. A couple of bulbs actually blew out in a single day. Others lasted weeks; others months — but not the touted 10,000 hours by a long shot.
We checked the wiring and the fixtures but found nothing wrong. Our electrician sold us expensive, “high-quality” CFLs he liked (we weren’t familiar with the brand); the light was cold and unpleasant, but the bulbs did last 11 whole months. Then, within a span of two days, they all blinked out one by one, like chorus girls bowing at the end of a show.
CFLs can cost between $1.25 to $10 per bulb. 5 factors that shorten CFL lifespan

I consulted Russ Leslie, associate director of the Lighting Research Center in Troy, N.Y., who has tested bulbs for Energy Star. “If you just blow a single CFL bulb by itself, you probably just have a bad bulb,” Leslie says. “But when a CFL repeatedly burns out in the same fixture, there’s an issue.”
Leslie says several things can shorten a CFL’s lifespan considerably:

1. Rapid switching. This, I believe, is my problem — and also that of the reader who lives in the mountains. Apparently, projected CFL lifespans are based on a three-hour run time per start. In other words, during CFL testing, bulbs are cycled on for three hours and off for 20 minutes until half the samples have failed. If you turn them on frequently for less than three hours at a time — as I do in my bathroom — you’re in for a surprise.

“Incandescents are somewhat immune to the number of times you switch them on and off,” Leslie says, “but the electrodes inside a CFL are stressed with each burst of starting voltage, and will eventually degrade and fail. With a CFL, the number of starts is the primary factor for determining how long it will last; the number of burning hours is secondary. A CFL rated at 10,000 hours in the three-hour-on standard test might last only 4,000 hours if left on for only 15 minutes per start.”
OK, 500 for me, but who’s counting?
That’s why you shouldn’t use CFLs in motion-sensor lighting, by the way.
2. Heat and humidity. Heat and humidity can also reduce CFL life, and my bathroom has both. Although the glass bells of my fixtures are open at the bottom, heat still builds up inside each one. “CFLs like things cool,” Leslie says.

3. Dimmable or recessed lighting. Not applicable to my situation, but Leslie says that you must buy CFLs explicitly designed for those purposes (it’ll say so on the package).

4. Vibration. LRC hasn’t tested for this attribute, but the FAQs at GE’s website say that CFLs in fixtures that vibrate — such as ceiling fans and garage door openers — won’t perform well.
5. Variation in quality among manufacturers. “Consumer Reports” testing shows significant performance difference from brand to brand and for different applications (particularly for rapid switching, where a number of spiral-type bulbs received middling or poor ratings).
I also asked whether it mattered that the bulb was inverted (screwed into the fixture with the base up). Leslie said that LRC tested that attribute and found no significant difference in bulb performance.
“Overall, an Energy Star-rated CFL should perform well for you,” Leslie says, “if you choose an application it’s suited for. The technology has improved greatly in recent years, especially after Energy Star started verifying its performance standards.

“But if you aren’t having luck with a CFL in a certain fixture,” he says, “consider using a halogen incandescent on a timer or upgrading to LED lighting, which is rapidly improving.”
What about you? Have your CFLs lasted as advertised? How do you use them strategically? Or are you stocking up on incandescents?

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