Keep us posted on this. I'm very curious as to how this will work.

My house is only 8 years old, with double-glazed windows, good insulation (I think), no chimney, insulated ducts, decent SEER heat pump, and a solar water heater. I wonder if the survey would be any good, or just a waste of time for the TVA staffer.

I'd be intested to know your thoughts after the audit. I've always wondered if these types of audits were a gimmick. $150 to tell you to spend money sealing your duct work. Is this what they tell everybody? Will they be doing actual tests to determine where leaks are and where heat is escaping? I'm not very trusting of TVA especially.

We did it and I should have blogged about it. The cost of the audit is a no-brainer, because you can get your $150 fee back by buying a $150 HVAC tune-up and submitting it for reimbursement, aside from the rebates. The approved list is a fairly comprehensive list of major contractors in the area. I don't think you'll have a hard time finding one you like.

No, they won't check for leaks during the audit. That would cost a lot more and is a much bigger undertaking. Our auditor was very knowledgeable, though, and I was quite impressed. He is not a TVA employee, but a contractor who seemed to know his stuff. He's called back a couple of times (including yesterday) to remind us the 90 days is up and that we need to make sure we've filed everything. I had forgotten about the 90 days, but they're flexible about extending it. They really want people to take advantage of this and make improvements that can result in lowering TVA's power load so they don't have to buy $$$ outside power. This is the kind of stuff California started in the '70s to keep from building new power plants. California utilities learned way back then that negawatts are cheaper than megawatts. TVA is finally getting to that point.

We probably won't make major repairs now. Too expensive at the moment.

On a somewhat related note, here's a cool graphic depicting the Conservation Pyramid, progressing from easy, inexpensive things to more complex and expensive.

Source:

(link...)

I just received my reimbursement for $650 from the TVA Energy Right program about a week ago. It was a surprisingly hassle-free experience.

Due to what is now referred to by my family as "the Possum Incident" of last September, I had to replace insulation and repair duct work in my crawlspace. I was advised by a contractor that I'd contacted (who was on TVA's list) about the TVA program and called to have an energy audit done. I got an appointment within a week or so. The auditor came to my house in late October and spent about an hour or two from crawlspace to attic then issued me some recommendations. I also got a cool book to help me think more about energy efficiency. Fortunately all of the duct work and insulation repair, that I needed to do anyway, was covered under the program. If I spent at least $1000 doing the recommended repairs, using contractors from their list, and filed the appropriate paperwork documenting such, I'd get the $150 back from the cost of the audit plus up to 50% ($500) for the work done.

I had two excellent contractors - A1 Certified to do the duct repair and Archie's to do the insulation. Not only did they get the work done in a short period of time (in their busiest season no less), they were very professional and pleasant to deal with. They gave me detailed invoices and signed the paperwork that TVA had given me. These, in turn, I faxed to the TVA program administrators. After the work was complete, the auditor returned and signed off on everything. He put in for my reimbursement and I received it earlier than he predicted. No hassle!

In the end, I had my crawlspace and basement covered in a dense urethane foam to create a conditioned crawlspace (I don't want anything coming in my crawlspace ever again), the duct work repaired, a programmable thermostat installed, the HVAC unit serviced (they caught a problem early that would have cost me a new compressor if I had not had it repaired), door insulated, an insulated "box" built for the attic stair access, and my dryer vent relocated to make it more of a straight-shot. I also had my ductwork cleaned out ($300) that was NOT covered under the program, but worth it to me anyway.

All in all, I spent about $2200, but received $500 from TVA for the work. The insulation work I had done will also count for 2010 taxes (what wasn't covered under the TVA program). I plan to add some attic insulation in the next few months as well.

Since the work has been completed, I've noticed less drafts in my house, I can set the thermostat lower and feel warmer, and when everyone was lamenting over their high KUB bills last month, mine went DOWN. By about $25 (almost 15%). I spent some of my refund on some plumbing repairs (Lyons Plumbing), so I am feeling quite happy with my house these days!

I recommend to anyone considering repairs like these, do it through the TVA Energy Right program. It is well worth it.

Wow, that's a textbook testimonial, Linda. The only real recommendation we got was to replace our 10 SEER A/C unit with an 18 SEER or better unit. Since it wouldn't be needed for a few months, we would need to rush to spend a few thousand now in order to get the TVA rebate within the approximate 90 day period. Cooling our house costs about $300 a year now. Is it worth it to upgrade? I don't know.

Our auditor did state that energy efficient windows have poor payback. What I'm really itching to do is to get about 2kW of solar panels. I'm thinking it will cost ~$10k. TVA Green Power producers will pay back $1k and there's 30% you can take off federal taxes. That's $6k net cost. The buyback of power from TVA is about $50 per month, or $600/year. So you get 10% return, which is pretty darn good these days, even without compounding. Payoff in 10 years sounds pretty decent too.

All concerns I have as well, Tamara. Looking forward to whatever you learn.

...and I can fry eggs on the south side of my roof!

Us too--just not on days like today!

I probably should have added that my house was built in 1930 and most recently renovated close to ten years ago. Let me brag again - my total KUB bill (electric, water, waste water) was less than $175 in December for about 1200 sf (and a teenager!!).

I'm wondering, with a conditoned crawlspace, if I'll see a savings in the summer too?

Is next on my list!

Thanks for the info, Tamara (and Ian).

Just finished using Turbotax, online version. It never asked directly if I had any energy efficiency improvement credits to claim. I had to go into a module "not typically used" and past a recommendation to skip a section because it was "not commonly used."

In addition to increasing home energy efficiency by sealing leaks, adding more insulation, and more efficient heat pumps, do not over look the tried and true low cost methods to take advantage of "Natural Solar". For example, site homes to accept cool breezes in summer and use whole house fans to cool your home instead of air conditioning. South facing windows provide a lot if heat in the winter so if remodeling or building, put most of your glass on the south side of the house and use smaller windows on the West and North sides. Properly size southern soffit/eaves to provide shade for the windows during the high summer sun while allowing full sun light into the window when the sun is low on the horizon in winter. Use insulated blinds or curtains to insulate the windows at night or on sunless days in winter. Roofs benefit from being a light color that reflects summer heat, especially Northern facing roofs because the summer sun shines vertically to about 5 to 10 degrees off the vertical on the North side of the house in mid summer for the middle US latitude parallels. Trees on the West side of the house will block the hot, low summer evening sun and trees on the north side of the house provide shelter from cold northern blasts of wind.

Tip 1: Solar cell panel prices have fallen greatly during the last two years due to tremendous competition in the industry but I suspect the price decline will slow as China increases the price of their currency and the US dollar is devalued more. This will cause raw material prices to go up and China made panels to get more expensive, meaning that any more price declines will become more dependent on new improvements in the technology. Tip 2: Do not put solar cells on an old roof. Solar panels last 20 to 30 years. You do not want the expense of putting them on a roof that has a function time less than the solar panel's pay back time. Paying to remove the panels and paying to re-install them to replace a worn out roof does not make good money sense. Tip 3: An inexpensive way to try solar is to install a solar hot water heater to precondition the water going to your electric water heater. The collector(s) can be on the roof or in your yard. The payback is about 2 years for commercially installed units to 3 or 4 months for a unit made and installed by the owner. Tip 4: Hot water heating panels for making hot water in the winter or for heating your house function well when hung on a South facing wall. In winter the sun is low on the horizon and does a very good job of heating the south wall. In addition, you do not need to sweep the snow from the panels to obtain peak heating efficiency because the roof overhang protects them and snow does not stick well to vertical surfaces.