Beaches Energy Services

Bright Ideas Bring Holiday Savings and Cheer

Holidays are times for family and friends to gather and share in yearly traditions, and it is important for holiday festivities to be fun and safe. Make sure your strands of lights are in good condition, not frayed or bare. If you need new lighting, consider the LED lighting which burns cooler and uses less energy. When purchasing new appliances always remember ENERGY STAR for extra savings for the holiday. Beaches Energy Services wishes you a safe and pleasant holiday season!

Take a Look Up Above

Watching the clouds at the Beach can be a great escape, but with insufficient attic insulation, what is escaping is expensive conditioned air. Beaches Energy Services offers a rebate of up to $300 to help residential customers upgrade existing insulation—both in attics and under floors. Insulation’s “R-value” is its resistance to heat flow. The rebate upgrades insulation to a minimum of R-19 (attic) or R-11 (floor). If you cannot determine your current R-value, call us at 904-247-6241. You will find rebate instructions at www.beachesenergy.com. Energy savings and home comfort are looking up!

Is Your TV Leaking?

Energy, that is. It is a surprising fact: Most electronics and many appliances use energy for standby power when they are plugged in, even though turned off. This wasted energy is called phantom load and ghost energy. But it is not always invisible. A glowing light on a device (DVD player, modem) means - I am still on. That is also true of any electronics with a remote or a power-pack plug, chargers for cell phones, and appliances with lighted dials. For easy steps to reduce phantom load and ghost energy, turn the page.

How Snug Is Your Shell?

A hermit crab picks its home carefully. When the shell gets uncomfortable . . . on to a new one. But for our homes, leaving a house with problems, like air leaks, is not practical. Simple home-sealing is. Air leaks can make cooling and heating your home more expensive. Conditioned air should stay inside, not escape through cracks and openings. Caulking, weatherstripping, duct repair, and insulation are energy-efficient steps to lower your utility bill year-round. Check out tips in this issue including rebates to help with costs.

Take the Sting Out of Lighting Bills

Nature creates amazing creatures that glow in the dark. Today's technology creates smart light bulbs that brighten your home more efficiently, more cheaply, with less pollution for the planet. Traditional incandescent bulbs are energy hogs: 90% of the energy is wasted heat. Because lighting is 14% of your home's electricity use, better bulbs mean big savings. Compared to incandescents, CFLs (compact fluorescent bulbs) are 75% more efficient and last 10 times longer. One bulb can save $40 over its life: imagine changing all the bulbs in your house! For more light on new efficient bulbs, turn the page.

Plan. Prepare. Don't Panic

It's hurricane season. When a hurricane is coming, watch for warning flags at the beach and listen to media information. Hurricane hazards come in many forms, including storm surge, high winds, tornadoes, and flooding. This means it is important to prepare your home and family in advance. At beachesenergy.com, find evacuation routes, vital checklists, and shelters. Evacuate if told to! Whether the order is to leave or find shelter shut off appliances and AC and unplug all cords, except for the refrigerator (read about surge arrestors on page 2). If power is lost and restored, re-plug gradually. If water enters your home, safely cut power off at the breaker box if it is possible. Do not restore power without an expert inspection.

Green Home, Sunny Savings

In a nut (or turtle) shell, what is a green home? It is built or improved to use less energy and natural resources and to cause less pollution. Energy efficiency is key, because most electricity comes from burning fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases. Florida's abundant sunlight is a great alternative for heating water and generating electricity. Beaches Energy Services offers a rebate of up to $500 for a solar water heater. Federal tax credits for solar systems equal 30% of the cost. These incentives increase your utility savings. Good for you, good for the planet: Now that's green.

Clean Clothes, Conservation & Cool Cash Savings

Cold-water washing yields all three. Cold water and detergent clean clothes thoroughly and help preserve fabric. Hot water does make very oily stains more soluble (so do stain lifters and presoaking) but otherwise is an energy waste. Water heating is 90% of a washer's energy use. Choosing the cold-cold setting instead of hot-warm saves an average family as much as $100 per year for electricity (top-loading machine). It saves the planet, in carbon emissions, the equivalent of driving a car 3,400 miles. Make yourself and the dolphins happy: set the washing machine temperature on cold.

Customer Service: Above and Beyond the Expected

Beaches Energy Services is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Beaches Energy Services is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our customer service representatives welcome your questions, requests, and comments. We invite you to visit or call during business hours: 11 North 3rd Street, Jacksonville Beach (City Hall), telephone 247-6241. We are also online for you at beachesenergy.com. For problems that need immediate response, our emergency service is on alert 24 hours a day at 247-6171. From convenient payment options to conservation tips, from free energy audits to energy-saving rebates, Beaches Energy Services is at your service.

A World of Savings

On Earth Day, April 22, people around the world will come together to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth`s natural environment. It`s a day that we can personally commit to making environmental protection a part of our daily lives. It also saves us money: a win all around! From using efficient appliances to good old-fashioned fans, you can easily cut energy use, burn less fossil fuel, reduce pollution and lower your utility bill.

Savings by the Numbers

When thinking about raising your thermostat when heating, remember this "school" of thought. To save money and energy, the best setting is 68° or lower. Keep your sweater on, because every degree higher can increase your bill by 4%. When leaving home or at bedtime, lower the setting 3°-5°. If you have a heat pump, return the temperature to 68° just 2° at a time. Otherwise, you activate expensive heat strips. Here's a very smart move: Receive a $25 rebate from Beaches Energy Services for a new programmable thermostat. It gets the numbers right automatically-and pays for its purchase within the first year!