18 Nov How to Reduce Energy Bills $1,400 a year — for the next 25 years!

A FEAT Green Energy Shepherds $$ tip 
from FEAT members: Congregational Church of Austin, UCC

First — Switch to LEDs
At a recent Faith & Energy Action Team (FEAT) monthly meeting, Reverend Sarah Darter from Congregational Church of Austin ("CCA") shared that her church's Green Team and Trustees hosted an Austin Energy rebate review. As a result, the first project CCA and its green team will take-on is retrofitting all of their facility's light bulbs and fixtures to LED bulbs. 

Rev. Sarah Darter

How Much $$$? 
Rob Gainer of SuperGreen Solutions proposed this job will cost $10,408.47. Austin Energy responded that they will rebate about 60% of that cost. In other words, Austin Energy will cover $5,854.10 of the LED replacement expense, leaving CCA's actual costs at roughly $4,554.37. 

Total Savings? 
Thanks to their green team — CCA's going to be saving some serious money. Estimated annual energy savings from this retrofit is $1,410.25. And because LED bulbs are estimated to provide high quality, full spectrum lighting for at least 29 years, the bulbs will save approximately $41,000.00 (2014 dollars) over their long lifetime. 

How Fast? 
Project payback will take roughly 3 years, 3 months. Then from that point forward the bulbs will save CCA approximately $1,400.00 a year, every year for the next 25 years!!

Bonus Savings
Additionally, LED bulbs don't "run hot" like old fashioned incandescent light bulbs. Austin Energy guestimates CCA's air conditioning costs will be lowered 5-10% during Austin's summer months (the majority of the year!) with the change to LED lighting. 

#OneMoreTip
The reduction in heat gain is enormously valuable, as air conditioning is typically any Central Texas building's #1 biggest energy expense.

Bill Mueller, Nancy Edison, and David Ross of the CCA Green Team. 

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About "Green Energy Shepherds"
Get to know more about FEAT's Green Energy Shepherd program by attending one of our monthly meetings. Next meeting is Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, 7pm to 8:30pm. (Potluck at 6:15). Sign up for meeting announcements by visiting our website: faithandenergy.org. Follow our daily posts on Facebook: facebook.com/faithandenergy.