Drafty houses contributing to high energy costs

Wrangell got its first, brief introduction to winter on Monday, with a temporary dousing of snow and sleet.

But chimneys have already been puffing away since September as minimum temperatures for the month dropped to 42 degrees. After remaining chilly throughout the following month, the thermometer finally dipped below freezing for the first time on November 2.

With summer well past and winter by now on the way, keeping homes and businesses heated becomes an important proposition. In a housing needs assessment developed for Wrangell during 2016's master planning sessions for development at the former Wrangell Institute property, one of the stand-out features of the community's housing was its relative age and energy inefficiency. Looking at 2015 usage figures, statisticians with Rain Coast Data found Wrangell had both the highest energy use and costs in the region, on average $6,590 annually. The average cost for homes regionally is around $5,440, but Wrangell's usage is 2.4 times that of an average Anchorage resident, and just over three times higher than the national average.

Peak usage through the year varies by sector. For instance, use by large commercial users peaks during the month of August when seafood processing is at its height, and accounted for 45 percent of all use. At the same time, usage by residences and small commercial users register at its lowest at that time. A lull in usage is typically seen before and after the summer, typically in June and September, and presents a window of opportunity for maintenance projects on the electrical infrastructure when the cost of running backup diesel generators is at its lowest.

By far the greatest demand for power each year comes during the winter months, between November and March, sometimes extending into April. While usage for large commercial reaches its nadir by December, power demand for residences and businesses reaches its peak, driven primarily by the need for electric heating. For four or five months each year, usage by residences alone about meets or surpasses the August peak for large commercial users. In December 2016, residential and residential heat rate billings accounted for 50 percent of the overall load, during the year's greatest demand.

A large driver behind Wrangell's high home energy costs last year's study identified was with inefficiencies in the homes themselves. For one thing, they tend to be considerably larger than those found elsewhere, on average measuring 1,875 square feet. For comparative purposes, the average in Southeast is 1,576 square feet, and the average in Hoonah is less than half of Wrangell's. Even when taking housing size into account, the report found Wrangell's energy usage per square foot to still be second only to Haines.

Homes are older than average, as well. Of 1,376 identified housing units in the borough, more than half were built during the 1970s or earlier, with 12 percent predating 1940. While some have seen upgrades in the intervening years, many have not, which is why at five percent Wrangell homes are the lowest percentage in the region with continuous ventilation systems.

In a different housing assessment prepared by Alaska Housing Finance Corporation in 2014, it estimated around three-fifths of residents heated their homes using fuel oil, with another fifth burning wood and just 17 percent of households making use of electric heat. Even though electricity constitutes a minority of household heating sources in Wrangell, keeping homes warm during the winter accounts for the majority of power usage during those months.

There are ways to stave off a chill. Charlie Hazel, a contractor and administrator with Pacific Heating and Refrigeration, had a few pointers to offer for homeowners. "Insulation, modern windows, modern doors, vapor barriers," he listed. "Insulating the floor helps a lot," as does placing insulation between interior and stem walls.

Of increasing popularity has been air-to-air heat pump units, he said, which use electricity to move heat from a cool space to a warm space, thereby making the cool space cooler and the warm space warmer. Last week Hazel installed his 500th such unit, which uses less electricity than a modern refrigerator. To mark the milestone, he performed the installation for a Wrangell family for free.

The recipients, Paul and Becky McIntyre, were thrilled. Becky explained the family had previously tried oil and electric heat in their home, but without much success. "We've been cold for several years," she recounted. Her sister and mother each got an air-to-air pump for their homes over the past couple of years and had spoken well of the results, she said.

Currently there are few incentives available to help residents improve their household energy efficiency. Up until March 2016, a home energy rebate program through AHFC did offer participating homeowners rebates of up to $10,000 for making improvements to existing structures. However, the corporation does offer cost coverage for weatherization services for individuals meeting certain income limits. For more information on that program, visit http://www.ahfc.us/efficiency/energy-programs/weatherization.

 

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