Consumers Tire of Expensive Natural Gas

Consumers Tire of Expensive Natural Gas, Turn to the Sun for Help

by SEIA

"Installing a solar hot water system is a cost effective step that consumers can take to significantly decrease their monthly gas bill this winter."
--Rhone Resch, SEIA Executive Director

With winter quickly approaching, consumers around the country will soon be hearing from their natural gas utility with the same dire warning of years past: "Natural gas prices are up, it's going to cost more to heat your home than ever before and there is nothing you can do about it." Dwindling supplies and increasing demand mean that record-high natural gas prices are not likely to decrease soon. In response, more homeowners are turning to solar water heating systems as a means of "locking in" stable energy prices for decades to come.

Unobtrusive solar heating systems, many resembling low-profile architectural skylights, have been around for decades. However, very low energy prices in the United States have limited sales until recently. Continued swings and escalation in the natural gas market and improvements in solar thermal technology are starting to change that.

According to Rhone Resch, Executive Director of the Solar Energy Industries Association, "Every winter the price of natural gas increases by 20% or more and the only advice your utility will offer is to install new window stripping. Consumers do have a choice," said Resch. "Installing a solar hot water system is a cost effective step that consumers can take to significantly decrease their monthly gas bill this winter."

Use of solar water heating systems can provide both hot water and home space heating. And systems costing as little as $5,000 can provide hot water and space heat that meets about 70% of the need -- saving twice the cost of the solar system.

"Building these costs into a mortgage further improve the economics," said Resch. "A whole house system will only cost you $50 per month as part of your mortgage, but it can save you hundreds of dollars each month during the winter."

"Most people have already taken steps to weatherize their homes. Installing a solar hot water system is the next step that homeowners can take to significantly reduce their natural gas bills," said Resch.

Richard E. Deutschmann PE of Chesapeake Wind & Solar LLC, a Maryland contractor specializing in home hot water systems, says he has noticed increasing interest from homeowners in the face of volatile and expensive natural gas pricing. "As natural gas prices continue to increase, solar system payback continues to improve. A lot of families are even buying it for that certainty -- with this system, customers know what their heating bill will be in 2015. You don't have that with gas."

Many states have recognized the need to develop renewable resources for consumers and have created incentive programs that further reduce the cost of installing a solar system (a summary of these incentives is available at http://www.dsireusa.org). And Congress is considering providing a 15% residential tax credit on the installation of solar systems (both solar thermal and photovoltaic).

"These incentives help reduce the cost to consumers and extend the supply of natural gas," said Resch.

For more information on solar hot water heating systems and contractors, visit www.seia.org

SEIA is the national trade association of solar energy manufacturers, dealers, distributors, contractors, installers, architects, consultants and marketers. Established in 1975, SEIA works to expand the use of solar technologies in the global marketplace.

SEIA -03-04

REFERENCES:

Department of Energy's Solar Water Heating consumer factsheet -
(Discussion of solar water heater design, function, and use, with diagrams, payback calculation methods, etc.):

http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumerinfo/factsheets/heat.html

SOLAR WATER HEATING FACTS:

* According to the Energy Information Administration, the average household will spend $1,049 to heat their home with natural gas this winter, 20% more than last winter.

* The average household spends $207 per year to heat waterý -- the second largest household energy expense behind space heating.

* Even modest solar water heaters can reduce energy consumption by 50% (when compared to a conventional water heater). Eliminating 50% of the electricity consumed to heat water by installing solar water heaters could save almost 55 billion kilowatt-hours (55 million megawatt-hours) per year (about 26 days' worth of electricity from the nation's nuclear power plants.)

* Within the US, heating water consumes approximately 4.2 quads of energy: the equivalent of 970.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas -- almost 5% of domestic production -- or 292.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity -- 1.5 times the amount of electricity generated in California each year.

* 99% of American homes and businesses use either natural gas or electricity to heat water.

For Further Information:

• SEIA

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