LCEC – Lee County Electric Cooperative

Spring into energy savings

Spring is here! Rather than focusing all your energy on spring cleaning, now is the perfect time to set your sights on energy savings. Here are a few tips to spring into energy savings:

Give your AC some TLC
• Servicing your air conditioner annually is essential to prolonging the life of your unit. Use Spring as the time each year when you call a professional to give your AC some TLC. Don’t forget to change your air filters regularly too!

Let in the fresh air
• On mild days, consider opening the windows to get a cross breeze in your home. Now is the time to enjoy the cool breeze before summer arrives.

Enjoy your ceiling fans
• Switch on your ceiling fans so that you can kick up your thermostat. Using ceiling fans to cool your home allows you to turn up your thermostat up to four degrees without losing that cool, comfortable feeling.

Fire up the grill
• Rather than heat up your home by using your oven to cook, head outside to grill! Who doesn’t love a cook-out?!

Check your windows
• Cover your windows with blinds, shades or tint to cool down your home and save on your energy usage.

Let the sunlight in
• Why use your indoor lights when it is sunny outside? Using the sun to light your home will help you save moola.

Program your thermostat
• Spring is the perfect time to invest in a programmable thermostat! By setting your thermostat to match your daily routine, you could save almost 10 percent on your electric usage.

Get your ducts in a row
• Check your ducts to ensure they are not leaking. Leaking ducts can sustainably increase your energy consumption. Seal and insult your ducts if need be or call in a professional to do the job for you! If you are unsure if your ducts are leaking, call LCEC at 239-656-2300 for a FREE energy survey.

Fan your bathroom
• Always use your bathroom fans. They eliminate heat and humidity which keep your home (and YOU) cool!

For more energy savings tips, visit lcec.net.

Energy Usage Analysis

Overview

It is important to take steps to understand and manage energy costs. Daily usage data from your meter can provide valuable insight into your usage patterns, and potentially help to identify irregular spikes in usage due to various reasons. Access to daily usage can be found on SmartHub. LCEC representatives can assist with a more in-depth analysis of your usage over the phone, and will help in evaluating energy consumption and provide tips on how to improve energy efficiency.

Energy Saving Tips & Tools

Using the LCEC interactive online tools will help you understand and manage your energy usage. You can also find ways to conserve energy and reduce your electric bill.

• Costs associated with cooling your home can make up a large portion of your summer electric bills. Learn more about ways to save by visiting our Energy Saving Tips page.
• With the LCEC Energy Tools, you can answer many of your energy questions by analyzing your usage and assessing ways to save.
  • Take control of your usage by enrolling in SmartHub and track your yearly, monthly, and daily power usage. Compare two bills worth of usage history or view the differences between this month last year. Click here to get started.
  • The Calc-U-Saver tools will provide you with a breakdown of your energy use based on your home inputs, weather, and billing information. Conduct a virtual energy assessment of your home by completing a profile of your home and get savings recommendations. With our energy calculators you can view the annual cost of using your TV, appliances, and lights.

Residential Usage Analysis:

A qualified LCEC representative will conduct a free virtual usage analysis of your home. The energy analysis includes:

• Detailed analysis by phone of usage patterns, including monthly, daily, and hourly
• Bill analysis
• Review of energy habits and home’s appliance profile, energy saving tips, and recommendations

 

Energy Efficiency

LCEC Rates

LCEC rates cover the cost to operate and maintain the electric system so you have power when you need it.

Payment Assistance

LCEC works with many social service agencies within the community to provide bill payment assistance to
customers experiencing hardship. There are several assistance programs that can provide assistance in the areas of food, shelter and employment.

United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades 211
United Way of Collier County
LCEC Power to Share Program – simply dial 211 or 239-433-3900 for an assessment
EHEAP – Emergency Home Energy Assistance for the Elderly Program
LIHEAP – Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

Energy Usage Analysis

It is important to take steps to understand and manage energy costs. Daily usage data from your meter can provide valuable insight into your usage patterns, and potentially help to identify irregular spikes in usage due to various reasons. Click here for more information.

Energy Survey Scam Alert!

North Fort Myers, FL – April 27, 2011 – Electric utility customers in Southwest Florida should be cautious of unsolicited calls or visits to their home from companies claiming to conduct energy surveys. Local utilities, LCEC and FPL, do conduct free energy surveys, but only at the customer’s request. Neither utility solicits customers for this service through random phone calls or visits to businesses or residences. “We urge our customers to be cautious if approached or called by these disreputable firms,” LCEC spokeswoman Karen Ryan said.

These telemarketing firms are using the utility names to gain access to homes or to sell their services with the promise of governmental rebates. In recent weeks, both utilities have received calls from customers to verify authenticity of the solicitations and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs has logged more than 1,000 complaints about this home energy audit fraud.

Employees of both utilities carry a badge with their photo and typically will be driving a clearly marked utility vehicle. Unsolicited phone call complaints regarding energy audits can be referred to 1-800-HELP-FLA or customers can contact their utility to verify.

Visit http://www.lcec.net/energysurvey/ to schedule a legitimate energy survey.

Possibilities are endless on lcec.net

Just like our tagline states, LCEC is People. Power. Possibilities. Of the many possibilities we provide, we are especially proud of the endless amount of things that customers are able to do on lcec.net. Below is just a few of the things made possible on our website:

• Start/Stop/Disconnect/Transfer Service
• Report an outage
• Report energy theft
• Request tree trimming
• Learn how to read a bill and your electric meter
• Sign up for LCEC energy tools
• Request a free energy survey
• Become an energy expert by reading through energy tips
• View our outage map
• Learn about our history, board of directors, mission, vision, and more!
• View and read LCEC newsletters and bill inserts
• Contact us

Our hope is for customers to feel empowered by all that they can learn and do on lcec.net. For further assistance, call us at 239-656-2300! We are always here and happy to help!

While temperatures are down keep your electric bills down too!

LCEC continues to offer simple, energy-saving tips that can help keep electric bills down during these unseasonably chilly months in Southwest Florida. It is much easier for customers to lower their electric bill when they understand that there are a multitude of factors that influence energy consumption. Weather, the number of people occupying the home and energy usage habits all affect the bottom line on an electric bill.

LCEC recommends the following energy usage tips to keep bills low when the temperatures dip:
• A programmable thermostat automates the task of regulating the temperature on central heating and cooling systems eliminating the need to remember to manually adjust.
• During winter months, thermostats should be set at 68 degrees or cooler with the fan switch on “auto.” For additional savings, lower the thermostat to 65 degrees when the home is unoccupied or while sleeping. Heating a home costs two to three times more than cooling it. And the cooler the weather, the more the heating system will operate.
• Clean or replace filters on your heating and cooling systems every month. This effort helps the unit run more efficiently.
• Limit the time the pool pump runs in the winter to no more than four hours each day.
• Consider using a space heater for warming just the room that you’re in, instead of turning on central heat for the whole house. If you use a space heater, make sure it has built-in safety features such as a tip-over switch, overheat sensor, low surface temperature and protective screen or grill.
• Be cautious using space heaters. Don’t place them near curtains, furniture, newspapers, combustible materials, or on rugs. Don’t overload circuits. Use portable electric heaters to heat only a small area and buy models that are thermostatically controlled. Don’t use an extension cord to connect a space heater to a plug-in.
• Electric blankets may also be a cost-effective means of staying warm at night. Please use them safely.
• Check the flue of your fireplace is working properly and remains closed when the fireplace is not in use. A closed flue keeps cold air out when the fireplace is not in use.
• Use ceiling fans to distribute heat around large rooms. Reverse the direction of the fan blades from the setting used for summer cooling.
• Don’t use the oven to heat a room.
• Cover bare floors. Carpeting adds to comfort and heat retention, especially if there is little or no floor insulation.
• Consider dressing warm in the morning until the sun warms your home naturally.
• Wear layers of clothing rather than one heavy piece. Layers efficiently trap body heat and provide greater comfort. Additionally, the layers can be removed to maintain comfort as the body warms. If you get too hot, remove a layer. If you get cold, put it on again.
• Weather strip or caulk exterior cracks and holes.
• Check your attic insulation to be sure it is R30. It will prevent heat from escaping your home.
• If you only follow one energy-saving tip this winter, make it this one: turn down your thermostat when you leave home for more than a few hours.

LCEC offers customers free online and on-site Energy Surveys including year-round energy advice that can help customers lower their bills even more. To receive energy saving tips visit www.lcec.net.