Art thou a power pig or a power prince?

I adore the supporting line of Microsoft Hohm’s recent press release: Hohm Scores help everyone answer the question, ‘Am I an energy hog or an energy miser?’ Now, loving alliteration as I do, being an old defunct English major, I went with the pig/prince combo for my own title. Still, whichever way you type it, the message is clear: Do you know how you are spending that energy, and are you spending it wisely?

According to the release from Microsoft, they can answer that particular question for about 60 million homeowners with its Hohm Score, which estimate’s a home’s efficiency based on what appears to be data readily available from realty websites and pictures from Google Earth (ah, Microsoft tells me it's from Bing, not Google Earth)---although my particular estimate didn’t include the fact that I do, in fact, have central heat and air. It’s true that my little old 1926 bungalow didn’t have such luxuries up to about 10 years ago, but it does now. So, I probably shouldn’t be so darn proud of my Hohm Score number.

But, I am.

Hohm Scores are calculated by comparing a home’s actual and potential energy efficiency, and is grounded with advanced analytics licensed from Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and statistical data from the Department of Energy, according to Microsoft. In addition to individual scores, Hohm Scores are available by ZIP code, city and state so anyone can compare a home’s score with others around the country.

Microsoft estimates the national average Hohm Score at 61, with Hawaii topping the list at 81 and with Texas coming in last with 51. (Yes, you want a higher number, apparently. Otherwise, I have no idea what that number actually means.)

My personal home state of Oklahoma came in pretty close to Texas at 52. When your summers are 107 degrees and, yet, you still have winters with ice storms and blizzards, you use a lot of energy, my friend. With weather such a factor, I’m not sure if Hawaii’s top score is more to do with greener peeps making greener choices or just nice ocean breezes. We could really use those ocean breezes here in Tulsa.

My Hohm Score? 82. That’s right. I totally trumped even the great leading state of Hawaii. Why? Well, some of it most likely has to do with that inaccurate info about my heating and cooling system (and is, therefore, wrong). There’s probably a lot of gray area with those numbers there, but, if this number is accurate, I’d attribute it mostly to space. My house is less than 1100 square feet. That saves a boatload of energy.

So, while it’s probably not entirely accurate, I like my little green house. (No, literally. A green house. There’s a house on the website next to my Hohm Score, and it’s painted a very eco-friendly shade of green. A little green home icon that tells me how awesome I am to Mother Earth.)

Now, in real life, my house is literally gray. Painted gray.

And, well, as mentioned, there’s probably a little gray area in my online green home, but, darn it, I’m still gonna be proud.

Wanna know your score? Hit this link: HOHM SCORE