Submitted by Energy Efficiency First
It’s freezing outside and your home may be feeling cold, drafty, and downright uncomfortable. With energy costs going through the roof, you’d probably like to find ways to prevent the air you pay to heat from going through the roof, literally, as well as from going through the walls, floor, and the HVAC duct work of your home.
Energy Efficiency First can help find energy-efficiency and building-durability solutions, as well as help you receive generous rebates for work needing to be done from Thurston Energy and Puget Sound Energy.
Knowing how your energy uses and loses energy is the first step. Without it, you could waste a lot of money shooting in the dark, making often expensive changes that provide little return on investment.
Thurston Energy is offering Thurston County residents $200 toward the cost of a “HomePLUS Energy Evaluation.” This is a full diagnostic energy audit designed to identify your home’s energy performance and offer cost-effective solutions to reduce energy costs and make your home more comfortable and durable.
Puget Sound Energy also offers an energy assessment. While it’s not as comprehensive as a full-diagnostic energy audit, it is FREE, and it does provide a basic overview of the systems in your home that can contribute to unnecessary energy usage – such as low insulation levels, outdated appliances, and inefficient lighting. Best of all, with a “PSE HomePrint Assessment,” you’ll walk away with 50 free compact fluorescent light bulbs and two low-flow showerheads if your home needs them.
As a TE auditor and a PSE HomePrint Specialist, can provide you with one, or both, services. Call us at 360.236.9684.
When doing a TE HomePLUS Evaluation, we use high-tech diagnostics such as a blower-door test and infrared thermography to identify air leaks and heat loss. We provide you with a thorough report detailing targeted, cost-effective strategies to improve your home’s energy efficiency.
We work with you to make sure you understand our recommendations and why we make them. If air intrusion is part of the problem, we’ll tell you how and why your home’s building envelope needs to be air sealed. When we give you a recommendation, we make sure you understand origin and implementation. For example, if we recommend air sealing, we’ll explain that there is too much airflow leaking from the outside to the inside of the building through cracks in the walls, floors, and ceilings. You’ll see our infrared photographs that, literally, show you the cold air flowing in through the gaps and cracks in your home. We can show you pictures of the insulation that may be dirty because it has been filtering soil from air blowing through it through the walls or, worse, from the crawl space. We’ll explain any air quality issues to you and what can be done to solve them. Sometimes air quality issues are as simple as installing a new ventilation fan or sealing up a large hole between a crawl space and the living space that nobody knew was there.
We out infrared camera, we can also detect insulation levels in your walls and ceilings. We can evaluate areas that cannot, otherwise, be inspected due to access limitations. We can find hidden moisture that could be from a leaking roof, plumbing issues, or condensation. If your insulation is wet, it’s not working effectively. Worse, hidden moisture can cause serious building durability issues. With infrared technology, we can identify these issues for you.
During an energy audit, we also inspect the home’s mechanical systems, such as the water heater and HVAC systems. We evaluate your lighting, your windows, and any appliances of special concern.
At the end of the audit, we use software developed by Earth Advantage to crunch the data from your home and provide you with an Energy Performance Score, which is like an MPG-rating for the home. Our report states how each suggested upgrade can reduce your energy consumption. Our report will also provide a list of improvements and upgrades in priority order. We can then help you find the independent resources you need to make the needed changes.
After the TE audit rebate, the cost to the homeowner for the audit can range from $100 – $300, depending on the square footage of the home. This investment will trigger a homeowner’s eligibility for up to $2,000 of additional rebates for needed weatherization and HVAC improvements. This sweet deal is available only through April 30, 2013.
In addition, while the offers last, PSE customers are eligible for up to $1,700 in insulation and duct sealing rebates, up to $1,500 toward replacement windows in electric homes, $1,200 for each ductless heat pump installed, and up to $800 toward an electric heat-pump water heating tank. While rebates last, or through June 30, 2013, the Smart Water Heater Project is offering a $1,000 rebate toward this amazingly energy efficient water heater.
Even more good news is that on January 3, 2013, Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 extending energy tax credits that benefit homeowners seeking energy-efficiency improvements. Under section 25C, homeowners can claim a $500 maximum tax credit to cover the material costs of energy-efficient upgrades to existing homes for all taxable years.
The credit is redeemable if upgrades are installed by the end of this year. Those who claimed a $500 or more tax credit in prior years, may not claim additional credits. For those that remain eligible, the tax credit can be applied to any of the following upgrades: * Insulation * EnergyStar Windows, Skylights, and Doors * Home Air Sealing to Reduce Air Infiltration * Air-Source Heat Pumps * High Efficiency Natural Gas, Propane, or Oil Water Heaters.
With these great incentives, and the cold weather outside, it is a fantastic time to schedule a home energy evaluation that will show you ways to reduce your home’s energy load and put dollars in your pocket.
Call us. We can help. Energy Efficiency First is in partnership with Quality Renovation and Carpentry LLC, a local green remodeling firm and energy-performance general contractor. Our goal is to deliver comfort and energy savings, making both you and the planet happy.
