Tag Archives: Energy Cost Reduction

Homebuilding workshop Oct. 24 in Fairbanks

Cooperative Extension Service housing and energy specialist Rich Seifert will teach his Cold Climate Homebuilding Techniques workshop Saturday, Oct. 24th in Schaible Auditorium on the UAF campus. The free workshop will run from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and includes a manual and a CD.

The workshop will focus on insulating homes and will cover options for retrofit, ventilation, indoor air quality and permafrost and foundations. It is also designed to help homeowners who plan to participate in the state’s home energy rebate program.

Call 907-474-7201 or 907-474-6366 to register.

CONTACT: Cooperative Extension energy and housing specialist Rich Seifert at 907-474-7201. Debbie Carter, CES public information officer, at 907-474-5406 or dscarter@alaska.edu.

Disabled to get funds for Energy Star items

From the Anchorage Daily News on Friday, October 16, 2009:

The Alaska Housing Finance Corp. is preparing to divvy out Alaska’s comparatively small share of $300 million in federal stimulus money to cover rebates on energy-efficient appliances.Because Alaska got only about a dollar per person — $658,000 — and officials wanted to make it count, AHFC’s proposal limits eligibility to disabled individuals — those who qualify for Supplemental Security Income, said AHFC public affairs director Bryan Butcher. AHFC estimates there are 10,000 such individuals in Alaska.

People living in rural areas would get more to account for higher shipping costs, he said.

Under the plan, which is awaiting approval by the U.S. Department of Energy, qualified individuals in rural areas could get rebates of $500 on refrigerators and freezers and $300 for washers and dryers. Those in urban areas would get $300 for refrigerators and freezers and $150 for washers and dryers.

Energy Star appliances qualify for the rebate, and participants will be encouraged to destroy their old machines, Butcher said.

AHFC is hoping to get DOE approval in time to begin offering the rebate in December, Butcher said.

Weatherization set to win in stimulus funding

From npr.org on Monday, February 23, 2009:

People in the business of weatherizing homes are expecting to profit from the new economic stimulus plan. The federal aid package sets aside $5 billion worth of spending for making homes and buildings more energy-efficient. The idea is to save energy, create jobs — and even perhaps slow global warming.

Click here to read and/or listen to the whole story.

For more information about weatherization in Alaska, click here to be directed to the PORTAL.

LED lights — not just for your DVD player anymore

From the New York Times on Sunday, May 10, 2009:

Most people think of LEDs as the lights blinking from inside electronic devices. They are being used increasingly to light rooms, though few people have ever bought them.

“In the U.S., 78 percent of the public is completely unaware that traditional light bulbs will be phased out in 2012,” said Charles F. Jerabek, president and chief executive of Osram Sylvania, a unit of Siemens. By law, bulbs must be 30 percent more efficient than current incandescent versions beginning that year.

Click here to read the whole story.

Options for monitoring home energy use

From inhabit.com on Thursday, May 7, 2009:

… we’re focusing upon tracking energy usage, since the first step to cutting down on our power consumption is being able to measure it. Smart meters installed as part of smart grid projects will make it extra-easy to monitor home energy use — and while there are numerous smart grid-linked energy monitoring devices coming out soon, there are also are plenty of ways to keep track of your power consumption with an old-fashioned meter.

Click here to read the whole article.

Green tax tips

From the New York Times on Wednesday, April 8, 2009:

Still looking for ways to lower your taxes? Greening your home means you can get more greenbacks in return. The stimulus plan approved by Congress in February offers tax credits for making your home more energy efficient. For tax tips, the Green Home turned to Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, a nonprofit group that advocated some of these credits.

Click here to read the whole article.

Doors Offer Choices to Energy Efficiency

BY Adam Wasch, Energy Outreach Consultant for CCHRC and UAF CES
Energy Focus: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner April 9th, 2009, Section A3

Doors represent choices in our lives. Lovers threaten each other with dire consequences if one or the other walks out “that door.” We’re promised the door will open if we knock. People wait at death’s door. Others swing wide the door to opportunity, which we are told doesn’t knock twice. Then, there are literal doors. These stick, jam, and warp – especially in Alaska, where outside and inside winter temperatures often vary by 100 degrees or more. Continue reading →

Stimulus money for homeowners

From treehugger.com on February 20, 2009, retrieved on 3/6/09:

The stimulus bill has finally been passed and signed into law—and now it’s time to help put the thing into action. Which shouldn’t be tough to do: tucked into the thousands of pages of confounding language, there are tons of fantastic new tax credits you can get simply for buying great green stuff. Here’s what our government’s blowout sale’s got in the catalog.

Click here to see the list.

Five small steps to your green home

From the New York Times on Wednesday, March 11, 2009:

A recent Amazon.com search for “green home” pulled up more than 15,000 book titles. Who has time to read them all? So this week, The Green Home tracked down Eric Corey Freed, the author of “Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies,” and asked him to distill this growing cottage industry of green advice into five must-do steps.

Click here to read the whole article.

Smart grid could mean teaching consumers how to use less

From the Washington Post on Tuesday, March 10, 2009:

One gizmo allows you to run the dishwasher when electricity is cheapest. Another decides when to fire up the water heater if you plan on a 6 a.m. shower. Another routes solar energy from a rooftop panel to a battery in your garage and the wiring in your house.

Outside, towers equipped with sensors tell the electric company exactly where a storm has knocked out power. The power grid itself can react to trouble, rerouting juice from a healthy part of the system or isolating itself to prevent a larger meltdown.