ecobeco's January 2010 Newsletter
ecoTips, News, Deals, and More - And it's Free!
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Greetings!
Wind. Cold. Snow. And more snow. All these challenges lead to the question, "How do I know if my house has an air leakage problem?" One obvious symptom of air leakage is when you feel cold breezes in your living areas. But much air leakage occurs outside the living space. This month's newsletter, in addition to our monthly standard sections, explores hidden air leakage. Read on...
- ecoTip 1: Air Leakage - Up and Out of My Chimney.
- ecoTip 2: Air Leakage - Avoiding Ice Dams
- ecoTip 3: Air Leakage - Dryer exhaust
- Deck the Halls - Fox 5 and ecobeco Team Up To Save Power On Christmas
- Product Highlights
- Federal Tax Incentives for Energy Efficiency
- Montgomery County Residents get $250 of FREE Energy-Efficiency Products
- Store Hours by Appointment Only
Enjoy! |
ecoTip 1: Air Leakage - Up and Out of My Chimney
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Leaky chimney flues account for over 10% of air leakage in a typical home according to the Department of Energy. Even when your fireplace damper is closed, it is rarely air tight. Unfortunately, without an Energy Audit, you don't have the diagnostic equipment to know for sure whether your fireplace leaks and how leaky it is. However, even without an audit, we can recommend two products that can help most home owners:
1. High Heat Caulk. Use high heat caulk
to fill gaps between the fireplace and surrounding framing, brick, or
whatever materials are present. This is particularly important if you occasionally feel air, or see
spider webs or dust in these areas. A
blower door test will help to fully determine the extent of air leakage.You can find caulk at your local hardware store for around $10 per tube.
2. Chimney Draft Stoppers. At
$59.99, these devices are a great value that provide a  tight seal to keep your
conditioned air out of your chimney flue. They are also easy to assemble
and disassemble so you can remove yours easily when you want to use the
fireplace, and replace it when you're done. So use a chimney draft stopper instead. Click here to purchase a chimney draft stopper from ecobeco.com. |
| ecoTip 2 - Avoiding Ice Dams |
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An ice dam is a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof or in a gutter and prevents runoff and melting snow (water) from draining off the roof. The water that backs up behind the dam can leak into your home and cause damage to walls, ceilings, and insulation. Ice dams form when some areas of a roof are heated above the freezing point while other parts of the roof are below the freezing point. In other words, when your heat escapes into your attic and warms the roof, it can cause ice dams. There are several reasons why a roof could develop such temperature differentials. The most common culprits are:
1. Poorly or unevenly applied insulation within the attic.
2. Lack of air sealing between attic and living spaces.
3. Non-weatherized attic hatches.
4. Poorly sealed exhaust systems that terminate too close to the roof.
5. Poorly insulated hot elements in the attic space
6. Hot, incandescent lights or even recessed lights with direct exposure to the attic.
Eaves, overhangs, and soffit vents will conversely cause these lower parts of your roof to become colder than the sections warmed by the heat in your attic, allowing liquid water to re-freeze and form ice sheets that block runoff.  For an immediate fix you can use a roof rake to remove built up ice and improve water drainage. This should be done by a trained roofing professional as it is extremely dangerous and can damage your roof. In the long term, air sealing and insulating your attic space, as well as proper ventilation to minimize temperature differences between the attic and outdoors, are the most effective means of preventing the formation of ice dams.
Inspecting and properly treating your roof is an integral part of ecobeco's Comprehensive Home Energy Audit. Your auditor will inspect your roof and attic area looking for penetrations in your attic isolation and other hazards that can lead to the formation off ice dams as well as moisture buildup and signs of water damage. |
| ecoTip 3 - Dryer Exhaust |
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Many of our customers have very old dryer exhaust vents. The most typical line is literally a hole in the wall with a cover (to keep the rain out?). However, without the use of dampers, a dryer vent is  one of the easiest places for cold air to enter the home.
Newer vents all come with dampers of varying efficacy. Malfunctioning dampers can lead to clogging, which can create a fire hazard or will reduce the efficiency of the dryer by preventing the exhaust of humidity/moisture.
Recently, we had a customer install a cover over her damper to keep out insects and animals. After a while, she had to run her dryer  multiple times to get a load dry because, unbeknownst to her, lint traveling out the vent had caught on her protection grate causing a clog. This customer saved energy by making clearing out her exhaust vent so the damper worked properly. 
ecobeco recently added the Battic Clothes Dryer Vent Seal to our product list. This product provides an effective damper while it keeps out animals and insects. Like any dryer vent, you can caulk the area where it touches the wall, and you can use caulk or foam on the area inside your home where the vent penetrates your interior wall. Finally, lint is not your friend, so make periodic checks and clean our your exhaust vent if it gets clogged!
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| Deck The Halls - Fox 5 and ecobeco Team Up To Save Power On Christmas |
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ecobeco has teamed up with Fox 5 Local News to answer the question "Should I make the switch to LED Christmas lights this year?"
To answer this problem we compared the power used by a strand of regular  incandescent Christmas lights with a new LED strand using a Kill-A-Watt meter. The Kill-A-Watt meter ( available at ecobeco.com) is a tool used to calculate the power used by any plug-in electronic device. You can use a Kill-a-Watt to calculate the cost to run that device over the length of a day, week, or month. We found that LEDs use 80% less power than your standard incandescent bulb, and offer even grater savings when compared to a strand of 'classic' style bulbs. This can add up to significant savings over several years or even for a single season if you use a large number of lights. A strand of LED bulbs can cost up to 4 times as much as a strand of standard incandescent bulbs, but they also last much longer than their incandescent counterparts AND they don't break!
The reduced energy cost and no need for replacements more than making up for the LED's premium price over several years of use.
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Product Highlights
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Now that winter is in full bloom, ecobeco is ready to fight the cold with some hot sales on a wide range of our environmentally friendly products.
Discounts apply to current inventory only. No backorders.
| Refer Your Friends, Get $$$
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| We're very excited to introduce our Friends & Family Referral Program. Just go to www.ecobeco.com/friends
and give us the Name, E-mail and Phone Number of your friends who might
want Energy Audits. We'll contact them and if they purchase an Audit
or Combination package, you'll get a $25 electronic gift card for the
ecobeco product of your choice! Now that's green!
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Tax Incentives for Energy Efficiency
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The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act included substantial spending on energy efficiency related items. Part of the legislation includes an increase in the tax deductions for purchases of energy-efficient appliances, insulation and windows.
Please click the links below to access the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE). Then, consult your tax advisor for more information about whether you qualify for these incentives.
Taxpayers can deduct 30% of total materials costs up to $1,500 for s pecific energy-efficient product purchases made in 2010.
Residential Energy Efficiency Tax Credit
Taxpayers can deduct 30% of the installed cost of solar PV, solar hot water, wind, fuel cells, and geothermal heat pump with no maximum limit.
Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit
The DSIRE database also includes incentives specific to your state and county, so be sure to check for those programs as well by navigating back to the home page and then clicking on your state.
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MONTGOMERY COUNTY RESIDENTS GET $250 OF FREE ENERGY-EFFICIENCY PRODUCTS
We'll show you how to claim your Property Tax Credit!
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If you are a Montgomery County Home Owner (you pay property taxes), you can take advantage of the Property Tax Credit for Energy Conservation Devices. This credit refunds 100% of your spending up to $250. CFLs, Low-Flow Showerheads, Programmable Thermostats, and Smart Powerstrips are the easiest and most essential items for any energy-efficient home. And there are many more products that qualify as well. Schedule your in-home visit today and we'll help you determine exactly which products you need today.
ecobeco will provide you with the forms you need to fill out and will coach you on how to fill them out to ensure a smooth claim process.
There's no better time than now to schedule your in-home ecoAssessment or Energy Audit. The tax credit is limited to $250,000 of total benefit for the entire county for fiscal year 2010, so make your purchase now and submit your application as soon as possible to ensure your refund. There is no income exclusion or residency requirement for this credit.
Call us at the store (240) 396-2141 x2 to learn more.
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New Store Hours - Appointment Only
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ecobeco's store hours are now by appointment only. Just call or e-mail us before you come to make sure we're there.
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Thanks,
Brian, Reuven, Curt, Mike, Jonathan, Valerie, Dan, Patrick and Daniela
(240) 396-2141
info@ecobeco.com
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