ecobeco's October 2010 Newsletter ecoTips, News, Deals, and More - And it's Free!
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Greetings!
The crisp smell of Fall is in the air as we come to the month of October and finally we are seeing relief to this summer's heat. With the leaves changing and the days growing colder, now is the time to prepare for winter, including any weatherization projects you have in mind. This month we will explain exactly why a whole home energy audit should be part of any repair or improvement project at your house. October is also the time to celebrate the seasons. We invite you to join ecobeco at several upcoming events in the area.
Read on for:
- Upcoming Events: The 29th Annual Takoma Park Street Festival on Sunday October 3rd from 10am - 5pm.
- Upcoming Events: The 19th Annual Oktoberfest on Sunday October 10th from Noon - 4pm.
- Upcoming Events: The Washington DC Green Festival on October 23th and 24th
- ecoTip: Do an Energy Audit Before Starting Home Improvement Projects
- Newsflash: Washington Post Publishes Energy Special
- Update: Pepco Home Energy Savings Program for Maryland Distribution Customers
- Allegheny Maryland Customers, Get a Free Home Check-Up.
- Maryland Expands Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program
- ecobeco Named 2009 Maryland Home Performance Contractor of the Year by the Maryland Energy Administration
- I'm Not a Pepco Maryland Customer, What About Me?
Enjoy!
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| Upcoming Events: The 29th Annual Takoma Park Street Festival on Sunday October 3rd from 10am - 5pm |
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 ecobeco is coming to The 29th Annual Takoma Park Street Festival on Sunday, October 3rd 10am-5pm on Main Street Takoma Park.
This is a multi-cultural music and crafts festival held in downtown Old Takoma. Join us on the first Sunday of October and enjoy the lovely Main Street area for a day filled with music on 3 different stages, a wealth of arts & crafts, local business information booths, and family events and fun! ecobeco is confirmed as a local merchant participating in the 2010 Street Festival.
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| Upcoming Events: The 19th Annual Oktoberfest on Sunday October 10th from Noon - 4pm |
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 Come meet ecobeco for a day of fun and learning at The City of Gaithersburg's Oktoberfest. We're a named Sponsor for this event. Stop by to learn more about our whole home energy audits and sign-up for an energy audit for your home.
Admission and parking are free. Free wheelchair accessible shuttle service will be available from the office building at Edison Park Drive, near the intersection of Main Street and Route 28, and will run regularly during festival hours.
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| Upcoming Events: The Washington DC Green Festival on October 23rd and 24th |
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 Come and join ecobeco at booth 834 for the 6th annual Washington DC Green Festival™.
Green Festival™, the nation's largest sustainability event, returns to the Washington Convention Center October 23-24. This year's Green Festival theme is 'Engagement,' with exciting new ways to shop green, be inspired, get engaged and give back. Community members enjoy informative, insightful speakers, incomparable green shopping, cutting edge eco-innovations, great live music, fun and educational family activities, hands-on workshops, organic wine and beer and delicious, local vegetarian cuisine. Ten stages and pavilions give attendees the opportunity to engage with 125 local experts and nationally-renowned authors, actors, leaders, educators, farmers and visionaries. Exciting keynote speakers include Ralph Nader, Amy Goodman, Gilberto Gil, Patti Moreno, Reverend Lennox Yearwood, Jr., Dean Baker, Bernardine Dorhn, Bill Ayers, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Daniel Pinchbeck, Ambassadors from Bolivia and Venezuela, Tracy McQuirter and many more.
Plus, there are new admission options that are geared to encourage everyone to get involved in their community with immediate dividends from Green Festival.
For more information about attending Washington D.C. Green Festival, please visit http://www.greenfestivals.org/wdc/
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ecoTip: Do an Energy Audit Before Starting Home Improvement Projects
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| A professional home energy audit is a key baseline ahead of many home improvement projects. Starting with a professional energy audit lets you properly target areas that need improvement that may otherwise have been missed. It may also opportunities for incentives towards upgrades or repairs that you had already planned on doing. Importantly, ecobeco's energy audit also includes safety testing to ensure that your home is a healthy home after the improvements are done, which provides you peace of mind.
While you may be tempted to rely on conventional wisdom (such as "My biggest source of air leakage is obviously my windows"), a professional audit by an energy auditor provides a much more thorough and detailed look at your home that will help you make better choices as you work through your home projects (99% of the time, the largest source of leakage is your attic and your basement, and not your windows). ecobeco's whole home energy audit uses equipment such as an infrared camera and blower door, to test your home and check for places where air may be leaking that may be hard to observe without proper testing. A professionally trained auditor will also conduct a walk-through and inspect your energy appliances to see that they are operating efficiently as well as check for any safety problems. The end result is a customized report that will detail a prioritized list of items that require attention in your home and help you estimate the cost of individual projects that you may want to tackle all at once or one at a time.
"I advise all of my clients to get
energy audits during the design phase of our remodeling projects so we can gain
clarity on the performance characteristics alongside the design and
budget." said Matt Dirksen, Project Designer and Green Design Specialist
at Case Design.
Having a certified professional conduct a home energy audit is often a prerequisite for applying for current energy efficiency incentives and rebates. For example, Pepco's Home Energy Savings Program will provide Pepco customers a rebate of up to $1,200 on energy efficiency home improvements, with additional rebates for appliance replacements. However, Pepco will only provide this rebate if the home improvement work is performed after Comprehensive Home Energy Audit by a certified provider like ecobeco. Other programs, such as the Federal Tax Credit for Energy Efficiency, have minimum requirements related to the performance of the installed solution. A professional energy auditing service can educate you to ensure that you meet the requirements for this and any other applicable program. The energy audit may also identify several strategies for you to reduce your energy consumption directly lowering your monthly energy bills as an end result.
In conclusion, a professional home energy audit provides prioritized advice on items needing attention in your home, allows you to proceed with the confidence that your home will be safe for your family after the improvements are made, enables you to make informed decisions throughout the process, educates you so you can receive rebates and incentives related to the work being done in your home, and helps you maximize the return on your renovations through optimizing your energy efficiency.
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Newsflash: Washington Post Publishes Energy Special
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| In the October 30 edition of the Washington Post, there was a special section on Energy. For our interested readers, here is a link to the section, which includes a discussion on Americans' increasing consumption of electronic devices that draw vampire power. While ecobeco spends time explaining the benefits of Smart Strips to our customers, the main point here is that these new electronic devices are off-setting the efficiency gains from improvements in household appliances and HVAC technology. Take a look here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/energy-is-urgent/?sid=ST2010092907824
and for the article: "Are American homes more energy efficient? Not exactly." click here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/29/AR2010092906585.html
Note you may need to become a free subscriber to Washington Post on-line to view these articles.
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Update: Pepco Home Energy Savings Program for
Maryland Distribution Customers
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Attention Maryland Home
Owners in the Pepco Service TerritoriesFrom Comprehensive Home Energy Audits priced at only $100, to rebates up to
$1,200 for energy efficiency improvements, to appliance rebates, to HVAC
service and equipment rebates, to free programmable thermostats, to CFL
discounts, and more... Pepco brings one of the most aggressive energy
efficiency programs in the country to its Maryland customers. ecobeco provides $100 Home
Energy Audit to Pepco Maryland customers. This is not a rebate program. You pay us $100 at the time of the visit.After your audit, you can receive a 15% cash rebate from Pepco for professionally installed air sealing and insulation augmentation up to $1,000 in benefit. Plus, you can receive $200 for duct sealing. Best of all, ecobeco will handle the rebate process for you free of charge.Combined with up to $800 in savings for an air conditioner or $750 for a heat pump replacement through the appliance rebate program, ecobeco can help you find the best deals on making energy efficiency a priority for 2010!The goal of the Home Energy Savings Program is to get home owners like you to
take action on energy conservation. That means fixing up your homes,
changing out your light bulbs and shower heads, and more. Pepco is
obligated by the EmPower Maryland law to reduce energy consumption in the State
of Maryland by 15% by 2015. Meanwhile, ecobeco has been working hard with our contractor partners to
enhance and accelerate the amount of time it takes for you to receive your
audit report and a firm proposal after your audit is complete. Our goal is
to make it easier for you to say "YES" to energy efficiency
improvements. Sign up at http://www.ecobeco.com/about_schedule_pepcomd.asp to
reserve your $100 energy audit.Note: Customers who buy energy from Clean Currents or other alternatives are eligible to participate in the program. You qualify if you 1) receive a bill from Pepco; and 2) have either a heat pump or air conditioning; and 3) live in a single-family home or town home (units in dwellings with more than 4 units do not qualify for this program). Visit Pepco's
consumer site for more information at: http://www.pepco.com/energy/conservation/meiin/NOTE: If you are an existing ecobeco audit customer in the Pepco territory, please
give Brian Toll a call directly at 240 396 2141 x704 or email Brian to discuss how you can
take advantage of the Pepco Home Energy Savings Program. |
Allegheny Maryland Customers, Get a Free Home Check-Up.
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Maryland Allegheny Power Customers - ecobeco is an authorized provider for the Watt Watchers Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program. You can have a FREE Home Energy Check-Up performed by ecobeco, which is a non-instrumented walk-through of the house. This product is designed to help you understand whether an audit is worthwhile for you and will give you tips on easy do-it-yourself items. You'll get 6 CFLs for free as well. To schedule your appointment, call Allegheny's Watt Watchers Hotline at 1.877.928.8928 and ask for a Home Check-Up and ask for ecobeco to be your provider. We are currently servicing Allegheny customers in Northern Montgomery County. ecobeco also offers $140 Comprehensive Home Energy Audits for Allegheny Maryland customers. See more information below. |
Replay Announcement: Maryland Expands Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program
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Starting July 30th, Maryland consumers can receive rebates on major household appliances purchased in four additional appliance categories, each related to cooling. The purpose of these incentives is to encourage residents to replace outdated, inefficient appliances in their homes with ENERGY STAR-rated equivalents, helping end users both save money and reduce strain on the electrical grid. The expanded incentives program, which is still managed by your local utility, offers rebates on purchases or installations of central air conditioning units ($500), air source heat pumps ($500), room air conditioners ($25) and freezers ($100). The appliance must be purchased/installed on or after July 30, 2010 to qualify. The appliance must meet efficiency standards, which are described on your utility's website. This expansion supplements existing incentives for the purchase of qualifying super-efficient clothes washers ($100), refrigerators ($50), and electric heat pump water heaters ($300). Attention Pepco Customers: You can combine the Maryland rebate with the Pepco HVAC Efficiency Program to save up to $800 on AC or Heat Pump replacements. Program details, additional information and terms and conditions as well as rebate forms are available at http://energy.maryland.gov/appliancerebateprogram.asp. From this site, customers of Allegheny Power, BGE, Delmarva, Pepco and SMECO can click on the link to their utility's website. |
Replay: ecobeco Named 2009 Maryland Home Peformance Contractor of the Year by the Maryland Energy Administration
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ecobeco has been awarded the 2009 Contractor of the Year for Maryland Home Performance with ENERGY STARŪ by Maryland Energy Administration. ecobeco provides  $100 Energy Audits to Maryland Pepco home owners through their Home Energy Savings Program. ecobeco also provides $140 Energy Audits to Maryland Allegheny Power home owners through their Watt Watchers program, and provides audits to Baltimore Gas & Electric customers through the BGE Smart Energy program. Our success in all three programs have contributed to this hard-earned honor. ecobeco's Co-Founder and Vice President of Auditing Services Reuven Walder says, "ecobeco's focus on customer service starts with our highly detailed Home Energy Audit that follows the strict Building Performance Institute and Home Performance with ENERGY STARŪ standards. Then, our Comprehensive Report prioritizes what customers should do, how much it will cost, and what their savings will be. Finally, we facilitate the process of selecting contractors to do the work at the house. We take complicated stuff and make it easy for home owners to take action and solve their energy and comfort issues. This award recognizes the hard work of ecobeco's team day in and day out and our commitment to quality." |
Replay: I'm Not a Pepco Maryland Customer, What About Me?
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Don't worry if you're not a Pepco Maryland customer, there are programs for other home owners as well.
1. Maryland BGE Customers - Through our partnership with Energy Services Group, ecobeco provides a full suite of solutions as part of the BGE Smart Energy program, which includes incentives for making your home more energy efficient. Click here to view the incentives from this program, and click here to schedule your appointment with ecobeco.2. Maryland Allegheny Power Customers - ecobeco is an authorized provider for the Watt Watchers Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program. That means your audit costs only $140 if you agree to the installation of CFL bulbs, or $180 if you don't. You can also have a FREE Home Energy Check-Up performed by ecobeco, which is a non-instrumented walk-through of the house. This product is designed to help you understand whether an audit is worthwhile for you and will give you tips on easy do-it-yourself items. Our service area is limited to northern Montgomery County. Click here to make an appointment. After your audit, customers with electric heating qualify for additional incentives for doing air sealing or insulation work. 3. Virgina Customers - The Energy Efficiency rebate is again fully subscribed. At this point, the appliance rebate program (see below) is the only state program accepting new customers. There are no incentives at this time for audits or retrofits. Don't fret, our Comprehensive Energy Audit is still a great value, and provides you with the knowledge you need to make smart investments in your home. Click here to make an appointment.4. DC Customers - Similar to Virginia, except the District government provides free energy audits to home owners. These audits provide a basic understanding of energy issues, but do not include IR camera scans, combustion safety testing, energy modeling, customized reporting, follow up time with your auditor, referrals to get the work done, a free second visit after the work is done, etc. Currently, the free audit has a waitlist for several months and last we checked audits had been suspended. DC residents can act now by making an appointment with ecobeco by clicking here. |
We hope you enjoyed reading our newsletter. We'd love to hear from you. Please feel free to forward this information. 
Thanks,
Brian, Reuven, Cindy, Mike, Jonathan F, Jonathan J, Dan, Nick, and Patrick (240) 396-2141 info@ecobeco.com
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