Rebates offered by the individual utilities in support of the EmPOWER Maryland Energy Efficiency Act of 2008 are not affected.

For other Rebate oportunities, Customers of Allegheny Power, BGE, Delmarva, Pepco and SMECO can go to http://energy.maryland.gov/Facts/empower.html and click on the link to their utility's website from MEA's webpage to get program details, additional information, and terms and conditions.

Attention Pepco Customers:  You can still apply for the Pepco HVAC Efficiency Program to save up to $300 on AC or $200 on Heat Pump replacements.

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.  Here are two products that we can recommend that can help most home owners:

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. Regularly check your chimney for cracks. Cracks may indicate masonry failures and potentially dangerous or energy waisting leaks. You can find caulk at your local hardware store for around $10 per tube.

Chimney Draft Stoppers.  These devices are a great value and provide a tight seal to keep your conditioned air out of the chimney flue. They are easy to assemble and disassemble so you can remove the draft stopper easily when you want to use the fireplace, and replace it when you're done.  So checkout the various chimney draft stoppers ecobeco has to offer.  Click here to purchase a chimney draft stopper from ecobeco.com.

Park Potomac Place Condominium recently completed the installation of an LED lighting retrofit for the exterior landscaping and interior decorative lighting of their property.  ecobeco worked with Park Potomac and LED Savings Solutions to drive substantial savings.

The challenge the community faced in this project was a desire for high quality lighting while reducing operating costs. The areas targeted for the new LED lighting include those served by high wattage halogen lights and areas lit 24 hours a day.

LED Saving solutions provided dimmable par lights, exterior lighting, and decorative MR16 spot lights. This $7,500 project created savings of $6,800 annually. This will generate positive cash flow of about $108,000 over the lifetime of the solution. Also the expected CO2 offset of the new lighting system is 1.4 million lbs over its lifetime.

According to Home Owner Association Board President Bruce Fonoroff, "Many of our common area lights were incandescent and burning 24 hours a day. With an ROI of over 80% and a payback period of only 14 months, it was a no brainer to convert to LED lighting."