After a little banter on the big game today, your hosts Duane Knickerbocker (Niners!) and Bill Small (Chiefs) dive into the differences we’ve seen, not only on the field, but also in home energy. Changes such as, gas being banned in some communities, utility companies paying for upgrades, and solar becoming more and more efficient. And unique to California is portable generator technology for the home and the best practices when building new. There are so many things to be aware of and the place to get the most current awareness of what they are is a clipboard audit.
Maximizing Efficiency
Now, this is a segment for something very new that most people are not aware of and it’s actually taking place in certain community utility districts. There are some areas of the state that will not let you put additional panels on your roof in the event you want to add equipment. They won’t allow you to go into a “Negawatt” condition with your home. So how do you add equipment that would require additional panels to run to keep your home at zero energy use? Maximize the energy efficiency of the home. Then you won’t need to add panels as you’ll not be using as much energy and therefore leaving some headroom with your panel production. Again, identifying the best way to make this happen, would be to start with a free clipboard audit. You’ll be surprised at what the results could be.
Thermostat Hacks
What’s that “hold” button on your thermostat all about anyway? Did you know there’s a way you can use it to actually decrease your energy expense? Duane and Bill listen to a call from a customer as she learns how to take advantage of simple thermostat options to help her out. What teed this up is the concern for a newer system in the home when in fact, maybe not so much. And of course, that leads into the discussion of a set it and forget guarantee. You won’t hear that from many companies because you really have to know your business in order to make that guarantee. Now, that’s pretty cool.
Gas or Electric?
Why would you use the expensive power to your home when you actually have options to use less expensive power? It used to be that gas was the way to go. It was cheaper. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. Now your water heater isn’t a very big deal when it comes to how it gets the water hot. You likely just want the least expensive way to get it there. And that would be electricity, especially if you’re in the SMUD utility district. In some cases, it could be up to 50% less than gas. Now when you’re ready for the home heating upgrades, you can only imagine what those savings could be.
The best place to know how best to do it, call Brower Mechanical at (916) 775-7492.