Brower Power Hour Radio Show Archive
About the Show
Brower Home Power Hour: Formerly the CHERP Energy Wise Forum, Brower Mechanical has now recrafted the program to further promote the process of home energy optimization thru home energy audits, insulation, windows, solar and more. Continuing the relationship with the non-profit Community Home Energy Retrofit Project (CHERP)monthly seminars are designed to provide access to virtually free home energy assessments ($300+ value!)that can then lead to maximizing government and utility rebates and incentives to both reduce expense and increase home values. An incredibly informative show to help anyone considering solar or home energy upgrades make the best investment decision utilizing the small solar process by reducing before producing.
Presented in Part by: Ygrene Home Improvement Financing
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Radio Show Archive
If you're new to the show, then what you're about to hear is going to be extremely enlightening. If you're a regular to the show, then your hosts, Duane Knickerbocker and Bill Small are going to reiterate the options you have as you navigate the waters of solar opportunity to reduce your overall energy expense. You'll learn ways to minimize the amount of solar you'll need and ways to take advantage of the tax benefits, the rebates and the overall energy savings. The biggest take away, however, will be getting a plan and a clip board audit completed before you do anything. This road map to energy savings gives you specific objectives and goals and provides you the solutions necessary to make your home energy efficient (reducing) before you install solar (producing). This way, you've minimized your solar investment and capitalized on your total home energy system. There's so much more to doing solar right than just doing solar. Your perspective will most likely change after listening and you can assure yourself the decision you make will be a more informed decision going forward. For more information, call Brower Mechanical today. 916-624-0808 or on line at www.gosmallsolar.com.
Suffer from allergies? This is proving to be one of the worst years on record for allergies as a result of the recent rains and the subsequent growth of ... well, everything that needs water to grow! Listen up as Duane Knickerbocker of Brower Mechanical and co-host Bill Small talk about how you can improve your home's interior air quality to make it more allergy resistant and easier to live within. You'll also hear from our favorite Doc, Dr. Thomas Hopkins, from the medical perspective on the steps you can take to make living with allergies in your home more comfortable. You can even reach out to request our Outline of the 5 steps to take now to minimize the allergens in your home. If you suffer from allergies, if you're sneezing' and wheezin' don't wait. Call or visit the website to get the steps. They're free and they'll help you breathe a little easier in your own home. Quit suffering and improve the interior air in your home, reduce the energy consumption and make everything that much more comfortable. Call Brower Mechanical today at 916-624-0808 or request your 5 steps on line at www.gosmallsolar.com.
Earn your home energy degree by listening to today's show. It's all about being educated properly when it comes to doing solar right. You'll hear from hosts Duane Knickerbocker from Brower Mechanical and Bill Small what it takes to be sure you're not putting too much solar on your roof, now or for the future. That would be an expensive proposition. But if you could upgrade your home's energy systems and still have a similar or even lower cost in doing so AND add solar for less than the solar only solution, wouldn't that make much more sense? "Solar only" does nothing to improve the in-home air quality or change the dynamics of erratic heating and cooling in your home. Or impact the inefficiencies of an older pool pump or attic insulation. The real long term solution is a whole house proposition that leaves you with so much more than just a lower energy bill. Now doesn't that sound like a much better way to approach the issue? Listen and learn from somebody who has done hundreds of these programs. You'll have a much better understanding of what your options are and how best to utilize that hard earned money for the investment. For more information, call 916-624-0808 or visit www.gosmallsolar.com.
Flip the switch, brace yourself as the louvers flap around and begin to shake like a baby's rattle. The fan begins turning slowly at first, then faster and faster and you hear the low hum turn into the full blown sound of a propeller spinning on a winged aircraft. Finally, your hair begins to blow back as the outside air is pulled in thru the open windows and any other opening the fan can suck air through and then, ahhhh. Cooler air is entering the house and circulating thru it like the inside of a jet engine. Whoosh! OK, a bit dramatic but my how these whole house fans have changed. If you're in the market for a whole house fan, sit down, take notes and listen up. Today's show goes into the good the bad, the pros, the cons why and why not to consider a whole house fan as an option. There are a myriad of reasons to support the installation as well as an equal number of reasons it may not be right for you. And that's the difference between an HVAC contractor and a HOME SCIENCE contractor. Listening to what you're hoping to accomplish, knowing the products, and then being able to recommend what's best for your budget, your comfort and your health. After all, it's about affordability, comfort and health when it comes to the place you spend most of your time. Call Brower Mechanical today to find out whether or not that whole house fan makes sense for you. 916-624-0808 or visit www.gosmallsolar.com (To see the new technology in whole house fans, check out the showroom in Lincoln.)
Join your hosts, Duane Knickerbocker and Bill Small as they discuss the "how to's" of becoming energy independent. Keep in mind that it all starts with an Energy Plan with your goals and objectives in mind. You may find that total independence isn't the best option. But that's what the show is all about. Making it work and work right for you and your individual situation. You'll learn the significance of revitalization for your systems and how you can add years of life to your home energy systems with regular maintenance. Finally, learn the myriad of options you have to help complete the work when it comes to the financial side of things. You'll want to pay particular attention to the discussion of rebates and the significance of having a complete home energy audit done to insure you get the maximum the rebates have to offer. And of course, right about now you're wondering how can I get more information to be sure I'm doing it all correctly on my way to energy independence, right? Simply call Brower Mechanical today at 916-824-1530 or on line at www.gosmallsolar.com
Join your hosts Bill Small and the blue-eyed energy guy, Duane Knickerbocker, as they work to teach and educate you on a variety of important and necessary facts when making decisions that impact your home energy needs. When does it make sense to consider a smaller air conditioning system? Do you really need THAT many solar panels to accomplish your objectives. Is your furnace running at optimal efficiency? When was the last time you checked the insulation in your attic or crawlspace? Really, there should be insulation under the floor if you’re on a raised foundation. You’ll also hear about ways to minimize those thermostat wars in your home when it’s just a little too hot or too cold for one or the other residents. Hey, this one could save a marriage! Jack Frost also joins the show to give an update on the California Home Energy Retrofit Project or CHERP. And finally, to complete your IQ exam, you’ll learn of some pretty interesting rebates and even free items you can get from SMUD if you purchase an EV. Now that’s the way to boost your Energy IQ for sure! And of course, if all else fails, give Brower Mechanical a call at 916-824-1530 or visit them on line at www.gosmallsolar.com.
Home energy is home science and the more you know about the "how" of keeping your home comfortable, the better decisions you can make on home energy upgrades that could include a new furnace, insulation or even solar. Hosts Duane Knickerbocker and Bill Small engage in some simple solutions to get you headed down the right path from the beginning. It all starts with measurement to assess what's really going on in your home and what it is you want to see happen. The clip board audit or full blown energy audit are the answer. Worried about the increasing costs of natural gas bloating your heating bill? That's an issue you can address immediately with one simple call to Brower Mechanical. Want to better understand what's really going to happen with an attic sealing? Check it out in person at the Brower Home Energy Exploratorium. Learn your options and experience the demonstration of what many of the elements in your home today are doing that impact your comfort and expense. Insulation to solar and everything in between, you'll find a solution to your in-home comfort by calling 916-824-1530. On line at www.gosmallsolar.com
Think about that title for a minute. Energy increases are like hidden taxes... you can't deduct them, you can't control them, yet you have to be able to heat and cool your home, right? That means you have to pay them! Wherever you may live in the country, it's inevitable you'll see energy prices increase at some point in time in the near future. Listen today as your hosts, Duane Knickerbocker and Bill Small share a plethora of opportunities you can take advantage of to minimize the impact of any energy cost increases by getting your home properly set up for maximum energy efficiency. The benefit is not only a smaller utility bill but a more affordable, comfortable and healthy living environment. Add to that a special guest (Robert Bendorf) with the HERO program to finance any of the improvements you would like to make and you're on your way to lower expenses and smaller solar if that's an option you're interested in. Learn all about home performance and how you can actually see, touch, hear and feel what the latest in energy efficient elements for your home actually operate like at the Brower Home Energy Exploratorium. So much information, so much education, you'll find yourself wanting to take notes! For more information, call 916-8245-1530 or visit www.gosmallsolar.com.
Seriously, it is Abe Lincolns birthday today. And one of his character traits was honesty, hence the nickname, Honest Abe. How honest do you think many of the vendors out there are when they're in your home and working on your home energy systems? Unfortunately, honesty has become a valued trait in business today as a result of the many bad characters out there just trying to sell you something. Like Abe, that's not the case with Brower Mechanical. And like Abe, at Brower, education is paramount. Whether it be on-line webinars, CHERP evening meetings or in home education, it's all about learning what's going to be best for YOU. Every values in home comfort differently and that's why you'll get more questions before answers when working with a representative from Brower. Know your energy triangle of Healthy-Comfortable-Affordable. Not sure what that means, well listen up then! All that and more are in today's Brower Home Power Hour. For more information, you can also call 916-824-1295 or visit the website www.gosmallsolar.com.
Yes, it is Superbowl Sunday and one of the benefits of blogging for the show after it airs is that the outcome of the game is also confirmed so congrats to all you Patriots fans! Nicely done. For most of us it was an entertaining, exciting and exhilarating game. Unless of course your home was so uncomfortable you couldn't enjoy yourself. Too hot, too cold, too stuffy with all the guests? That's an opportunity for home science to remedy and nobody is better at it than Duane Knickerbocker. Listen to hear how your home may be scarfing down the appetizers and the main course with overconsumption of energy and inefficient operation. Find out what the energy pie is all about when Duane and Bill describe the appropriate slices and sizes for a healthy share. Revisit the values of a clip board audit and how to reduce before you produce when considering solar. A great game follows a great show. The difference between the two is that everyone tuning into the Brower Home Power Hour leaves, a winner. Not so much one of the teams and fans of the SuperBowl! For more details on how you can maximize the efficiency of your home, call 916-824-1295 today. Or visit on line at www.gosmallsolar.com.
