Energy Use Effects of Working from Home

As we continue to work from home, you may notice your utility bills spiking. Keeping our homes comfortable over the summer has meant running air conditioners and fans more often or continuously. If those systems are inefficient and if the home is not well sealed and insulated, then you are wasting money and potentially increasing contaminants in the air. Utilities are struggling to keep up with demand and some continue to incentivize residential solar installs to help reduce the load on the grid.

So you want to cut down your energy use and utility bills but how do you do that during a time of uncertainty and financial stress? Here are some things you can do.

1. Practice energy conservation. Turn off those lights and water when not in use.

2. Have an energy consultant assess your home. (That’s us if you are in the Gorge!)

3. Contact your local utility and see if they have incentives for energy efficiency and solar energy upgrades.

4. Contact your mortgage lender to see if they offer refinancing for energy efficiency upgrades. Rates are awesome right now so a great opportunity!

5. Contact your local solar installer to see if solar is right for your home.

Plus, did you know that energy efficient homes sell for more and for faster? HERS rated homes sell for 2.7% more than unrated homes. They also realize a long term financial advantage of lower utility bills and maintenance costs. More great reasons to improve your home today!

Resiliency in Power Outages

Imagine: you are sheltering in place in your grid connected home and it shuts down for days due to an ice storm or wildfire. You have no backup power to stay comfortable, keep food cold and communication devices charged. Now imagine the same scenario but your home has been weatherized so it remains more comfortable for longer and you have a solar energy system with a battery backup that powers your critical loads: refrigeration, lights and communication devices. Through our energy consulting services, we can help discuss and prioritize upgrades that will make your home ready for the future! Click here to learn more about limited time opportunities in the Columbia River Gorge to make your home more resilient.

Healthy Homes & Home Performance - Air Sealing

Air sealing is important to help you be more comfortable in your home and improve home health and durability. It’s especially important to do BEFORE you insulate your home. You can use a combination of caulk, foam, gaskets and rigid materials to do air sealing. Watch the video below for a more detailed description of how you can tackle air sealing in your home.

Here are the things to seal around in these 3 areas of your home.

1. Floor: plumbing, gas and electrical penetrations

2. Walls: plumbing penetrations under sinks, outlets and switches, windows and doors

3. Roof: plumbing and electrical penetrations, top plate to drywall, open soffits, any hollow wall cavities

How Not to Waste Your Money with Energy Saving Solutions

Our friend Janine Ehrentraut, with eXp Realty, wrote a blog post about how to not waste your money by implementing energy saving solutions that can also make your home healthier and more comfortable. Check it out here. Also, if you are looking to buy a home and work with Janine, she offers you one of our home assessments for FREE!!!

DIY Home Weatherization Workshop @ Tum-A-Lum Lumber

Today we offered our 5th workshop in partnership with Tum-A-Lum Lumber. This time we discussed materials and methods for weatherizing your home! We talked about DIY air sealing, door weather-stripping and sweeps, insulation types, R-value, building science and more. Participants left with a better understanding of how to increase their home's comport and energy efficiency as well as a coupon good towards their next purchase of weatherization materials from Tum-A-Lum.