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Home Energy Rating Rebates Ending Sept. 30
Homeowners in the SDG&E territory have a short time left to take advantage of $400 rebates for home energy ratings.
Eliot and Ashley Metzger started researching energy efficiency programs before they even moved into their Scripps Ranch house. It turned out to be time well spent. During their first winter in the 1970-built home, the furnace cycled on multiple times each night and the bedrooms fluctuated between too cold and too hot.
Jesse and Andrea Ibanez know a thing or two about houses. They are real estate agents with training in sustainable building practices and energy efficiency. So when Andrea developed a constant cough after moving into their house in Pacific Beach, they knew their living environment could be the cause.
"Something did not feel right," Andrea recalls. "I was suspicious that the age and condition of the house may be a factor."
Maybe your guest bedroom is frigid and drafty in the winter, forcing Aunt Linda to layer on the blankets and run the space heater all night. Perhaps your south-facing rooms are unbearably hot in the summer, reducing your indoor comfort zone. Or you're simply tired of high energy bills — year-round or seasonally, or both.
You’re ready to fix these problems. But what’s your first step?
Mark Remy bought his 1960s era San Diego home in 2008 as a fixer-upper. But even after remodeling, with new windows, sliding doors, stucco, ceilings and more, it still wasn't as comfortable as he wanted.
"When I moved into my house, it was like camping out," Mark said. "In the winter, I could see my breath in the morning." He was also concerned about the safety of the natural gas-burning wall heater.
CCSE successful in efforts to modify San Diego CSI fund allocation
During the past several months, CCSE successfully petitioned the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to modify the allocation of funds in the local CSI program budget to shift some money in the nonresidential solar project budget to be available for homeowners. The commission gave final approval to the modification on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
Skip and Sandy Florey of Mira Mesa first learned about home energy upgrades by attending an energy efficiency home tour in 2012. "We wanted to find out what else we could do to save energy and make our home more comfortable," Sandy recalls.
At the tour, they signed up for an energy assessment and discovered their ducts were leaking 30 percent of the conditioned air and their water heater was generating unsafe levels of carbon monoxide.
Even a mild Oceanside winter can make a home uncomfortable if it's not properly insulated and sealed. That's what Mark and Jenny Zajac discovered after purchasing their 1970s split-level home last year.
"It was quite drafty and we had to use space heaters in our son's bedroom and in our home office," Jenny recalled. She said the summer was no better, reporting the house would get up to over 90 degrees.
When Michael and Jessica Wolf bought their 1911-built Craftsman home in the South Park area of San Diego, it came with the original furnace and a lot of air leakage. "The house was very drafty with air coming in through the windows and floors," recalls Michael.
To make the home more comfortable, the couple incorporated energy upgrades into their remodel plans. Improvements included new ducts, air sealing, attic and wall insulation and a tankless water heater. They also had dual-pane windows and ENERGY STAR appliances installed.
In 2010, Tony and Cindy bought a remodeled 25-year-old home in Spring Valley. They quickly discovered the temperatures in the home were inconsistent and uncomfortable. "Our house was really cold in the winter and it got really hot in the summer," says Cindy. They knew there was very little insulation in the attic, and a home energy assessment conducted last year revealed gaping holes in the ducts.
Beth and Paul's beautiful La Mesa home used to have one major problem. "The living room was unbearable in the summer," says Beth. "It felt like you could cook a chicken in there.” Their floor-to-ceiling, west-facing windows were partly to blame, but there was more to the story.
Articles for homeowners
Homeowners in the SDG&E territory have a short time left to take advantage of $400 rebates for home energy ratings.
The energy efficiency actions of California homeowners who installed rooftop solar electric systems are providing insights into the connection between solar adoption and energy upgrades that could help in the design of future residential energy programs.
An innovative financing method is helping thousands of homeowners across San Diego County to lower their utility bills by installing solar panels, insulation and high-efficiency heating and cooling systems. Their home improvement projects became affordable by using a loan program called PACE, for property assessed clean energy.