Electric Tankless Water Heater

The world is going green, with or without you. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) predicts that the green home improvements market will grow by 20 percent in the next four years. Many homeowners don’t consider energy-efficiency upgrades because they believe they will cost too much. If you found right-priced solutions, would you consider them? Here are three that cost less than $500 and can save you money and energy.

1.  Have a programmable thermostat installed.

The government Energy Star agency says you can take $150 off your annual energy bill just by using one, which is right around the cost of a moderately priced, seven-day programmable thermostat. Find a licensed, pre-screened HVAC specialist near you.*

2.  Order a tankless water heater.

According to The Clean Tech Revolution, by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder, a tankless heater will cut your water heating bills in half (if you heat with gas) or by 70 percent (if you heat with electricity.) Prices are in the $400-$500 range for an electric-powered heater. Remember, these water heaters last twice as long as your older tank models.

3.  Get a blower door test.

A blower door test should reveal all the cracks or holes in your home where you lose the most energy. Some utility companies offer it for free, but most likely you’ll need to contact a professional. Costs for the test vary from $25-$250, depending on where you live and the size of your home. Learn exactly where to apply the weather-stripping and insulation foam with confidence.

These are simple and effective green upgrades. Contact a professional and you can have any one of them done in a single day!

An experienced contractor may have other suggestions to tighten your energy use before bills rise again.

Jake at Work

The life of a duct sealer, while inglorious, is not without a bit of adventure. Today for example, we shimmied into a crawlspace full of those brown and yellow newts. I’m not sure where they came from; none of the other houses in this particular park had a newt infestation.

“We got salamanders!” my supervisor yells out from the dark.

Now, I’ve always gotten along pretty well with amphibians. My boss, however, does not.

“Ahhhhhh man!” He groans from somewhere in front of me.

“Tuck your pantlegs in, man. “

“What? Why?”

“Just trust me. Their attracted to warmth or something……”

One Cute Newt

So here we are, covered with sticky newts when we finally manage to locate the furnace connection we’re trying to seal up.

Unfortunately, the insulation surrounding the connection has been extra double wrapped in fiber batts (the cheap kind, too,) and then encased in black butyle tape. This stuff is on there like a solid cast.

I grab the duct in a big, itchy bear hug and Adam goes to work sawing through the various layers of tape with his knife. About 20 itchy, itchy minutes later, my hair and face covered in a fine layer of fiber glass, the duct connection finally separates.

And it’s already sealed!

Thanks for stopping by Detect Energy, this is Jake Hutchins reporting, stop by again for another true, duct sealing experience.

On-Line Home Energy Audit

It is my recommendation, that the first step to take on your home energy saving quest is to complete this virtual home energy audit by Home Energy Saver Pro. This program (an ”energy calculator” as I like to call it) will support your energy conservation desires in a number of ways:

• Takes about 30 minutes to complete the audit and it’s free.
• Teaches you to be aware of the different energy components in your home.
• Provides you the opportunity to think about your home and the features and appliances that effect energy usage.
• Calculates specific areas where you can save energy.
• Provides details on how to accomplish energy saving projects.
• Demonstrates the financial commitments and rewards involved with energy saving activities.
• Compares your usage with other homes in your area.

Not everyone has the opportunity for a real - blower door, duct blaster, infrared camera – home energy audit. So I recommend you log on to Home Energy Saver Pro and be amazed by this house full of energy saving information. The “Pro” has a great program for giving your home a virtual home energy audit. The program is surprisingly complete and functional in analyzing all aspects of your home that contribute to energy savings and energy waste.

Before you sign up and start providing the energy calculator with some real data about your home, gather up a little data of your own first, like basic home information including the length and width of your home (how big is your home). Your natural gas and electric bills – how much do you pay for electricity, natural gas, stove oil, or propane.

OK, I think we’re ready to get started:

From the home page, the first thing you do is drop in your zip code, Oh, yes, the good old zip code starts the ball rolling. The second thing you do is input your address. Just street address is fine. Somehow the program knows the City,State and Country.

The ”Pro” program has both a short form and a long form. (Sounds like we’re getting ready to do our taxes.) No use messing with the short form (quick input) format, like “Tim the Tool Man” would say, “let’s add some power.” Find the button that says, “Detailed Input”, and get started.

The calculator will lead you through a series of questions that will allow you to input the necessary data the calculator needs to perform the energy saving recommendations. Watch my screen cast to get some tips about navigating the calculator.

Home Energy Saver Pro will then provide an assessment of the energy usage of your home and make suggestions on where you can save energy. The assessment will include the following:

• 1. Your Energy Breakdown: a graph showing where all the energy is going.
• 2. Top ways to save: Pro is going to make some energy saving recommendations.
• 3. Potential and Estimated Savings: How much money can you save if you make certain adjustments to your home or lifestyle.
• 4. Annual energy cost comparison graph: How does your home compare with others in your area.
• 5. Annual energy usage comparison graph.
• 6. The opportunity to return to the program as often as you like. Plug in the energy saving projects you have completed and watch your annual energy costs go down.

If the video doesn’t start for you, try this link to Youtube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdjEpnPPDIw

Click here to head on over to the Home Energy Saver Pro…

If your just not ready to have a Home Energy Auditor spend 4 hours crawling all around your home, I recommend you give Home Energy Saver Pro a try. I found the program to be very user friendly and the results eye-opening and encouraging.

Thanks for spending some time here at Detect Energy, hope you’ll come back soon, but I won’t leave the light on for you… Don Ames

energy efficient

In the movie The Social Network, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t want ads on an early version of his social network; he understands that first and foremost, his site has to be cool. And ads, he says, aren’t cool.

Unlike Zuckerberg (well, at least in the beginning), the energy efficiency industry hasn’t quite grasped the value of being cool. It’s an industry that hopes to be popular because it’s right, and it uses less-than-sexy language like “demand-side management” and “load following device” to describe itself. Sure, being “green” seems to have taken off, but when it comes to energy efficiency, well, it’s hard to build a cool brand around an industry that so loves its technical jargon.

How about the industry?

Luckily, the industry is beginning to wake up. This week and next we’ll take a look at how the energy efficiency industry is working on its cool factor. No pun intended.

Gadgets like portable music devices, smart phones and cameras have long been must-haves for the “it” crowd. And next, charging them in unique and efficient ways will be the rage.

Enter the itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie, photovoltaic bikini – proof that form-meets-function stands a chance beyond the energy nerd. We’ve seen the solar-charger backpacks, laptop cases and other wearables like military uniforms – but nothing says sexy like a chick in a bikini.

Green Industry

That may be why designer Andrew Schneider came up with this hot little number: a custom-made solar bikini retrofitted with 40 1×4” PowerFilm Solar photovoltaic film strips that are sewn together with conductive thread and end in a USB port.

That’s right – even beach babes care about energy efficiency. A gal in a solar bikini can generate enough energy to charge her iPhone with an output similar to that of a laptop’s USB port – and look good while doing it. Since no energy is actually stored in the bikini, wearers can still take an “unplugged” dip and return to charging when the suit is completely dry.

How about solar panels?

Ok, so perhaps solar panels need some time before they’re sexy enough for the runway. But the intention behind the swimsuit suggests we’re headed in the right direction: there are easy, fun and energy efficient ways to support that hip lifestyle of yours.

And speaking of, if you’re looking for something form-meets function but with a little more coverage, stay tuned for iDrink – men’s solar swim trunks with enough surface area to keep your drinks cold.

Final note: A very limited number of suits are available from Solar Coterie, although you might have to skip the snow cones if you want one. The cost of the solar bikini will range from $500-$1,500 and up, depending on the design. And that’s Energy Efficiency!

conserving water facts

Part of a home energy audit is checking for ways to conserve water . The audit goes beyond electrical use and insulation levels, water use is included because it is a valuable resource that needs protecting and because water cost money and because hot water cost even more money.

Conserving water facts number one:

• When you use hot water you pay for the water plus the heating of the water.

One conserving water fact that I would like to bring to your attention is the fact that we pay both for the water we use and for the water we waste. Yes, it’s a simple fact and I realize you are fully aware of the situation. However, being aware of the situation and doing something about it is too often very different animals.

Answer this conserving water facts question: How long does it take you to shower?

Being a proud and diligent person, you answer that it takes 4 minutes to shower. But, does that include the time the shower runs while the hot water finds it’s way to the shower nozzle? “Well, no”, you answer. Then the truth comes out, you shave while the shower runs. So now your 4 minute shower turns into 9 minutes worth of running water.

How much shower time did you pay for in water and hot water? The 4 minute shower time or the 9 minutes warm-up and shower time. How many of you ladies out there shave your legs while the shower runs hot water down the drain?

Conserving water facts number two:

• Water costs the same whether you use it or not. You pay exactly the same for the water in your clothes washer and for the water running unused down the drain while you brush your teeth.

conserving water facts

Conserving Water Facts number Three:

sink aerator

Conserving Water Facts Number Four:

Conserving Water Facts Number Five:

shower shut off

Most of us have a water meter out near the sidewalk in front of our home. By lifting up the cover on the meter, you can turn a valve and shut the water off to your home. What would happen if you went out to the water meter and shut the water off and the meter was still turning. Usually a water meter is sensitive enough to show evidence of a steady drip.

Warm feet at home

You are sitting in front of your big screen TV getting ready for the movie to start wondering why you are just not as comfortable at home as you would like. Doesn’t have anything to do with the old couch you’re sitting on or the loud voices from the other room, has more to do with a warm stuffy feeling up around the head or cold feet down along the floor – or the left over shock of having just open the monthly power bill. Here at home, you would like to have a little more of a sanctuary where you could settle into a Friday evening movie without being a victim of climate in your own home.

Being a little uncomfortable with the indoor elements during a Friday evening movie may not be the worst thing that will come along and irritate you this week. After all, some of the movies these days can really be sleepers. However, not being comfortable at home for the Sunday afternoon football game is a totally different matter. Look forward to the game all week, get ready to cheer your team on to victory and then you need a silly blanket wrapped around your legs to keep the chill from standing your leg hairs on end.

When it comes right down to it, the main thing that is contributing to the cold floor has little to do with the indoor air climate. What is causing the uncomfortable climate at home is the influence on your home of the outdoor climate. If it is minus 10 degrees outside and your home is not up-to-snuff, the outdoor climate is simply getting indoors far to easily.

Outdoor Climate at Home

At Home Climate

The outdoor climate has the most influence on human comfort than any other common factor. The wind, temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity and precipitation effect the immediate comfort of people that are outside. Homes simply temper the outdoor elements to some degree, but the elements outdoors determine what needs to be done to maintain indoor comfort.

We expect more comfort in our homes today than in the days of log homes, dirt floors and wood fireplaces. Individual preferences vary some, but most people prefer an indoor air temperature between 68 and 72 degrees. About 60% of the energy we use at home is working to provide the heating and cooling to maintain those temperatures.

To be comfortable at home, our bodies need to be losing the same amount of heat to their surroundings as they are gaining by metabolism. Air temperature then is the primary factor determining comfort.

Commitment to Energy at Home

Take a look out the window, if there is snow on the ground we head for the thermostat and turn the heat up. If there are bluebirds cleaning themselves in the water feature we head for the thermostat and turn the air conditioning up. Either way, we are turning something up that uses energy to control our indoor comfort.

At Home Comfort

How often we consider the direct effect on our power bill as we approach the thermostat depends on two sets of genes. The first set of genes is known as our frontier genes. Frontier genes have been passed down to use by our forefathers and allow us to be more comfortable at home over a broad range of temperatures. The longer our forefathers lived in a log house the stronger these genes are.

The second set of genes is known as our green genes. These are genes that have developed in us from the life experiences we have had with everything from plastic water bottles in the ocean to polar bears looking for a new place to live. The strength of these two genes also determine how quick we are to raise or lower the setting on a thermostat.

Indoor Comfort at Home

I would rather learn how to help my home separate the outdoor climate from the indoor climate than to rely on a set of partially inherited genes or a blanket.

Steps to keeping the outdoor climate outdoors:

1.  The exterior shell of your home needs to be consistent and strong considering your climate. The roof, exterior walls, floor, windows, paint, and doors need to solid and capable of withstanding the elements.

At Home Insulation

2.  The exterior shell needs to be air sealed with solid building products, caulk, or foam insulation so the north wind does not blow through and the indoor conditioned air does not leak out.

3.  The exterior shell needs to be insulated. This includes the ceiling, walls, and floor with appropriate insulation that is properly installed. Considering your climate, it is difficult to think that you could actually install too much insulation. The more the merrier.

4.  Place the surface that you air sealed next to the cavity that you insulated. The two barriers, the air barrier and the thermal barrier, should be next to each other – side by side – touching.

Don’t let this next football season go by with a blanket across your legs or a cold damp towel around your neck. Don’t let your genes take a beating while you head for the thermostat and don’t let the outdoor climate determine the indoor climate.

After all, when your at home, you should be able to expect a little comfort.

Thanks for stopping by Detect Energy, come back soon, but I won’t leave the light on for you…

investigating heat loss

Every time I perform an energy audit, I get to investigate the reason why that home is experiencing building heat loss. Part of the audit is evaluating the home heating system. Without the mechanical system trying to heat or cool the building to maintain occupant comfort, there would be no such thing as building heat loss. Great amounts of time have been dedicated to the calculations and measurements involved to predict just how powerful a heating or cooling system needs to be to offset the recognized building heat loss. Your home needs a heating or cooling system because of building heat loss.

Heat flowing in to or out of our home is our largest energy consumer. Without building heat loss, we wouldn’t need a furnace at all. We almost wouldn’t need a power bill either. Of-course, a home without heat loss is a home without doors and windows and kids going in and out. Doesn’t work real well – just like ceiling radiant heat and baseboard heat didn’t work real well, especially where our power bills are concerned.

The need for heating or cooling is referred to as heating load. Take your climates worse day, when the temperature difference between outdoors and indoors is the greatest and calculate the number of BTU’s per hour needed to be added or taken away to keep the home comfortable, you have your heating load. And, that brings us back to building heat loss.

The are four things that determine just how many BTU’s are going to be involved in a buildings heating or cooling needs.

building heat loss

1.  Heat Transmission

This is the amount of heat that can pass through walls, ceilings, and floors. The heat passes through the building shell in three ways, Convection, Conduction, and radiation.

An example of Convection is the west wind or the ocean breeze. Get the air moving and you can have building heat loss by convection.  Another example is the cool night air against your skin – your skin looses heat by convection.

Example of Conduction is the heat that passes through solids simply because they are solid. This is one molecule passing heat to another because they are packed close together. The exterior siding of a home passes the heat to the studs they are nailed to which, in turn, pass the heat to the drywall and then to the inside of the home.

An example of radiation is the sun beating down on the big picture window or the energy auditors bald head. This type of heat transfer can even cause a sun burn.

2.  Air Leakage

Air leakage is simply the holes and gaps left by builders, electricians, plumbers, and heating contractors. Every time a contractor cut or drilled a hole in your home to install something, he  (or she ) probably left a hole. Doesn’t matter where it is, air is going to find the hole and flow from the area of high pressure to an area of low pressure.

Look under your kitchen sink, see where the drain pipe comes through the floor or wall – is the hole sealed or not?

3. Generated Heat

Generated heat needs to be considered and can vary greatly from home to home. Generated heat includes such things as household members, electronics, light bulbs, ovens and ranges, and the water heater that is in the closet.

Ever go to a party at a fairly small home where the whole senior class has gathered? Pretty soon, someone is running around opening up windows and doors. Yep, a teenage body can generate a lot of heat and increase the homes need for building heat loss.

solar heat gain

4. Solar Heat

This is an easy one, big picture window and the sunshine is streaming in, the room and whole house warms up requiring BTU’s to cool the home. Another example would be to stand beside an exterior wall that has been in the sun all day, the sun has now gone behind the distant hills but you can plainly feel the heat is still radiating off the wall.

The Advantage of Home Energy Audits

During an energy audit, my inspection will give me a pretty good idea of a homes building heat loss. With the blower door test I can determine the air leakage of the home and how great the need is for air sealing. The blower door determines how big a hole you have in your home.

By inspecting the level of insulation in the ceiling, walls, and floor, I can determine the level of heat transmission that is affecting the number of BTU’s it will take to heat or cool your home.

How To Use Building Heat Loss to Save Energy and Lower Your Power Bill.

With the knowledge of how your home losses and gains heat that, in turn, requires the furnace or air conditioner to kick on and start using energy and adding dollars to your utility bill, you have opportunity to address those building heat loss issues and begin to save.

3 Simple steps to address building heat loss.

1.  Energy audit.

Recommended is a professional energy audit by a certified home energy auditor. Next best is to perform a do-it-yourself energy audit. Remember, your looking for ways to control heat transmission and air leakage.

inspecting heat loss

2.  Air sealing.

Get out the caulk gun and the can of Great Stuff Insulating Foam. Remember the contractors, where did they cut or drill a hole in your home. Follow the wires, pipes, heating and ventilation ducts and see where they lead.

3. Insulation.

Check the attic, underfloor, and walls for insulation. Properly installed, it’s hard to have too much. Remember to air seal the ceiling and the floor before adding insulation. The air barrier needs to be tight before the insulation goes in.

By controlling building heat loss, your home will be more comfortable and will use less energy. The heating and cooling systems will simply not have to work so hard or so long to maintain the indoor air comfort you desire. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a home that is so energy efficient, that all you needed to do to maintain your comfort needs was to open or close a window.

Thanks for stopping by Detect Energy, hope you come back soon, but I won’t leave the light on for you…

need floor insulation

I took this picture of the underfloor space and missing floor insulation at a home where I was doing an energy audit. I like to be able to take pictures like the one we are going to discuss here because it is a picture that shows there are energy saving opportunities available. This is a picture of low hanging fruit, so-to-speak. Being able to install floor insulation is low hanging fruit.

Let’s talk about fruit.

I really do not know why Energy Auditors and Weatherization professionals like to talk about fruit, but they seem to talk about fruit a lot. Something about some fruit being low enough that it is easy to pick. I guess floor insulation is like low-hanging-fruit because the need for the insulation is right there in front of you, easy to see, easy to recognize.

No need to get out the fancy expensive auditing tools, look under the floor and if there is no floor insulation, then pick the easy fruit, install floor insulation and save energy.

Let’s take a look under this floor and I will point out a few things for you to consider. Some things you will already recognize and some things might be brand new.

The work that needs to be done to insulate this floor and to seal and insulate the heating ducts, is a cross between do-it-yourself and hire a pro. With a little construction know-how and the desire to save some money, this floor insulation project is do-it-yourself. If you want to save energy and add comfort to your home without sliding around on your back with a face mask and eye goggles on, then make a phone call and hire an insulation contractor.

Might be some local or government rebates and tax credits to consider here, so hire a Contractor that is approved by your power provider.

If the screen cast is not working for you, try this link to youtube.

Hey, thanks for stopping by Detect Energy today, hope you will add floor insulation to your home, stop by again real soon, but I won’t leave the light on for you…

energy solutions

A high home-cooling bill might have less to do with your air conditioner than with your home’s attic insulation, air ducts and air flow.

So before you sink a bundle into a new AC system, look into other energy solutions, find out if your home’s air ducts are leaking at the joints, if the AC filter is too thick or too dirty for air to pass through, or if your attic insulation is properly installed so it touches a hard surface such as drywall or wood.

You don’t have to figure any of this out by yourself. The state’s three major electric utilities are offering energy solutions and to pay most of the tab for a “home performance” professional to come to your home and check it for problems that could be causing it to waste energy.

The Home Energy Solutions Auditor.

In particular, the auditor can spy energy inefficiencies that force your AC to work so hard to counteract them that it’s costing you more than it should to run the system.

SRP and APS will pay all but $99 of the usual $299 – $499 price tag for their customers to have an approved contractor conduct a Home Performance by Energy Star audit of the home. TEP calls its similar program BrightSave Home.

Like the inspection that utilities used to call an “energy audit ,” the home-performance assessment can reveal whether your home is pouring expensive, conditioned air into the Great Outdoors through leaks such as cracks and gaps in walls, around windows and doors, and through the roof.

It also will clue you in to easy fixes that will cut your energy bill, such as adding exterior shade screens to sun-struck windows or switching from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent or LED lights.

But the home-performance auditor doesn’t stop at pointing out your home’s energy flaws. After conducting tests at your house, the energy specialist will determine how a problem – or a solution – in one area of the building might affect the performance of another.

Examples: The reason an air-conditioning system kicks on too often might be an insulation failure in the attic. Re-attaching or adding insulation could solve the AC problem and save you from replacing the system.

The Air Conditioner May Not be the Problem.

Likewise, a homeowner might figure a new air conditioner will stop a room with a sun-drenched window from getting too hot during the summer. But the auditor might reason that adding an exterior shade screen or planting a leafy tree outside of the window might be a better – and cheaper – fix.

energy solutions

“It looks at the whole house as a system,” says Jerry Thieken, principal project manager for SRP, of the home-performance audit. “Up until now, we have just addressed the single issue without realizing what impact changing one thing could have on the rest of the house.”

Once the auditor figures out – with the help of computer software – the causes of your home’s energy woes, you’ll get a long list of recommended repairs and upgrades, and some more help from your electric utility to pay for the work. SRP, for example, offers rebates on duct repair, insulation and high-efficiency air conditioning systems, and a discount on shade screens.

In fact, Todd Russo of REEis, who conducts home-performance audits, estimates a typical list of recommendations for a home that doesn’t need a new AC runs around $2,200. After taking advantage of utility rebates and government tax credits, the homeowner would pay less than $1,500.

Those repairs, of course, are optional. Joe Salkowski, a spokesman for TEP, says that’s one reason for the utility rebates, which are available to customers whether or not they have the $99 evaluation.

“The reality is that we want customers to make these improvements. There’s not a lot of benefit in having an audit done if it does not lead the customer to take action on the problems that have been identified.”

Air Leaks and Insulation.

Russo says the most common recommended repairs are sealing leaky air-conditioning ducts, replacing or fixing failing attic insulation and solving the causes of air-flow restrictions, which can range from replacing undersized ductwork to changing a dirty AC filter.

Having your home’s performance analyzed as a way to save money and energy is a smart move. But what might be even more important to you and your family is how much more comfortable your house feels once all of its parts are operating in harmony and performing at their peak.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 35 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the Rosie on the House radio program from 8-11 a.m. Saturdays on KTAR-FM (92.3) in Phoenix. Look for more Energy Solutions.

The nice thing about this article is that the refrigerator program is alive and well over the country – not just Ohio. Contact your power company to see if there is a program cooling off in your neck-of-the -woods.  comment by Don Ames

In the past two years, more than 24,000 refrigerators or freezers have been recycled — and their owners rewarded — through an American Electric Power rebate program.

Yesterday, AEP said it is going to continue the program and keep the rebate given to participants at $50. The rebate was raised from $35 as part of a summer promotion but was scheduled to drop back to that amount on Aug. 1.

This is part of an energy-efficiency initiative that a leading environmental group says has been a clear success.

“AEP gets a big gold star for this,” said Nolan Moser, director of energy and clean-air programs for the Ohio Environmental Council, and a frequent critic of AEP on other issues. “They’ve done really exceptional work.”

The rebate isn’t the only financial benefit to participants. AEP estimates the energy savings from taking an inefficient refrigerator out of service can be up to $150 per year.

“This program pays people to save money on their electric bills, and that’s really important as high summer temperatures place heavy demand on home cooling systems,” Jon Williams, AEP Ohio’s manager of energy efficiency, said in a statement.

To be eligible, a household must be in AEP territory and the refrigerator must be between 10 and 30 cubic feet. It also must be clean and in working order, and it must be the household’s secondary refrigerator. Typically, customers will ask the company to take refrigerators out of the basement or the garage.

The program is part of a larger slate of energy-efficiency efforts by AEP. A 2008 state law requires all investor-owned power companies to take steps to reduce wasteful electricity usage. The funding for the program comes from a fee in AEP customers’ bills that adds up to about $3 per month.

Moser said AEP has embraced the energy-efficiency goals much more than the state’s other major utilities have. The companies’ various programs are projected to save customers up to $400 million by 2016, he said. The programs started in June 2009.

Electric companies are often reluctant to encourage efficiency because their financial success is tied to increasing power use, not decreasing it. Largely because of this, other utilities in Ohio saw energy-efficiency rules “as a threat to their bottom line,” Moser said.

AEP, however, has set up its energy-efficiency programs in a way that allows it to make a profit that counteracts the loss in electricity sales, he said. He sees that as a good thing because an increase in efficiency reduces the need for new power plants, which can lead to a long-term decrease in air pollution.

For more information about the refrigerator rebate and other energy-efficiency programs, visit AEP Ohio’s website, www.aepohio.com, or call 1-877-545-4112.

For the refrigerator program where you live, contact your power company.  comment by Don Ames