Tech Table Wednesday, March 12, 2014
March 12, 2014
Justin: Welcome to MPA’s tech table. I’m Justin.
Diana: And I’m Diana.
Justin: And we’re you’re hosts. We’ll be serving up a heaping spoonful of all things tech.
Diana: We promise, it’ll be easy to digest.
Justin: It’s Wednesday.
Diana: That is true.
Justin: How are you?
Diana: I’m doing pretty good.
Justin: Good, good well welcome to the tech table. Today we’re talking this is web Wednesday. So we always have a web theme and today were going to talk about energy efficient homes.
Diana: Yes, and that’s very apropos right now.
Justin: Well, it is.
Diana: Well, all the time really.
Justin: Yeah, but as we finish up this long cold winter.
Diana: Long, cold winter.
Justin: Absolutely that we’ve been going through then. Yeah, we’re going to talk about how your energy efficiency in your home can make a big difference. And it does make a big difference, as a home owner I know this. Even just turn off the lights. And that’s something, it seems like the more people you add to your household, the more lights stay on all the time.
Diana: Yeah, there in different rooms and such so yeah.
Justin: So just basic things like turning off the lights so I’m definitely tired of paying for all the heating that our house takes you know it’s ridiculous. It seems like at times but yet it’s wonderful to be warm so count your blessings you know. Absolutely. So yeah, what do we have here Diana today.
Diana: Well, a few websites that you might find an interest and helpful. There’s HomeEnergySaver.LBL.gov. They have an online energy assessment tool so you plug in your information for your home. Get specific recommendations to help you reduce your energy costs. It even shows the payback period for the added cost of energy efficiency upgrades that you might make.
Justin: Oh, wow that’s great, what else.
Diana: Dsire.us.gov. That’s D-S-I-R-E-USA.org is a database of tax credits and other financial incentives that you can use to help offset energy efficiency upgrades for your home and business. For example, get up to three thousand dollars in state tax credits for just adding solar to your home.
Justin: Well that’s cool. I once talked to a solar guy you know when solar was getting real hot there. I once talked to a solar guy about. I said what’s it going to take to offset you know the cost of the energy we would use in this house and he came over and did his whole energy study thing and used the last twelve months of utility bills and all this stuff and he said basically you need three acres of solar panels.
Diana: Wow
Justin: And I said hey thank you, that’s great. Now obviously you know we have a big old historic home so it does take a lot of energy but ya I hear that it may not be that bad.
Diana: No, I don’t think for most cases
Justin: Not in most cases. I did not put in three acres of solar panels anyway it was going to be like.
Diana: And perhaps the technology has been improved by then.
Justin: I hope so, and you know. I know that many cities that have utility programs, they have rebates available. You know if you put in a new water heater that’s energy efficient you get so much off your bill. That sort of thing just to increase you energy effectiveness. So you know there are some quick and ultimately inexpensive things you can do to save energy in your home and that’s use a programmable thermostat which of course works great and then use smart power strips which they manage power so you don’t have to.
Diana: Make sure your ceiling fans are turning in the right direction for the season.
Justin: Yeah, people don’t think about that.
Diana: No, no, so you push air up slowly in the winter and down quickly in the summer.
Justin: Right, here’s another one. Vacuum your refrigerator coils and fan frequently and that’s a good one. Absolutely and change that furnace filter frequently too. Take the screens off of the windows in the winter.to let more light or warmth in. Absolutely, a lot of great things and you can find it all online. Until next time.
Diana: Take care.
Justin: Tech Table is brought to you by MPA of Bloomfield Iowa and God’s country radio. You can visit us online at askMpa.com.
Diana: If you have any questions or comments please send them to Questions@askMpa.com. That’s questions@askMpa.com.
Justin: And thanks for listening.
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