Wattbot Blog

Case Study: Comparing the outputs of Microsoft's Hohm, Lawrence Berkeley Labs' Home Energy Saver and Wattbot

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 16:23:11 -0700

There are several websites that help homeowners figure out how to save energy and money by giving personalized recommendations. Three popular sites are Microsoft’s Hohm, Lawrence Berkeley Labs’ Home Energy Saver and Wattbot. We ran a New York metro-area home through all three sites, and we’ll show you how the outputs compared. We’re keeping the address of the home private, but it’s a split-level, 2000 sqft, single family home built in 1958, occupied by 2 parents and 3 children. The parents expect to live in the home for another 15 years.

Hohm recommended that our NY homeowner make small changes around the house such as lowering their water heater’s temperature, setting their computers to hibernate, installing CFLs, and replacing the refrigerator and air conditioner with energy-efficient models.

These sound like reasonable suggestions, but their computers already hibernate, they already have CFLs in all their sockets, they have insulation around their pipes, they replaced their kitchen refrigerator three years ago, and they don’t have a central air conditioning system, so this output wasn’t very valuable.

Home Energy Saver recommended the family switch to CFLs in their high-use fixtures, switch from an electric dryer to a gas dryer, get a more energy efficient washing machine, get a more efficient gas water heater, upgrade their wall insulation to R-11 and perform several more upgrades as you can see below.

As we discussed earlier, this family already has CFLs in all their fixtures. They also just purchased a new washer and dryer five years ago. They could still buy a more efficient gas water heater and add more insulation in their walls, so those two recommendations were valuable. If these two sites asked about upgrades that have already been done, the remaining recommendations would be more actionable.

But many homeowners are asking themselves, “Should I get solar panels or should I make energy efficient upgrades to my home?” That’s a hard question to answer. We built Wattbot because there is no site out there that can compare energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy upgrades simultaneously.

Wattbot recommendations are split into three categories: Recommended, Worth Considering and Not Recommended, which is an important distinction when there are more than a few ways to upgrade your home. For this homeowner, we are showing that solar electric is actually the most economic upgrade for this home. The next best option for this family is to install a solar hot water system. After that, they should get a new energy efficient dishwasher because their current dishwasher is more than nine years old. Wattbot shows the incentives and the tax rebates that they qualify for, and even show that they could get a loan to cover the up-front costs. Once the homeowner decides to take action on any of the recommendations, Wattbot helps them connect to the best matching energy contractor.

Thinking of doing your own comparison now? We’d love to hear your results.

I had to repost this. The photo is beautiful, but the subject...

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:16:49 -0700

I had to repost this. The photo is beautiful, but the subject matter is so important and it’s something that we at Wattbot learned from the very beginning. Saving energy is something that red states and blue states and young and old people care about, but it’s all in the messaging and for Kansas “thrifty” and “energy independence” are phrases that resignate most with them.

Justin Brigman, 9, ate by candlelight with his parents at Martinelli’s Little Italy, a restaurant in Salina, Kan., that was among several in the area that left their lights off in their dining areas to conserve energy around Valentine’s Day. The effort was part of the competition in six communities to see which one could reduce its energy consumption the most. In the course of the program, which ended last spring, energy use in the towns declined as much as 5 percent relative to other areas — a giant step in the world of energy conservation, where a program that yields a 1.5 percent decline is considered successful.

Credit: Steve Hebert for The New York Times

Tank versus Tankless Hot Water Heaters

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 07:36:59 -0700

We get this question a lot at Wattbot: should I choose (or upgrade to) a tankless hot water heater? The short answer: don’t make the choice based on efficiency or lifetime costs, as both types are a wash over time. Instead, choose purely on the basis of the installation. If you don’t have the space for a tank, or you want an outdoor installation, then choose a tankless. Otherwise, choose a tank model.

The reason we say that you should only choose a tankless system if you don’t have enough space to install a tank is pretty much for the same reasons that Consumer Reports noted in an October 2008 article:

Despite heated claims over efficiency, it turns out that modern tank units are only slightly less efficient than tankless units, in real life settings.
That slight efficiency advantage is rarely enough to make up for the additional up-front costs of a tankless unit over the life of the system. In the end, a tankless system will at best break even, if a realistic cost analysis is performed.

So our advice is to ignore the partisan efficiency and cost arguments, since they are, for all practical purposes, a wash, and instead just pick your system on the basis of available space. There’s a reason that tankless systems are popular in Japan — Japanese houses rarely have space for a hot water tank!

Home Improvement + Behavior Change = Saving Money on Energy

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:55:50 -0700

A post from one of our fans in Michigan talking about two home improvements she made and one behavior change.

I love the environment and I love saving energy, but I also love not choking over my Michigan apartment energy bills. Last winter I came up with some crafty ways to save money.

I made draft dodgers for all my outside doors - these cloth snakes sit at the bottom of your door and keep the cold from creeping in. I made mine from the sleeves of a thrift store sweater stuffed with old T-shirts and rags. (If you’re not a sewer, search “draft dodger” on etsy.com for some cute ones.) The only problem was, when I closed the door to leave the house, I couldn’t keep the dodger (which is on the inside of the apartment) up against the door. Enter the double-sided draft dodger. I made mine with cardboard poster tubes sewn into fabric (foam would work well too), then slipped it under the door. They work like a charm.

Next, I installed a programmable thermostat. My apartment is old and my thermostat was relying on a rather unreliable mercury tube to assess the temperature. For about $20 I bought a programmable thermostat so that my heat would automatically turn off during the day when I’m at work, and go down low overnight when I’m snuggled in bed. It was a little challenging to install, but with some help from the Internet and the instructions provided, it was ready to go within an hour.

And finally, the ultimate test of courage. I’m the kind of person that gets cold when it’s breezy and 75 degrees outside. So, instead of cranking the heat in the winter, I play a little game with myself that goes like this: if I’m cold at home, I put on one more layer - another sweater or a fleece, a pair of long underwear etc. If I’m still cold after 10 minutes, then I allow myself to turn up the heat a couple degrees. But usually, within 10 minutes, I’ve forgotten that I was cold.

Isabella Weber is a graduate student at the University of Michigan
School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the intersection of
human health and the natural environment.

I'm Greening My Home, Damn It!

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:37:21 -0700

I had to laugh when I read, Scott Adams’ recent WSJ article “How I (Almost) Saved the Earth” because he hit the nail on the head: it’s hard being green. Listen to what the Dilbert Creator says:

One day you run into an engineer who, unlike yourself, actually knows something. He listens to your whining about your energy bill and speculates that perhaps the walls weren’t packed densely enough. Or maybe there was too much moisture in the mix. Or maybe magazine articles are a bad way to learn about the science of insulation. Or perhaps, he speculates, while choosing his words carefully, you were too ignorant to realize that the majority of your energy loss is through your windows and roof.

It’s so true - there are a gazillion and one things to think about when building or renovating your home and it’s hard to get lost in the details. Some people focus on the materials being green, others focus on the amount of materials they diverted from the landfill in the process and others focus on the amount of energy their home will use in years to come. If you’re in that third group, make sure you check out what the best way for you to save money on your energy bills are and then share your story with us and we’ll pass it along to Scott too.

A Bright Idea for a Wedding Registry

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 05:38:08 -0700

A few weeks ago, I came across this wedding registry site, HatchMyHouse, that allows couples to put items of a house on their gift wishlist instead of the typical serving tray and fine china.

So I was thinking, wouldn’t it be awesome if you could have your wedding guests contribute to a pot of money that would allow you to renovate all your windows to double-paned ones, which are more energy-efficient. Or even to help you put a down payment on a solar pv system. Depending on which financing program you qualify for, you could get a solar pv system installed on your roof for as cheap as $250 a month. The potential to educate future homeowners about the most cost-effective ways to save money on their new home is huge and what better time than right after their honeymoon. :)

Light Bulbs Will Have Nutrition Facts in 2011

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:23:59 -0700

Light bulbs are measured in watts, which is how much energy they use. A typical light fixture in your home takes a 60 watt bulb, but if it were a CFL, which is more energy efficient, you would only need 13 watts to give you the same amount of light. This can be confusing when you just want to replace that burned out light and can’t find the same wattage on the shelves at your hardware store.

Light bulbs can also be measured in lumens, which is the amount of light they give off, or brightness. In the example below, the incandescent bulb gives off 820 lumens of light and uses 60 watts, whereas the CFL (on the right) gives off 870 lumens of light and uses only 13 watts.

Compact fluorescent bulbs can produce the same amount of light (lumens) as a traditional incandescent bulb, while using significantly less energy (watts). However, current light bulb packaging only advertises watts, but in mid-2011, the packaging will be more like nutrition facts that call out lumens, the estimated yearly energy cost, lifetime expectancy and light temperature of the bulb.

ConEd Marketing In the Subways

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:52:57 -0700

Does it really matter what the terminology is for wasting energy? It’s not as important as doing something to use less energy or produce your own, but we have to applaud ConEdison for educating the residents of New York City. Although, it’s the people in the suburbs that ConEdison should be educating, because the homes are bigger hence they are using more energy.

We’re looking forward to more marketing campaigns on the LIRR and MetroNorth. Send us photos of the best utility marketing campaigns you’ve seen.

ilovecharts: thescrambler: How Energy Actually Gets Used. Stop...

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 07:08:42 -0700

ilovecharts:

thescrambler:

How Energy Actually Gets Used.

Stop the presses. This may actually be the most useful chart I’ve seen in a while. A breakdown of energy usage across our economy, courtesy of the friendly folks at Lawrence Livermore Nat’l Lab (go science!), posted by Ezra Klein.

This graph comes by way of Keith Hennessey, who observes that “when battery technologies improve, the fuel and power worlds will blend in the U.S., and there will be strong and direct economic relationships between the production of electric power and the use of oil. Until that day, from an energy perspective, ‘fossil fuels’ conflates oil with coal and natural gas in a way that is at best confusing and at worst misleading. Substituting biofuels for oil or making vehicles more fuel efficient has almost no effect on the amount of coal or natural gas we use.” And coal-fired power plants, as those who remember this graph will know, remain a bigger problem for carbon emissions than most people realize.

Do You Spend Less Than the Average American on Utilities?

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:20:49 -0700

According to a recent survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average US consumer spends 7% of their paycheck on utilities, fuels and public services.

Let’s say for example that you make $100K a year, that means that you’d spend $7,000 a year on utilities, which is $584 a month.

What if your household makes $200K a year? Then according to this survey, you’d be spending a little over $1000 a month on utilities.

So are you paying more or less than the national average on utilities?

Thanks to Visual Economics for the infographic.

A Kitchen Remodel: Choosing the Fridge

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:09:05 -0700

The past few months, I’ve been acting as the “consulting designer / installer” for a friend’s new Ikea kitchen. It was an interesting exercise to watch myself trade off energy efficiency considerations with aesthetic and design issues. For example: would I opt for the sexy side-by-side fridge with built-in ice & water dispenser and digital controls that my friend was swooning over? Or the simple, but energy efficient top freezer model with no bells and whistles?

Turns out that I ended up recommending the sexy side-by-side model, even though I knew that simpler top or bottom freezer models generally have better energy efficiency. How I ended up with this choice is an interesting example of why “rules of thumb” are helpful guides, but in the end, you have to look at each situation on its own merits.

Our first consideration was the big sale Ikea was having on appliances. Their price points alone would force us to give them serious consideration. Secondly, for aesthetic reasons, I knew that a counter-depth fridge (versus a standard free-standing model) would give the kitchen a much more professional look, since the fridge would be flush with the cabinets. But it turns out that Ikea has only one counter-depth fridge, and it is a side-by-side model with all the sexy trimmings.

So I ran the numbers. The “Nutid” counter-depth side-by-side fridge (love those Ikea product names) has an estimated annual energy cost of $59. This compares to an annual cost of about $50 for Ikea’s similarly sized (25 cubic feet) bottom freezer model without ice/water dispenser. Both are Energy Star qualified.

I ran a little spreadsheet to see how these two models compared against the energy costs for a “typical” 25 cubic foot Energy Star fridge:

Average Energy Star side-by-side model: $63/year
Average Energy Star bottom freezer model: $55/year (the largest Energy Star top freezer model is only 22 cubic feet).

While the rule-of-thumb was correct, the actual energy costs of the specific side-by-side model we were looking at was only $4 more per year than the typical Energy Star bottom freezer, and only $9 more than Ikea’s bottom freezer model. That was close enough for me to feel good recommending the “sexy” side-by-side, on both aesthetic and energy efficiency grounds, despite what my thumb had to say.

Top Three Techniques for Convincing Americans To Use Less Energy

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:00:00 -0700

Peer pressure, saving money, and real-time feedback — these are the three main techniques that are being explored today to help motivate homeowners to use less energy.

Companies like Opower (below) are using peer pressure to change people’s behavior by sending utility bills comparing them to neighbors that are similar in lifestyle. This type of “friendly competition” can be a good motivator for many people.

Wattbot is all about saving money. It takes a homeowner’s address and runs it through a recommendation engine, giving personalized advice on which energy-saving technologies are the most cost-effective ways to save money over the years remaining in your home.

And then there’s Google PowerMeter, which is teaming up with utilities and monitoring devices to display real-time electric usage information. This type of feedback can also motivate people to explore ways to reduce their energy consumption.

Which technique is the most effective? Last fall when IDEO surveyed experts in energy efficiency and assessed the relationships and networks of the DOE-EERE they found that people have diverse reasons for conserving energy. They said,

“Certainly rising energy costs encourage people to change their behavior; however, economics alone are inadequate for shifting people’s behavior on a mass scale. While concern for the environment or threat from global warming motivates some people, it is irrelevant, even a turn-off, for others.”

So the verdict is still out on which technique will motivate the most people to take action. We’re happy there are companies out there trying all three, because the answer will most likely be some combination.

How Many Tons is Your Air Conditioner?

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:00:00 -0700

You may not know it, but that air conditioner in your window may be half a ton.

Not how much it weighs, but how much it cools.

Back in the late 1800’s, we used to cool our buildings by signing up for an ice delivery service. Every day, a truck would drop off a block of ice, and then a fan would blow air across it to cool a room.

A whole industry grew around scraping natural ice from lakes and delivering it to breweries, meat packing plants, and homes. But as the lakes got more polluted, natural ice became a real health hazard.

When Willis Carrier (seen that “Carrier” name before?) invented the modern mechanical air conditioning system, the ice delivery services got some new competition.

To help customers figure out how large an air conditioning system to buy, sellers of air conditioning systems compared each system to the amount of ice delivery it would replace. So, a “1-ton” air conditioner would provide as much cooling as a whole ton of ice delivered every day.

Eventually, the “ton” was made into a standard measurement, and it was set equal to 12,000 BTU per hour. So when you’re buying your next 6,000 BTU window air conditioner, just think about all the ice you don’t need to get delivered to your home anymore.

Gilman Tolle is a software engineer and co-founder of Arch Rock, a company that provides energy monitoring systems for buildings and datacenters. He is also a Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley, and spends far too much time reading trivia.

Incandescent Bulbs: The True Cost of "Cheap"

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 05:57:00 -0700

Late one night, many years ago, I was flying into Chicago and my seat mate was an executive in the “Bulb Division” of General Electric. He said “yeah, I know it’s not the most glamorous product, but look out there,” and he gestured to millions of Chicago’s twinkling lights below us as we approached O’Hare, “Every one of those bulbs is going to burn out.” And I understood why GE, a manufacturer of locomotives, jet engines, and MRI scanners (to name just a few), was still in the seemingly humble light bulb business – and why they remain so to this day.

Incandescent light bulbs are not profitable because they are priced so high (although a cartel did artificially inflate bulb prices in the 1920s and 30s). Incandescents are profitable for two reasons:

Their design hasn’t changed in 100 years, so they are cheap to manufacture.
Like my seat mate said: they burn out quickly, after only around 1,000 hours of use. Manufacturers get to sell you these “cheap” bulbs over and over again.

While manufacturers are very happy when you buy incandescent bulbs, what about your end of the deal? The price tag on incandescents is up to ten times cheaper than compact fluorescents (as low as 20 cents per bulb versus about 2 dollars), but because they burn out ten times more frequently (1,000 hours versus 10,000 hours), bulb costs for the two types are actually identical over time.

The real kicker is that because incandescents are so inefficient (they use 90% of the energy they consume to create heat, not light), it costs about 5 times as much for the electricity to run them versus compact fluorescents. How much money are we talking here? Over 10 years, those seemingly cheap 20 cent bulbs are going to be costing you thousands of dollars in wasted electricity.

Something to keep in mind next time you see that “incredible sale” on incandescent bulbs at the hardware store.

What To Look For When Buying a House

Thu, 27 May 2010 07:28:00 -0700

People are buying homes again believe it or not. The economy hasn’t sprung back just yet, but that means there are still some great finds out there when it comes to buying a home. But just because the asking price is low, doesn’t mean it’s a good deal energy-wise. I interviewed some EcoBrokers, who are green realtors certified by a third party, to hear the top recommendations they give to their clients when buying a home.

Chris B. from GreenKeyRealEstate who works out of Northern California - where the climate is mild - encourages his clients to look for the following:

Double pane windows
Programmable thermostat
LED’s or CFL lighting
Native landscapes instead of lawns
Lots of natural light/passive solar orientation for cool weather
Awnings and natural shade for hot weather
Radiant floor heating instead of forced air
Solar PV panels on roof
Solar hot water on roof

However, he notes that there are things a building performance contractor might see or test for such as HVAC system efficiency or sealed ducts or insulation in the ceilings, therefore his first recommendation is to have a HERS rating done.

Annalise S. from Coldwell Banker who works out of Rye, NY - where the winters are cold - tells her clients to ask the following questions before purchasing a home:

Quality of the windows (Age? Condition?)
Appliances (Age? Condition? EnergyStar?)
Fireplace (Sealed correctly?)
Insulation (How much and where? Walls or just attic?)
Roof (Age? Insulated?)

Mark S. from Coldwell Banker who works out of Beverly Hills, CA - where it’s hot and dry - has some different questions that he has his home-buying clients ask.

Rain barrels to catch rainwater from downspouts (Conserves water for later use.)
Canvas covers for skylights (Especially useful in the summer to reduce solar heat intake.)
Interior window blinds/exterior retractable awnings
Synthetic grass (It looks good year round, it’s pet-kid friendly and there is no maintenance or need for water.)
Rooftop solar powered roof vents (They’re easy to replace and look the same as typical vents, except they have solar powered motorized fans that circulate the hot air out of the attic and cause the flow to be replaced with fresh clean cool air. They’re affordable - Costco even has them - and they’re a major A/C stress reliever, and possible toxic air mover.)
Solar garden lights, or at least 12volt low wattage lighting.

And if any of these features aren’t present in the next home you’re looking at that doesn’t make it a deal breaker. Use this list as a to-do list for when you first move into your new home, as most of these have a quick payback period and with the proper incentives can be affordable even to the first-time homebuyer.

Ever Thought of Yourself as a Solar Installer?

Tue, 25 May 2010 08:59:06 -0700

How about just for a day? GRID Alternatives is giving you the opportunity to install solar panels on a neighbor’s rooftop. Since 2004, the non-profit whose mission is to empower communities in need by providing renewable energy and energy efficiency services, equipment and training, has installed almost 500 solar electric systems.

GRID Alternatives is similar to Habitat for Humanity, but instead of building houses, they install solar panels. Each year GRID hosts a Solarthon and this year’s will take place in four different cities starting with Los Angeles in the City of Piru on June 12th. They expect 100 volunteers and will be working on 8 different homes.

If you’re in the area, sign up to volunteer! And if you can’t attend, you can always donate or pass their inspiring video along to your friends to raise awareness for a great cause!

Are Mortgage Investors Destroying PACE Financing?

Mon, 24 May 2010 12:22:00 -0700

The verdict is still out. PACE, Property Assessed Clean Energy, bonds were created to help homeowners make more energy-saving improvements to their homes, however, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who control about two-thirds of all mortgage lending in the country, may be putting a halt to this type of financing.

PACE bonds work like this: homeowners borrow money from their local government to pay for the retrofits, which take anywhere from 15 to 20 years to finish paying through a special assessment that is added to their property-tax bills. Local governments fund the programs by selling municipal bonds to investors.

However, Fannie and Freddie say that they won’t allow borrowers with a PACE lien to refinance or sell their properties unless the liens are paid off. Each government has structured their PACE program slightly differently. Aspen, Colorado’s program will have to stop if Fannie and Freddie have their way, whereas the program in Sonoma County, in California claims they won’t be affected either way.

On Solar Hot Water

Thu, 20 May 2010 12:05:00 -0700

Solar Thermal systems (sometimes referred to as Solar Hot Water systems or Domestic Solar Hot Water Heating systems) might be the most cost-effective way to save money - the only way to know for sure is by getting a personalized recommendation.

If solar hot water panels are indeed the best solution for you to lower your energy bills, here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions in the field.

What are my panel options?
There are three types of collectors.

Flat-plate collectors, which are insulated, weatherproofed boxes that contain a dark absorber plate under glass or plastic covers.

Integral collector-storage systems (ICS or batch systems), which are black tubes in an insulated, glazed box. (Usually installed in hot climates, since the pipes can freeze in severe, cold weather.)

Evacuated-tubes, which are parallel rows of transparent glass tubes.

How much roof space do they take up?
Again it depends on which collector you and your provider decide to install, but a rule of thumb is 2 flat-plate collectors are needed for every 2-4 people living in your home. They take up much less space than a solar electric (PV) system, but that is not to say that they are a better investment than PV, you’ll have to find out for yourself.

How long does it take to install?
The panels can take anywhere from a half day to 2 days to install depending on the type of collector and if you’re replacing your hot water tank or not.

How do they differ from solar pool heating systems?
Solar pool heating systems are flat-plate collectors that don’t have a glass or plastic covering. Solar pool heating systems only heat your pool’s water - even though they can be installed on your roof - but they do not supply hot water for your domestic needs such as hot water for space heating, showering or doing laundry.

If you have other questions about solar hot water, leave them in the comments and we’ll answer them.

Smart Meters - Are You Behind the Times if You Don't Have One?

Tue, 18 May 2010 14:51:00 -0700

Smart meters are advanced meters (that look like the one on the right). They track electricity consumption in more detail than a conventional meter and communicate that information to the utility for monitoring and billing purposes.

Are you behind the times? No, not yet. Although most utilities across the US are upgrading their customers’ homes with smart meters, the old meters won’t be phased out for at least another 5 years.

Smart meters are great because they give utilities and homeowners more granular usage data - in some cases you can get hourly readings from your meter - opposed to monthly readings, which is what most Americans get now.

Electric utilities want this more fine-grained data because it helps them manage their supply. On the flip side, homeowners get rewarded for shifting their energy use to off-peak periods. However, there have been some complaints from homeowners who recently have had smart meters installed, but that usually happens in the beginning of any big deployment. So if your meter has recently been upgraded to a smart meter, email us and we’ll feature your story on our blog.

Home Star: How Much Money Could You Get If Cash for Caulkers Passes the Senate?

Mon, 10 May 2010 16:52:00 -0700

Ever wonder why your home is drafty even when all the windows are shut? Or why no matter how often you turn the air conditioner off, your cooling bill is always $500/month?

You might need to replace your leaky windows with double-paned windows or you might need to add insulation to your attic. You might also need to buy a more energy efficient in-room air conditioner. or maybe you can generate some solar power on your roof to lower your energy bill too. Chances are you probably have to do more than one of these upgrades - but the question is which one should you do first?

Wattbot believes the best upgrade and the one that you should do first is the one that is the most cost-effective. Type your home’s address into www.wattbot.com to find out what the most cost-effective solution is for your home.

Luckily, the House of Representatives passed the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act which gives anywhere between $3,000 and $8,000 to homeowners who install energy efficient upgrades. Homeowners can take advantage of one of the two rebate programs, Silver or Gold Star.

Silver Star
Homeowners receive matching funds up to 50%of the total project cost, however, individual appliances would be eligible for rebates of $250.

Gold Star
Homeowners can get a $3,000 rebate if they conduct a whole-house energy analysis and install products that increase their overall energy efficiency by 20%. Plus, you’d be eligible for an additional $1,000 rebate for each further 5% efficiency improvement, up to $8,000.

This bill is also called Cash for Caulkers, so keep your eyes out for the Senate’s vote - it would bring more government funding to the energy efficient upgrades that all homeowners can benefit from. Leave your questions in the comments.