Energy Audits
After this year’s winter, I am glad to see the snow disappear and signs of spring. Spring is a great time to look at ways to become more energy efficient. You can rely on your Cooperative to help you be more efficient in your energy use. We have trained energy advisors, who will assist you in identifying how you use energy in your home or business and can make recommendations in how you can save.
One tool we have to assist you in making your home more efficient is our “blower door test”. A blower door test will identify where your home is “leaking air.” These leaks add to the cost of both heating and cooling your home. The blower door test will show you where you need to weather strip and caulk your home. It can also help in determining whether it is cost effective to replace old windows and doors.
As the old saying goes, “we put our money where our mouth is” when it come to energy efficiency, as we also offer assistance helping with the cost of improvements. We provide rebates on qualified ENERGY STAR® geothermal and air sources heat pumps, and ENERGY STAR® dish washers and clothes washers for members that have electric water heaters. We have rebates to assist with adding insulation and other energy efficiency improvements to your home. We also offer financing for many efficiency upgrades through our ERC Loan Program. You may also be eligible for federal tax deductions or credits for efficiency upgrades. For some very good information on energy efficiency and the tax incentives I would recommend visiting both our web site at www.accessenergycoop.com and the Iowa Energy Center’s web site at
www.energy.iastate.edu/.
I would like to thank our propane customers for their business this past winter and we are looking forward to serving you next year. Based on the current propane futures, you can expect to see contract prices for the 2010-2011 heating season to be about fifty percent higher than they were last year. While I hope the economy turns around soon, any improvement will result in higher cost for all petroleum based products like propane and gasoline.
Anyone interested in serving on the Cooperative’s Board of Directors can read the legalities on the nominating process on page 5. If you need addition information on running for the Board, please drop me an email or give me a call and we will get you the information and pass your name on to the nominating committee.