Do you own your home? Is it comfortable? Do you feel hot or cold spots? Do you ever smell mold or mildew, or find excessive dust? Do you worry that the air in your home makes your allergies or asthma (or that of your children) worse? Do you have a furnace or air conditioner that needs to be replaced? If you have answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then Energy Upgrade California might be for you.
Energy Upgrade California is sponsored by PG&E and other California Utility companies. The Utilities have created a program, performed and administered by qualified professionals, to oversee and reimburse energy efficiency improvements aimed at whole-house performance. Homeowners can receive up to $4000 from PG&E to help offset the cost of improvements; in some areas, local governments are adding to this reimbursement, sometimes up to $10,000 for major projects.
To participate, you will need to find a qualified contractor in your area, through energyupgradeca.com. The qualified contractor will talk to you about your home and determine whether or not you’re a candidate for Energy Upgrade. If you are, the contractor will do a full assessment of your home; this assessment typically costs $300-500 and may be eligible for reimbursement. The contractor will share the results of this assessment with you, along with recommendations for energy-saving (and comfort-increasing) improvements.
Once you accept the proposed improvements, your job is entered into the Energy Upgrade system and tracked; the contractor will ‘test-in’ and ‘test-out’ at the beginning and end of the project for both workmanship and home safety. Also, a sample of homes are independently tested to verify quality of work. Finally, the contractor will submit your completed, accepted work for reimbursement (the funds are reserved for your project at the start of work, and released on successful completion), which should arrive, to you, in a few weeks.
If you have concerns with the comfort, health, or expense of your home, Energy Upgrade can help. If you need to replace a furnace or air conditioner, Energy Upgrade can reimburse you for part of the cost, while ensuring that the work is done in a way that maximizes the performance, efficiency and value of your home. If you’re interested or have questions, you can contact me (I am affiliated with a company that is performing Energy Upgrades), or go to EnergyUpgradeCA.org for more information.
It’s about time! I live in an 1800-square foot home now which is the biggest house I’ve ever lived in. It’s hard for me to aimgine that it is 25% below average in size! Houses have gotten out of control with 3-car garages, two offices, a bathroom for every individual, closets the size of bedrooms, enormous master suites, man-rooms, etc. If people held onto LESS STUFF, they wouldn’t need such big homes to house everything!