When the mercury plummets, your home is put to the test and it doesn’t always perform as well as one might hope.
Renters and homeowners alike can take simple actions now to lower home energy bills and be more comfortable throughout the year. But for those without a background in home energy conservation, it’s often tough to know where to begin.
“Homes don’t come with a user’s manual. Even if they did, home heating technologies and energy conservation best practices improve so often that they’d quickly become outdated,” Energy Services Supervisor DuWayne Dunham said. “A big part of our job in the Energy Services Department is to stay current on the latest and greatest updates on home energy efficiency and pass that information on to our customers.”
One of the easiest ways for customers to learn about making their homes more efficient is by speaking with Trevor Frick, the Clark Public Utilities Energy Counselor of the Day.
One quick call or email to him is often all it takes to find out how to make the most out of every energy dollar. Customers can call 360-992-3355 any time from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Or they can email their questions to ecod@clarkpud.com.
“This time of year, I get a lot of calls from folks asking about how they can lower their heating bills,” Frick said. “There are some common pieces of advice I share, but the answers are always a little bit different because homes, lifestyles and financial situations are different.”
With the utility’s records at his fingertips, Frick has access to a customer’s energy account information — including a home’s consumption history, information about the home’s size and age and more — to give the customer personalized suggestions.
“I also like to dispel some of the common myths around home energy savings,” Frick said. “For example, a lot of people believe you should block your crawlspace vents during winter, but that’s simply not true. Doing that will just trap moisture under your home and that can cause all sorts of problems. Having insulated floors, not blocking your vents, is what keeps your home warm.”
Customers can also explore energy conservation on their own time at the utility’s website, clarkpublicutilities.com. It’s filled with guidance for conserving energy, explanations of the utility’s many rebates, incentives and low-interest loan programs and much more.
Customers can also use free home energy calculators on the website for suggestions to cut energy consumption.
A more personalized review of a customer’s energy use is available from the energy calculator found when logged in to MyAccount. After you answer a few basic questions about your home, the software combines that with information from your household’s utility account to give you customized results. It breaks down how much you could save by making small changes to your habits or upgrading certain features of your home.
Customers can also sign-up for and customize text and email notifications from the MyAccount portal to manage accounts easily, anytime.
MyAccount is secure, convenient and designed to work on computers and mobile devices.
Energy Adviser is written by Clark Public Utilities. Send questions to ecod@clarkpud.com or to Energy Adviser, c/o Clark Public Utilities, P.O. Box 8900, Vancouver, WA 98668.
