ecobeco's April 2009 Newsletter
ecoTips, Education, and More - And it's Free!

Hello,

ecobeco Labs Announces Discovery of Free Home Cooling Product

ecobeco Labs Director Curt Christenson recently announced a startling and exciting discovery:

"This winter, we scoured the world in search of the most effective technology that would provide low to no cost, carbon-free cooling to residents during what is promising to be another sweltering summer due to global warming," said Christenson.

"It hit me, literally, one day while I was out in Wasilla, Alaska campaigning for President Obama.  After an afternoon of being pelted by snowballs, I got on my tour bus back to Anchorage when this vision appeared out the window....


Igloos.  Yes, Igloos.  Just think about it.  It's 95 degrees outside, and if you and your family had an Igloo, you'd be nice and cool all summer long.  They are all over the place here so I investigated and this nice man sold me a bag of Igloo beans for a surprisingly reasonable price to help me grow my own! I haven't planted yet but I plan to cultivate my Igloos this summer.  It's exciting to bring this unlimited and carbon-free cooling source Stateside."

Examining the Igloo beans, ecobeco Chief Executive Brian Toll couldn't believe his eyes.  Toll said, "You're doing a heck of a job, Curtie!"

APRIL FOOL!

The ecobeco Speaker Series:
Join us at the ecobeco store for expert speakers.

We're lining up exciting speakers from different parts of the energy-efficiency and eco-friendly home products and services spectrum. We'll have drinks and a light snack. All events are at the ecobeco store unless otherwise noted.

Visit our events page to get the latest on ecobeco's speaker series and to see where we'll be speaking throughout the community.

PLEASE RSVP by replying to this newsletter or by clicking here to email us.

Saturday, April 4, 10am - Rain Barrels Make It Easy to Save Water and Keep Your Lawn Healthy. Hosted by Barry Chenkin, the owner of Aquabarrel.  Barry shows off his most recent rain barrel products, and teaches you how to set up and use rain barrels to keep your lawn and garden healthy.

Saturday, April 11, 10am - Healthy Home: Eco-friendly Spring Cleaning hosted by Elena Lomicky from ecobeco. Learn how you can use eco-friendly and homemade products for your spring cleaning this year. Improve your home's air quality and help the environment with cleaning products that are free of phosphates and ammonia and are biodegradable. Try out green products such as sponges, trash bags, and sandwich bags that are convenient and kind to the planet.

Click Here to tell your friends about our speaker series!

ps- Earth Day is coming April 22nd... We'll be doing something fun.. more to come in our mid-month event reminder.

Products for Springtime

NOTE: Click on any photo to go directly to the ecobeco store

ecobeco is proud to announce the addition of Aquabarrel Rain Barrels.  These items capture rain water that can be used to water your lawn and garden, thereby reducing your municipal water use.  Rain barrels can be installed in about an hour by our professional Handyman partner.  Due to their size, Aquabarrels are only available in the store for $299.

Composting is coming back in style along with "Recession Gardens" (a modern take on the Victory Gardens).  ecobeco now carries the Gusanito® Three (3) tray Worm Bin.  You'll create a nutritious fertilizer with surprisingly little work and odor.  Just place your bin in a protected area such as a basement or porch and give your worms lots of vegetable waste.  We'll help you purchase the worms (sold separately via 3rd party). Remember that the tea that comes out the side is for plants, not people.

Spring Cleaning means getting rid of old clothes and giving your home a thorough washing.  You'll be able to find new homes for your older clothes by donating to a local charity such as Goodwill or the Salvation Army.  For washing, ecobeco recommends Mrs. Meyers Clean Day brand cleaners.  We carry a wide selection of Lemon and Basil scented cleaners such as all-purpose cleaners, hand soap, dishwasher soap, laundry detergent, bath scrub, and more.  All Mrs. Meyers products are made from completely non-toxic and biodegradable chemicals, which means no phosphorous, ammonia, formaldehyde or petroleum-based additives.

Spring means pollen and allergies.  Fortunately, ecobeco carries Blueair's ECO10 Air Purifier.  This purifier features HEPAsilent technology that provides outstanding filtering with very little noise.  The ENERGY STAR-rated ECO10 uses only 10 watts of power compared to 60-100 watts for a normal purifier, which means you save big dollars in your operating costs, which makes this $699 product even more affordable.  Call ecobeco now to save an additional 10% on your entire purchase when you purchase one of our in-stock air purifiers.  This purifier serves a 20'X15' room, and we offer other models for larger and smaller uses.  We can also send an Air Quality specialist to your home to discuss whole home purification solutions. 

Our last product profile this issue relates to our high fashion metal water bottles from Earth Lust.  You may have seen from the ecobeco blog that bottled water is 2,000 times more energy-intensive than tap water, with the manufacturing of plastic bottles as the largest component.  Get rid of your plastic bottles and replace them with a reusable stainless steel bottle.  Use water filtration such as Multipure that typically provides you with better water than most bottled water companies.  Earth Lust bottles come in 20 oz and 1 liter sizes and are appropriate for any cold beverage.  Not dishwasher safe.

CFLs for 99 cents!
PEPCO Change a Light Bulb Campaign subsidizes CFL costs!

ecobeco is happy to announce our participation in PEPCO's Change a Light Bulb Campaign.  You may have seen us mentioned in PEPCO's February bill insert.  PEPCO has provided ecobeco with subsidized compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs.

A 60Watt replacement is only 99 cents.
A 100Watt replacement is only $1.99. 
Limit 25 bulbs per household.

These bulbs are rated to 8,000 hours (if you use the bulb 3 hours per day every single day, they can last up to 8 years!), which means they should last 8 times longer than a standard incandescent bulb, and they use only 1/4 of the wattage.  The math on these make changing to CFLs a no-brainer, and because you change them less frequently, you can spend more time having fun!

ecobeco also carries a large selection of Greenlite bulbs.  This brand features CFLs with warranties as long as 9 years.  They come in standard spiral shapes, reflectors (such as what is in your recessed lights), and even outdoor lighting.

Visit us on-line or call us at the store (240) 396-2141 x2 to learn more.

April's ecoTip - Change Your Air Filters

Keeping your air filters clean is critical for indoor air quality and for saving you money.  Most forced air systems use mechanical filters to trap particles such as soot, dust, pollen and smoke.  When purchasing a filter for your system, look for a "Minimum Efficiency Report Value", or MERV, of 8 or 9 to get the best quality filtration for residential use (MERV 12 for clinical or hypersensitivity situations).  You'll want to keep your filter as clean as possible to enable maximum airflow.  Change the filter based on manufacturer instructions, which is typically every month during the heating season.

Our energy auditors have discovered some very dirty filters in the last few weeks!  Dirty filters slow air flow and make your furnace or air conditioner work harder to heat and cool your home.  In fact, one customer was having problems with escalating heating bills without any corresponding change in behavior.  During our energy audit, we found one unexpected but important cause - clogged air filters!  The photo here shows a filter from that home that had not been changed in 5 years!  It's one solid mass of dust!  Change those filters on a regular basis for indoor air quality and to save energy!

ecobeco Gives Back through Rock Creek Clean-Up and Rebuilding Together in Montgomery County, MD.

ecobeco is the proud adoptive parent of a singularly attractive part of the Rock Creek watershed. We are now participating in the adopt-a-stream program run by the city of Rockville. Our adopted stream is called East Rockcrest Park Tributary (or RC10 for short).  ecobeco's staff will help rid the stream of waste (to make it safe for our new friend Mr Duck).  We'll be cleaning this Saturday, April 4th spearheaded by Curt and his daughter's Girl Scout Troop!



ecobeco will participate in this year's Rebuilding Together, which helps rebuild the homes of lower-income home owners in Montgomery County, Maryland.  ecobeco's Reuven and Curt will perform free energy audits on two homes and provide the volunteers with step by step directions on how to air seal the homes to help these home owners substantially reduce their energy bills and make their homes more comfortable.  We're very excited to provide our expertise to help these home owners in their time of need.

Tax Incentives for Energy Efficiency

The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act included substantial spending on energy efficiency related items.  Part of the legislation includes an increase in the tax deductions for purchases of energy-efficient appliances, insulation and windows.

Please click the links provided and consult your tax advisor for more information.

Taxpayers can take up to $1,500 of deductions for specific energy-efficient product purchases made in 2009 and 2010.

Residential Energy Efficiency Tax Credit

Taxpayers can take 30% of the installed cost of solar PV, solar hot water, wind, fuel cells, and geothermal heat pump with no maximum limit.

Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit

MONTGOMERY COUNTY RESIDENTS GET $250 OF FREE ENERGY-EFFICIENCY PRODUCTS
We'll show you how to claim your Property Tax Credit!

If you are a Montgomery County Home Owner (you pay property taxes), youcan take advantage of the Property Tax Credit for Energy Conservation Devices.  This credit refunds 100% of your spending up to $250.  CFLs, Low-Flow Showerheads, Programmable Thermostats, and Smart Powerstrips are the easiest and most essential items for any energy-efficient home. And there are many more products that qualify as well.  Schedule your in-home visit today and we'll help you determine exactly which products you need today.

ecobeco will provide you with the forms you need to fill out and will coach you on how to fill them out to ensure a smooth claim process.

There's no better time than now to schedule your in-home ecoAssessment or Energy Audit.  The tax credit is limited to $250,000 of total benefit for the entire county for fiscal year 2009, so make your purchase now and submit your application as soon as possible to ensure your refund.  There is no income exclusion or residency requirement for this credit. 

Call us at the store (240) 396-2141 x2 to learn more.

Congressional Democrats Spearhead Energy Legislation
MontCo Council Member Berliner Takes Lead on Providing HELP to homeowners who want to make efficiency repairs in Montgomery County.

ecobeco's Brian Toll attended the announcement of the Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) program that would provide incentives to consumers in the form of cash rebates to improve energy efficiency of existing homes. 

A recent unreleased survey of 75 homes in Maryland Home Performance found that home owners spend $3,800 to realize an average of $700/year in energy savings.  While some of this money can be taken against the existing $1,500 tax credit, the REEP program would provide an additional $1,900 of rebates for consumers.  That's a 2-3 year payback for substantial structural home improvements. This legislation makes energy efficiency a no-brainer for most households.

And to make it even easier, Congressman Van Hollen has put forward legislation called the "Green Bank Act of 2009" to provide low to no-interest loans to home owners to make these efficiency improvements and to purchase renewable energy such as solar panels.  This legislation puts the loan payments into the property tax of the home, which means that the costs are paid over a 15 year period by whoever lives in the home (yes, this means that these capital improvements convey with the home).  Home owners can now create equity in their homes and not fear losing out by virtue of moving out of the home too soon.

On a local level, Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner has introduced the Home Energy Loan Program (HELP) to accomplish similar goals for Montgomery County residents.  We expect a vote on this important legislation just in time for Earth Day.




Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT) and Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) announce the REEP program.  There is Brian in the brown jacket to the right along with other Maryland Home Performance with ENERGY STAR contractors.

Go Green America Expo - That was Fun!

We had a great time at the Go Green America Expo!  We met so many great people and over 100 of them joined our mailing list.  Welcome!



Montgomery Council Member Roger Berliner stopped by to greet ecobeco at our booth and to provide us with his support for the work we do.  We strongly support his Home Energy Loan Program and look forward to working with the Councilman on ways to encourage consumers to take action on energy efficiency and resource conservation.




Reuven and our Air Seal and Insulation partner Thom Marston gave a talk on Home Energy Audits and Air Sealing to a standing room only crowd on Sunday afternoon. 

New Store Hours

In order to spend more time with customers,we are shortening the hours of our showroom to the following:


Monday - Friday: 3pm - 7pm

Saturday:  10am - 2pm


We are also available by appointment, and of course we are open during all of our special events.

We'll speak to your group!

ecobeco's ecoAdvocates want to teach you and your group about energy-efficiency and an eco-friendly lifestyle.  If you've got a group of 10 or more, we'll tailor an educational talk to your needs, and give you and your group an opportunity to see product demonstrations.  To schedule a presentation, email us at info@ecobeco.com, call us, or click here.

Brian, Reuven, Curt, Elena, Jonathan, and Greg
(240) 396-2141
info@ecobeco.com