ecobeco's May 2009
Newsletter
ecoTips, News, Deals, and More
- And it's
Free!
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Hello,
The old saying is: "April showers bring May
flowers." After a strange April that featured
snow, hail and 95+ degree weather, we can only hope for
a more comfortable May. This month's newsletter includes
some exciting announcements from ecobeco and some great
savings for you!
- ecobeco Launches New Home Page
- Events Update - Composting and Home Energy Audits
Explained
- Featured Products:
- Hygrometer
- Room Dehumidifier
- Mold Test Kit
- 99 Cent CFLs and Dimmable CFLs
- May's ecoTip - Manage Your Storm Water to Reduce
Pollution
- ecobeco gives back
- Rebuilding Together A Great Success
- Tax Incentives for Energy Efficiency
- Montgomery County Residents get $250 of FREE
Energy-Efficiency Products
- Reminder New Store
Hours
Enjoy! |
ecobeco Launches New Home
Page
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Today, ecobeco launched our new
home page at www.ecobeco.com.
We replaced the navigation on the right hand side with a
sign post area where we update our customers on pressing
issues, deals, and news/events! We also posted a
video of ecobeco's Reuven Walder as he goes through an
energy audit. Finally, we introduce "problem corner"
that shows pictures of some of the most common problems
we see during energy audits. If you see these
problems at your house, give us a
call!
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ecobeco
Events
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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
May 2, 2009, 10am-12pm at the ecobeco store -
Composting: Everything You Wanted to Know About
Composting hosted by Sam Patsy from Montgomery County
Master Gardeners.
Master Gardener Sam Patsy
will discuss the best approaches to composting in our
area and will answer your questions. Master Gardeners
are trained volunteers of the University of Maryland
Cooperative Extension, who are dedicated to
helping the citizens of Montgomery County,
Maryland. The Master Gardener's mission is to
educate County residents about safe, effective
and sustainable horticultural practices that build
healthy gardens, landscapes and communities.
Saturday
May 2, 2009, 10am-5pm at Kentlands Market Square -
Kentlands Day
ecobeco will have a booth at
Kentlands Day. Come meet Curt Christenson, our newest
Energy Auditor, who can help answer your questions about
energy efficiency and provide you advice on how to adopt
an eco-friendly lifestyle. Kentlands Day also
features a silent auction to support the Rachel Carson
Elementary School, and ecobeco has donated a Whole Home
Energy Audit to this worthwhile effort.
Saturday
May 2, 2009, 8am - 1:00pm at Loehmann's Plaza, Rockville
- Randolph Civic Association Community Yard
Sale.
ecobeco will have a booth at the
Randolph Civic Association Community Yard Sale.
Loehmann's Plaza is located at 5230 Randolph Rd., just a
quarter mile from ecobeco's store.
Wed.,
May 20th - Energy Auditor's Perspective on Energy
Efficiency hosted by Reuven Walder from
ecobeco.
The Energy Audit is a science-driven
diagnostic of your home's energy use and ventilation.
Reuven Walder from ecobeco, who is certified by the
Maryland Home Performance with Energy Star Program,
typically brings $10,000 worth of equipment on every
audit to show customers how to address energy
efficiency, combustion appliance safety, and home
comfort issues.
The workshop will include:
- An overview of the main energy uses in the home
and what you can do to reduce your energy consumption.
- See the tools of the trade and learn how they
work.
- Learn about the linkage between energy use and
home comfort. Did you know stopping drafts reduces
energy use?
- Learn how ecobeco delivers a full-service solution
to making your home eco-friendly and energy
efficient.
Saturday
May 23 and Sunday May 24 - Rockville Holidays in
Rockville, MD. ecobeco will host a booth at this
Memorial Day weekend event featuring live music.
Click here to
learn more.
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Products for Springtime Focus
On Humidity
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NOTE: Click on any photo to go
directly to the ecobeco store
With April
showers returned something that many of you don't miss
at all: humidity! As Energy Auditors, we take
humidity very seriously because excess humidity can rot
parts of your home and can create a fertile breeding
ground for mold as well as insects.
You won't be
surprised to hear from us that a Whole Home Energy Audit
and professional air sealing can provide exceptional
management of humidity. When we reduce the ability
of humid air to penetrate the home, we give your central
air conditioning system, which is a natural
dehumidifiers, the opportunity to help us keep humidity
levels is a good place (25-60% relative humidity (RH) is
ideal, consistently over 60 is a concern).
 ecobeco sells three
products that are related to humidity and its
effects. First, we sell the Enviracaire Digital
Hygrometer/Thermometer, which is a device that tells you
the humidity and termperature of the room where you
place it. This hygrometer's markings help you
understand whether there is cause for concern by
identifying the RH levels. This product retails
for $18.99.
Second, ecobeco sells a portable
dehumidifier that can pull massive a mounts of water from
the air. The Soleus dehumidifier features a
built-in humidistat (this is a thermostat for humidity
levels) so you can set your desired level and let it go
to work. This unit takes 40 pints per cycle and is
so lightweight you can place it anywhere in the
home. Normally $259, we're putting this
dehumidifier on sale. Save 20% while supplies
last.
Third , we sell a large range
of PROLAB test kits, including the kits for detecting
mold overgrowth. The kits cost only $14.99 each
with a $30 lab analysis. You need to buy at least
2 kits so you can put one indoors and a second one
outdoors to act as the "control" test. Remember
that mold is a naturally occurring organism. So, you
should only have concerns if your indoor test shows more
mold than the outdoor test. At that point, you
should have an examination conducted by a professional
mold remediation
company.
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CFLs for 99
cents!
Your incandescent lights are
heating your home! Make the switch
now!
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As it warms up, it's time to stop
using your incandescent lights as heat sources.
You know you do. Everyone does in the
winter. But in the spring and summer, the extra
heat from standard incandescent bulbs causes your air
conditioner to run longer than it should, and that costs
you money! So replace those bulbs today with CFL
bulbs that emit much less heat (less than 1/4 the heat
of an incandescent).
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.
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May's ecoTip - Manage Your
Storm Water To Reduce
Pollution
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Urban runoff accounts for the
largest source of water pollution nationwide according
to the EPA. The best ways to control pollution
from runoff are to slow down and collect the storm water
that comes off your home's roof and yard, a process
known as Rainscaping. This includes techniques that
redirect, capture, and control runoff such as rain
barrels, rain gardens, and permeable
pavements.
Montgomery County has
an incentive program called "Rainscapes Rewards Rebate
Program". Click here to
find out more.
Read more about Managing
Storm Water on the ecobeco blog located at:
blog.ecobeco.com
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ecobeco Gives Back on Earth
Day with Rebuilding Together in Montgomery County,
MD.
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ecobeco participated 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 performed free
energy audits on two homes. In one home, we
provided 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. In the second home, we
were joined on Earth Day by our partner Thom Marston
from Energy Services Group, where we worked directly
with the volunteers to implement air sealing and to
augment insulation.
 
 
Clockwise:
ecobeco's Reuven Walder sprays insulation into the
attic. Energy Services Group's Thom Marston
applies foam to air seal the ductwork. Reuven and
a Rebuilding Together volunteer apply mastic to
ductwork. A finished view of 10 inches of
insulation.
Read our press
release here.
We're very excited to provide
our expertise to help these home owners in their time of
need. Both projects were a smashing success and we
look forward to doing this again in the
future.
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Tax Incentives for Energy
Efficiency
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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 s pecific
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
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MONTGOMERY COUNTY RESIDENTS
GET $250 OF FREE ENERGY-EFFICIENCY
PRODUCTS
We'll show you how to claim
your Property Tax Credit!
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If you are a Montgomery County Home
Owner (you pay property taxes), you can 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.
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Store
Hours
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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. |
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Thanks,
Brian, Reuven, Curt, Elena,
Jonathan, and Greg
(240)
396-2141
info@ecobeco.com
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