By Norma Gutierrez
The Turbox family struggled with a leaky roof, a drafty house, and heating their Binghamton home with firewood, so they reached out to Smart Energy Choices for help. After installing a new roof and making energy-efficient upgrades to the house, they are living much more comfortably. They recommend others get a free home energy assessment and reach out to their local Hub if they need any help.
Last fall, Linda turned to Devin Bialy, a Community Energy Advisor (CEA) with Smart Energy Choices, for home energy advice. A brief home energy assessment identified that heat was leaking through the roof, walls, and windows of her home. Devin provided guidance regarding the kinds of solutions that she may be able to implement within her home and the assistance programs available to help pay for them.
“Our roof was old and it leaked in a couple of spots,” Linda said.
Linda qualified for a grant through the Empower+ program to install new insulation and heat pumps to improve the air quality and energy efficiency within her home.
“We also got a grant for a new roof through Thoma (Development Consultants),” Linda said. “They installed it and everything.”
The heat pumps help keep the house cozy during the cooler months and cool on the warmer days. Linda said, “It’s both like a furnace and an air conditioner.”
Since the home energy upgrades have been completed, Linda shared that “everything seems to be working good.”
Although Linda said she is paying more for electricity after switching to electric heat pumps, she expects to see the cost and health benefits in the long run.
“It’s hard to see the cost savings right now since everything went up this year,” Linda said. “We now owe the electric company because we never paid for heat before; we always used firewood, but my husband’s health isn’t letting us do that right now”.
Linda places a high value on the health and quality of life for her family and is thankful the free energy assessment and grants allowed her to invest in an option that provides heat and air conditioning to her home for years to come.
She said she would like to continue upgrading her home, explaining, “I have lots of windows that need to be done.”
Linda would recommend energy advising, assessments, and upgrades to a friend or neighbor and shared, “I love these things,” referring to the new heat pumps in her home.
“Everyone we dealt with was really nice”. Linda added,
The Smart Energy Choices team is delighted that the consultations and installations were both positive and helpful to Linda and her family. If you’d like to learn more about Smart Energy Choices or wish to speak to a CEA, visit our website at SmartEnergyChoices.org/get-help.