Binghamton Family Improves Home Comfort with Energy Upgrades

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.

Energy grants help Chenango County resident upgrade broken water heater

By Jes Wickham

In early 2024, Chenango County resident Eric Melendez was living in a drafty home with a broken water heater, so in the middle of winter, he struggled to stay warm. But with some help from local energy advisors, he received grant funding to replace his water heater and weatherize his house. Now, he lives comfortably, knowing winter won’t stand in his way of a warm home.

Melendez explained that while he contacted the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) some time ago to try to get new insulation, he was disappointed in the contractor he initially worked with and decided not to go forward with the project. But when his water heater broke down last year, he decided it was worth trying again, so he reached out to his local social services department. Social services again connected him with NYSERDA, who in turn told him about the Regional Clean Energy Hubs.

Once he learned his local Cornell Cooperative Extension, [CCE county] was part of the Southern Tier Regional Clean Energy Hub (Smart Energy Choices), he gave the Hub a call. He soon talked with Community Energy Advisor (CEA) Kate Harasta, who gave him advice on how best to proceed, including getting an energy assessment and applying for relevant assistance programs like Empower+.

Fortunately, Melendez’s second try paid off. He received assistance from programs like Empower+ and worked with a different contractor to get his home better weatherized and replace his water heater with a heat pump water heater. 

“The professionalism of the individuals that came in was great,” Melendez said. “The initial person who came in, he really was on top of it, let me know everything I needed to do, anything that I could potentially receive as additional assistance. And they handled it all, really. [There was] very little that I had to do other than physically be here when they came and basically get out of the way.”

Not only is he living comfortably, but his energy consumption is also lower.

“The insulation that they did on the walls, the internal walls and ceiling of my garage actually helped reduce my energy consumption because we burn with oil and, basically, I still have a full tank,” he said.

Melendez said that he thoroughly enjoyed working with Smart Energy Choices and Harasta for these improvements. He especially appreciated that Harasta called him after the work was done to check in. 

“[That’s] something I really enjoyed because some people just come in, do the job and leave, and that's the end of the story. And I didn't get that,” he said. “I really got the return of, ‘How's everything going?’ And I found I was happy with everything that was installed.”

Thanks to his experience, Melendez encourages others like him to reach out if they’re facing similar issues. 

“What would have taken me possibly two to three years between saving money and installing the stuff myself happened in two weeks,” he said. “Reach out, definitely, and at least get [an] assessment done, so you can be better informed as to where you stand.”

Contact your local CEA by visiting smartenergychoices.org/get-help.

Multi-unit building owner helps make tenants more comfortable with energy upgrades

By Jes Wickham

Jennifer Jabs bought the property at 411 W. Buffalo St. in Ithaca as a triplex in 2023. Since this was her first time owning a triplex, she wanted to make sure her tenants were happy and comfortable living there. But the home was over 50 years old and thus wasn’t very energy efficient, so home comfort was a challenge. So, she decided to research programs that could help, and that’s when she learned about Smart Energy Choices.

“This house had been a rental for 50 years and never been taken care of well, and so it had these really ancient gas heaters, and it was cold,” she explained. “It wasn't insulated. It needed a lot of help. And [it had] old single-pane glass windows and wood frames that you could feel the wind come through as you walked by them. So, we had a lot of energy issues.”

Jabs reached out to Smart Energy Choices, the Regional Clean Energy Hub for the Southern Tier, where she talked with Community Energy Advisor (CEA) Leigh Miller. Miller told her about various programs available for landlords like her to make energy improvements to their properties and helped her navigate through the Empower+ program. 

Unfortunately, owning a triplex complicated the application process and limited some of what she could qualify for; her income was within range for many programs, but since two of the units were unoccupied at the time, she couldn’t qualify for some programs. But Miller was still able to help her understand and navigate programs she did qualify for, so Jabs received assistance from Empower+ to get some crucial weatherization work done. 

Miller’s education also showed her the value of updating heating systems to improve energy efficiency. So, Jabs used rebates from NYS Clean Heat to convert three gas furnaces to heat pumps. She also took some do-it-yourself (DIY) measures like installing storm doors. 

Jabs said that these improvements have had a great impact on her tenants’ home comfort, so she’s glad to have made this effort.

“It's no longer when you walk across the floor do you feel air coming up, so much more comfortable in that sense, and also much cooler in the summer [since] the attic made a huge difference,” she said. “And then the wind, putting on the storm door helped just the main entryway, which feeds into two of the apartments. … It's hard to tell, because we weren't there a full winter when we had the gas heaters, but the heat pumps are either comparable or less than the heating of the oil, and it's much more comfortable in the summer because now we have air [conditioning].”

While Jabs expressed some disappointment at not being able to qualify for as much as she was hoping, she said she doesn’t regret trying. 

“As far as the upgrades, they were huge,” she said. “The majority expense was out of pocket, but the insulation, that was a huge help. So that definitely improved the comfortableness of our house and makes our renters happier too.”

Jabs said Miller was a big help throughout this process, and she’s glad she had someone she could talk to to navigate energy challenges.

“Our situation was a little different, but Leigh was a huge help,” she said. “I think [she] was a great help in navigating because their programs are all different and they all have different requirements.”

As for future improvements, Jabs said she’s planning to upgrade the property’s windows, though that may take some time to come to fruition. 

Jabs encourages other landlords or prospective landlords to reach out to Smart Energy Choices to make similar improvements, as they have helped make the home more comfortable and more desirable for future tenants. Contact your local CEA by visiting smartenergychoices.org/get-help. 

Regional program helps residents heat and cool their homes and save money

By Jamie Cone Hughes, Tompkins Weekly

In 2022, when Florencia Ardon purchased the northeast Ithaca duplex on Briarwood Drive that she had called home as a renter for 10 years, she received some disheartening news from the home inspector: the building’s two water heaters would soon need to be replaced.

It made Ardon anxious to think about them breaking down, but the cost to replace them was overwhelming.  

Read more about Florencia’s story on Tompkins Weekly’s website.

1840s house gets new insulation thanks to EmPower+

By Jes Wickham

John Graves and his wife used to struggle with a cold home in the winter and an overworked AC in the summer due to the house’s poor insulation. But help from Smart Energy Choices, as well as state assistance, was able to get him the insulation he needed, helping them stay comfortable all year round.

John’s house on South Hill in Ithaca was built in the 1840s, so it was bound to have issues with insulation and energy efficiency. 

“When we first moved in about 35 years ago, none of the windows had been updated except for the kitchen and the back door,” he said. “And slowly over the years, we rebuilt the kitchen. And within that rebuilding, we made access to the basement, which was outside to begin with. So, I did update the doors and all of the glass in the kitchen. And upstairs, we added an upstairs bedroom that had updated windows too. So, that was our extent of improvements on the energy side.”

Even though John was able to make those improvements on his own, the basement crawlspace still needed attention, having no insulation.

“That made it very uncomfortable in the winter because our crawlspace is below the living room, and there's literally about 12 to 18 inches’ worth of difference between the floor and the dirt,” he said. “So, from the beginning, we've been trying to figure out how to take care of that.”

Luckily, John found his solution when he went to a talk at the local library about recent green energy advancements and assistance programs. One program mentioned was Smart Energy Choice’s Cozy Basements program. Cozy Basements entails training a group of people on environmental and energy efficiency topics, and then those people go into local homes and insulate rim joists. 

Interested, John contacted Cozy Basements, and that led to a few of the trainees coming in to insulate the rim joists in the basement. But there was still more work to be done, so Smart Energy Choices gave him a call afterward. Community Energy Advisor (CEA) Jack Wright connected John to resources and information about EmPower+, a state program that helps residents make energy-related upgrades to their homes. 

John said he was very grateful for Jack’s help.

“It was wonderful because … I had known about all kinds of projects that were happening, but nobody could put them all together,” he said. “And I told him, ‘You are a wonderful asset.’”

Jack helped John apply for EmPower+, and he was approved not much later. Through EmPower+, John got a free energy audit done on his home, which identified gaps in his insulation and provided a plan to address it. He ended up working with a local contractor, who installed a moisture barrier in the basement’s crawlspace, insulated the attic, and air sealed other areas of the home — all at no cost to John. 

John said he’s seen a real difference since the improvements were made. Before, “that was a constant thing in our mind — to get that insulation done,” he said, but now, he can rest easy knowing his home is much better insulated. While it’s too early to say whether he’ll see a difference in his heating bills, the improved insulation is helping his AC perform better, as hot air isn’t leaking in and counteracting the AC’s cooling. 

Now that their biggest headache is over, John and his wife are looking to explore even more energy efficiency improvements, including upgraded heating systems and solar power. 

Looking back, John said the advisement Smart Energy Choices gave him was invaluable. He said CEAs act as crucial connections to state programs and information, allowing him to learn about programs he hadn’t heard of before and navigate the application process with ease.

“What was the most surprising [is] that it's available, you can actually do this, and it's based on your income,” he said. “So, you don't have to be wealthy. You can get this stuff taken care of that's going to save you money in the long run.”

To learn how Smart Energy Choices can help address your energy challenges, visit smartenergychoices.org/get-help.   

Single mom improves home comfort with insulation

By Jes Wickham

Cassandra Landes recently moved to her home in Tompkins County with her four children. When they moved in, the house was extremely drafty, but thanks to some new insulation, their house is now much more comfortable. And Cassandra is looking to continue her energy savings efforts by switching to renewable energy to better meet her heating and cooling needs.

Cassandra’s family relies on propane to heat their home, but they still felt cold in the winter because their home was poorly insulated.

“It was an old drafty house and the windows and things were all old, and so I was trying to insulate it and then also figure out ways to not [have] to use propane to heat,” she said. “And I didn't have cooling systems. I was just trying to find out more ways to upgrade it so I didn't have to utilize propane the whole time.”

A community member told her about Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), which leads the Southern Tier Regional Clean Energy Hub, better known as Smart Energy Choices. 

“I was looking at stuff on how to fix up the house and get it more updated,” she said. “I asked someone [for] information and they told me about Cornell Cooperative Extension, and so I reached out to them.”

Cassandra’s house was partially insulated through the Energy Warriors’ Cozy Basements program, where a trained cohort of students go to qualifying households to insulate rim joists at no cost to the homeowner. The rim joists were insulated, helping make some small improvements. 

Once Cozy Basements finished Cassandra’s house, her contact information was passed along to Community Energy Advisor Jack Wright, who reached out to Cassandra to let her know about other opportunities she could benefit from. He told her about EmPower+, a state-run program that provides financial assistance for qualified homeowners to make energy improvements. 

Cassandra said that she was a bit nervous going into the process, but her interactions with Jack helped simplify things.

“It was just a normal conversation trying to figure out what I needed and what ways to help,” Cassandra said. 

Cassandra successfully applied to EmPower+ and was connected with a local contractor, who went on to provide attic insulation and air sealed her home. So, Cassandra was ultimately able to get her whole home insulated, a project valued at over $6,000, all at no cost to her. 

The insulation work happened in the spring, so while it was no longer frigid, it still got cold enough that Cassandra could see a noticeable improvement. 

Whereas before, her heater would struggle to heat her upstairs, after, “I was able to heat the majority of my upstairs with just my electric heater,” she explained. 

Now that Cassandra’s house is insulated, she’s looking to expand her energy savings by switching from her existing propane heater to a far more efficient mini split, a type of air-source heat pump. She’s reaccessing EmPower+ to do so since new funding was recently made available through the Inflation Reduction Act. With this new funding, residents can access up to $24,000 in grants to make heating or other related upgrades. She said in addition to the heating benefit, the mini split should make it possible for her to not use separate air conditioners, like she’s using now.

To learn more about how insulation can help your home’s heating and cooling work more efficiently, contact your local Community Energy Advisor at smartenergychoices.org/get-help.