Affordable Ways to Cool Your Home Are you looking for a more affordable way to cool your home? Unfortunately, many people these days can't afford to spend the money it takes to get air conditioning installed, much less the cost of operation. Fortunately, there’s an affordable solution! Have you seen the new breed of “Evaporative [...]
Dangerous Electrical Panels There’s a fair chance you own one of the many electrical panels known to be dangerous. They can subject the home to fire danger or, for someone working on them, electrical shock. Do you own a dangerous panel? What are the risks? The following will help answer such questions. Safety is a [...]
This one has been making the rounds around Nevada County lately. “Radiant Barrier Insulation”, “Reflective Insulation” or “Radiant Insulation” are various names applied to products that are typically of dubious merit. While it depends on the circumstances under which and the way they’re installed, they generally don’t perform as advertised, don’t save enough to justify [...]
This spring, Energy Savings Solutions, a free public workshop series taught by industry experts, will provide practical information on building-scale energy efficiency to complement the Grass Valley Energy Action Plan. The goal of the series is to educate and inspire community members to take action to reduce their energy consumption while saving money and benefiting [...]
What Does My Electricity Usage Look Like? Have you ever wondered where your power is going or why your electric bill is bigger than you expected, even after you have installed a solar electric system? Consumption monitoring offers an at-a-glance visual glimpse into your electric usage. Nearly all solar electric systems today are equipped with [...]
Save your hard-earned money and ensure your friends or family do not fall victim to an energy saving scam. After reading this article, you will know how to identify one of these scams! A common energy scam you’re likely to come across is a little box, usually about the size of a wall timer, that [...]
When everyone is using power at the same time, it is very expensive to produce that power. Investor-owned utilities pass this expense onto ratepayers in the form of Time-of-Use (TOU) rate schedules. Mandated by the California Public Utilities Commission, TOU rates encourage consumers to change their behavior to save both energy and money, which translates [...]
Heat Pumps – Efficient Appliances That Deliver Both Comfort and Savings A heat pump is sort of like an air conditioner, but with a reversing valve so it can both heat and cool your building very efficiently, with electricity! Heat pumps have evolved a lot over the past few decades, and there are several significant [...]
In 2015 Sustainable Energy Group installed a solar array for customers Marcia and Roger in Grass Valley designed to eliminate their $1,700/year electric bill. Last year, they implemented our recommendations on Time Of Use (TOU) and Net Energy Metering. By shifting the bulk of their energy use to off peak hours, they were able to [...]
Are you closing your furnace vents to save money? This will actually INCREASE your bills!
