Reduce the cost of doing business. Skip Bell of the Pour House took advantage of rebates and upgraded his refrigeration. He and the rest of the Pour House crew are now saving energy and money. You can too. Limited-time rebates and loans are available! Call today and talk to a free expert energy coach. 970-704-9200 or ActNow@garfieldcleanenergy.org Brought to you by the Town of Carbondale, Garfield Clean Energy, CLEER and CORE
Case Study: Mi Casita, Carbondale By Bob Ward/CLEER Mi Casita cutting energy costs with efficient lighting, cooling With a recent investment in energy-efficient lighting and refrigeration, Mi Casita in Carbondale was able to cut its utility bills by 15 25 percent. Owner Kiko Peña has replaced all 67 light bulbs in his authentic Mexican restaurant a combination of multi-lamp chandeliers and recessed cans in the ceiling along with several fluorescent kitchen fixtures as well. In the bar and dining areas, he gave up his old incandescent bulbs for energy-saving LED lights. In the kitchen work area, he ditched 16 old T12 fluorescent tubes (each fixture had four bulbs) and substituted new, energy-efficient T8 fixtures, which put out just as much light with just three bulbs per fixture. Lessons Learned New T8 bulbs greatly reduce energy demand and offer brighter, clearer light for workers Rebates covered more than twothirds of the upgrades costs Owner s investment will pay for it self in about a year Kiko Peña shows off the new lights in his restaurant, Mi Casita, in Carbondale. Photos by Bob Ward This was something we needed to do in order to lower our bills and also to do our part to lower our [carbon] footprint, he said. In the kitchen especially, the benefits associated with the new lights go beyond efficiency and cost savings. The T8 bulbs emit a clearer, brighter light that is easier on his employees eyes and helps them see exactly what they re doing. And those details are important in food preparation. Peña first began exploring the upgrades late last year but didn t pull the trigger till he spoke with Clean Energy Economy for the Region The Upgrades Replaced old fluorescent lamps with electronic T8 lamps Replaced fridge motors with super-efficient models Fan speed controllers run the fans only when cool air is needed
(CLEER), which got him signed up for the Garfield Clean Energy Challenge and then helped him choose the right improvements to make and find rebates to offset his costs. CLEER makes a point of steering business owners to the easiest, most cost-effective energy upgrades. In Peña s case, his 14-year-old building is well-insulated and retains heat, but the lights and refrigeration equipment were outdated. Kiko is a great example of a local businessman who was convinced by the savings predictions and understood that these rebates won t be around for long, said Maisa Metcalf, CLEER Energy Coach, hopefully more Carbondale businesses will take advantage of the services and rebates we have available right now. R&A Enterprises of Carbondale did the electrical work for Mi Casita, and FridgeWize from Glenwood replaced the fans and motors in Peña s refrigeration system. The new refrigeration components include superefficient motors and fan speed controllers that power the fans only when cool air is needed. Before I would walk in (to the cooler) and the fans would always be on, Peña said. Now sometimes it worries me that I don t hear anything. Of course, the silence is a sign that the cooling system is working correctly, on an as-needed basis. Couple that with energy-efficient electronically commutated motors, known as EC motors, and it all adds up to energy savings for Mi Casita. The total cost of the lighting and refrigeration work was $5,500. Rebates from Garfield Clean Energy via the Town of Carbondale s dedicated pool of rebate funds and Xcel Energy covered $4,000 of the total. Without the rebates, I doubt I would have done it, said Peña, whose out-of-pocket cost amounted to about $1,500. Left: Kiko Peña out front. Right: Modesto Magadan works in the well-lit kitchen. Thanks to the rebates, Peña s utility savings will cover the cost of his investment in roughly one year, and he says, I ll be happy with that. Right now we re seeing savings in energy usage up to about 25 percent, Peña said. But since the cost of electricity is going up every year, the actual cost savings are around 20 percent. Lighting and refrigeration were the easiest and most cost-effective improvements available to Mi Casita. Peña isn t planning to do more upgrades right away, but when the time comes to replace his water heater and boiler, however, he ll talk to CLEER first and look to reduce his power bills even more. Garfield Clean Energy/CLEER 520 S. Third St., Ste. 29 Carbondale CO 81623 970-704-9200 info@cleanenergyeconomy.net www.cleanenergyeconomy.net www.garfieldcleanenergy.org
Case Study: Weller Residence, Glenwood Springs By Cam Burns/CLEER No Name resident warms up to energy upgrades Afew winters ago, No Name resident Don Weller would huddle in his home. I lived in coats. I froze my butt off, he said. I could have the fireplace blazing and the furnace rocking as fast as I could in the winter, and I could only get the living room up to 65 or 66. That was with everything blaring. The problem was air leaks. The thin walls, ceiling, and floors of his wooden 1980 No Name Lane home had dozens of gaps that allowed any heat generated inside to leak out and cold air outside to flood in. The original insulation was rated R-15, a measure of thermal resistance. R-15, in layman s terms, is not very good, but it s not an uncommon level of insulation in many older homes. This house was always cold, Weller said. It s got 17-foot-high ceilings in Lessons Learned Insulation is an easy, effective solution to both heating and cooling problems; Gas bills reduced by almost half The house is much more comfortable Don Weller outside his No Name home. His formerly leaky house is now much more energy efficienct and comfortable after several energy upgrades. Photos by Cam Burns one part of the house and all the heat would convect upwards the stack effect. In late 2011, Steve Barbee, who runs a company called A Tight House LLC in Glenwood Springs, did an energy audit on Weller s home. When I did the blower door test on Don s house the air leakage was four times greater than what it should have been it was as if a door was left open all the time, Barbee said. In January 2012, Weller also took an energy auditing class recommended by Barbee. By taking the class, he got connected to a network The Upgrades Additional insulation to R-49 Light boxes and insulation dams around soffit vents Ceiling fan to address rising warm air Insulating foam around gaps in the crawl space
of energy contractors and information about how to upgrades homes so they re more comfortable and waste less energy. I started going to all the meetings and then I found out they had rebates for energy upgrades, he said. The rebates from the City of Glenwood Springs Sustainability Program, which is managed by CLEER (Clean Energy Economy for the Region) wouldn t cover all the work he wanted to do but they were enough of an incentive to spur Weller into action. During 2012 Weller hired Barbee to blow cellulose insulation in the attic, which increased the R-value to R-49. Before he did that, Barbee added air block boxes around all the recessed lighting to stop the warm air escaping into the attic, and he added insulation dams around soffit vents. Weller also hired a contractor, Extreme Cleaning, to spray insulating foam around rim joists in the crawl spaces below the house. Additionally, Weller added a ceiling fan to simply push warm rising air back down into the main room. Weller whose house is split into two units and his tenant Bill Henke spent the winter of 2012 13 seeing the results of the work. It s a different house now, Weller said. Now it s warm and it stays warm. As a bonus, the new attic insulation has also stopped a big dam of ice from forming on the northern edge of the roof. The ice would form, then on warm days melt, drip, then refreeze, creating a large frozen puddle in front of he garage. Weller paid $300 for the home energy assessment, $2,300 for the foam and about $3,500 for the insulation, boxes and dams. While the rebates totaling $500 from CLEER via the City of Glenwood Springs Sustainability Program and $300 from Source Gas for the assessment, helped reduce the cost of the improvements, the main objective was to make the house livable. I had a $700 gas bill when I first moved here, he said, acknowledging that at the time gas rates were higher, and that that amount of natural gas would translate to $550 600 today. Now I m seeing $300 bills. But for me, it s just a completely different home. To learn more about rebates for energy efficiency upgrades and what you can do, contact CLEER at 704-9200. Above: Weller points out the foam that was sprayed into the crawl space to stop cold air leaking in and warm air leaking out. Below: he now uses a ceiling fan to push warm air back to the inhabitated portion of his living room. Garfield Clean Energy/CLEER 520 S. Third St., Ste. 17 Carbondale CO 81623 970-704-9200 info@cleanenergyeconomy.net www.cleanenergyeconomy.net www.garfieldcleanenergy.org