This winter photo shows brightness where the most heat is escaping this home.

Cambridge! It’s finally here: a chance to vividly see the cool or warm air leaving your drafty home, without having to pay hefty fees to a thermal photographer. Thanks to the Thermal Imaging Project on which HEET has partnered with Sagewell Inc., Cambridge homeowners can request thermal (infrared) images of the outsides of their homes.

The images are taken with car-mounted cameras similar to those used for Google Maps street view, and taken on a “first come, first served” basis – with highest priority given to locations with highest demand.  With the slight air of a Groupon deal, Sagewell has asked for 400 requests from Cambridge before they will release our thermal images for free.

Because of fossil fuel prices… [view entry]

My team leader, Torrey Wolff, was very patient with us.

On Saturday we went to our second weatherization barnraising, organized by HEET and the Cambridge Energy Alliance. Last time I learned to install programmable thermostats and Jason caulked windows at two apartment buildings. This time I installed Q-lon weatherstripping around doors and Jason insulated skylights at a daycare center. The end result? The blower door test showed a 50% reduction in leaks—the most HEET has ever measured.
Q-lon is foam weatherstripping in the shape of a V attached to a wooden or metal slat. The V expands to fill any open space between the doorjamb and the door—a lot like the V-channel weatherstripping that we use for our windows. When I found out… [view entry]

CEA canvassing interns: Stephanie, Mira, Danit, Trevor, Federico, Laurence

On July 7th CEA’s six volunteers took to the streets for the first time, canvassing businesses in Inman Square, and eastward on Cambridge Street. Over the next three weeks, they would reach out to over 440 people in small local businesses—barber shops, cafes, hardware stores, book stores, florists, bars, convenience stores, restaurants, bike shops, you name it—in North Cambridge, Leslie and Porter Square, Harvard Square and Church Street, Mount Auburn and Brattle Street, Dana Hill, Bow Street, Central Square, Lafayette, Concord Ave, Huron, East Cambridge, and Broadway.

In 90+ degree heat, over previously unfamiliar terrain, and sometimes through rain storms, the teams of interns  met with over 190 business owners and discussed energy efficiency opportunities—programs and incentives from… [view entry]

Audit team members prepare for conducting home energy audits.

Cambridge residents looking to save on utility bills for electricity and heating can request a free audit this summer from the Youth Energy Audit Partners, a collaborative project of HEET (Home Energy Efficiency Team) and the Cambridge Community Center. Three audit teams will install energy and water-saving devices, calculate the dollar savings from these devices, and advise homeowners and tenants on the costs and benefits of additional energy efficiency work and how to obtain rebates and contractors. On average, households can realize a 10%-15% savings on electric and heating bills, or an estimated $200 a year by implementing simple measures.

Each team is led by a trained supervisor, and two high school students employed by the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program. The project… [view entry]

Big news coming out of Boston this week. Last Friday, the Wattzy team had the opportunity to join Mayor Tom Menino and MIT Projessor Sanjay Sarma for an historic announcement – the entire City of Boston is to be scanned in infrared.

Infrared scanning is nothing new in the world of single-family homes, as any energy efficiency pro can tell you. Utilities like NStar even offer home infrared scans at free or discounted cost. They are highly effective at identifying areas of home heating inefficiency. Although commercial services have offered wide-area aerial scans for some time, this will be the first complete street-level scan of a major city.

If any place can use a city-wide scan, it certainly is Boston. Our housing stock is some of the oldest in the country,… [view entry]

On Sunday, February 21, eighteen volunteers participated in a community canvass campaign to spread awareness about simple home improvements to save money, energy, and the planet. The event organized by the Home Energy Efficiency Team and the Cambridge Energy Alliance sought to help cut carbon emissions in East Cambridge through a CFL light bulb exchange.

Exchanging incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescents is one of the easiest and effective ways to reduce energy use at home. A compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) will save about $30 over its lifetime and pay for itself in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb. If every Massachusetts household would exchange just one incandescent light bulb to an energy saving CFL,… [view entry]

Press Release:  Green Shelter Project Underway at Transition House

Cambridge, MA — Transition House, Cambridge’s nonprofit domestic violence prevention agency, is greening its Emergency Shelter. The 120-year-old building buzzed with activity on Sunday, January 10, as Transition House kicked its Green Shelter Project into high gear with a modern-day weatherization barn-raising in partnership with the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET), the Cambridge Energy Alliance and New Generation Energy.  “We were excited to have so many skilled and  enthusiastic volunteers join together to make the Shelter more energy efficient  and more comfortable for the 100 people who live there each year,” relayed Risa Mednick, chair of the Transition House Board. “We’re connecting the dots between environmental sustainability, energy conservation and sustaining vital programs in an era when domestic violence is on the rise and the… [view entry]

We here at the Cambridge Energy Alliance have noticed that we have “busy season” when it comes to interest in Home Energy Audits.  As the weather starts to get colder, people tend to start thinking more about ways they can keep their home warm and save money on their heating bills.

The follow graph shows the relative interest in the search term “Home Energy Audit” from people in the Boston Metro Area over the last year.

As you can see, interest peaked this year in January-February 2009 right around the coldest part of Winter.  Unfortunately with the increased interest, comes delays in scheduling energy audits because too many people want audits all at the same time.  Fortunately, there is still time this season to get an energy audit before the rush… [view entry]

Although you could be forgiven for wondering if we even had a summer, it’s clear winter’s just around the corner. Here are some ideas to help you prepare:

Eat spicy food
Drink warm beverages
Use body heat instead of central heating: cuddle
Wear socks/slippers: warm tootsies = warm feelings

For other, more pragmatic tips, see the CEA website.

Last week, we showed you how a local Cambridge organization (HEET–Home Energy Efficiency Team) ‘weatherizes’ a house for fellow Cambridge residents.  Weatherizing a house involves making some basic non-structural changes to a house to reduce the energy needed for heating and cooling and save money on utilities. The homeowner supplies all the materials and HEET provides the knowledge and manpower needed to finish all energy efficiency improvements in a single day.

It’s a great community activity and a fantastic way to meet your fellow Cambridge residents while learning from skilled tradesmen how you can make your own home more energy efficient. And there is always a party to celebrate the completion of another successful Weatherization Barnraising.

The next HEET Weatherization Barnraising is scheduled for Sunday, March 1 between 12:30—5… [view entry]