Thursday, December 17, 2009

Obama Calls Retrofitting Houses 'Sexy'

No, it's not one of Tiger Wood's 27 mistresses, it's energy efficiency and it's "Sexy", says President Obama:

President Obama warmed up for this afternoon's health care meeting by visiting a suburban Home Depot to tout his proposal for tax breaks to property owners who make their houses more energy efficient -- a topic he dubbed surprisingly "sexy."

"Here's what's sexy about it," Obama told employees and company officials. "Saving money."

Retrofitting homes with new doors and windows, better insulation and improved heating and cooling systems will not only reduce energy bills, Obama said. It will provide jobs for those who do the work. He called it an example of how "smart" energy policy can be a "job creator."

I don't know...  I'd say if there's anything 'sexy' about the subject, it's how easy a lot of these steps are.

After we moved into our new rental home last year, it took us all of 11 minutes to put an insulation jacket on our water heater and turn it down to 120.   Fortunately, lots of the other recommended energy efficiency improvements, like a programmable thermostat, double paned windows, weatherized doors, and efficient appliances were already in place.

We did have to change some of the lightbulbs, though (since we already owned them, it took another 9 minutes), and we installed surge switches on outlets (another 6 minutes), which we use to reduce ghost power loads of our electronics (TVs, stereos, etc).  We also set up a make-shift rainfall capture system using garbage bins and some tubing (we use the water for the garden and our house plants).  Once we own a home, we'll purchase and install full systems...

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