Brower Power Hour Radio Show Archive
About the Show
Brower Home Power Hour: Formerly the CHERP Energy Wise Forum, Brower Mechanical has now recrafted the program to further promote the process of home energy optimization thru home energy audits, insulation, windows, solar and more. Continuing the relationship with the non-profit Community Home Energy Retrofit Project (CHERP)monthly seminars are designed to provide access to virtually free home energy assessments ($300+ value!)that can then lead to maximizing government and utility rebates and incentives to both reduce expense and increase home values. An incredibly informative show to help anyone considering solar or home energy upgrades make the best investment decision utilizing the small solar process by reducing before producing.
Presented in Part by: Ygrene Home Improvement Financing
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Radio Show Archive
The crazy rebates continue as part of today’s discussion and the savings are something you’re going to want to hear. Your hosts, Duane Knickerbocker and Bill Small look into some of the newer technology that may save you money and cost you less as a result of the rebates provided. Like a hybrid water heater that uses existing heat to warm the water, the summertime heat from the garage. The stories are really quite amazing. The discussion gets to an interesting topic of “fire” in your home. Think about it. If you have gas for your furnace, water heater or stove, there’s fire in your house, isn’t there?
Be sure to catch the example of a small solar system case study that really drives home the value of reducing before producing and getting the least number of panels on the roof. This also saves you a great deal of money when you consider each solar panel cost is on average $1000 per panel. Reduced consumption means less panels. Less panels means less expense. Improve the energy systems in your home and reduce the number of panels necessary on the roof and save money on your utility as you go!
Listen to today’s guest, Derek of YGRENE, speaking on the value of the program and how the loan values are established. There are no credit checks and the quick and easy process takes less than one hour. You can make the decision to get your energy upgrades right then and there and know immediately how much you should be able to reduce your monthly utility bill by, as well as what the investment will need to be. Do that math against your current utility expense and know that it may be well worth it to get that equipment and those upgrades now. Especially when you consider the rebates that are currently available and the simplicity with which Brower make it happen for you.
Having the ability to sell and service allows Brower to assess the best situation for the circumstance with possibly newer or better technology. You may not have to spend as much or you may be able to save more by just taking a look at the situation and putting a plan together. Very few HVAC folk will go this route. It’s the first discussion you’ll have with Brower. There are many ways to look at getting things taken care of. Be sure to take the time to explore your options. You need a company that can facilitate the discussion of “best” ways to go and help you along the way. That company, of course, Brower Mechanical. Call them today at 916-624-0808 or visit on line at www.gosmallsolar.com. You’ll be glad you did.
Today’s show starts with just a little boast. PG&E congratulated Brower Mechanical for being the #1 contractor in the service area for the greatest average reduction of energy consumption amongst their customers that do energy upgrades when compared to all the others doing the same. In other words, when you add up all the companies doing home energy upgrades, the average of the Brower customers saved more than the average savings of any other contractor providing home energy upgrades to reduce their expense. Your hosts, Duane Knickerbocker and Bill Small take off from there. How about talking about home communities being built today that do NOT have any gas hookups? Electric cooking, heating and even drying your clothes will soon become the norm. Just to hear the new things coming is a kick during this show. That’s the definition of hi-tech!
In today’s second segment, you’ll be shocked to hear the case study evaluation results after going thru the proper process with Brower to upgrade the home’s energy efficiency. It’s amazing what was done and how the decisions were made not to mention the pleasure of knowing it was the right decision to make.
The caller in today’s show may seem like just an appointment but it’s that simplicity that is worth pointing out. Those little points of differentiation are what separate great companies from the others. A smell is a critical reason to make a call when it enters your home and you’ll hear the reason to explore the good, the bad and the musty.
Finally, what really is indoor air quality? Is it based on dust? Does your family have allergies? How often are you changing out your air filter? Do you frequently get colds? All these elements could be the result of something originating in your home and they can be tracked with the appropriate tools. There’s so much to the proper process of energy upgrades to your living environment that just guessing your way thru it all is not going to get you the best result. Do it right, do less solar, consume less energy... Call Brower Mechanical today. 916-624-0808. On-Line at www.gosmallsolar.com.
Hey, show me the show room! Your hosts, Duane Knickerbocker and Bill Small open the show today with a great description of what you can find in the showroom. Why is that important? Because you’ll see things you wouldn’t be able or choose to see in your own home. Like a life-size attic example of what goes wrong and how it gets fixed. Or a real life example of what might be going on with your furnace. There’s also a special greeting to welcome Brower Mechanical into their 40th year. 40 years! Wow. That’s a lot of experience, growth and understanding to help with your home energy issues. Literally, they can fix anything you can come up with. From the most mundane to the most complicated, try to stump them.
One thing we know for sure if you’re listening to the show is it’s possible you’ve got a place in your home that acts like the performance of the stock market. Whether it’s your thermostat adjusting or your utility bill that’s all over the place, wouldn’t you just love to get your home energy system and billing stabilized? You can pretty much be sure the return on your current energy investment is about as disappointing as your recent stock returns. There’s a great story coming in this segment about hi-return on investment options when you do solar right.
If you can get your car’s operational systems assessed with a plug into it, why can’t you get your home assessed the same way? Well, you can! With the technology called “Cool Tools”, Brower Mechanical can assess all the elements in your home to determine how, why and where your home is leaking. It’s incredibly important to know to make an intelligent decision on what you do to both improve your home’s energy efficiency and lower your energy expense. And in doing so, which steps you can take to get the greatest ROI on your home energy investment. You know why you get those black lines on your lite carpeting in certain areas? You will after listening to this segment. It’s just another complete show on home energy improvement upgrades that you don’t want to miss. For more information, call Brower Mechanical for details of anything you heard on the show. 916-624-0808. On-Line at www.gosmallsolar.com.
Wow! It’s already 2019. With the whirlwind of incredible technological advances in home energy and interconnectivity to help manage all your creature comforts and peace of mind that took place in 2018, you can only imagine what’s in store for the new year! Your hosts, Duane Knickerbocker and Bill Small start immediately on the course of technology to help lower expense and put you in a more comfortable and healthy living environment. And there’s more! With the advent of interconnectivity systems, you’ll hear how some of that is actually translating into home security as well. The “Nest” devices are a great example. Thermostats, doorbell cameras, internal video and all from your mobile device or phone. It’s absolutely mind boggling to think this has all taken place in just a couple of years. You can get it all in a simple video by visiting the www.gosmallsolar.com. That will get you started.
Now, heading deeper into the discussion, know you have options whenever whatever happens to your system for home comfort. Everything can be fixed and the results could be surprising. And since nearly 50% of homeowners’ believe they have an energy efficient home, it’s well worth the investment in time to explore the opportunity to see what your options could be. Maybe it’s worth repairing a failing unit to buy time to get you where you want to be. Maybe you’re better off not fixing but replacing with more current technology. Think for a minute about using your energy expense as an investment tool. What if you actually reduced expense and gained value? This is an excellent story on a case study for best usage of your home energy expense converted to a positive return. A great ROI (return on investment). Do the math by comparison to your portfolio investment in this crazy stock market we’re seeing today. The opportunity cost is tremendous and only getting better! An investment in your home energy system may actually yield a greater return than your investments in your retirement account. And the best part...when you do these types of upgrades, you’ll get a formal document to show the value that the real estate market has to take into account when appraising your home, thus raising the value of your home too! It’s really a win win situation for everyone.
So you’ve come down to actually making a decision for energy upgrades and solar. Hear a great case study to give yourself some benchmarks to consider, evaluate and get the most return out of the investment. As we opened with technology changes, we close with technology opportunities. Well worth the listen to learn what electrical options exist that are more efficient than anything you’re using today. Learn what electrification really means. How heat pumps are in your future and how you can get a solid return regardless of how long you’ll be staying in the home. It’s all right here on the Brower Home Power Hour today.
Call Brower Mechanical for details of anything you heard on the show. 916-624-0808. On-Line at www.gosmallsolar.com.
"Today's show is an encore presentation of the Brower Home Power Hour. Please enjoy. To all of you from all of us at Brower Mechanical, have a safe and Happy New Year. Our 2019 resolution is to share more home energy upgrades, reduce your energy expenses and get you into a healthier, more comfortable living environment in the new year."
OK, hopefully, you’ve got all your holiday shopping complete but you can be sure that there are two guys you’re listening to that have some work to do. Your hosts Duane Knickerbocker and Bill Small get after ways you can help pay for those holiday gifts by reducing your expense. Yes, really! Start in the right place with the ability to control your home’s energy usage. Step one: possibly Nest thermostats. Learn the advantages on line. Brower is one of only 4 Nest elite dealers in the market. Find out why and how they earned the ability to do so. Hear about the technology explosion in HVAC. Exciting stuff you may want learn about, especially if you’re in the market for improvements.
Find out how to get the most out of your home’s energy upgrades by reinvesting in your home vs spend, spend, spend. Get greater value for your home, save money, get a healthier, more comfortable and yes, even quieter home by doing the process correctly. Take it from the experts, there’s definitely a “right” way to getting this done correctly and where else to hear it that way than right here?
This time of year presents opportunities that don’t always exist. There’s even a special holiday bonus in this show and it will save you money. Especially if you have SMUD as your primary source of energy. They’ve lowered their rates if you were to consume energy at the right times. It’s really worth exploring if you’re currently in the market for new energy efficient ways to heat and cool your home. The benefits could make the decision a real no-brainer. It’s worth getting the video to learn what it is you can do. Just go to www.gosmallsolar.com and type in “Leverage SMUD”. You’ll hear that, in many cases, heating bills shifted from gas can be cut in half. That’s right. Your bill would be reduced by 50%. Why not reinvest it into something for your home for the new year? SMUD is willing to help with huge rebates when you further electrify your home. The rebates are truly incredible and now is the time to take advantage of them before they go away. For more information, be sure to visit: www.gosmallsolar.com or call Brower Mechanical today at 916-624-0808. There’s never been a better time to do so.
From all of us at Brower Mechanical, have a very Merry Christmas holiday with family and friends!!!
Oh boy have your hosts Duane Knickerbocker and Bill Small got a show for you today. The title almost sounds a little like a scolding. But the reality is that many people go out and try to solarize their home before getting the home energy efficient, thus minimizing the amount of solar you actually need. By doing so, you’re certain to add too much solar and not get the best result either! That’s the one guarantee you can be sure of in that case and at $1000 per panel, that’s likely not the best way to go. You can see so much by simply visiting www.gosmallsolar.comthat it may even prompt you into the Brower Showroom to see firsthand what the guys are always talking about when it’s time to make the move to energy efficiency. See what a real attic situation looks before and after energy upgrades. Learn why there’s a good reason to get your job permitted when you’re changing out your HVAC.
Do you know what your “true” energy monthly expense really is? Most folk just assume it’s the electricity consumption but it also needs to include the gas to determine an average monthly bill. When you do that math, you may find you’re actually a great candidate for upgrades that not only produce results but that actually yield you something in return. That same average spend for the utility commodity could just as well be converted to a spend for new equipment that helps lower your bills, increase your home’s value and gives you a better living environment as well! That’s a win/win for sure! And the net expense could be the same or less! If you’re going to spend the money anyway, you may as well get something to show for it, don’t you agree? It’s up to you. Spend the money with nothing to show for it, or let Brower Mechanical help you learn how to get something for that investment that’s tangible, lowers your long term utility bill to something predictable and gets the job you want done as well.
You’ll hear Duane discuss a great case study on a 3000 square foot home that went thru this exact process. The outcome is incredible.
Today there’s also a guest on the show from Ygrene home energy financing. That’s all they do and it’s built with no credit check, no long process to get an answer and no back and forth. As part of the PACE program, the decision to finance your program can be made as you’re going thru the report from you home energy contractor. No FICO or credit checks necessary. What’s special is that Brower Mechanical, now nearly 40 years in business, was one of the first contractors to embrace the Ygrene opportunity to help finance your energy upgrades. You’ll want to hear what they can offer if you’re in the process of beginning a home energy upgrade.
Finally, Duane and Bill leave you with a vivid and helpful discussion on the inefficiencies of pool pumps and the values of the newer variable speed pumps. From energy to noise to cleaning capability, if you have a pool, you need to hear this segment.
With the holidays just around the corner, you could be planning to save into next year so that purchasing your gifts could be literally “free” if you’ve saved on energy expenses. That’s a gift unto itself! To find out how to make all this happen, give Brower Mechanical a call. 916-624-0808 or visit on-line at www.gosmallsolar.com. It’s worth the time to look.
It’s no joke. The smoke from the fires is serious. Your hosts Duane Knickerbocker and Bill Small address the issue and what you should do to minimize the smell in the home. If you can smell smoke, it’s coming in from somewhere on the outside. Know what that means? Something is allowing outside air in. Hear what it is when your hosts get into the conversation. You might be surprised...
The discussion shifts to another time sensitive matter and that’s solar for the home. In order to get the tax credit, it’s time to act if you want the deduction in 2018. The system has to be installed to get the credit and that means the timing is important. If you don’t act soon, you’ll miss the window to get things in time for the deduction in 2018. The interest in electricity has changed in so many of our applications that there are considerations that would never have been possible only 5 years ago. Find out why a happy customer gave his description of the outcome of electric heat as “womblike” comfort. Not that’s a big statement. And just another reason to make the move to get something started if you’re going to try to get the tax credit this year.
Having a guest in the studio is always a pleasure and when that guest is giving you information on how to save money and help you pay for it with attractive options, it’s just all that much better. Even better yet, this is not a credit based program but an equity based opportunity that helps homeowners reduce their energy consumption from electricity, gas, even water usage. Why would you not take advantage of the program? It’s possible that the cost of the program could be offset by the savings on energy expense. Isn’t that the objective?
Finally, are you a pie peeker? We know it’s Thanksgiving. We know the food is incredible, smells great and we all want to taste and sample. But if you’re trying to minimize the waste of energy, don’t want to over-heat the house, don’t peek on the pie in the oven! Just had to get that out there. I know you’re still going to do it. C’mon. That browned buttery criss-crossed crust on the top of the apple pie is so fun to see in its’ glory. Or the lightly golden orange of the pumpkin as it thickens in the crust while the oven does its’ thing. Oh the aroma, the smell of fresh baked apple or pumpkin pie. Yum. So, once you’re done stuffing yourself, give the guys at Brower Mechanical a call. 916-624-0808 or on-line
Lastly, be sure to give Thanks for all you have and remember those who have lost so much in the fires up north. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving.
How does nearly $4M in home performance energy savings sound? That’s the value of the tax credits and rebates that Brower Mechanical has seen customers save since they began their reducing before producing programs. Your hosts Duane Knickerbocker and Bill Small share how you’re able to get what it is YOU want in your home energy consumption, savings and efforts to improve the quality of your in-home comfort and efficiency. That’s a lot of money over a little period of time and it can be something you can do right away.
If you’re a regular listener to the show, you also know there’s a showroom for everyone to get into to see what the opportunities are that exist but there are also videos to save you the trip. Check them out on line and remember they serve to fourget. Yes, that’s spelled correctly. Four gets:
1) Get a plan
2) Get an energy upgrade
3) Get small solar
4) Get the right financing
There are videos to walk you thru the process. Simply and easily. Right from the comfort of your home living room.
The guys continue an in depth discussion on geo-thermal options to save you big on taxes as well as energy bills. Learn what that all means as it’s really quite the interesting. (And get’s you a 30% tax credit too!) Find out what the options are that you have at your disposal. Find out what small solar really means when you consume less electricity. At $1000 per solar panel, do you want to load up with excess solar panels or have a healthier, more efficient home with less panels?
Here’s something to give consideration to. If you’re in the SMUD service area, you may not even need solar. The new “time of use” pricing is so efficient, you could save enough to get enough energy reduction and the rebates to make solar a secondary consideration. How about that!
The conversation continues on to insulation and ducting. They may not be glamorous but it’s a true nuts and bolts process that gets you the biggest bang for your buck in the long run. This is the result in most of the home energy analysis. You’ll learn why this is one of the best opportunities to save yourself the most. And there’s even more to this segment that you’ve got to hear to understand. It’s a huge discussion with a great deal of value.
Closing the show, the case study given is one that most people can relate to. The home energy assessment done on this house is an eye opener with $13,000 in rebates to cover nearly half the entire project. Done properly, you too can reduce your utility bill with payments for the service less than what you started with and have all the new equipment giving you a healthier, more efficient home. What better way to go to head into the holidays! Give Brower Mechanical a call today at 916-624-0808. Online at ... www.gosmallsolar.com. Find the energy to start saving energy!
We finally got our rain, a little chill and It’s beginning to feel a lot like well... Christmas. That’s not lost on your hosts Duane Knickerbocker or Bill Small as they get into the spirit of giving by giving great information on how you can save enough to make Christmas spending a joy to the world going forward! Now, with that chill you’ve been experiencing, here’s to hoping your home energy system is doing all that you expect of it! Warm, cozy and comfortable nights during the season.
As the show must go on, you’ll get an earful of discussion about energy independence. What the heck is it anyway? Hear how that’s a subjective outcome and some of the expectations Duane has had to deal with. If it’s all about simply getting some stability in your home energy expense, then you’re in luck as that’s where the conversation goes with a fabulous case study of how one homeowner was helped to meet his needs of a flat bill all year long with no spikes or large variances. Yes, when planned properly, you can have your heating and A/C bills be about the same equalizing your energy expense over the course of the year. How about that for a comforting outcome!
Duane also explains the detail behind the four gets. Yes, intentionally labeled, there are “four gets” that make up nearly every home energy plan. I’ll not spoil it for you. Just listen in for your “gets”.
Is there value in routine service or maintenance? Well, listen to the conversation from a caller that helps explain why you might want to consider a regular and routine service agreement. Some of the reasons may be quite obvious but others not so much.
Closing out the conversation, find out what it is that the new home builders are up to and what you can do to improve on what’s affectionately called “builder grade” systems and home energy products. This might be a bit surprising given all the noise/news about home energy.
That’s quite a bit of content for just a li’l ol’ show leading up to the holidays. You had better give Brower Mechanical a call or email before the year is out. There may be incentives, rebates or other opportunities you don’t want to miss to help make your home healthier, more comfortable less expensive to operate. Call the folks at Brower today at 916-624-0808 or visit them on-line at www.gosmallsolar.com.
