For $25, CL&P energy audit could save $81 or more - per year

SALISBURY — Town residents can still take advantage of a $25 energy audit offer and save on their utility bills this winter.

Caroline Burchfield, director of Community Relations at Noble Horizons, began putting together an “energy event� this past summer.

She began with a phone call to Connecticut Light and Power in late July and, through the utility’s Energy Efficiency Fund and Lantern Energy, got things started with free energy audits at most of the cottages at Noble.

Then Burchfield negotiated  to offer energy audits for the town at $25 a pop — a significant discount from the usual  $75 to $125 fee.

The recipients of the Noble audits “were thrilled,� said Burchfield.

“I’m still getting thank you notes.�

Anne Bowen missed the Noble Horizons event but was alerted to the offer via a letter from the town.

She signed up for an audit of her home on Main Street between the Salisbury and Lakeville village centers.

The thing went swimmingly from start to finish, Bowen said.

In a tale that should interest anyone who has sat twiddling their thumbs waiting for a cable television technician, Bowen said the team from Lantern called her cell phone the morning of the audit to say they had finished their earlier job ahead of schedule.

“I said ‘I can’t be there until 12:30.’ ‘That’s okay,’ he said. ‘We’re in your driveway.’�

The two representatives went all over Bowen’s home, spending a total of about four and a half hours. They caulked and sealed and set up a unit with an exhaust fan that sucks air out of the house, the better to spot the places where drafts are.

They replaced at least two dozen incandescent light bulbs with the new compact fluorescent models, installed a new showerhead and aerators on the faucets, and left her with recommendations for further efficiency measures.

They also gave her a document that showed that prior to the audit the CFM (cubic feet per minute) in the house was 4,210, and afterward it was 3,820 (for a savings of $390).

Jack Starr of Wesson Energy, another company that works with Connecticut Light and Power on energy audits, translated those figures into English. After speaking with Bowen, and assuming the following data (the price of heating oil at $2.80 per gallon, and an assumed heating system efficiency of 85 percent, plus a couple of other mysterious measurements) — Starr’s conclusion was that, with the improvements, Bowen will save 28.93 gallons of oil this winter.

In an e-mail to Bowen and The Lakeville Journal, Starr wrote that the “money saved per year due to the air sealing is 28.93 gallons, at $2.80 per gallon, which equals $81 a year.�

He added that this was a conservative estimate and anticipated Bowen would save as much as 25 percent more than the $81.  

The $25 energy audit program runs through the end of the year. Due to a snafu, the letter that alerted Bowen to the program only went to the 06068 ZIP code, but another letter is coming out soon. Those interested can also call 877-947-3873 to schedule an appointment; be sure to mention you are in Salisbury and  preapproved for a $25 audit. Or call Burchfield at 860-435-9851 x 190.