Mass Save = FREE STUFF!

Mass Save is a Massachusetts State program committed to maximizing energy efficiency state wide. It's been around since the 70's and every time you pay an energy bill in MA, a portion of money goes to find this program. This is part of what has made MA number 1 in the nation for energy conservation. We stopped at a table the had set up at the Somerville Art Beat Festival last month and signed up for a free home assessment. My home inspector had also mentioned and recommended it.

So, we booked it for the first weekend we were in the new house. Saturday morning Emily showed up, with her smart looking tool belt and cute sterling silver elephant earrings, to do the assessment. Emily is new to Bsoton. She moved here for the job with Next Step Living. She is passionate about Solar Energy as a sustainable way to power the future and she learned a ton about the other  aspects of energy efficiency like emissions, windows, and insulation. 

Emily marched through the house, top to bottom, taking measurements, drilling little holes in the walls to peer inside, and testing air pressures etc. She knew her stuff!  We had fun chumming around with her too. At one point, as she drilled into a wall in one of the upstairs units she let us know that she is a "really excellent stud finder." Oh, construction humor!

Emily let us know that replacing the windows and adding insulation would improve our efficiency exponentially. But first priority is the electrical. The electrical service to the house is 60amps, much less than the 2015 standard of 200-300 amps! Plus, the wiring is all knob and tube which is outdated and even dangerous. We had already planned on making these updates pronto. But Emily let us know about a number of incentive/rebate programs that could help. Music to my ears now that I'm officially house poor with a fixer-upper in my hands! 

Then, and this might be the best part, she went through the entire house and replaced ALL the incandescent light bulbs with new LEDs, replaced our old thermostats with programmable ones, and added water saving faucets and shower heads. Winning! 

I learned so much from Emily and I'm super excited to get some Next Step Living Contractors in to bring The Nest  into 2015! I'd highly recommend taking advantage of this program, even if all you get out of it is a whole bunch of light bulbs. But especially if you are a homeowner considering any of these types of home updates. It's free, well actually, you've already been paying for it through your energy bills. If you've had one in the past, still call, because you can be reassessed every 2 years. PLUS, if you have an assessment done and use my name or this link, I get a $15  Amazon gift card. Great for funding my book clubbing!!

If you are interested, click this link!

http://go1.nextstepliving.com/dc/bAPJSixkmCNUtuEECJ54vHC5fBMaT1-WplLmWTFr-E5xjMiKtrUUfn_1j9lqUEmnHCAGrCoJSEGM6YYgaJj8n1FjNHG5qDhRBXP6zMjmYrc=/Q0bN0OH0Ip1DX078600a4z1