Thetford, VT, HEAT Campaign a Success!
By Bob Walker, Dirctor, Sustainable Energy Resource Group
“I would like to publically thank the Thetford HEAT program and SERG for the wonderful workshop on home weatherization at the Thetford Center community building Saturday Nov. 12. The presenter had a lot of great information to share on how to improve our homes, how to do so safely and how to take advantage of Efficiency VT rebates and the local Thetford rebates. I would encourage those who were not able to come, to ask about having a second workshop at a later date. For a minimal investment wouldn’t you like to save 30% to 50% on your heating costs too? Thank you to Bob Walker and his team for the excellent work.” ~Bernice Clark, Thetford resident
SERG worked with the Thetford, VT, Energy Committee (TEC) to recruit and train 50 volunteers as the Thetford Home Energy Action Team (HEAT) to promote home weatherization in town, using Community Based Social Marketing techniques. Thetford HEAT engaged in a town-wide “Door2Door” canvassing campaign distributing free CFLs, information on energy efficiency initiatives and resources for making upgrades. Volunteers also conducted a home energy survey and offered help in calculating the energy efficiency of the homes visited. Results to date include:
- 650 homes visited (out of 1100 homes)—60% of homes in town
- 240 home energy use surveys completed
- 158 CFL’s installed
- 31 coupons given out for replacing refrigerators with Energy Star upgrades
- 37 coupons given out for replacing washing machines with Energy Star upgrades
- 49 Energy Star coupons worth $150 each toward energy efficiency improvements given out
One of the Community-Based Social Marketing ideas we used was to develop case studies of two Thetford homeowners who had successfully weatherized their homes – one having reduced his energy use by about 40% and the other by 46%. These case studies were then distributed to every home in town, the homeowners presented their results to visitors at our November 5th Thetford Home Energy Expo and we organized a November 19th Open Homes Tour of their homes, so people could see some of the work that took place and learn more about the process and results from both the homeowner and contractors.
One goal for the Thetford HEAT initiative was to triple to 36, the number of homes that get weatherized every year in Thetford, which would put us on par with the state climate action plan. Early results from our efforts look promising for reaching that goal. We will continue tracking results from these efforts for 3 years to identify how many homeowners weatherized their homes, what savings resulted and what drove homeowners to make these improvements so we can successfully replicate this project in other communities.
Tags: CFLs, Community Catalyst Fund, energy savings, Energy Star, local action, social marketing, Vermont, weatherization
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