Santa Barbara County’s emPower program launched its popular Energy Coach service in late January. In just nine short months, over 100 homeowners have taken advantage of the free home energy site visits conducted by emPower’s Energy Coach, Jason Schuerer. With a new influx of funding from state agencies, the Energy Coach service has expanded and is now available to help single-family homeowners save energy and identify problems in their homes in San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties.

Jason brings over 25 years of experience in the construction and energy efficiency field to his work with local homeowners. He discovered his passion in green building, earning more than 10 certifications in green building practices that he uses to benefit homeowners who take advantage of the emPower program.

During his site visits, Jason educates homeowners on ways to make their homes more energy efficient, comfortable and safe and save money. He also helps homeowners begin the process of connecting with qualified contractors, rebates and financing. More often than not he also ends up finding some problems that range from unsettling to downright unsafe.

“People are often surprised by what I find going on in their homes. Disconnected ducts, air leaks, poorly installed or no insulation are very common. High levels of carbon monoxide is also something that I find fairly regularly. One home I visited had carbon monoxide levels that were 10 times what they should have been. That’s scary” said Jason.

A recent survey of those who received a home energy site visit revealed that a little bit of coaching was all they needed to move forward with making energy efficient upgrades. They indicated that prior to meeting with the Energy Coach they wanted to make home energy upgrades but were not sure which ones were right for their home and did not know how to get started.

“The Energy Coach site visit was quite helpful. Jason was very thorough and explained what was happening in our home and the benefits of each type of energy upgrade. I really appreciated how he detailed each step we would need to make depending on which upgrade plan we chose” said one Santa Maria homeowner

As a result of the Energy Coach site visits, those surveyed said they are more likely to make home energy upgrades. The majority also stated that they have moved ahead with contacting one of emPower’s participating contractors about doing work or had already installed some energy efficiency upgrades after their site visit.

Jason is available to meet with homeowners free of charge either in person or over the phone to provide personalized one-on-one technical support and connect them with rebates and properly trained contractors.

Jason is excited to help homeowners save money and reduce their energy use and carbon footprints. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to discover the many ways your home can be energy-efficient and bring about savings in both energy costs and consumption. For more information on the Energy Coach service, visit the empowersbc.org website at www.empowersbc.org or call emPower staff at (805) 568-3566

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