Chester Energy Team

MinutesYour Chester Energy Team is here to help you make informed decisions for both your home and business energy use.

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If you have questions about:
Ways to conserve energy and lower costs – check out Home Energy Solutions

Simple things to do to cut energy use and costs – check out Energy Saving Tips

Producing your own renewable low-cost energy – check out Solar Purchase or Lease

Replacing old or broken appliances – check out Energy StarTM Appliances & Lighting

How to finance your energy improvements – check out Energy Loans & Rebates

How to tighten your home or business to reduce energy used for heating & cooling – check out Weatherization (coming soon)

Who we are

The Chester Energy Team is a volunteer group of Chester residents (Pat Woomer, Chairman; Sandy Prisloe; Rick Holloway; Peter Harding, Ed Meehan and Bill Bernhart) appointed by the Selectmen to assist town government, residents and businesses by offering information on available energy-saving innovations and programs.

Since the team was formed by the Chester Conservation Commission and endorsed by the Selectmen in 2009, we have:

written the Chester Energy Plan
consolidated Chester’s position as a Connecticut Clean Energy Community, providing access to state and federal grants and committing the Town to reducing its energy use. This enabled the recent installation of a photovoltaic system at the Chester Elementary School, providing educational opportunities to the students and energy savings to the Town.
conducted energy audits of municipal buildings and recommended energy-saving programs and installed energy-saving devices.
completed a townwide streetlight survey to identify ways to reduce streetlighting costs to the Town and made recommendations for future options to reduce energy costs even more.
operated a CT Solar Challenge, resulting in 20 new photovoltaic and thermal installations. Participation in this program earned the Town a free photovoltaic solar system installed at Town Hall.

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A TIMELY TIP

(ice) Dammed If You Don’t

By Rick Holloway, Chester E-Team

Ice dams form when water from melting snow refreezes at the eaves or gutters. Water can then pond above the ice dam and even leak into the building. This is almost always a sign that (1) the attic is not properly insulated, (2) the roof is not properly ventilated, and (3) if there is leakage, the membrane beneath the shingles is not working.

In an ideal situation, proper insulation does its work to keep heat inside the house, and the roof is merely a means to keep rain or snow out. If your attic is not a living space, lots of insulation between the ceiling below and the attic space ensures that very little heat gets up there. Proper ventilation of the attic space then ensures that the roof never gets warm enough to melt snow on top of it.

Even if the room directly beneath the roof is a living space, the same principles apply. In this case, it is much harder to install enough insulation, but there should be a space between the insulation and the roof’s inside sheathing so that cold air can flow from eave vents up through that space to carry away any heat that gets through the insulation.

Modern materials such as “snow and ice membrane” provide a very good seal beneath the shingles. If your roof is old, it may have tarpaper, which degrades and becomes brittle. If so, it may be time (this summer) to have your roof stripped down to the sheathing and to have lots of membrane and good flashing installed. It may be possible to have soffit vents and adequate roof ventilation installed at the same time.

But in the meantime, if you have ice dams, it is important to drain the pond above the dam. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to do this with heat or an ice pick. Here’s a suggestion of a good temporary fix: make “sausages” by filling a stocking or similar porous tube with either rock salt or calcium chloride crystals and lay this across the ice dam so that it melts a channel through the dam to drain the pond.

Good Luck!

Resources

energizeCT.com: Need a home energy audit on a limited income? Want to see if a rebate is available for your energy-saving purchase? Research for an electric supplier? This site covers all the bases for CT businesses and residences. Plus, the benefits and costs of renewable energy options, such as photovoltaic and thermal solar systems, are covered in depth.

energy.gov (U.S. Dept. of Energy): The federal government’s website also covers all the bases, such as weatherizing, saving electricity, heating water, landscaping to save energy and purchasing renewable energy systems.

epa.gov: Information on environmental topics such as water conservation, composting, indoor air quality, recycling and water quality.

epa.gov/greenhomes: Ways to “green” your home – reduce home energy, conserve water, use renewable energy, choose greener products, etc.

energystar.gov and toptenusa.org: In the market for new appliances, electronics, LED lighting, etc.? Both sites are helpful. The top ten website goes one step further by also rating products by energy cost and price and also gives suggestions where to buy them within your zip code area.

eversource.com:a resource for power saving tips.