Regular Meeting Moves to Second Thursday

From this day forward, the Underhill Energy Committee's regular meeting will be on the second Thursday of every month at 6:30pm in the Underhill Town Hall kitchen.

"Bug Lamp" Recall

I just received a Fedex earthsmart letter from Philips. The AmbientLED/EnduraLED "Bug Lamp" is being recalled. It must be important, because they spent $7.97 on shipping and carbon offsets. Now I'm glad that I went to Twinstate to buy my lamps, and they gave me a real invoice, registering my name and address for the Efficiency Vermont rebates.

The recall is for possible electric shock (82Volts) hazard, not fire hazard, it covers 99,000 units. It turns out that none of my lamps, which had date codes 1F, 2G and 2H, match the recall criteria (2K for my lamps' model number).

http://publish-prod.webcms.philips.com/content/us/US-Recall/www/en/US-recall-LED-lamp.html

My New Meter

I don't like calling them smart meters, because it reminds me of such oxymorons as smart growth and SmartBoards, but the new electric meters are a good idea. Here's what it's like to have the meter swapped.

The installer goes everywhere to install new meters. That's why he's got the snowmobile:

IMG_2891

IMG_2892

IMG_2893

IMG_2894

IMG_2895

IMG_2896

IMG_2897

Get some LED lamps

Modern light emitting diode (LED) lamps provide excellent light, instant start, and long life -- all while using  less energy than the best compact flourescent lamps,  and far less than incandescent bulbs.

LEDs are finally available at reasonable prices ($7+), thanks to rapidly lowering costs and Efficiency Vermont incentives. Right now, the best incentives on the best lamps are at the local electrical supply companies, Twin State CED (behind Pet Food Warehouse on Williston Road) and Walsh (Route 7 at Champlain Dr., north of Costco).  They have a good selection of sizes, and the knowledge to help you pick the right lamp for your application.

The Underhill Energy Committee encourages Underhill residents to take advantage of these "while supplies last" sales.

Meeting Minutes 20130213

Underhill Energy Committee
Minutes, 2/13/2013, 6:45 pm – 8:04 pm
Chris, Peter B, Jerry, Bob, Steve, Tom
·         6:35 pm
·         Vermont Home Energy Challenge
o   Jerry attended intro meeting
o   Ideas for publicizing
§  Door-to-door
§  Follow-up phone call
§  School volunteers
o   Town Meeting, March 5th
§  Display/sell items
§  Info sheets re VT Home Energy Challenge
§  Info re solar opportunities
§  School/Town has table
§  Bob will bring light efficiency display
§  Poster—Save Energy and $ (Chuck)
o   Businesses donate $ to subsidize audits
o   Bob will check on availability of “gift package”
o   Reconnect with people who did VCEM
§  Make them aware of discounted audits
§  Info sheet
§  Follow up
·         Did you do anything
·         Home energy challenge
·         Subsidy for audit
·         Bob will contact Paul Markowitz re electronic docs
§  Steve will draft a “script”
·         Peter will edit
§  Work meeting, Saturday, 2/23, 9:00, Town Hall
·         Bob will send Donna announcement re work meeting
§  Create Google Doc (Steve)
o   Send list of people to Committee
§  Publicity
§  FPF
o   Update online data collection
o   Send link to committee http://www.efficiencyvermont.com/for_our_partners/community_partners/residential/resources.aspx
·         Smart Meter research
o   Acorn Energy had meeting
o   Chris has factoid, calculation comparing phone to meters
o   Motion: Recognizing the potential benefits of smart meters to monitor and manage electricity use, the Underhill energy committee endorses the use of smart meters for residential metering.
§  Move Webster, second Tom, unanimous
§  FPF, signed by Underhill E. Comm
o   Peter will write an article re smart meters.
·         Open Meeting Law
o   Peter talked with lawyer at VLCT
o   Committee discussed open meeting law and how it pertains to email correspondence
8:15 pm Chris move adjourn, Peter second, Unanimous