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Saturday, January 30, 2010

Energy Star Attic Ladders

I wonder if the rebate-organization indifference toward the wonderful attic ladders I install, insulated to R5 and better like any Energy Star rated outside door, has anything to do with lack of Energy Star rating. EPA has not bothered to consider attic ladders and portals among candidate building products.

My organization gets excited only about the tarps, which excuse continued sale of leaky and uninsulated ladders. The tarps are among home sealing products that EPA does consider, however I see no evidence any manufacturer associated with attic access is an Energy Star Partner.

I have tried an internet search of the title of this post. If I keep going down that list, I will probably find every crummy cover. I don't think I will find my industrious manufacturers in Poland, Czech Republic and Sweden, who have not claimed rating. On Day One of this post,  a big-box store had an advertisement-paid high position, with no R5 attic ladder on its shelves. It seems Google has responded to fix that. Remarkable!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Fairness, The Public Purpose Fund

Oregon's Public Purpose Fund was not created as another trick to boost utility profit or to create jobs, or to promote some favored business or new green technology. A need was seen to help people to do right with power consumption for home heating (and not cooling, especially). Some people need a message, or direct help, to get weatherization done first, and then to use greener power. Only by handing out help up-front where needed, do the funds go fairly to all people. Where funds are offered only as rebates, they go only to the wise who are both thrifty and more-affluent. They need instead to go to all equally, even to the unwise. It is not fair to take money from the unwise or unfortunate, and give some back only if they have the savings or take out a home equity loan, to do the good thing. It is especially unfair to take the money in utility fees paid by renters, who have no way of getting any back.

Of course the justification to anyone of a public purpose fund, is that utilities to some degree, and all of us to a larger degree, are better off, when energy is not wasted.