As we woke yesterday to yet another snow storm and more moaning and groaning about this horrible winter, I’m sure we can agree on one thing….we cannot wait for spring! This winter brought not only record snow fall, but it introduced us to the wonderful and bone chilling term, “Polar Vortex”.
We have had two customers recently that are building homes with us after this awful winter – one who isn’t willing to pay the high price of propane for another winter (hello Energy Efficient new construction!) and another who complained openly about his drafty old home.
I was proud to tell them, and all of our Silverthorne customers, that all of our homes are not only built for the utmost energy efficiency, but that all of our homes are also blower door tested and certified. For those unfamiliar with a blower door test, basically what happens is a company comes in and attaches a large fan to the front door of the home, which pulls air out of the house and depressurizes the home. Our technicians then use an infrared camera to show any heat loss throughout the home – the blower door will exacerbate the natural infiltration of the home, making air leaks easier to find. Once these are detected, we can go back and seal these areas to make sure that the heat that you are paying for is actually being used. No more drafty floors and cold winter toes!
So you just moved into your Silverthorne home, sealed and cozy. How else do we help with energy efficiency after you’ve moved in? A simple upgrade that we’ve made standard in all of our homes…the Nest smart home system. After a week of use, the Nest learns your habits and then will automatically adjust to an energy-saving mode when it can. The other plus of the Nest? You can adjust your thermostat via your smart phone, so when you’re heading home after a day of errands in the Polar Vortex chill, you can come home to a house that is as warm as Spring. Now….if only Mother Nature could be as easy to control as the Nest!
-Maggie