Finn and family moved from Shiprock New Mexico, where he was briefly involved with a taskforce that worked to improve the efficiency of area homes so that they could move toward taking advantage of the area's abundant solar energy. This experience familiarized him with the notion that if a home is leaky and inefficient, there is no sense in investing in solar. Making a financial or an environmental decision for your home starts with efficiency.
Finn and his wife Sandra heard about 4CORE from La Plata Electric Association, who conducted an electricity usage assessment at no cost. The LPEA staff suggested several things that could make their home more efficient, including window blinds and a deeper analysis of their home through 4CORE's HomeRx Program.
Will and Sandra signed up for a comprehensive home assessment while getting a bid for new blinds. The estimate for insulating blinds was $6,000. In the end, they were glad to have the in-depth testing by 4CORE, which provided a blower-door and other technical assessments. Not only did these tests reveal they didn't need new blinds after all (they just needed to latch their windows), they discovered carbon monoxide was leaking from their furnace room, situated right next to the bedroom of their son.
“4CORE's thorough professional evaluation revealed many shortcomings of our home that we never would have noticed, including a potentially dangerous carbon monoxide back-draft on a part of our home that wasn't built to code.”Money Matters
Incentives made it possible for Finn to receive a total of $250 off the assessment and another $500 toward efficiency improvements that were recommended in the HomeRx report. All told with rebates and the federal tax credit, Finn saved $1,875 on their home improvement projects.
| Amount | Product/Service | Grantor |
| $150 | HomeRx Assessment | Energy Smart/ Atmos |
| $400 | Efficient Furnace | Atmos |
| $25 | Programable thermostat | Atmos |
| $50 | Proper Furnace sizing | Atmos |
| $100 | HomeRx Assessment | City of Durango |
| $500 | Efficient Furnace | City of Durango |
| $300 | Fed tax credit for solar attic fans | US Fed IRS |
| $100 | Marathon Water heater | LPEA |
| $250 | 30 LED bulbs | LPEA |
| $1,875 | Total |
 |
| New energy efficient furnace and marathon water heater |
The 'To Get Done' List
"Many of these recommendations are cheap and easy to do on our own, but we are contracting out the bigger items, which is helping provide work for some local companies.”
The HomeRx Assessment helped educate Finn about specific tasks that would improve his home safety and efficiency. Here is the substantial list of improvements they have accomplished:
- Sealed a heat duct that was causing an unsafe carbon monoxide back draft. Now they have a closed system in their furnace closet so that it isn't vented right next to their son's bedroom.
- Replaced their furnace with an efficient model
- Replaced water heater with a Marathon Model
- Installed a programmable thermostat to regulate temperature when they are not at home
- Put a timer on the water heater in case 'time of use' from LPEA is an option.
- Replaced 57 light bulbs with efficient LED and CFL bulbs. This was a bigger project than he anticipated, but he took advantage of LPEA rebate of up to $10 per LED bulb.
- Caulked along windows
- Insulated the attic hatch
- Replaced recessed light housing because of the direct access to the attic from these cans. This is something he never would have done otherwise, but was a need that HomeRx revealed.
- Installed solar powered attic fans.
- Sealed a heating vent in the laundry room (there were two heating vents in the laundry room so it was excessively warm)
- Installed new, more energy efficient bathroom fan in each bathroom
The last item that Finn is currently working on is to replace the foam board in the garage storage room.
A conservative estimate of $424 per year in energy cost savings based on these improvements was calculated by 4CORE.
Now that their home is more efficient, they are ready for the next step in their 'Journey to the Sun'. Stay tuned to the 4CORE newsletter for the Part Two!
Now that their home is more efficient, they are ready for the next step in their 'Journey to the Sun'. Stay tuned to the 4CORE newsletter for the Part Two!
About the Family
Will Finn is an internal medicine physician and his wife Sandra Beirne is a pediatrician. They have a four-year-old son Jasper. Previous to moving to Durango, Dr. Finn spent four years practicing broad-spectrum Internal Medicine on the Navajo Reservation in Shiprock. He and his wife enjoy hiking, biking, kayaking, and skiing. He believes that if everyone could make their home more energy efficient, we would make our community stronger and our world more liveable.
Great article! The Finns have made many easy, and some more involved improvements to their home. Very inspiring, not to mention cost-saving! Thanks for some needed motivation!
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