Ever wonder why your home is drafty even when all the windows are shut?  Or why no matter how often you turn the air conditioner off, your cooling bill is always $500/month?

You might need to replace your leaky windows with double-paned windows or you might need to add insulation to your attic.  You might also need to buy a more energy efficient in-room air conditioner.  or maybe you can generate some solar power on your roof to lower your energy bill too.  Chances are you probably have to do more than one of these upgrades - but the question is which one should you do first?

Wattbot believes the best upgrade and the one that you should do first is the one that is the most cost-effective.  Type your home’s address into www.wattbot.com to find out what the most cost-effective solution is for your home.

Luckily, the House of Representatives passed the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act which gives anywhere between $3,000 and $8,000 to homeowners who install energy efficient upgrades.  Homeowners can take advantage of one of the two rebate programs, Silver or Gold Star.

Silver Star
Homeowners receive matching funds up to 50%of the total project cost, however, individual appliances would be eligible for rebates of $250.

Gold Star
Homeowners can get a $3,000 rebate if they conduct a whole-house energy analysis and install products that increase their overall energy efficiency by 20%. Plus, you’d be eligible for an additional $1,000 rebate for each further 5% efficiency improvement, up to $8,000.

This bill is also called Cash for Caulkers, so keep your eyes out for the Senate’s vote - it would bring more government funding to the energy efficient upgrades that all homeowners can benefit from.  Leave your questions in the comments.

When buying a house, realtors will tell you it’s all about location.  When trying to save money on your energy bill, Wattbot will tell you the same thing - it’s all about location.

Wattbot takes into consideration over 75 different inputs in order to give you personalized recommendations that will help you lower your energy bill.  However all but five inputs are dependent on your street address.  Energy prices, weather patterns, tax credits and rebates, energy usage, house characteristics, financing plans and available service providers are all based on your location.

So next time someone asks you,  “What’s the best way to lower my energy bill?” or “How can I save money on my energy bills?”  Tell them, “It depends, but the easiest way to find out is to use Wattbot.”

Not only did California get federal stimulus funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but so did New Jersey.

Starting today, April 1st and ending on April 30th all New Jersey Residents can get an extra $25 or $50 rebate for their ENERGY STAR Dishwashers, depending on the gallons of water used per cycle. Download the list of eligible dishwashers.

You can also get a $35 rebate on select ENERGY STAR Clothes Washers, although they don’t use much energy compared to dryers and yet there are no ENERGY STAR Dryers, because according to the DOE: “…most dryers use similar amounts of energy, which means there is little difference in the energy use between models.”  You can find the list of eligible clothes washers here.

Thank goodness there are additional rebates for ENERGY STAR Refrigerators too.  These appliances run 24/7, which means the more efficient they are the better.  You can get an extra $75 for refrigerators that are 20% better than the federal standard and $100 for refrigerators that are 25% better than the federal standard.  Download the list of eligible refrigerators and take it to the store with you.

Remember these funds only last for 30 days starting today.

Want to see whether you should get a new dishwasher or a new refrigerator, create a project in Wattbot and we’ll tell you which appliance will save you the most over time- we even factor in these rebates to make your decision simple.