In a nutshell the site is a dedicate to trying to help you get statistics on your home energy use and leverage that information into real life saving that will allow you to become more energy efficient. So if you want to put it simply, Microsoft launched a website that has the potential to save you money.
When it comes down to brass tacks, Energy saving equates directly into cost savings. Do you know anyone in today's economy that could not go for some more money in the bank? I know I could. So I signed up on the website and began plugging in my data.
It asked me about the age of my house, it's size and shape, what
home appliances we own and how many doors and windows we have. The questions I knew the answers to I filled out, the ones I didn't know, I left with the default value. The process was not difficult, though it did take me about thirty minutes or so.
After that I asked me for my zip code and allowed me to select my utilities companies. Currently the utility companies in my area haven't signed up with the site yet. (It is still in the beta stage) Regardless it gave me the opportunity to put in my monthly cost for gas and electricity. After that I was directed back to the main page. From there I received a slew of good information.
Above is a snapshot from my session. It includes suggestions based on my reposes. The suggestions are for lowering my energy expenses. It gives me a rough cost of doing the work myself and how much that could effect my annual bill. The site also keeps me apprised of tax credits for certain actions. Like a federal tax credit for installing energy efficient appliances.
Overall I'm quite impressed with the amount of information here. Give the nature of beta I expect it only to improve. I definitely recommend the small investment of your time to check it out. I mean, who wouldn't want to save some green?
0 comments:
Post a Comment