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Health & Fitness

Where Does All That Energy Go?

Use Energy Upgrade Mountain View to find out where the energy in your home is going.

Mountain View is offering an innovative new home energy reduction program for 1,500 residents.

It is unique because it chooses the most appropriate energy efficiency program from the four being offered. But how do you know which is the best program for you? By figuring out where your energy is going.

You start by building your Home Energy Profile at EnergyUpgradeMV.org. The Energy Profile shows how much gas and electricity you've used over the previous year, and how that energy is being used by different appliances in your home. The chart shows an example of a home energy profile for a Mountain View resident.

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The chart represents a year's worth of energy use divided into different categories. The red shows natural gas used for space heating, the light blue shows electricity used for summer cooling (not very much because of Mountain View's lovely cool climate), the dark blue shows electricity used for various appliances throughout the year, the yellow indicates energy use that occurs at the same time every day and the solid green band shows the electricity that is being used all the time, even when you think everything has been turned off. Knowing where your energy is going helps you make decisions on how to use it more wisely.

After building your home energy profile, you are directed to the best energy efficiency program for your situation. It could be a detailed online audit, an in-home visit from Acterra, a continuous energy monitor provided by Current Cost and Google, or reference to the Energy Upgrade California program. Go to the EnergyUpgradeMV.org website to find out more.

Find out what's happening in Mountain Viewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

EUMV applies to single family homes, townhouses, condos and apartments. Residents must have lived in the home for 1 year and have an electric SmartMeter provided by PG&E to qualify. Unfortunately, that means that homes with solar PV aren't eligible because they do not have a SmartMeter

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