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Important! This "Open Letter" from California's Energy Commission can have a huge impact on your business. Show it to your prospective customers. It can help you impress upon them the need for doing the job right.

"Beginning October 1, 2005, you must have your home's ducts tested for leaks when you have a central air conditioner or furnace installed or replaced. Ducts that leak 15 percent or more must be repaired to reduce the leaks. After your contractor tests and fixes the ducts, you choose whether to have an approved third-party field verifier check to make sure the duct testing and sealing was done properly or to have your house included in a random sample where one in seven duct systems are checked.

Duct sealing is not required in the following situations: 1) when homes are in specific coastal climates; 2) when systems have less than 40 feet of ductwork in unconditioned spaces like attics, garages, crawlspaces, basements or outside the building, or 3) when ducts are constructed, insulated or sealed with asbestos. There also are specific alternatives that allow high efficiency equipment and added duct insulation to be installed instead of fixing duct leaks. You also should know that any contractor failing to obtain a required building permit and failing to test and repair your ducts is violating the law and exposing you to additional costs and liability.

Real estate law requires you to disclose to potential buyers and appraisers whether or not you obtained required permits for work done on your house. If you do not obtain a permit, you may be required to bring your home into compliance with code requirements for that work and you may have to pay penalty permit fees and fines prior to selling your home.

The greatest energy use in California homes is for central air conditioning and heating. Most homes with central air conditioning and heating systems have ducts that were never properly sealed. The average home's ducts leak around 30 percent of the conditioned air outside the home. These leaks are taking money straight out of your pocketbook. Properly sealed ducts will lower your energy bills, reduce pollution inside your home, and help to avoid a repeat of the inconvenience and health and safety risks that we suffered during the power blackouts in 2000.

For more information, please contact the Energy Commission Efficiency Hotline at (800) 772-3300, or visit our website at www.energy.ca.gov/title24/changeout."

Date: August 2, 2005

JACKALYNE PFANNENSTIEL	ARTHUR H. ROSENFELD, Ph. D.
Vice Chair	Commissioner

Download Open Letter (PDF)

CHEERS® can help you beat the "low bid" process; can help you make every job more profitable.

Homeowners are becoming more energy savvy. In fact, they're starting to ask about energy standard compliance, system pre-testing, duct testing and verification. Here in California we know they're asking more questions because the energy industry is spending millions to inform the homeowner. We aim to inform and remind homeowners that when their home meets state energy efficiency standards, their utility bills go down. The more they know about energy efficiency, the better it is for your bottom line.

CHEERS® Certified Rating Reports give you big selling edge! Include a CHEERS® Certified Rating Report as part of your service and you'll add enormous credibility to you, the quality of the job you'll do and your assurance that utility bills will go down. And once you tell your customer you'll be working with the first energy efficiency rating serving approved by the state, you'll have a leg up on the competition, even if your bid is higher.

The CHEERS® Certified Rating Report is a great sales tool. It gives you and the homeowner an understanding of virtually all the factors influencing energy efficiency: insulation, major appliances, window type, water heaters, local climate, as well as how utility rates are used to rate the home and calculate energy costs.

The report also includes separate ratings for heating, ventilating and cooling systems so you can decide whether heating and cooling systems and appliances need repair or replacement. Upgrades typically recommended in the CHEERS® Certified Rating Reports are energy efficient heating and air-conditioning systems, duct sealing and repair, insulation, and energy efficient windows. Cost-effective upgrades are those that will save more money through energy savings than they cost to install. Depending on the size and complexity of the home, a CHEERS® rating costs the homeowner between $100 and $300.

Remember, you're the one working with an independent third party to verify what needs to be done and the resulting cost savings the homeowner. Together with CHEERS®, you'll be helping your customer enhance the year-round comfort of the home, lower monthly utility bills from 20% to 50% and add to the home's resale value.

You can also explain how the work you and CHEERS® will do can help the homeowner refinance the home with an Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM), which can help them qualify for a more expensive home. By pointing the way toward an EEM you'll be greatly increasing your value to the homeowner.

CHEERS® has what it takes to help you build your business!

CHEERS® Trained and Certified Raters are ready to work for you. By the end of '05 CHEERS® expects to have close to 500 Raters at work in California. It's easy to contact them and schedule their work. Yes, they charge for their services, and you can easily add the cost of your time you spend setting it up and supervising the their work.

Designed to help you sell, the free CHEERS® Contractor Support Program lets homeowners in your area know it's time to check and make the change-out if it's needed. In fact, CHEERS® will give you materials that'll help you sell your services: ads you can run in local newspapers, post-cards for local mailings, a website where homeowners can go for more information and to find your name and telephone number.

By taking advantage of our free CHEERS® Contractor Support Program you'll:

• Be more competitive in your market.
• Provide more services your customers will appreciate.
• Make every job more profitable.
• Help your customers save money.
• Be the contractor homeowners refer.
• Increase your business and your reputation.

Wondering about the SEERS 12 and the new SEER 13 regulations? We'll be happy to tell you all about them. In fact, we've set-up a fast, easy, one day training program for HVAC contractors. Just call and we'll give you the schedules, training locations and other details.