With 300th Home Lighting Visit, Neighbor to Neighbor Generates More Than $39,000 In Energy Savings

Community Energy Waste Reduction Effort Touches 300 Homes in 14 Communities, Creating Dramatic Home Energy Cost Savings for Connecticut Homeowners

The Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge, a community energy savings campaign that is helping Connecticut residents save money, reduce energy use and create vital green jobs in their communities, announced that its Clean Energy Corps has reached an important energy savings milestone, completing more than 300 free home lighting installations across the state.

Since launching in December 2010, Neighbor to Neighbor completed 313 lighting visits, replacing almost 5,000 incandescent light bulbs with efficient compact fluorescent bulbs and avoiding 181,382 pounds of CO2 emissions. The lifetime impact of these efforts is more than $39,000 in energy cost savings, thanks to over 600 megawatt hours of saved electricity. That’s enough electricity to power more than 50 homes!

“Hats off to our committed partners in the communities where Neighbor to Neighbor’s outreach team does its work,” said Kerry O’Neill, Program Manager of the Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge. “These reductions are a testament to what the state of Connecticut can accomplish when communities work together. But more importantly, these energy costs savings mean Connecticut homeowners have more money in their pockets, and to put back into the local economy.”

The Neighbor to Neighbor lighting program is a free and simple first step for homeowners who want to reduce their energy consumption and start saving money on their monthly electricity bills. Lighting accounts for 10 to 15 percent of electricity consumption in an average home. So far, switching to energy efficient bulbs saves families an average of $125 per year, and some residents have seen savings more than $300 per year. This greatly reduces the amount of energy wasted through the use of outdated incandescent light bulbs.

The Neighbor to Neighbor Clean Energy Corps, a team of eight recent college graduates, execute the program, visiting homes to perform assessments and installations of free compact fluorescent light bulbs and educate homeowners on efficient lighting technology. Corps members received residential lighting certificates after completing a course from the Lighting Research Center at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

New federal lighting standards taking effect soon will limit the types of incandescent light bulbs available on the market. The Neighbor to Neighbor lighting program gives residents a head start finding the right modern, efficient light bulbs that will work best for their homes.

Funding for the Neighbor to Neighbor lighting program will end in summer 2012, and limited slots remain. To take advantage of this great program, residents should sign up quickly for their free in-home lighting visit at www.ctenergychallenge.com/lighting.