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Blueprint Blueprint

July 2024 July 2024

Getting Your Home Summer Ready

Summer is a time for beach trips, mountain hikes, and backyard barbeques. However, there is one thing that every homeowner dreads about summer: their electric bill. It's a tough check to write when your money could be spent on so many other things including summer fun Here's the thing: most homes are not getting the most bang-fortheir-buck when it comes to energy use In fact, upwards of 35% of all residential energy used in the United States is wasted If you want to pay less in energy costs this summer, now's the time to be proactive. In this article, we'll review some of the best energy-saving tips and tricks you can use to lower your energy bills for good, leaving more money in your wallet this summer. Keeping a home cool in the summer and warm in the winter is by far the largest use of energy in the American home Nearly half (47%) of all the energy used in the average home goes into powering either the air conditioner or the furnace By saving energy here, you'll really be putting yourself and your home on the path to lower utility bills. Let's start with the air conditioner itself. No matter how new or old your system is, its a good idea to call your local HVAC pros and get a seasonal tune-up in the spring. This can maximize the energy-efficiency of your current system. If you do have a very old air conditioner that has made your summer electric costs a nightmare for the past few years, consider upgrading to a new system: the lower monthly bills over the lifetime of the system, paired with potential rebates from your utility company, will offset the initial investment Cooling

In this month’s cover article, we feature some helpful tips and tricks on helping you not only save energy and money keeping your home cool, but also simple maintenance.

the air is only half the battle. The other half is keeping that conditioned air in your home. For instance, a lot of conditioned air gets lost traveling through leaky air ducts, or through insufficient attic insulation To know for sure, you may want to enlist the help of a professional to perform an energy audit This will help you know exactly where your problem areas are and how to fix them To know for sure, you may want to enlist the help of a professional to perform an energy audit. This will help you know exactly where your problem areas are and how to fix them. After your air conditioner and heater, some of the largest energy hogs in your home are your washer and dryer (13% of average home energy use), your fridge (4%), your stove (4%), and your dishwasher (2%) Generally, the older these appliances are, the less efficient they are Make a plan to eventually switch these out for Energy Star-rated systems that will start saving you money and cutting down on your energy bills. Also, check with your utility company about a peak usage program. These initiatives reward customers who agree to cut down on electrical use during "peak hours"(typically, 3 p m - 7 p m ), when the grid is under the most stress Just by modifying when you dry your clothes or run the dishwasher, you could get lower rates and lower bills

Lighting is about 12% of the average home energy use Making the switch to CFL and LED bulbs in just 5 of the most used lamps or lights in your home can save you more than $75 annually! Given how relatively inexpensive light bulbs are and how easy they are to replace, this is one of the easiest things you can do to cut your energy bills significantly. We all love the sunshine that comes along with summer. However, direct sunlight in your home means heat in your home, which means higher cooling costs Use shades and curtains to block out the sun, especially while you're at work

Source: bpihomeowner org

Communication Director

www.rrvhabitat.com

power wash driveway + sidewalk

clean out gutters + downspouts

wash windows + replace screens

spray yard for bugs

clean + stage outdoor furniture

inspect + repair fencing

remove debris from around home

spray driveway/sidewalk for weeds

power wash porch + deck

refill cracks in driveway + walkway

spruce up landscaping

clean dryer vent + exhaust duct

Summer is in full swing and so is our Habitat affiliate! Our new Executive Director, Julie has gotten settled in and eager to continue to grow our small, yet mighty Habitat organization. Our Habitat Helpers Repair Program recipient, Karen will be receiving the repairs needed to comfortably age in place in her beloved home later this summer and our next Habitat Partner Family will be announced soon!

We held our second annual “You’ve Been Flocked” flamingo flocking campaign and are excited to launch our BRAND NEW Habitat Program, “Hour with Habitat”, which is open to the public on Saturday, July 20th from 11 am until 12 pm at the Campbell Public Library in East Grand Forks, MN. If you are interested in all things Habitat and more, join us for these quarterly events, held on the third Saturday at the beautiful East Grand Forks library. Each hour will feature a new topic with different presenters. If you are wanting to volunteer with our Habitat affiliate in some capacity this year, we ask that you join us at July’s event. You’ll get to meet with me, as well as two lead volunteers where we discuss current openings, a day on the job site, go over important training videos and paperwork and so much more! Head to our website to register today! You can also check out the next couple of “Hour with Habitat” topics under our Events section on our website.

We are also excited to bring back our Back to School Drive beginning July 22nd until August 30th. Once more, we will have our Amazon registry list to make shopping easy as 1, 2, 3! All items ordered will be directly shipped to us, and we will sort through the items to give to our partner families who have school aged children. The remaining items donated will go directly back to help area school children with the Grand Forks Public School District.

Finally, make sure you stop by our booth on Saturday, July 27th from 9 am until 1 pm, as we will be the featured non profit of the week at the Town Square Farmer’s Market. We will have t-shirts for sale, with 100% proceeds going back to our affiliate, volunteer sign up, and more!

It’s also not too early to mark a few other important dates on your calendar, as this year will be participating in the Potato Bowl Parade, Saturday, September 14th! We can’t wait to show off our parade float and get to meet our incredible community members! We also will be hosting our Halloween Carnival on Saturday, October 26th from 1-3 pm at University Park! More details to come! I hope you all have a wonderful summer and make sure you stop by for one of our events! We’d love to have you!

With gratitude,

Latest Affiliate News Habitat Happenings

to our newly elected board of director officers! From left to right: Secretary, Sadey Koch Treasurer, Sherry Levenseller President, Trent Berg Vice President, Steve Mueller

We are thankful for our dedicated and strong board members, those pictured here as well as those who are not; Phil Vanyo, Mike Sullivan, John Fields, Olivea Sehrt, Debra Camperud, Sue Shirek, and Danielle Anderson. We are honored to have these committed individuals behind our small, but mighty Habitat affiliate.

if you remember from our home dedication ceremony back in april, son jimmy was eager to move into his new home to plant a garden for his family and friends to enjoy. we have loved getting photo updates from leslie on their new garden and tomatoes sprouting!

thank you to the british embassy who organized a furniture donation from families who will no longer be stationed at the grand forks air force base to our affiliate. love in action’s, doris lebby had a crew who joined leslie to pick up almost brand new like furniture for her and her family.

In the Community Upcoming Events

"Hour with Habitat"

Volunteering with Habitat: Meet with Elizabeth Wilde, Marketing | Volunteer Coordinator along with two other Lead Volunteers where we discuss the ways you can get involved with our affiliate, going over brief training, what a day on the job site would look like, the openings we currently have and more! If you plan on volunteering at some capacity within our organization, this is the event for you! You can register for the event here, or head to our website! Open to the public!

In the Community Upcoming Events C‘nt

Help a local family by purchasing school supplies! Scan the QR code or click here to start shopping! All supplies will go to Habitat partner families and area school children. scan now

saturday, july 27th 9-1 pm saturday, july 27th 9-1 pm

we are the featured non-profit of the week at Town Square Farmer's Market! Sign up to volunteer, buy a t-shirt, pick up a brochure about our organization, sign the 2 x 4 and more! We hope to see you there!

In the Community Save the Date

saturday, september 14th saturday, september 14th

7:30 am - 10:00 am 7:30 am - 10:00 am

if you are interested in learning about our habitat homeownership program, curious about the criteria and guidelines to become a habitat partner family, or just want to make sure you are eligible, this is the event for you. join our executive director, julie lind kosmatka as well as our family services committee members as they discuss all of this and more! registration for this event will be available beginning in august.

if you plan on heading downtown to the potato bowl, make sure you wave to our staff and board of directors as we are joining in our first ever potato bowl parade! we can’t wait to show you our float and wave to the amazing community! saturday, october 26th saturday, october 26th 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm you asked, we answered! join us for our second annual halloween carnival! more details coming soon. make sure you ‘like’ our facebook page, as we will be looking for area vendors and food trucks!