Buellton Buzz October 2016 Did you know October is Energy Awareness month? Energy Awareness Month is a national effort to highlight how central energy is to our national prosperity, security, and environmental well-being. During October and throughout the year, the Federal Energy Manage- ment Program (FEMP) is offering resources to raise awareness of energy conservation practices. Below is a checklist that outlines actions that can help conserve energy within the home: Turn down the temperature of your water heater to the warm setting (120°F). You'll save energy and avoid scalding your hands. Check if your water heater has an insulating blanket. An insulating blanket will pay for itself in one year or less! Make sure your furnace or heat pump receives professional maintenance each year. And look for the ENERGY STAR® label when re- placing your system. Review additional strategies to reduce your water heating bills. Water heating can account for 14%-25% of the energy consumed in your home. Survey your incandescent lights for opportunities to replace them with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) or light-emitting diodes (LEDs). CFLs can save three-quarters of the electricity used by incandescents. The best targets are 60-100 W bulbs used several hours a day. Turn off the lights in unoccupied rooms or consider installing timers, photo cells, or occupancy sensors to reduce the amount of time your lights are on. Turn off your computer monitor when not in use for more than 20 minutes, and turn off both the CPU and monitor if you're not going to use your computer for more than 2 hours. Unplug equipment that drains energy when not in use (i.e. cell phone chargers, fans, coffeemakers, desktop printers, radios, etc.). Install a programmable thermostat that can be adjusted to temperatures according to your schedule. And look for the ENERGY STAR® label when replacing your system. During winter, open curtains on your south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home, and close them at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows. Clean or replace filters in your furnace, air conditioner, and heat pump. ENERGY STAR labeled products can cut your energy bills by up to 30%. Find retailers near you at http://www.energystar.gov/. Remove Your Vehicles from City Streets on Street Sweeping Days The City pays just under $3,000 per month to have the streets swept twice a month. The City continues to ask residents to remove their vehicles from the street on the second and fourth Mondays so the streets can be swept effectively. Yet, vehicles continue to be parked on the street on these days, which does not allow the street sweeper to adequately keep the streets clean. It is the City’s duty to maintain the streets and remove debris from the gutters so that the storm drains do not become clogged when it rains. Residents may temporarily park on the street but they are not designed for long term parking of vehicles, trailers, boats, RV’s, etc. If parking on the street during street sweeping days continues, the City may con- sider that an ordinance be passed to prohibit street parking on street sweeping days and persons who violate the ordinance would be ticketed or the vehicle could be towed. This type of ordinance is not uncommon and many juris- dictions have adopted similar ordinances in an effort to effec- tively allow the streets to be cleaned. Check your Drainage Winter is approaching and hopefully the rain will come! It is important as a Home Owner or Business Owner to plan ahead and do not wait or overlook major mainte- nance of your drainage system. Property drainage systems come in several shapes and sizes such as a drop inlet, catch basin, area drain, underground pipes, swales (grass or concrete), and/ or basins (retenon or detenon). The drainage systems collect stormwater runoff and divert them away from your home or business. These systems should be kept clean and free of debris to prevent overflow or back-up that could cause flooding to you and your neighbors. There are some misconcepons with swales that run across several proper- es is that “someone else” maintains them. Anyme a swale (grass or con- crete) runs across your property, you as a Home Owner or Business Owner are responsible for maintaining that poron within your property. When conducng maintenance acvies, the following precauons should be taken: trim vegetaon, do not alter or re-grade slopes without con- sulng an expert, keep swales free of lier or debris, removal of sediment build-up, repair any damage, plant drought-tolerant nave vegetaon. It is important that you check the performance of the drainage system and dis- pose of all lier or debris into the appropriate receptacle. Remember, “Only Rain, Down the Storm Drain”!