Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapid Support, probably brought you by cracket septic for
this Tuesday, October 14th, 2025, have your host James with us and with you and with us
right now.
David Farmboro and it's Reality Radio.
David, one of our favorite segments we get to do in the month, talking a little bit
about our local real estate and different things that are affecting our area.
And you have such a great approach to this topic, I always look forward to the things
we're going to get into.
When you sent over the topic, it took me a second and I'm like, wow, this is so good.
I think that we haven't done this one though and it seems like one that seems like a really
good one to do.
We're going to be diving into Energy Awareness Month and that's a really important topic,
especially in 2025.
It is, James, it's wonderful to be back with you again and the topic is Energy Awareness
Month from my perspective as a realtor.
So you might think, well, what's that got to do with buying and selling real estate?
Well, these aren't just homes that people buy and sell.
They're homes that we live in and they're homes that we have our bills to pay in and they're
homes that we want to make sure are not too cold during the winter and not too hot in
the summer.
So this is something where a well-informed realtor can really help out a buyer or seller
to help them get the best advantage from some of the energy efficient systems and programs
that are now out there.
I've been a focus on energy ambassador now.
I think for about five years, it's something that I saw offered to me and I thought this
would be a good idea to sign up for.
I'm always one for doing a course or a training because as far as I can see, the more information
I have, the better I can serve my buyers and sellers.
So where, what is this organization you're speaking of exactly and what have you learned
or gained from being a part of it?
Well, this is focus on energy.
Focus on energy.
Focus on energy.
Right.
The focus on energy exists outside of real estate.
That's just part of what they're involved in.
It is a state-wide organization.
They may have it in other states, I'm not 100% sure, but I don't really care about that
because I'm licensed in the state of Wisconsin.
But the one that I deal with is based in Madison and it really is wonderful.
The goal behind it is to help buyers, not, sorry, not persons sellers, to help homeowners
make the most of their energy to try and cut down fuel bills if they can, just let our
fossil fuels last a little bit longer and also just make people aware of some of the advances
that there have been in the technology, which really helps us in terms of appliances and
the systems of our home.
It is a cooperative endeavor between a lot of the utility companies all over the state.
For example, our own Wisconsin Rapids Water Works and Lighting Commission takes part in
it as does the Adams Columbia Electric Cooperative, Alliance Energy and We Energy's.
They've got a list of about 40 or 50 utility companies all over the state who all participate
in this.
They've joined us before on the air here, some representatives of them, and we've talked
a little bit about this and not so much with real estate, but it does tie in because one
of the things that I thought was really noteworthy, those companies you mentioned there and everything,
business 101, make as much money as you can.
These businesses, that's not necessarily the MO, that's not necessarily what they're trying
to do, especially when we're talking about city works, businesses and stuff like that,
where it's so much more about efficiency and the proper amount of energy being spread
out and homes and houses and businesses being able to thrive and find whether it's a
cost-cutting way or just a better way to heat your home or your business, being able to
do that.
And then there's the part of this, David, that there's a lot of gray area that we've covered
before when it comes to buying a home or selling a home or something like that.
You've already, you know, fast forwarding, say you've already done this, you've bought
a new home, you're there.
But you're used to paying so much for utilities, you're used to paying so much for this.
My old place that I lived in for 10 years, I always paid this amount.
When these new numbers come up, they can be high or low, whatever it might be, having
an organization like this around to kind of go for a dad and be able to help people either
cut costs or just, you know, hit the number you want to with some of these things.
Not only is that all helpful, but this time of years we're getting closer and closer
to turning on our heaters, it's very helpful.
That's right.
And the thing that I can tell you if you're buying a home is that it actually starts before
you buy.
If you use a focus on energy, ambassador, realtor like me, then I do have an insight.
I have done the training.
I do have an insight into what might be the more energy efficient factors that are in
your home already, the home you're buying.
Maybe if you're seeing two or three homes, I might be able to tell you which of the
homes has some better features.
And I'll just go through a few of those features as examples.
One of the things that we see, we don't always see it because it's usually heading out of
sight is insulation.
And usually if somebody's got an attic that isn't accessible by foot, you know, if you can't
actually get up into the attic, if it's one you just stick head and shoulders up in
and take a look around, you can still see the insulation.
And I'm not an expert on this, I leave that to the home inspector.
The home inspector will be able to make a good recommendation about the type of insulation
you should have.
In Wisconsin, they recommend that you should actually have sometimes about 16 inches of
insulation in your attic.
And generally that's the fibreglass type.
But there's also a cellulose type which is supposed to be very efficient.
The other thing that your home inspector will tell you is if the insulation is the old
type that might contain asbestos, in which case you need to have that removed by a properly
qualified and equipped contractor.
So I was, yeah, sorry, James, you wanted to say something.
Oh, no, it's just going to jump in because I'm all anxious to find out if there's any
like simple or affordable things that sellers can do to make their homes more energy efficient.
But you were kind of getting to that anyway.
I don't want to get in your way.
No, no, no, that's fine.
And those will be some of the things that I'll get to.
So if we're looking at things like appliances, say you've got a washer or a dryer that
or even a refrigerator that's 15 years old and it has the energy star mark on it, you
might have bought that new and you might think this is great.
This is really energy efficient.
But with the changes in technology in the last 15 years, you can find that your modern
appliance uses actually half or even a third of the fuel that your previous one did, even
though it's only a short while ago that you bought that.
And one of the reasons for this is technology.
We're seeing a lot, not just improvements in the way that they use electricity or gas
physically, but also in the way that these things are controlled.
We're seeing more smart devices.
So if you buy a new washing machine, it'll probably have the option to do a 25 minute
quick wash.
Well, on your old one, you may not have had that.
You may have had to do put everything in for an hour.
You also have the opportunity to control appliances from your cell phone.
This also applies to smart thermostats.
So if you go away for a week in the winter, well, in the old days, you might have just
left your heating on because you didn't want the house to freeze.
Well, now what you can do is you can set your thermostat at 50, so your pipes don't freeze
while you're away.
And then a few hours before you return home, you call it up from your phone and you just
say, we'll go to 68 or whatever you want a few hours before we get back.
And by the time we get back, it'll be comfortable for us.
It is a whole new world with so many of these things.
Well, while we're talking, you're talking about those things or the appliances.
It's something to keep in mind with this.
And it's a very helpful part of, you know, that you can add to this for people out there.
And that's from a seller buyer point of view, but from the buyer's point of view, what
should people be looking for when it comes to energy costs and efficiency in a home?
Well, I've mentioned a couple of the things.
There's also some things like just making sure that the house is pretty much airtight.
Now we don't necessarily want it to be hermetically sealed, there has to be a flow of air in and
out of the house because if you don't get that, you can get other problems.
But what you do want is no drafty windows, no drafts around the doors.
You want to make sure that attic insulation is good.
And you want to make sure that you have good lagging on your pipes.
These days often when you get pipes installed, the plumber will put something around them
which is a very modern insulation.
But if you look at an old house or old piping, there's nothing there.
And you're going to lose efficiency and therefore lose money.
You know, David, I know we're talking specifically, not specifically, but about home buyers,
home sellers, some of that.
But if you are already bought a home, you're in your home.
Some of these things that you're mentioning I think can be very helpful to people as well.
It's already homeowners that maybe they haven't thought about or looked at in a while.
Yes.
And it's actually worth going to the focus on energy.com website.
Even if, you know, as a focus on energy ambassador, I sign up my new buyers for a welcome kit
which they get a few weeks after they move in.
And that gives them $125 off their first furnace service.
And that actually is a big saving.
It's probably almost all the cost for the first furnace service.
And actually that is something you can do to cut down your fuel bills.
Having your furnace properly serviced, making sure you change your filters.
They've all got different recommendations.
So some you need to change once a year.
Some you need to change four times a year.
But they do need to be changed more often if you have pets.
All those things keeping everything properly maintained, making sure you don't have a lot
of lint in the output from your dryer.
All those things will make your home more energy efficient and save you money.
But if you go on the focus on energy website, you can see a number of different things you
can do.
You can see advice on how to save money.
You can see that in almost every aspect of where your fuel bills are concerned.
But you can also apply for some energy efficient items.
They do sell a variety of packs.
These are not at retail price, but they're not free either.
They're usually about half price.
So you can get a pack of something like 10 energy efficient LED bulbs for about $10.
If you bought those retail, it would probably be 20.
You can get devices to put on your taps, like an air rater, that you just put on the
end of the faucet, and it just makes it use slightly less, but it comes out with a little
more force.
You can get things to put inside your toilet system, if you've got an old toilet, because
generally those use a lot more water than they actually need to.
But with this little, they call it a brick, but it's not really a brick.
You put inside your toilet system, you just reduce the amount of water you use every
flush by about two thirds of a gallon.
They also supply shower heads, draft excluders, and tape that you can put on windows just
to seal those gaps.
But the best thing you can have for windows, of course, is new windows.
Yeah.
The newer they are, the more energy efficient they are.
Yeah, we've all seen our utility bills, they are rising.
These kind of things can be very helpful for homeowners.
Is there anything else you wanted to touch on as far as like ways that you can help
homeowners save money monthly in that?
You mentioned quite a few options right now.
Well, really cutting down on the monthly expenditure.
A lot of it is to do with efficiency and servicing, so it's really looking at your appliances
and also your systems, so look at your furnace, your water, your air conditioning unit.
Look at how old they are, and sometimes you can get huge efficiency savings by updating
those.
There are also some other programs like Wood County's Energy Assistance Program, which
can actually help you have an energy assessment on your house free of charge.
I think you have to fall into certain income categories to get that done, and they will
also replace inefficient appliances free of charge, so if you've got to refrigerate, they
might replace that with a modern one.
Old refrigerators are a huge power consumer.
It's so great to have an organization like this doing such good work, and not only them,
themselves, but people like you and representing and being an ambassador of these, there is
no downside to any of this.
This is nothing but a positive, not just for our community and our homes, but our country,
our planet, everything.
It's a win-win kind of thing.
There's a couple of other things I wanted to touch on, David.
Are there rebates available for some of these things that people should know about because
it could be quite helpful or maybe be that thing that pushes them to kind of do it?
Is it, well, you get a rebate with it, or it's affordable?
Oh, absolutely, and the rebate structure is quite complex.
I don't have it all in my head, but it is all on the Focus on Energy website.
You can get a rebate for installing a new water heater.
You can get one for a furnace.
I think they have to fall into certain categories.
If you replace one of those things with something of a different type, I've seen people now
going to tankless water heaters, and those are efficient because they only heat as much
water as you need to use.
If you're one person living on your own, you probably don't need to heat an 80-gallon
tank of water all the time, but a tankless water heater, though it's more expensive in
the short term, will probably save you a lot of money.
The things that people do, I saw this in a house a few days ago, geothermal heat, so instead
of having a furnace, it takes the heat from the ground and somehow pushes that into your
home.
Again, I'm not an expert on the technology of this, but it's an emerging technology and
something that you could get a good rebate for, as well as savings in your energy bills.
I was speaking with David Farmer on Reality Radio here, and David, just one final question
I wanted to get into with you.
For anyone thinking about buying or selling, what is your advice for keeping energy
costs down while keeping homes comfortable?
I know that we've touched on this here and there throughout the conversation and everything,
but in essence, what do you think people should know when it comes to that?
Well, I think they should know things like, if you reduce the temperature of your home by
only one degree, that can probably still be comfortable, but it can actually amount to
huge savings.
A lot of people don't know how thermostats work, but a thermostat is just an on-off control.
It just turns the furnace on or off depending on whether you've reached that temperature.
And sometimes, if you just set it one degree lower, it's not going to be firing up quite
so often, and you could end up with a significant saving.
David, we always appreciate the time and certainly want to encourage people to reach out to
you, find out more about some of the things we've talked about.
When it comes to doing that, David, what is the best way to get in touch with you?
The best way to contact me is by texting me, 7-1-5-3-2-3-8-5-9-4, or you can find me on
my David Farnborough Realtor Facebook page, or www.rapidshomes.com.
Be sure to bookmark those, everybody, get to Facebook, like David's page, keep up the
date and the things he's doing over there.
It's a fun page, also.
I encourage you to do that.
David, we are already looking forward to the next month and getting hanging out again and
finding out more about our area and our real estate.
Thank you so much for the time.
Thank you very much, James.
And we will thank you for joining us out there, everybody.
And big thank you to Crockett Sceptic for joining us for another edition of WFHR's Rapids
Report.
