Chelan PUD customers: Bring your kids to the Wenatchee Valley Family Expo this weekend and pick up a free, energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulb. Find us at the Rocky Reach Visitor Center booth, where kids can turn a hand-crank generator to make electricity and practice being a Conservation Detective. The booth is located next to the Pacific Science Center’s planetarium.

The Expo is a family-oriented event at the Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee from noon to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26.

Can’t make it to the Expo? Twenty local retailers are offering discounted CFLs. Get the details on the PUD website here.

Keeping energy bills low is high on the priority list of Dave Gerlach, manager of the Wenatchee Community Center building.

When Dave Gerlach began managing the Wenatchee Community Center building in 2006, one of the first things he did was install energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs. It’s one of the last things he did as well, because the bulbs have continued to burn without fail.

“The architect (in charge of renovation and new construction) planned for all new lighting and fixtures (that would accommodate energy-saving bulbs),” Gerlach said. “The choice was judicious, because I replaced bulbs for the first time just 2 ½ months ago.”

There are about 400 fixtures in the center at 504 S. Chelan Ave., outfitted with a variety of compact fluorescent light bulbs and energy-saving T-8 fluorescent tubes.

Keeping the electric bills low is high on Gerlach’s to-do list. It’s a tall order.

The center is a conglomeration of old and new structures, including the former Catholic Church and rectory dating to 1921 and a brand new Veterans Hall built in 2006. The buildings were remodeled and constructed using federal grant funds. The facility serves low-income and disadvantaged families, primarily in the south end of Wenatchee, through agencies offering literacy tutoring, GED instruction, housing, early childhood education and other programs.

The Wenatchee Community Center, 504 S. Chelan Ave., is the former home of St. Joseph's Catholic Church.

The complex covers about 6,000 square feet and is served by seven different heating and cooling units. Large meeting rooms go unoccupied much of the time yet offices need to be kept comfortable for workers five days a week, 8-10 hours a day. Because the church is on the National Register of Historic Places, stained-glass windows can’t be replaced with more energy-efficient models, and ceilings can’t be lowered to improve heating and cooling.

Gerlach has done what he can. Four inches of foam insulation was applied over the old roof, covered by new sheeting. New thermostats hold unoccupied rooms at a specific temperature before switching to warming or cooling just prior to meetings. Wenatchee Valley College instructor Greg Jourdan has been through the buildings and recommended changes to the air handling system, which Gerlach has carried out, to improve comfort and efficiency.

If additional grants or community donations become available, more improvements could be made, Gerlach said.

In the meantime he’s focusing some of his energy outdoors, where a new community garden is growing behind the center. Local residents rent 10 x 10 plots for $5 per year to grow squash, tomatoes, corn and flowers. Sixteen gardeners cultivated 26 plots this summer.

Local celebrities share their energy- and water-saving tips
We asked people active in our communities — local celebrities, if you will — to share their favorite conservation tips. Watch the video to learn what the mayor of Wenatchee, the Apple Blossom queen, the AppleSox Coyote and others are doing to save energy and water.

Do you have a favorite tip? Post a comment to share yours.

This chip tells controls at Sleeping Lady Resort that guests have arrived so it's time to adjust the thermostat and turn on the lights.

The operators of Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort in Leavenworth believe they may have found a key to saving energy. Actually, 40 keys.

In April, 40 of the resort’s 58 guest rooms were outfitted with the Entergize key fob system. When guests enter these rooms, they insert a small chip attached to their room keys into a special light switch. This sends a signal to the upper half of the rooms’ electric receptacles and thermostats, putting them in the “occupied” mode. Some of the lights go on and heat or air conditioning comes on to pre-programmed settings. When guests leave their rooms they remove the key and fob from the control switch, which causes the lights to go off and the heating and cooling system to drop into the “unoccupied” energy-saving mode.

Ken Erikson, maintenance technician at Sleeping Lady, said the goal is to automate energy savings. Guests don’t mean to waste energy, he said, but it happens. For example, a couple out for a winter walk might crank the heat way up when they return to their room, then leave for dinner and forget to turn it down. With the new system, setback will occur automatically.

A majority of rooms at Sleeping Lady have been outfitted with energy-saving setback systems.

Entergize claims energy use in guest rooms can drop by up to 45 percent, but Erikson isn’t expecting savings that dramatic. Sleeping Lady has no TVs, so the resort can’t be compared to hotels where TVs, even in standby mode, are using power. Erikson said Sleeping Lady’s goal is to save energy over the long term.

Greg Felix, Entergize contractor who installed Sleeping Lady’s system, said he’s done work all over the country, including at actor Ed Begley’s home. The company’s work was featured on a History Channel Modern Marvels episode that focused on ways to reduce phantom load — the energy drain caused by cell phone chargers, TVs and other appliances that are left plugged in and continue to draw power. You can watch that show here.

Here’s an option for safe disposal of fluorescent tubes

"The Bulb Eater," as shown on the Air Cycle company's Web site

Looking for an environmentally friendly way to dispose of fluorescent tubes?  Apple City Electric in Wenatchee has a “Bulb Eater” that crunches used tubes into a sealed 55-gallon drum for environmentally responsible disposal.  Apple City charges 20 cents per foot of fluorescent tube plus $1 per ballast for the recycling service, said the company’s Kay Williams.

Disposal is handled by the Air Cycle Corporation of Broadview, Ill. A freight truck picks up the crunched bulbs when notified, Williams said. “We’ve had a couple of pick-ups from doing a big retrofit on a commercial building,” she said. “Before the lamp-gobbler, we had to box up all those bulbs and get them ready for shipping.”

Apple City Electric can also recycle HDI (heavy duty illumination) lamps for $2 apiece.

Apple City Electric is located at 326 N. Wenatchee Ave., phone (509) 663-2681.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs used in homes can be recycled at PUD offices in Wenatchee, Leavenworth or Chelan, or at Home Depot in Wenatchee.