In article ,
Dan Musicant wrote:
I get an unsolicited call around a month ago and it's a woman who says
they are with a program that might install a heater in my house
(Berkeley, CA). [ ... ]

Unsolicited calls concerning home improvement/repair are generally
scams.

[ ... ]

call to a guy in the office and asks about that and says they can get me
an even greater rebate on a 2nd heater. If I have just one heater it
will cost me around $7500, with 2 it will be $13,290 after 2 rebates
from my utility company, PGE (evidently about $150 each), a "voucher
amount" of $4000, federal tax credit of $400. [ ... ]

Have you called PG&E and ask them about these vouchers and rebates? Or
checked on their web site to see if they have any such program listed?

[ ... ]

there's one they can hack into with saws. Presumably they'll repair.
They say they'll install ducting (2"). What it actually says on the form
he gave me is "Add new (if required) PVC 2" flue system up to 10ft." The
heating system is rated at 95.5% AFUE (efficiency). The form says "Seal
ducting system to current Title 24 standards as required by law." He
said this included pressure testing.

Red flag; inconsistent comments. 2" ducting would be tiny.

He tells me they have a program where I can go 1 year without interest
if I start paying $450/month.

What's the interest rate, and is that actually no interest for a year,
or you just don't pay the interest for a year and it accumulates on the
balance of the loan?

Does this seem like a good/great smart deal? Or should I shop around?
The company is California Energy Services, and their site is
californiaenergyservices.com.

This morning it occurred to me that I maybe should ask if it's possible
to close off some of the supply lines (registers, I think they're
called?). I live alone here and in a cold snap in the winter I might
want to just heat part of the house or even one room if possible. If I
keep the whole house warm or even half, it would use more gas than
necessary. Is that a reasonable idea?

Closing off ducts in a common practice, but there are limits to how many
can be closed at once.

I think you'd be better off with an electric space heater; it'll heat
one room fine (assuming your wiring is OK) and should cost less than
$20 to purchase. A spare blanket is also an inexpensive item to deal
with cold snaps.


Gary