Hawaii Energy Selects Energy Hero

Posted May 01, 2013

Hawaii Energy announces second annual energy success story contest grand prize winner

Hawaii Energy today announced that Wes Wada of Honolulu was selected as the grand prize winner of the program's second annual Energy Success Story Contest. In addition to the grand prize winner, nine finalists were also selected for their submissions. Each of the finalists received an energy efficiency gift bag and the grand prize winner received a gift bag along with a home energy monitoring system.

"We had a wonderful response from the residents of Hawaii this year, and as a result we received over 65 great new tips and ideas," said Hawaii Energy Marketing Manager Maile Alsup. "This contest was really all about people teaching people to conserve energy and live more efficiently, so I am encouraged by the results. It's going to take us all working together if we are to achieve our clean energy goals."

As part of the contest, Hawaii Energy asked for inspiring and motivating stories and photos from Hawaii homeowners and renters that showcased their outcomes and successes in conserving, and using electricity more efficiently. The winning stories will be used to help fellow Hawaii residents learn how they can reduce their electric bills with low to no-cost tips.

Grand prize winner Wes Wada of Honolulu stated, "I switched to LED lights where possible, removed our central A/C, and installed a whole house fan and variable speed pool pump. In addition, I replaced my electric water heater with a heat pump, purchased ENERGY STAR® ceiling fans and upgraded to ENERGY STAR appliances. We also stopped buying bottled water and installed a whole house water softener and filtration system."

Wes was able to lower his electric bill by over $200 a month, and was then able to purchase two electric vehicles.  "In 2008 I looked into getting PV and it was too expensive. I then learned about home energy efficiency from HawaiiEnergy.com, and started applying what I found," added Wes.