June 7, 2007 (edited by Sun, Tarnay) Homeowners: Kent and Rita Wiggins Home: Douglas Park Cape Cod, 2000 square feet. Built in 1941. Sometimes the Little Things Count Audit Helps Couple Find More Ways to Cut Energy Costs ARLINGTON, Va. -- Kent Wiggins is the kind of guy who cleans the air-conditioning filter in his summer vacation rental, just to make sure it is operating at peak efficiency. So even after replacing all the windows in his 66-year-old Cape Cod-style home in South Arlington’s Douglas Park, and installing an Energy Star-rated furnace and HVAC, Wiggins wondered if there wasn’t more he could do to cut down on heating and air conditioning bills. He and his wife, Rita, applied for one of 20 free energy audits the County is giving away this year as part of Fresh AIRE (Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions), the County’s campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by boosting energy efficiency. “We just wanted to see if we could be more efficient,” Rita Wiggins said. The couple was particularly concerned that the two additions they have made to the house in the 20 years they have lived there – an upstairs expansion into the attic to create a master bedroom suite and a more recent first-floor addition on the back of the house to expand the kitchen and create a dining area – may have reduced their home’s energy efficiency. What the Wiggins learned during the energy audit conducted by Eric Lundquist, a building science consultant ...