Peter and Suzanne Bird moved to Pittsburgh and bought a house in Squirrel Hill three years ago. Like...

1. TV expert helps with high gas bills - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Peter and Suzanne Bird moved to Pittsburgh and bought a house in Squirrel Hill three years ago.
Like most first-time homeowners, they tackled a few projects, spruced up the kitchen and went
about their business-- until the first big gas bill came.
"We moved in in June of 2012. We thought they would be lower because we did replacement
windows and doubled the insulation." Mr. Bird said.
The bills didn't really budge, so he sought help from experts; he sent an email to "Ask This Old
House." The popular segment on PBS' "This Old House" television program takes some of its stars on
the road to help viewers with home improvement issues.
Before long, he was contacted by a TV producer and told that plumbing and heating expert Richard
Trethewey would be coming for a visit. That was last September. Next Saturday, the Birds' episode
will air on WQED at 3:30 p.m.
The truck with the red-and-blue TOH logo arrived in the Birds' driveway last fall and immediately
drew neighbors hoping to catch a glimpse of Mr. Trethewey. It didn't take him long to come up with
a solution, but TV is different than real life. Turns out that changing a thermostat on television is a
lot of work.
Producer Heath Racela coached Mr. Trethewey as he walked through the takes with the homeowner.
Meanwhile, director Thom Draudt and cameraman Jay Maurer discussed lighting and staging.
Mr. Trethewey started upstairs, explaining how thermostats work. Then he asked the homeowners
how they used the 1940s version on their wall.
"It works fine, if we remember to turn it down before we leave," Mr. Bird said.
"Any thermostat is going to save you money if you remember to turn it down -- which you didn't," he
replied.
They took a walk to the basement and that involved more lighting, explaining and reviewing the
takes as viewers learn about furnaces and how they work. When they make it back upstairs to learn
about the latest devices, more than an hour has passed.
Upstairs, viewers get a primer on the evolution of thermostats and learn about the new digital
models that are hooked up to smartphones. The choice was made to install a Honeywell Lyric digital
thermostat.
Mr. Trethewey, who last visited Pittsburgh in 2002 with a TV crew to tackle an old boiler on the
North Side, said this program shows the value of vocational technical education.
"We are coming out of period of two to three decades that everyone ignored vo-tech as an option and
focused on college, closing the vo-tech schools," he said.
The result is that there aren't enough young people working in the trades to replace those who
retire.

2. "Skilled trade work is essential to our economy. It is a viable income generator with good, well-
paying jobs," he said.
"Not everyone is cut out for college. Other countries value trade work. We need to make that a
model for the United States once again."
When contacted last week, Mr. Bird was pleased with his new thermostat, reporting a 20-25 percent
reduction in his gas usage.
"The thermostat was pretty easy to operate as well," he said, though it took a while to get used to
the app.
The homeowner also reported that the software updates happened automatically and he didn't even
have to trigger or download it, a real plus.
Rosa Colucci: 412-263-1634; rcolucci@post-gazette.com; Twitter: PgRosa_Colucci
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