diff --git a/install.py b/install.py
index 7d89594..013efcf 100755
--- a/install.py
+++ b/install.py
@@ -44,7 +44,11 @@ class Installer:
 
         try:
             with open("secrets", "r") as secrets_file:
-                secrets = secrets_file.read()
+                secrets = [
+                    line.strip()
+                    for line in secrets_file.read()
+                    if not line.startswith("#") and line.strip()
+                ]
         except FileNotFoundError:
             print("No 'secrets' file found. Did you forget to create it?")
             sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/secrets.template b/secrets.template
index 8fecc00..00cce75 100644
--- a/secrets.template
+++ b/secrets.template
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # secrets - is sourced by some commands - this is a template
 
-SETUP_COCKPIT_EMAIL='john@doe.com'
+SETUP_COCKPIT_EMAIL=''