The Goal, Solar Energy To Run Cooling Systems
With the increasing popularity and efficiencies of producing solar energy panels, it is becoming more and more likely that the future of home heating and cooling will involve solar energy. Solar Energy provides an abundant source of power that can in the near future be used to help provide electricity to run your home’s cooling system.
In the not so distant future, central air conditioning and furnace systems that draw power from solar energy panels will be on the market. The ultimate benefit for homeowners is that they can reduce their reliance on electricity. By reducing electricity consumption many home owners will see significant savings. The cost savings can be enough 0ver several years to help cover the cost of installation of the solar panel equipment. Additionally if the installation is tied to the grid of your local electric company excess power produced by your system will be fed back to the grid, in most cases allowing you to earn a credit from your local utility company.
energy audit 101
there are literally thousands of ways to improve the energy efficiency of your house, but finding a place to start can become overwhelming. not many people are made of coin, so before you start any projects, figuring out where you can get the biggest bang for your buck is very critical. in fact, not knowing your home’s deficiencies could cost you. for example, let’s say that you go out and replace your 25 annually old heating with a new high efficiency model. you would expect to see major savings on your next energy bill, but if your air ducts is full of leaks and the loft lacks insulation, you will never see the savings you had expected. an easy way to find out where your house needs the most help is by having a skilled energy audit performed.
what is an energy audit?
an energy audit is a series of tests and data collection procedures that will help you determine which areas of the house will benefit most from an energy efficiency upgrade. the correction technician you hire will use certain techniques to figure out where there are air leaks, and he will also determine the efficiency of house hold appliances in the house. many auditors will also ask the property owner questions about the way that energy is used in the house. after all information has been collected, the auditor will use a program to help him determine what the most coin saving upgrades would be for a particular house.
blower entryway tests and thermographic scans
many energy auditors will use one or both of these techniques to locate leaks:
- blower entryway test: by creating an air pressure imbalance between the outside and inside of your house, your energy auditor is able to detect an air leaks that may be present. this is done by placing a grand vent in the front doorway so that it is taking air from the inside of your house and pushing it outside. the pressure difference will cause the high pressure air outside to try to get inside where there is now low pressure. any leaks in the house will allow air in. a smoke pen is a common instrument used by auditors to detect these leaks. when the auditor holds the pen up to a suspected leak, the air that leaks in will cause a disturbance in the smoke.
- thermographic scan: an energy auditor may also use a thermographic scan to highlight areas that have air leaks. this scan involves the use of a thermal imaging camera that can detect temperature changes in the house. for instance, during the winter, a scan of the indoors should appear red, yellow, or white. areas that leak will appear blue, purple, or black. this indicates that cold air from outside is getting into the heated indoors. when combined with a blower entryway test, the leaking areas are highlighted, and it becomes easier for the auditor to detect the areas of greatest concern.
air leaks are just one of the ways that a house could lose grand amounts of energy. inefficient appliances and wasteful energy use practices are also taken into consideration, and in the end you are delivered a comprehensive overview of how your house uses energy. many energy auditors will also make you a list of upgrades that should be made first, and those are the best places to start. whether you need more insulation in the loft or if your old windows need to be replaced, making energy effective upgrades will save our planet and save you coin.
24 hour furance repair also recommends this great site: Local Furnace Repair report
spring is the best time to insulate
as you cleaned the snow off your car this morning, the last thing you probably thought was that spring is on its way. however, many of you have probably already compiled a list of house correction jobs and upgrades that need to be taken care of come springtime. well, spring is just a couple months away, and we have one house upgrade that should defiantly be added to your to-do list. adding insulation to your loft is one of the most coin saving house upgrades that you can make to your house, and spring is one of the best times to finally get this project done!
turn the heating down!
all of the extra strain that was placed on your heating this winter most likely drove up your energy bills. at this point, you are probably looking for any way to use the heating less often, and when spring arrives you will get your chance. however, if your house is poorly insulated, you may find yourself relying on the heating more than you would like to.
how insulation can save you coin
when your house is lacking insulation, heat from your heating is lost to the outdoors. as a result, the temperature in your house is lower and the thermostat will call for heat more frequently. when there is a nice thick layer of insulation in your house, this doesn’t happen. the heat insulation created by the insulation will hold the heat created by the heating indoors. this will help the inside of your house stay warm, and keep the chill of spring out. your heating will run less frequently and you will save coin on your energy bills because of it.
insulating in the spring will get you ready for annually round savings, so while you are doing your spring maintenance of have a seasoned and trained correction technician help you improve the levels of insulation in your house. the sooner you act, the sooner you start saving.
24 hour furance also recommends this great site: Home owner help
Pre Seasons Pricing
Now is a great time to purchase a new air conditioning system and take advantage of pre-season pricing. Even though it seems that it might be winter forever the summer is quickly approaching. Be completely ready for whatever weather the spring and summer decide to bring. If you wait till the last minute to buy a new air conditioning your will be getting quotes when most companies are being hammered with requests. This doesn’t lend itself to them wanting to negotiate for a better price and is usually when most HVAC companies pull their deals and offers out of the papers anyway.
Pre-Season Pricing gives you the most equipment and pricing options, this is the best time to take advantage of early sales and installation offers on cooling systems. You can schedule an estimate that will give you plenty of time to research your options, make a decision, and get the very best price on an air conditioner all before the summer heat returns.
Need your air ducts cleaned?
Are you interested in getting your ducts cleaned and not sure where to go for a reputable company to perform the work. Here are some questions to ask yourself before you get started.
- Where do you start?
- Why do companies seem to be all over the map on pricing?
- What will you get for the money you spent?
These are all valid questions and it’s understandable why consumers may have questions.The first piece of advice when looking for an duct cleaning company is to consider your choices. While you can find some really low prices you need to beware.
The National Air Duct Cleaners Association is a group which maintains certain guidelines and standards. Choosing a NADCA member is a great first step as it insures the company meets there minimum standards which should eliminate all the fly by nights.
Next check to see if these businesses are members of the Better Business Bureau. Look for customer testimonials or references of prior work. Just because there are complaints or no complaints is not a sure way to check a company. Some large reputable companies will have complaints no matter what, you just can please everyone. Other tiny companies might not have anything, they are to new. Instead, look first at how long they have been a member of the BBB as well as what their grade is. These are much more helpful benchmarks for this site.
Next, make sure they quote the price of work before they begin. If they start tacking on extra charges, beware! This is a common tactic of scammers or unscrupulous companies.
a second look could save thousands!
many property owners find out the hard way that they should have gotten a second opinion on a correction effort, and a recent case in minneapolis brought this fact into the limelight. the case involved a plumbing business that was convincing property owners they needed much bigger, and more expensive, repairs than were actually required. the end result was the loss of thousands of dollars and another black eye for the house correction industry. however, property owners do not have to put up with this type of correction technician if they know what to look for when they need a correction, and the number one rule is always get a second opinion! signing a contract and handing over a review could be the biggest mistakes you ever make if you are not careful about whom you hire to perform the repairs.
plumbing plunder
in this particular case, there were two problems. many of the property owners did not get second opinions before consenting to the repairs and they also hired a business that used subcontractors to complete their effort. nearly all of the grievances involved an exaggeration of a problem with the home owners plumbing. the home owners were convinced by the subcontractor that if they did not have the effort performed immediately their homes would suffer major damage.
this type of fear tactic often leads property owners to hand over grand sums of coin without verifying the problem. they don’t want their homes to be damaged and they just want things to go back to normal. scammers take advantage of this fact and try to milk as much coin out of the property owner as possible.
a second opinion saved this man thousands!
once the property owner agreed to the correction, their yards were torn up and their lives were disrupted to perform the fake repairs that the subcontractor told them that they absolutely needed. in one homeowner’s case, he saved himself over $15,000 by having another plumber verify the supposed damage. when the other plumber found only a minor problem, the property owner canceled the effort with the other business and filed a grievance.
three bids minimum
the business in question here has cooperated fully with the settlement of these grievances and noted that the subcontractor responsible for these illegitimate services was not acting according to their standard business practices. however, all of the property owners that were involved in this case could have saved themselves this hassle by getting a second opinion and doing their research. the better business bureaus recommends that property owners get at least three bids on a effort before having the effort performed and this is sound advice that every property owner should take.
24 hour furance also recommends this great site: Central Air Repair Contractors
Going Green
Four Seasons has many on going initiatives to improve efficiency throughout our corporation. One such area is our energy usage.
Four Seasons started pushing for greater energy efficiency many years ago. Here are just some of the ways we are actively going green in the Chicago land area.
For our warehouse
- Oil powered furnace using reclaimed motor oil to heat our 80,000 square foot warehouse
- Cambridge engineering high efficiency furnace fills the gaps in our heating needs for those times we run low on used motor oil.
- Replaced all warehouse lights with high energy saver ones and installed motion detection controls to keep the lights off when they are not needed. (as seen in this Mythbusters episode, getting those florescent lights off can really make a difference in the course of a year)
- Scrap metal recycling. As one of the nations largest HVAC companies Four Seasons recycles approximately 300 tons of cooper sheet metal a year.
In the office
Many times the best and fastest way
- Paper, plastic and card board recycling. We even go so far as to reuse paper for our printers to make internal scratch pads.
- Fujitsu heat pumps through out our offices which gives us great localized control saving money after hours as we only need to heat and air condition the parts of our buildings staffed to answer and address your calls.
- Nightly checks to make sure all lights and computers are off before employees go home.
Our Fleet
We have begun the process to modernizing our fleet of 250 vehicles
- Chevy Aveo* will be replacing the cars driven by our estimators
- Ford Transit* will replace the gas guzzling service vans that are still dominate in ours and other service based industries.
All told we are expecting to double the efficiency of our fleet!
*You won’t be able to miss our new vehicles either. With an all new Orange and White color scheme and a friendly Dave Lenox in the Aveo’s back seat we are looking forward to your feedback.
Why are we doing all of this?
Taking into account the wellness of our environment is part of it. However all of these measures also make great business sense. Each one of these items represents a small part of everything we do day to day to help reduce our costs and overhead which helps Four Season provide you the superior service you expect at the lowest possible price.
Want tips for how you can save money and the environment as well? Check out the following links for more information
Energy Saving tips – general information on saving energy and money
Resources site – includes several check lists and fact sheets for your convenience.
Rebates and Incentives Transform Habits
As we begin the month of July, and the heart of summer we often associate hot weather with the cost of keeping cool. We use electricity to run our room air conditioners, central air conditioners, fans, and refrigerators. During the summer months our utility bills are sure to see a spike in costs. In April of 2010, The State of Illinois offered consumers rebates on energy efficient appliances including the aforementioned refrigerators and central air conditioners. This and other programs have helped to transform consumer habits in terms of purchases and how they use energy.
What consumers got in return was cash back on their purchase of energy star products and what they will get in the future are lower energy bills. High efficient products and energy star rated products help save consumers money by using less energy, additionally they get to replace older appliances with newer models that work better and perhaps more attractive. This particular program was a boon for retailers and heating and air conditioning companies which was also beneficial to the economy.
Even though the appliance rebate program is over, the benefits continue to pay dividends to consumers who took advantage of the program thru lower energy bills. The federal tax credit is still in effect until the end of this year on Energy Star products and high efficiency heating and cooling systems. Not only will it help save energy and lower energy bills in the long term but the tax credit is worth 30% of the purchase price up to $1,500 on next year’s tax return.
Summertime Energy Savings Tips
Even though we might see cooler temps this week we have tips for summertime energy savings that are always a good idea regardless of how hot it is during the summer. Summertime for many of us means hot weather and lots of sunshine. As much as you may like the sunshine on your skin, sun that makes it’s way inside your home through windows can contribute to making your house warmer. This is particularly true if your windows face east and west. Try and close curtains as often as you can during the day to limit the amount of heat and sun (heat gain) that will enter your home through your windows.
We can’t stress this bit of advice enough, change filters regularly and as part of regular maintenance of your furnace and central air conditioner. Get in the habit of maintaining your system to reap the long term benefits and prevent future breakdowns. Dirty filters cost more to use because they become less effective and cause your system to overwork itself as well as contribute to poor air quality in your home.
Use fans and/or ceiling fans to help cool rooms that are in use, this will allow you to raise the temperature on your thermostat. Circulating air helps room temperature feel more comfortable and offset the raising of the temperature on your thermostat. Also, if the outside temperature is more comfortable than the temperature in your home use a box fan to pull air outside. This last tip is especially useful after summer thunderstorms or at night when temperatures fall but your indoor temperature has not adjusted as quickly as the outside air.
Home Star Rebates Look Promising
On June 7, 2010 The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Home Star Energy Act. The purpose of the bill is to not only help job growth but also to reduce our consumption of energy. The rebates if passed by Congress would give consumers significant money back on purchases of air conditioners, furnaces boilers and more.
The eligible products would have to be energy efficient and provide significant energy savings. The Home Star program has been compared to the “Cash for Clunkers” program in which consumers would replace existing air conditioners, furnaces and boilers for more energy efficient models. The rebates would go directly to the homeowner to offset the purchase price. In addition to the bonus that the rebates provide consumers should also benefit from long-term savings related to reduced energy bills every month.
For more information visit the Four Seasons Heating & Air Conditioning website and the Four Seasons news blog.