Monday, March 16, 2015

Time to Dust Off a Few Energy Saving Ideas

Have you ever considered how much the dust that’s gathering in your home is costing you in energy bills? When dust builds up on the registers and vent covers in your home, for example, it becomes “insulation” that blocks the air’s path into the room. The harder a system has to work to keep your home comfortable, the more you pay in utility costs. So as you look ahead, a thorough dusting with special attention to registers and vent covers is a good idea. Other ideas?  Close drapes to keep out the hot daytime sun, especially on south- and west-facing windows. Sunny windows make air conditioners work 2 to 3 times harder.  Close fireplace dampers or glass doors. Going up the chimney with a bound may serve as a dramatic exit for Santa, but don’t allow your cooled air to use that same escape hatch.  Position your refrigerator away from sunny windows, hot water heaters, warm air from heating ducts, radiators, stoves and other heat sources. The heat makes cooling harder for your refrigerator. These are just a few natural, free ways to help reduce your energy costs and increase your comfort. Other small steps can also make a big difference. For example: It’s no news that energy costs are a big expense for homeowners. And not surprisingly, heating and cooling account for more than half of this amount. If you’d like to learn more about conserving energy in your home, this info will get you started – Is Your Home at the Center of an Energy-Loss Vortex?.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Is Your Home At the Center of An Energy Loss Vortex?

That’s not quite as far-fetched as it seems. See, your home comfort system worked very hard to keep you cozy all Winter. Now with Summer around the corner, you sure don’t want system wear and tear to create a black hole in your wallet. I think we all know how expensive space programs can be! This might sound funny to say but right about now, we usually hear an increase in complaints. Oh, I probably wouldn’t be telling you this if these complaints are about us (they’re not!). What I mean is, right about now, we start hearing complaints about high energy bills. Now, it’s not like we’re physicists. Yet, we actually can have an impact on the energy costs in your home. When operating properly, your home comfort system will work more efficiently and save energy – which can mean lower monthly energy bills. That’s why each spring, we get calls for system tune-ups that effectively increase the efficiency of home systems – and help prevent untimely breakdowns of your home comfort system. Hope we’ll be heading to your home soon. If you didn’t have us out last year, you may not realize how much better your system could have been protecting your personal comfort, your energy bills … and more. But don’t make that mistake this year. Learn more about how proper equipment operation affects energy costs. Take a look at this info, Attention: Seasonal Energy Alert.