Posts Tagged ‘Go Green’

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Start the Spring Off Right!

March 1st, 2011

Spring signifies a new beginning for everything around us. The trees and flowers begin to bud, and we will soon start the yearly ritual of cleaning the home top to bottom. However, spring cleaning isn’t just a time to rid your home of dust bunnies. It is also a chance to improve your home’s carbon footprint! There are several ways that you can do this and some cost more than others. But, there isn’t a better time to start making some of these improvements in your home, and it all starts with the HVAC system.

  • Change the Thermostat: If your home still relies on an old dial thermostat to regulate the temperature in your home, you could be wasting energy. Those old thermostats are incredibly inaccurate when it comes to temperature control, and yours could be off by 3 to 5 degrees in either direction. That means that the home has been overheating all winter and will over cool all summer. » Read more: Start the Spring Off Right!

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Posted in Air Conditioning, Duct Cleaning, Go Green, Money Saving

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Potted Protectors: Using Plants to Improve Air Quality

February 7th, 2011

When it comes to improving the air quality in your home, you have several choices. Air purifiers, furnace filters, UV lights, and air cleaners are all popular products that homeowners have been using for years to clean the air in their homes, but there is one option that you may not have considered. This “air cleaner” doesn’t get plugged in and you may even already have a few of them in your home. They are plants! Living plants have the ability to absorb and make use of the harmful contaminants in your air supply, and as a result, they clean the air in your home.

Common Contaminants

Plants absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen during their food making process. During a study performed by NASA, it was found that plants also absorb:

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Posted in Air Purifier, Air Quality, Go Green, Home Improvements, Information

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Energy Audit 101

February 1st, 2011

There are literally thousands of ways to improve the energy efficiency of your home, but finding a place to start can become overwhelming. Not many people are made of money, so before you start any projects, figuring out where you can get the biggest bang for your buck is very important. In fact, not knowing your home’s deficiencies could cost you. For example, let’s say that you go out and replace your 25 year old furnace with a new high efficiency model. You would expect to see major savings on your next energy bill, but if your duct work is full of leaks and the attic lacks insulation, you will never see the savings you had expected. An easy way to find out where your home needs the most help is by having a professional energy audit performed. » Read more: Energy Audit 101

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Posted in Go Green, Home Services, Money Saving

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Sunny Day Savings

January 26th, 2011

As the credit card bills roll in from the gift giving season, many of us are scraping together funds to make ends meet, and saving money on the heating bill would be a great way to do so. You have probably heard many HVAC experts talk about turning back the thermostat to save money while you are away from the home or sleeping, but what about the millions of people who spend most of their time at home? Well, we are here to tell you that these people can save money on their heating bills too, all they have to do is use the sun! » Read more: Sunny Day Savings

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Posted in Go Green, Heating, Money Saving, Value

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4 Common Furnace Mistakes: Registers

December 9th, 2010

In the past, many homeowners would close off vents in various rooms of the home in order to direct all of the heat to one area and to save money. Nowadays, many people are still doing this, but does this practice still save money? If you use a forced air furnace in your home, you may be making some very serious mistakes when it comes to the supply and return registers that your furnace uses.

1. Only Closing off the Supply Register- A supply register is the exactly what the name suggests. It supplies heat to the rooms in your home. The return register is the vent that pulls air in and sends it back to the furnace. When closing off registers in the home, a common mistake made is when the homeowner only closes the supply register to the room and leaves the return register uncovered. » Read more: 4 Common Furnace Mistakes: Registers

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Posted in Contractors, Furnace, Go Green, Heating, Money Saving

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Repair or Replace?: 8 Tips to Consider

December 1st, 2010
  1. High Energy Bills: This is always the first selling point that most HVAC contractors will propose, and it really is something that should be considered. Older furnaces are often around 65% or less efficient with the gas that they consume. That translates into high utility bills every month, and the problem will only get worse with time. A new high efficiency unit will greatly reduce those bills, and pay itself off in savings in a matter of a few years.
  2. Age of the Furnace: If your furnace is in the 15 to 25 years old range, replacement should be considered.  The typical forced air gas powered furnace lasts for about 25 years with proper maintenance. Even if the unit is working fine right now, the older it gets, the higher the chances are that you will experience failure of some of the major components in the unit. » Read more: Repair or Replace?: 8 Tips to Consider

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Posted in Furnace, Go Green, Heating, Money Saving, Safty

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Stop Throwing Your Money Down the Drain!

November 25th, 2010

Many people focus on making the furnace and air conditioner as energy efficient as possible, but they often forget about another appliance that plays a major role in the utility bill cost every month. The hot water tank accounts for 18% of the energy costs for the average home, and the furnace and air conditioner are the only units that exceed that percentage. Don’t get me wrong, it is very important to have efficient heating and cooling systems, but it is important that each homeowner is also doing everything that they can to save on hot water as well.

The Hot Water Tank

Let’s start with the source of the problem: that old hot water tank. If your system is over ten years old, it is probably on its last leg. Insufficiently hot water, frequent pilot outages, and tank leaks are not normal hot water tank functions, and if you are experiencing any of these you are probably overdue for a system replacement. But, even if the tank seems to be working fine, you may still want to consider replacement. Newer units are more energy efficient, and you may even want to consider switching to a tank-less system. However, if you are sticking with the old unit, there are still some changes you should be making. » Read more: Stop Throwing Your Money Down the Drain!

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Posted in Furnace, Go Green, Heating, Home Improvements, Home Services, Hot Water Tank, Money Saving

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Heat Loss Solutions: Boilers

November 11th, 2010

Heat loss is a problem that is usually associated with forced air furnaces. Leaky duct work and drafty rooms are among the biggest complaints that these units are known for. Boiler owners often assume that because they use radiators instead of vents and duct work, they don’t have to worry about heat loss. However, heat loss is still an issue that even boiler units can be affected by. There is simple fix that any homeowner can create even if you do not have a single “do it yourself” bone in your body! What is the solution to this problem? Radiant panels.

Heat Loss in Boilers

The truth is that boilers would not have this problem is radiators were installed in the center of every room in the home. But, this would not only be inconvenient for furniture placement but also horribly unattractive. No matter which type of radiator you have in your home, vertical, horizontal, baseboards, ect…, odds are it is smashed up against a wall in the corner of each of the rooms in your home. This is where the problem comes in. » Read more: Heat Loss Solutions: Boilers

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Posted in Boiler, Go Green, Heating, Insulation, Money Saving

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Turn Off the Furnace; Fire Up the Stove

November 2nd, 2010

Gas isn’t getting any cheaper. As another winter season approaches, we are all faced with the need to provide heat for our homes. Most homes have furnaces or boilers that are gas powered, and they provide somewhat reliable heat for our families throughout the cold months. The only problem is, by the end of the winter, you have paid an arm and a leg to the utility companies that provided the gas to keep your furnace going. It seems like every year we pay more and more, and there really isn’t much we can do to change this fact. Or is there? » Read more: Turn Off the Furnace; Fire Up the Stove

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Posted in Go Green, Heating, Home Improvements, Money Saving, Value

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Stop Wasting Water!

November 1st, 2010

If you are living with a leaking faucet or toilet in your home, now is the time to take action. Through you may assume that those drips are no big deal, in actuality, that little leak can be a big problem. Showers, faucets, and toilets all have the potential to leak gallons of water! Those gallons add up to hundreds of extra dollars on your utility bills and damage to our planet. » Read more: Stop Wasting Water!

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Posted in Go Green, Home Improvements, Home Repairs, Home Services, Money Saving

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