SAVINGS TIPS
Duct Inspection and Tips on Saving Cost
- Have your duct system checked by a qualified person for problems such as leaks and incorrect supply and return to make sure you are not heating or cooling your attic. (Duct repair or duct seal can save as much as 30%.)
- Make sure your supply registers are the correct type. Improper registers can make your system run longer and can cost you 5% on your cooling cost. (Call Econo-Air comfort consultant to advise.)
- Make sure your attic is well ventilated. A well-ventilated attic is as important as a well-insulated attic in the summer. Ventilating can lower the temperature in your attic as much as 40%. This can result in you’re A/C running as much as 10% to 15% less to maintain the temperature in the home. When your attic gets hot it can stay hot long after it cools down outside. It takes as long for your insulation to cool down as it took to heat it up. This is why you’re A/C is working sometimes long after it cools down outside. Insulate ceilings to R-30 standards, if your attic is less than R-19. Save up to 25% of energy used for heating. You can save more if you also insulate walls and duct work.
- Use ceiling fans to circulate air in home. A constant air movement in home will increase your comfort level and may result in as much as a 2% adjustment in your thermostat setting and can be beneficial summer and winter.
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Low Cost Home Improvement Actions
- Plug gaps around pipes, fans, and vents that go through walls and floors from heated to unheated spaces.
- Run your system in fan on-mode on hot days when some one is home. When you have continuous air movement, you can normally feel comfortable at one or two degrees higher temperature setting. Some of the high efficient equipment on the market has a variable speed motors that pull as little as 85 watts when fan only is running.
- Try not to use your heating and cooling system at night. Cover up in the winter or use ceiling fans in the summer or open windows.
- Water heater: Lower the temperature to 120 degrees. If you have a dishwasher without its own heating element, set the temperature to 140 degrees. This will save you up to 7% to 11%. Only full loads in the dishwasher. Use the energy saver, air-dry cycle, or if allowed, open the door and let dishes dry naturally. Turn your water heater down as low as possible if you are not going to be home for two days or more. Wrap your water heater with a water heater blanket, especially if it’s in an unheated area. Wrap the tank and pipes for additional savings.
- Have your system serviced spring and fall to ensure it is working at peak efficiency. (Have service technician wash out your condenser coil on spring service.)
Cooler Tin In/Energy Saving Upgrades
If your unit is five to seven years old or newer and you don’t elect to replace it at this time you may want to consider incorporating an evaporative cooler into you’re A/C duct system. Typically a cooler operates for three to five times less to operate than your cooling system and can maintain the temperature comfort level in the home approximately 95 to 100 degrees depending on the humidity level outside.
Your home is a complex ecosystem. Your family, lifestyle and indoor environment combine to affect how comfortable you feel at home. HVAC temperature controls are designed to give you and your family a better and more consistent sense of comfort, while saving you money at the same time.
If your current air conditioner is more than 10 years old, it could be as low as a 6.00 SEER. Compare the annual cooling bill of a 6.00 SEER such as American Standards's 10.00, 11.00, 12.00, 14.00 or 16.00. For instance, if the annual cooling bill of a 6.00 SEER system was $1000, it would cost only $370 for a 16.00 SEER system, or an annual savings of 63%. Now, that makes dollars and sense, doesn't it?
Heating and Cooling
Cooling your home with air conditioning uses more energy dollars than any other appliance in your home, typically as much as 75% of your electric utility bill goes for cooling your home in the summer.
The number one way you can reduce your energy cost is to replace your system if it is 10 years old or more, with an energy star system. This can reduce your energy cost by as much as 63% on the cooling side and high as 35% reduction on your heating cost, without sacrificing your comfort level. Of all the energy saving procedures you could implement this is by far the most cost effective. Right now the utilities companies are offering an added bonus, by reducing your kilowatt usage you may be eligible for the 20/20 discounted rate on your utility bill. (Contact one of our comfort specialist for a free in home energy survey and estimate on you personal savings.)
HVAC Zoning
It’s simply not possible for one thermostat to provide ideal comfort for every person, in every room. What’s comfortable for the bedroom may be too warm for the family room. Zoning is the easy, affordable solution for optimum home comfort… in every room of the house!
Networked Zoning combines a zone control panel, thermostats, conventional dampers and a discharge air temperature sensor to make up a communicating system. While the basic system controls two or three zones, it can be expanded to nine zones.
In the cooling season, set your thermostat at 78 degrees or higher when you’re at home. When you are away from home, set your air conditioner at 85 to 87 degrees or completely off if your not home for more than two days.
Heating accounts for the biggest chunk of winter energy bills. Make sure your furnace receives a professional “tune-up” each year. Clean or replace air filters once a month to help your unit run more efficiently.
Make sure you filter is clean and changed on a regular basis. Have preventive maintenance service twice a year to ensure your unit is running at peak efficiency. Make sure the service person washes out your condenser coil.
Install a programmable thermostat. You can save as much as 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10% to 15% for 8 hours. You can do this automatically without sacrificing comfort by installing an automatic set back thermostat.
Fireplaces
When you cozy up to a crackling fire on a cold winter day, you probably don’t realize that your fireplace is one of he most inefficient heat sources you can possible use. It literally sends your energy dollars right up the chimney along with volumes of warm air. A roaring fire can exhaust as much as 24,000 cubic feet of air per hour to the outside, which must be replaced by cold air coming into the house form the outside. Your heating system must warm up this air, which is then exhausted through your chimney. If you use you conventional fireplace while your central heating system is on, these tips can help reduce energy losses.