Don’t wait until your family is uncomfortably hot this summer to check in on your air conditioning unit. Make sure its ready to beat the heat by following these simple steps below.
Barron Heating AC Electrical & Plumbing Blog: Archive for the ‘Efficiency’ Category
Get Your AC Unit Ready for Summer
Monday, April 23rd, 2018Energy Saver 101: Home Performance Assessment
Thursday, March 2nd, 2017Having a qualified and experienced inspector perform a Home Performance Assessment is the first step to determining how to best prioritize efficiency upgrades and ultimately save you money on your energy bills.
You may have heard these referred to as Energy Audits, or some similarly negative phrase that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Instead of looking at this as an anxiety-inducing inspection (thank you, IRS), we find it far more accurate to think of HPAs as a tool for big-picture analysis of your home’s indoor air quality, potential energy-loss areas, evenly-heated rooms, and other issues. Home Performance Assessments are done to better your family’s well-being and safety. We’re on your side!
Your home is likely the biggest investment that you will make; getting a Home Performance Assessment can ensure it operates efficiently, comfortably and safely. A Home Performance Assessment can result in utility bill savings between 20 and 50 percent–with the ever-rising cost of utilities, the potential savings grow each year.
Through utility bill analysis, infiltrometer testing, thermographic imaging, duct leakage and repair, indoor humidity and moisture control, combustion gas analysis, weatherization services and IAQ analysis, a Home Performance Assessment is the best and most comprehensive step for you to take towards saving money and improving your home.
Go Geothermal
Tuesday, February 21st, 2017Looking for an efficient, cost effective, and environmentally friendly heating/cooling system? A geothermal heat pump is the greenest way to go.
The basics
Even though the air temperature fluctuates a significant amount over the seasons, the ground absorbs nearly half the suns energy, keeping a more consistent temp under the surface. Geothermal heat pumps take advantage of this fact by employing earth loops– usually closed-system loops made of piping– to tap into stable underground temperatures and deliver heat or cooling when you need it.
These systems work by circulating an antifreeze solution in the loop between the ground source heat pump and your house, exchanging heat and distributing it through a conventional duct system to heat or cool your house.
Geothermal heating
It’s winter and the air outside is at its coldest. A geothermal heat pump system easily absorbs ground heat from the abundant supply stored below your home, and consumes less energy than a traditional pump system in the process.
Geothermal cooling
When warm summer weather rolls around, a geothermal heating and cooling system absorbs heat from your home and transfers it to the underground loop where it is then absorbed by the cooler earth. The geothermal heat pump uses the cool water returning from the ground to create cool, dehumidified air conditioning for your home.
Different kinds of loops
Depending on what your unique space and lifestyle requires, different kinds of earth loops may be installed.
Horizontal Loops
Often used when adequate land surface is available. Depending on geothermal system needs and space available, pipes are placed in trenches that range in length from 100 to 400 feet.
Vertical Loops
The ideal choice for a geothermal heat pump when available land surface is limited. Well drilling equipment is used to bore small-diameter holes from 100 to 400 feet deep.
Pond (Lake) Loops
Very economical to install when a large body of water is available for use by the geothermal heating and cooling system. Coils of pipe are simply placed on the bottom of the pond or lake to capture the geothermal energy.
Open loops (Well-Water Systems)
In ideal conditions, an open-loop application can be the most economical type of geothermal system. These use groundwater from a well as a direct energy source.
Images and descriptions via waterfurnace.com
Fun facts
- An EPA study of energy efficiency concluded geothermal energy is the most environmentally friendly heating/cooling system.
- The United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory concluded that geothermal energy is more efficient and cost-effective compared with conventional residential systems.
- Available everywhere in the United States, geothermal energy can be found underground virtually anywhere.
- Geothermal cost savings can be increased by geothermal energy incentives, available from federal, state, local, and utility sources.
Cost comparison
Energy and cost savings of geothermal heat pumps will vary by region and type of conventional system they’re compared with. But the energy cost of geothermal versus conventional HVAC systems will always be lower — and the geothermal system will always be greener.
Click to enlarge.
How much can you save in energy costs with a geothermal system? Calculate your home’s potential geothermal system cost savings
Looking for more information? Check out energy.gov for further resources: https://energy.gov/energysaver/geothermal-heat-pumps
6 Tips to Keep Your Wallet Happy This Winter
Wednesday, December 14th, 2016Don’t let your winter heating costs get you down
Sure, in the short walk from your heated car to your heated office the cold winter air may be refreshing, but I’m sure there are few among us who don’t appreciate the comfort of a well-heated house at the end of the day. I’ll also bet there are few among us whose energy bills don’t see some kind of spike in these winter months either. That part’s not so comforting.
But before you scramble to take up residence someplace more tropical, we’ve put together 6 tips to help keep your house warm and wallet happy this winter.
1. Go smart (with a smart/programmable thermostat)
Automatically control the temperature of your house when you’re working, sleeping, or otherwise occupied with a programmable thermostat, and you can save from 5 to 20% on your heating bill. No need to worry about remembering to turn your heat down when you leave the house–programmable thermostats take the hassle out of heating.
Solving Drafts (and other common problems) with Duct Repairs
Friday, July 31st, 2015Leaky ducts cause drafts, dusty homes and higher utility bills!
There are a number of reasons that you might feel drafts or inconsistent temperatures throughout your home. However, there is one culprit that is more common than all others: leaky ducts.
When your ducts are leaking into the walls, crawlspace, attic or floors, some of the air that is supposed to be delivered to the home never makes it where it is supposed to. That paid for heat (or cool) moves through the structure to outside.
When the duct work is sealed either by hand or with our preferred method, AeroSeal, the air is delivered to all areas as was hopefully intended.
In addition to causing inadequate air delivery, duct leakage causes the home to suffer pressure imbalances which are a leading contributor to the introduction of unconditioned dirty air from the crawl space and attic. This introduction of “bad air” will contribute to poor indoor air quality, exacerbating respiratory issues, and cool drafts moving through the home.
Homes with duct leakage can suffer these issues:
- Excessive dust and toxic airborne particulate
- Drafts
- Unexplained odors
- Uneven heating or cooling (especially the extremities of the home)
- Excessive indoor humidity
- Increased asthma, allergy and other respiratory symptoms
- Higher than expected heating or cooling bills
If you, or anyone you know, have experienced any of these challenges, it’s important that you contact your local home performance trained HVAC contractor to explore the solutions that are available.
Check out the video below to see how one homeowner solved their drafts:
I can’t believe I’ve never seen this before!
Tuesday, July 21st, 2015Blower Door Demonstration on Home Improvement’s Tool Time… Enjoy!
Is it CHI or CHEE?
Saturday, October 12th, 2013The Chinese have a term ‘CHI’ that is defined as: The light, refreshing, uplifting feng shui energy that is beneficial to your health and well-being. We’d like you to consider your ‘CHEE”
They tell us that Good Chi, takes many forms, such as:
- The energy you experience walking by the beach (high amount of negative ions are beneficial to your health)
- The energy you experience in a lush forest (Japanese have the expression of “wood bathing”)
- In a harmonious interior environment with a good flow of feng shui energy, clean air and plenty of natural light.
At Barron, we can’t help you with the FengShui design of your home or suggest which local beach or forest might put your spirit in the best position to receive ‘good Chi’ (probably any of our great outdoor areas will do the trick)…but we can help in positioning your home to be in the perfect condition to control, clean and condition the indoor environment we will spend most hours of the day in.
Many homes can’t keep windows open during good weather due to allergens and outside air moving into the home and causing respiratory issues. This leaves a home feeling stuffy or uncomfortable. Then to make matters worse, when they lay down to sleep in the evening in a home that may be too warm or uncomfortable to provide the beneficial sleep…the home can go into a state (due to negative pressure) that brings a tremendous amount of dust, contaminants & allergens into the home. The contaminants enter through can lights, attic hatches, electrical switches or under wall plates and pollute the air we breathe. Ever wonder why you wake up more stuffy than when you went to bed?
At Barron, we appreciate the CHI but we’re more about the CHEE.
What’s CHEE? We’re glad you asked…
CHEE stands for the Comfort, Health Energy Efficiency of your home. Creating the perfect balance of those three is Barron’s specialty and what we feel is the key to providing the perfect indoor living environment. We work hard at good CHEE so that the path to your front door can bring the same feelings of peace and serenity that a walk on the beach or next to the forest can provide.
Take a look at the different Services we provide to improve the CHEE around your home as you work toward your own perfect balance. We’d love the opportunity to help.