6 Tips to Keep Your Wallet Happy This Winter

December 14th, 2016

Don’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.

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Trends in HVAC: 3 Areas Driving Advancements in Technology

December 8th, 2016
via PrincipiaConsulting.com

Leading and emerging trends in the air conditioning market

The market for technology in the HVAC market is rapidly ever-changing. Developments for future technology focus on convenience and the user experience. Although the evolution of these products in HVAC may be in their infancy, most organizations are predicting that user experience will define the industry for years to come. The emphasis on convenience is creating increased demand for technology that may not even exist yet.

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Is Aeroseal Right for You?

November 21st, 2016

Do you have uncomfortable hot or cold rooms in your house, dusty or musty air that aggravates allergies, or high utility bills that leave something to be desired month after month? The bad news: You may have leaky ducts.

The good news: Aeroseal’s duct work sealing technology has helped improve home comfort, overall air quality, and energy savings in homes across the country. When 30 cents of every $1 spent on heating/cooling leaks before making it to your living space, properly sealed ducts make a big difference in savings.

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Welcome to the official blog of Barron Heating & Air Conditioning

November 16th, 2016

Welcome to the official blog of Barron Heating & Air Conditioning 

We’re here to help make your home comfortable, healthy, and energy efficient with our tips, tricks, relevant resources and more!

Don’t forget to connect with us:

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Improving Indoor Air Quality

June 25th, 2016

We all know about how stack effect works in homes, but during presentations, I’m always surprised by how many hands are raised in response to the question: “How many of you think you can make a house too tight and cause problems with indoor air quality?” Generally, at least three-quarters of the room raises their hands. Really? My colleague Joe Kuonen says that getting a house so tight that you need to ventilate is a feat worth celebrating. “Now, we can get fresh air from a place we can trust,” he says. Where do most of our homes get their fresh air? From places we cannot trust, like crawl spaces.

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Got Dust? The spots you might be missing…

May 24th, 2016

If you’re like most homeowners – dusting is not one of your favorite chores (are any chores fun?). We all like to give it the old “college try” and hit our tabletops, television, and maybe even our picture frames on a weekly basis. But, take a minute right now — look up at your return grilles then look down at your supply grilles. Yuck, right? Don’t feel bad – lots of people have the same dusty, grimy register covers in their homes. So why is this forgotten area of your housekeeping so important?

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Does Spring Cleaning Seem Overwhelming?

April 20th, 2016

Finally, we can pack away our coats, gloves and winter boots and pull out our baseball hats, shorts, and tee shirts – spring is here!! If you’re like most homeowners you have a laundry list of things you want to accomplish this season: spring clean your home, finish those pesky projects you’ve put off all winter, get your lawn ready for the neighborhood barbecue, and much more. But don’t forget, spring is also the perfect time to focus on the quality of your indoor air. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the air in the typical home is up to five times dirtier than the air outdoors. Keeping your air as clean as possible helps to reduce asthma and allergy symptoms and improve your overall health.

Here are a few simple tips to improve the air quality in your home this spring:

  1. Do your spring cleaning – pay particular attention to those areas we tend to skip during our normal cleaning. Dust the heat registers and return vents in each room, as well as ceiling fans. Vacuum upholstery and drapes. When dusting, use a damp or treated cloth to avoid kicking up dust particles and dust mites while you work. Lookout for staining, wet spots or visible water drips so that any issues are caught and dealt with immediately.
  2. Remove your shoes when you enter your home. The soles of your shoes pick up all sorts of dirt and toxins from outside and track them through your home.
  3. Check your HVAC air filter and replace it if dirty. A clean air filter protects your system from dust buildup.
  4. Wash your bedding in hot water every week, and vacuum your mattress to remove highly allergenic dust mite debris.
  5. Control clutter in your home to reduce the amount of dust and allergens in your air.
  6. Replace your kitchen sponges every week, or use washable cloths instead. Sponges may have as many as 100,000 bacteria per square inch.
  7. Bring Mother Nature inside. Plants add oxygen into your home while actively working to reduce Carbon Dioxide levels to improve your air quality.
  8. Call your trusted home performance trained contractor today to schedule a spring HVAC maintenance appointment.

You may also be interested in:
Asthma Triggers and Information
The Right Ventilation Keeps the Home (and you!) Healthy



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10 Ways to Ensure Good Home Air Quality

March 23rd, 2016
From the healthy home air experts at ASHRAE.org
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Homeowners: Don’t get duped!

February 3rd, 2016

Read these tips on how to choose a contractor and protect your money.

 

Homeowners should be very careful before choosing a heating and cooling contractor for their home. There are huge differences in quality and professionalism throughout the industry. The “best” contractors will typically be members of one or more professional contractor associations. You should be looking for contractors who are well-educated and certified in three particular areas:

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How important is a “Home Energy Checkup”?

January 20th, 2016

Only if you believe that a “leaky home” can waste money

And you should! Whether you are heating or cooling your home, leaky homes can waste your hard-earned dollars!

The best way to evaluate your home is to have it professionally tested. Home energy assessments, home energy audits and home energy check-ups are all pretty much the same thing. The important element is to choose the right type of professional contractor to perform any one of these evaluations of your home.

As explained in this video from the U.S. Department of Energy, a home energy checkup is a series of tests and inspections to help determine how your home can be more efficient. Finding the source of inefficiencies in the home will help you understand how you could be wasting money. It is common to find problems in most homes like:

  1. insulation
  2. trap doors/access doors to attics
  3. lighting
  4. appliances
  5. dirty filters
  6. leaky duct work
  7. airflow and sources of air leakage in the home

The good news is that all of these problems areas can be fixed! Many times, homeowners are tricked into purchasing new heating or cooling systems that can cost thousands of dollars. But it is quite common that a new system is not what the homeowner needs. What’s worse is that the new system will not operate as efficiently as expected because the true source of inefficiencies in the home have not been addressed. It is common that homeowners can save more money in the long run by doing a little bit of investigative work on the front end.

So why wait until those energy bills start adding up?

You may also be interested in:
Solving Drafts (and Other Common Problems) with Duct Repairs
The Importance of Sealing Attic Penetrations 

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