Reducing Electricity Use in Your Home

     In most parts of the country we see a slow but steady rise in our utility bills. To help buffer the rising costs of electricity in our homes, many folks inquire of their local utility companies what they can do to save money. So, what are the 'best' energy improvements you can make? Well, first look at your insulation levels in your attic, and in your floor crawl space. Make sure your attic insulation is up to code, or what your power company recommends for your area. Some states offer rebates, or tax credits for adding more insulation to the attic. Insulated floors or crawl spaces are important to keep cold air from getting into your house through the floor. (An extra tip, is to close your foundation vents in the winter to keep cold air out, and to open them in the summer to allow ventilation. Easy to do if you just remember to open them the first time you mow your yard in the spring)
     The next thing you can do, is to install compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in your home's most-used fixtures. Also, if you have an old, inefficient refrigerator in your garage, think about upgrading to a 'energy star' rated fridge. Some utility companies will even 'pay' you and pick it up and get rid of old ones. They call it 'Cash for Clunkers' programs, etc.
     What about good DIY projects for spring and summer that can save on your utilities? I feel like I have said this a million times but, CHANGE THE FILTERS in your furnace and air conditioning systems. Clean leaves and debris away from the outside A/C unit. Spring is a good time get up in your attic and check to see that your duct work is all connected and sealed. Go into your crawl space with a flashlight and make sure duct work is connected and not leaking. If you feel that this is a bit beyond your DIY abilities, then call your local heating and cooling professionals, and have them come out and do it for you. It may cost you as little as a hundred dollars or so to have that checked.
     Okay. You say you just don't have any money to spend for improvements. What can you do?
Electricity use is determined by two variables - watts and time. Efficient appliances save you money because they either take less time to do a job, or use fewer watts. So use this principle and apply it to each electricity consuming activity in your home. Turning things off when not in use, like lights. Enabling power saving features on you computer and monitor reduces watts used. I looked around my house one morning while it was still fairly dark outside and I was amazed how many things were using watts! Every little red, blue or green light on our clock radio, cable television boxes, wall chargers for our phones, tablets, & laptops The clock lights on our stove and microwave, our alarm clocks, our irons that are still plugged in and flashing. There may be lights on our digital washer and dryer that are on all the time. Now, I'm not saying run around and turn them all off, or unplug them, but, could we do a better job of turning off or unplugging the non-essential cords and apparatuses we have.
     Raising the thermostat a couple of degrees can also reduce watts being used, by reducing run times on your air conditioner, and saving you money. I know these are little things, but little things begin to add up, and over the course of a year save you money. Thanks for following @comfortguyjerry on Twitter, and Greens Heating and Air on Facebook. Learn more at www.greensheating.com, your Boise Idaho heating and air conditioning professionals.

Think 'Ductless' Heat Pump for Problem Homes

Here in the Treasure Valley of Idaho many home owners complain of rooms in their house that are too hot,  too cold, too often. Think about it. If you have a a two story home I can almost guarantee that you complain about that bonus/family room upstairs being too hot in the summer. Many have bedrooms upstairs, or master bedroom at the far side of the house and always seems cold in the winter. Or maybe you have put on a room addition, sun room, or decided to have a shop or craft room put in the garage and now you need it to be comfortable. What is the solution? @comfortguyjerry would highly recommend a ductless heat pump. They are a perfect solution. What is ductless? It is just that. No built in duct work like your present furnace and A/C use. Instead you have an outdoor compressor about the size of a large suitcase. From there they run all the copper lines, electrical, etc up the wall in a covered channel and drill a three inch hole in your wall for the lines to through to the indoor wall unit, which is the evaporative coil/fan. The wall unit usually is mounted up close to the ceiling. The fan runs at whisper quiet, and special technology uses electronic sensors to locate hot and cold areas of the room and adjust the variable speed compressor to make sure of even comfort. No blast of cold air like from a widow air condition and not hot radiant heat that you can't get to close to or you will roast.

The benefits are numerous! No duct work, real comfort.  Highly, highly efficient, and super quiet. Clean air to breath through a series of air filtration systems that give you clean air continuously. They provide both heat and cooling in one unit. There are several brands out there but @comfortguyjerry recommends Mitsubishi Ductless Heat Pumps for quality and durability.

Ductless units are being used in over 80% of homes in Japan, China and Europe already, and have been used for decades. For more information check these websites: www.mehvac.com or www.greensheating.com.

There Is A Difference!

Investing in a new Air Conditioner or complete heating and cooling system might compare to getting professional advice from your doctor when you have a major medical issue. GET A SECOND OPINION. Lets face it folks, heating and cooling systems are not getting any cheaper. And even if a company is trying to get you to buy 'right now' or because they bought a 'truck load' or 'business is slow', etc, it is smart to shop around and get other proposals that will compare apples to apples. @comfortguyjerry is here to tell you; there IS a difference between brands. Just check the Consumer Reports article in the May 2012 issue. That issue shows which brands of central air conditioners and central heat pumps that have the least repairs. Trane brand is one of the top three with the least repairs. So do your homework before you buy. Check out ratings and number of complaints for heating and cooling companies on the Better Business Bureau website. Don't get caught up with someone offering a 'free' furnace if you buy and air conditioner. We are smarter than that. There are no free rides. If someone was offering you a new Cadillac for half price, what would be the first thing you would say? You would say 'whats wrong with it?' Someone offering you a free furnace if you buy and air conditioner? Whats wrong with it?
There is also a strong correlation between number of repairs and the installation. I'm saying, even you buy quality equipment but have it incorrectly or poorly installed, your not going to get the efficiency you paid for and may have more repairs down the road. Personally I would rather justify the price than apologize later for the poor quality. Tweet me @comfortguyjerry. Like us on Facebook at Greens Heating and Air Conditioning or check our website www.greensheating.com.

Do More than Air Condition Your Home

The weather will soon begin to warm up in southwest Idaho and so we start thinking of how to stay cool. Comfortguyjerry says that air conditioning is NOT the only answer. There are several other factors to consider and things we can do to stay cool AND stay energy efficient.
Feeling comfortable in hot weather  requires two things to happen together. Obviously the first consideration is the temperature. The one we often don't think about is relative humidity or RH for short. The RH and the temperature have to both be low enough to keep you from sweating. Here in the Treasure Valley we live in what is called high desert and the humidity is fairly low all the time. The lower the RH the hotter it can be and we still feel pretty comfortable. Living here it can he 80 outside and we can handle it but if you live in Florida or North Carolina in it's 80 with humidity at 70% we are sweltering! So ideally we want to keep our humidity in our home at about 40-50% to be comfortable. In some areas people have to install dehumidifier's to deal with excessive humidity. We rarely if ever do that in Idaho. Traditional air conditioning units are good at removing excess humidity from the air. However there are other things we can do to help stay cool with out lowering out thermostats more and more.
FIRST: Dress for the weather. If its hot inside your home wear light weight clothing when at home and you may be able to adjust the thermostat up a few degrees and still be comfortable.
SECOND: Turn on a fan. Air circulating on your skin will make you feel cooler. So think about ceiling fans or circulating fans that can move the air toward you. If you are not having it blow on your skin then it is not going to do much good, so shut if off when your not in the room. Make sure your ceiling fan blades are turning clockwise in the summer and counter-clockwise in the winter for them to be the most efficient.
THIRD: Open the windows and doors when it 's cool at night or in the morning. Then before it gets too hot, close them all up, usually around mid-day or early afternoon. Use the air conditioner until it cools down enough that you could open doors and windows again. You will stay comfortable and also save energy. The trick to this is don't let it get too hot in the house before you turn on the air conditioner. It will take more time and energy to cool down the house to the desired temperature.
FOURTH: Sun shining on widows produces a lot of passive solar heat, heat, heat. Close the blinds and drapes on the south, west, and east of your house. You might even consider installing outside awnings or sun shades if you receive a lot of intense heat. Sun rooms are just that. Sun Rooms. They can turn into a real sauna and literally warm up the rest of the rooms adjacent to them and then your A/C will work overtime to trying to keep up with the demand at the thermostat. For more information follow us twitter @comfortguyjerry or like us on Facebook page at Greens Heating and Air Conditioning. Consult are website at greensheating.com Stay cool my friends.