Summer Energy Efficiency: How to Lower Your AC Costs Without Sacrificing Comfort

With temperatures soaring across the nation, staying comfortable can often be at odds with your wallet. Air conditioning (AC) is a blessing in the blistering heat of summer, but it can also lead to astronomical energy bills. 

Fortunately, there are several effective strategies that homeowners can employ to increase energy efficiency and lower AC costs without compromising on comfort.

Have Strategic Thermostat Settings

Your thermostat is the brain behind your AC usage. Simply adjusting the temperature by a few degrees when you're not at home can lead to significant savings. Consider investing in a programmable or smart thermostat that automatically makes these adjustments for you.

Optimize Air Flow

Ensuring your AC unit is working efficiently is crucial. Regularly replace or clean your AC filters to prevent dust buildup, which can restrict airflow and force your system to work harder.

 

Additionally, keep registers and vents unblocked by furniture or drapes to promote better air circulation throughout the home.

Seal Leaks

Poor insulation and leaks can be energy vampires. Use weatherstripping or caulk to seal leaks in doors and windows. Make sure that no cool air is escaping through cracks and crevices. 

Taking time to fix these leaks can improve the efficacy of your AC unit and help maintain cooler temperatures indoors.

Use Fans Wisely

Ceiling fans can be used in conjunction with your AC for better air circulation. By enabling the movement of cooler air around the room, you can set your thermostat higher without feeling the heat. 

On cooler days, or in the evenings, turn off the AC and use fans to bring down the temperature naturally.

Use Window Wisdom

Solar heat gain through windows can significantly affect your indoor temperature. Use shades, blinds, or drapes to block the sun during the hottest parts of the day. If possible, install energy-efficient windows that have a reflective coating to repel solar rays.

Reduce Heat Inside

The activities you do inside can raise your home's temperature. Cooking, running the dishwasher, or using heat-generating electronics can make your AC work harder. 

Try grilling outside, washing dishes by hand, or saving energy-intensive tasks for cooler times of the day.

Landscape for Shade

Planting trees or shrubs can provide shade and create a natural cool zone around your house. Pay special attention to the west and east windows, which typically receive the most sunlight. 

Green landscaping not only cuts down on your cooling needs but also enhances the aesthetics of your property.

Maintain Your AC Unit

Regular maintenance of your AC unit is non-negotiable for optimal performance. Have a professional service your AC system yearly to ensure it’s operating at peak efficiency. This could also extend the life of your unit and prevent costly repairs in the long run.

Invest in Efficient AC Systems

If your AC unit is older than 10 years, upgrading to a newer, energy-efficient model could be a worthwhile investment. These modern systems have higher Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratios (SEER) and use less energy to produce the same cooling effect.

Utilize Smart Utilization of Space

Close off unused areas of your home and avoid cooling rooms that aren't in use. By concentrating the cooling in just the utilized spaces, you can maximize the efficiency of your AC system.

We often think of summer as a time of higher energy bills, but it doesn't have to be. By taking a strategic approach to how we cool our homes, it's possible to find a perfect balance between comfort and cost-saving. 

Implementing the tips above can not only improve your home's energy efficiency and reduce your carbon footprint but also keep you comfortably cool throughout the dog days of summer.

Remember, each step you take towards more efficient energy use is a step towards a greener, more cost-effective lifestyle. Stay cool, save money, and enjoy your summer sustainably! If you need help with your AC unit, remember to seek out professionals like Kelly Air Systems / CM Kelly to boost your AC system’s performance.

7 Green Home Renovations that will Save you Money

Tired of watching the majority of your household budget disappear into utility costs every month? 

Fortunately, today's homeowners have many available resources that can help them keep heating and cooling costs down as well as save water. 

Following are seven green home renovations that will save you money. 

Energy-Efficient Windows

Whether you decide to renovate existing windows by adding weather-stripping and caulking or replace old, drafty windows with new ones, you'll save money on both heating and cooling costs. 

Newer and more energy efficient windows do a better job at keeping warm or cool air in (depending on the time of year) which allows your furnace or air conditioner to not work as hard. You can also look at investing into various window treatments such as blinds, shutters, or even window film to boost your windows to maximum energy efficiency. 

Solar Panels

Besides being an eco-friendly energy option that will significantly reduce your carbon footprint on the planet, solar panels will save you substantial sums on your electric bill. 

Today's solar panels are much more sophisticated than their counterparts of the past, so be sure to ask professionals such as AMI Energy / 1800 Solar USA for a rundown on the various benefits of having solar panels installed. 

Cool Roofs

If summer air conditioning bills are causing your temperature to rise, get a cool roof and enjoy the refreshing indoor atmosphere. Cool roofing technology uses reflective materials to repel the sun's heat from the surface of your home, resulting in significantly cooler interior temperatures. 

Programmable Thermostats

Programmable thermostats take the human error out of the picture and prevent utility bills from soaring when the last one out of the house for the day forgets to turn down the heat or air conditioning. 

Click Here For Kitchen Remodeling Ideas & Tips for Seniors

You can also operate these remotely to turn household temperature regulating devices on a half hour or so prior to your arrival. Some programmable thermostats can also heat or cool different rooms to different temperatures. Therefore, if you can change the temperature in the rooms you use the most versus the rooms you use the least. 

This ultimately allows your furnace and air conditioner to not work as hard which should hopefully allow you to save on the cost and life on both systems. 

On-Demand Hot Water Heaters

Traditional water heaters work by keeping a supply of hot water ready at all times. On-demand water heaters heat the water as it's used, so you never pay for hot water that just sits there cooling in a tank. 

Energy Star Appliances

Replacing your stove, refrigerator, freezer, washing machine, dryer, and other household appliances with those that meet the federal governments Energy Star standards will greatly reduce your household energy costs. Purchasing Energy Star appliances will also make you federal tax credits, increasing your savings even further. 

Energy-Efficient Landscaping

Lush, decorative landscaping is one of the major drains on the utility budgets of many American homeowners. Using native plants, drought-resistant ground coverings rather than thirsty lawns will help you keep water costs down. 

Native plants are an excellent choice because they are already acclimated to your specific region and won't need to be provided with extra water.

A good rule of thumb to keep in mind when deciding on home renovations with cutting costs in mind is that green choices will almost always put more green in your pocket in the long run. 

There are many other ways to take your home green and more energy efficient as well allowing you and your family to live comfortably without breaking your wallet and bank account on energy bills each month. 

How Retirees Can Save Money on their Energy Costs

Air conditioner, complete with piping, insulated with foamed rubber pipe covering (common refrigeration insulation, along with foamglass). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Winter can be a particularly hard time for anybody. People are more prone to illness, roads become burdened with inches of that cold powdery stuff, and our finances are strained by the increasing energy costs of keeping our homes warm. However, winter can be particularly hard on elderly retirees who are hoping to stretch their retirement budget as efficiently as possible. 

While other homeowners are able to turn off their systems to save some energy costs throughout the day, retirees don’t really have an option if they’re homebound. Especially given that around 70% of arthritic individuals suffer far worse pain due to arthritis in cold weather, it can be difficult to compromise on keeping a home heated comfortably for the sake of a budget.

However, with the right practices, retirees never have to worry about paying exorbitant energy bills to keep themselves warm. Here are a few tips that folk who find themselves retired, or anyone who spends the majority of their time inside, can benefit from in reducing their heating related expenses this coming winter:

Perform regular cleaning and maintenance

When it comes to your HVAC system, realize that many parts come with expiration dates. No air conditioner lasts forever, ducts require constant maintenance to remain sealed, and homes regularly need to be audited to make sure you aren’t wasting energy. But if you’re experiencing trouble with your system before your equipment’s typical lifespan, it’s important to ask yourself if you’re having regular maintenance and cleaning procedures performed.

It’s important to recognize how your system works if you intend on doing these procedures yourself. It’s important to recognize the sort of system your house runs on; while many homes run on centralized air conditioning systems, newer houses run on split systems. See this article for a look inside the split system A/C in your home.

Some general forms of maintenance that you should certainly consider to improve your equipment’s lifespan and energy efficiency include:

• Changing or cleaning your filter
• Cleaning coils inside and out
• Monitoring your refrigerant for leaks
• Cleaning your ducts when debris is excessive or creating a blockage

However, it’s important to recognize your limitations if you find yourself unable to accomplish these tasks. Various how-to’s exist online on these subjects for all kinds of circumstances, but doing repairs which are out of your comfort zone could result in personal injury or property damage. And remember – always turn off your system and disconnect power supply when doing any sort of in-depth maintenance.

Consider how well your home “stores” heat

Depending on the amount of insulation and how weatherized your home is, you might be losing a tremendous amount of energy in your home. With improper insulation, it can leak through your walls. With poor weatherization, you can be sending heated air directly out of gaps and crevices in your windows, doors, open frame construction, and other areas. We wouldn’t leave a door open with the heater on; it’s equally reckless to let these gaps go unmaintained if you want to optimize your heating system.

Installing insulation should be left to a professional, especially if it requires removing or working around insulation which contains asbestos. However, weatherizing your home puts you at significantly less risk. This simply requires knowing where to find leaks in your indoor environment and how to seal them using applications like caulk, polyurethane coating, weather-stripping, and other readily-available adhesives. Professional services can perform these tasks for you, though at a premium. Doing it yourself might be advantageous if your budget is too great of a concern and you are physically capable.

With these tips, you can save yourselves up to hundreds of dollars annually on your energy bills. More importantly, you can keep yourself cozy even in the harshest times of winter without worrying about spending too much.

By Jason Wall, an HVAC technician of over 23 years with Griffith Energy Services

Going Green For Good

It is a concept that has been around for a long while now and is increasingly gaining importance. Green energy is the creation of energy in a manner that reduces the brunt of its negative impact on the surroundings. Some of the traditional sources of energy are notorious for the greenhouse gases that they cause. There are several sources of green energy that we are familiar with. Solar, wind, geothermal as well as hydro-energy are all great sources of alternative energy. The waste produced in the creation of energy from these sources is minimal compared to oil and coal.

So what exactly does this mean for you? Installation of green energy systems has a way of decreasing a home's dependency on the power grid. It reduces the carbon footprint emitted from your home and makes your electricity bills something to smile about at the end of the month. Whether you are in college or close to retirement, switching to green energy solutions can only be beneficial.

Financial Considerations

One of the first things most people worry about is the initial cost of switching a home to solar power. The average cost is around $8 to $9 for every watt of power and approximately 30% more for the associated installation of batteries. This may come across as rather expensive, but the fact is that such a system will pay for itself in a short amount of time.

Such systems especially make sense for those families that are close to retirement and want to have cost-effective methods in place to help their finances maintain some stability. If you do find that such installation is expensive, you can alter things one room at a time, until you have made the transition. Or you could start with the outdoor lighting of your home. Many people hesitate to light up the outside of their homes and consider it to be a frivolous expense. However, with solar lighting, you can have a great source of light that will not affect your bills. It keeps anti-social elements at bay and allows your home to stay safe.

Heat with Bio-fuels

Another great use of green technology is the concept of using bio-fuels to heat up your home. These are comprised of wood, oil and also fat. If you have one of the usual propane based systems in your home, then the switch can easily be made to allow you to use a blend of all these fuels. You instantly reduce your heating bill and carbon footprint.

Tax Incentives

The good thing about using green technology, especially if you are a business owner, is that you get tax incentives for doing so. All you need to do is avoid the use of fossil fuels, and you will be able to give your brand a complete makeover. The same applies to your home as well. If you ever decide to put it on the market, the presence of a green technology system will ensure that it commands a better market value.

Home Insulation

Even the amount of green energy you use can be controlled. If you insulate your home well, especially with R rated insulation systems, you can ensure not only security but also balanced temperatures in the house, and this will reduce your dependency on air-conditioning. Having programmable thermostats installed in your homes too can make a world of difference to the way energy is consumed. This way you can regulate the intensity of usage of power.

Changing small things in the house -- using CFLs, taking all your gadgets off standby mode or shutting them down instead of leaving them on indefinitely, especially when you go to bed at night. All of these moves can help you contribute to the preservation of the environment.

Author BioWilliam Stevens is a writer who creates informative articles in relation to technology. In this article, he explains a few benefits of going green and aims to encourage further study through online electrical engineering colleges.

Five Ways To Save Money On Your Utility Bills

English: Series of air conditioners at UNC-CH. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

No matter how strong, or how weak, the economy is, the one constant seems to be the constant increases in utility costs. Every homeowner is always on the lookout for ways to save some money every month, and we will share with you some solid, effective ways to do so. Savings add up, month to month, and any changes made will soon pay for themselves.

Heating And Cooling

Heating and cooling a home is one of the biggest energy costs today, and actually one of the easiest to fix. The first thing to do is to have an inspector come out to check for possible leak points. The more air that escapes through ill fitting vents and gaps in walls or floors, the more dollars that get wasted on heating and cooling costs.

Shade trees behind, and on sides of the home will help reduce the need for high air conditioning costs in the summer. The added insulation from the sun’s rays will keep indoor temperatures down, and the AC kicking in less. Sealing the windows with plastic sheeting will do the same with heating in the winter.

Lighting

Dimmer switches will help to reduce the amount of lighting needed to illuminate the home. The brighter the light, the more energy is expended. If you will only be occupying a smaller area, use task lighting like overhead track lights instead of lighting up the entire room. Switch out light bulbs for energy savers in every room that sees a lot of traffic. Design the placement of furniture to take advantage of natural lighting, near windows, whenever possible.

Using Home Electronics

Research has shown that 60 percent of the power that each piece of home electronics uses daily is eaten up by continually sitting on standby. Don’t just turn the volume down, or leave that green light blinking, turn it off completely. To be honest, plugging them all into a surge protector power strips will not only preserve them from storms, it will also make it easier to turn them all off at once.

Appliances

Make sure that you keep all of the appliances in the home in good repair, especially items like hot water heaters, dishwashers, and washer-dryers. A machine like these that is damaged will work twice as hard to perform, using twice the energy. Upgrade to Energy Star rated appliances, if possible, which use less energy. With washers, dryers and dishwashers, consolidate loads whenever possible. If you have an appliance you no longer use, unplug it and take it away. One empty refrigerator alone will waste up to 160 dollars of energy costs.

Go On A Budget

A lot of municipal energy providers offer what is termed a ‘budget plan’ for cost conscious consumers. You will pay the same amount of money every month, regardless of what your meter says. On months that you do not use that much energy, the overage that you paid in will go into credit, which you can then use during months when you will need more energy, like summer.

About Author: Alisa Martin is a proficient author and writes articles on finance. She regularly contributes for the website Direct-payday-lenders.com.

How to Save Energy on Your Home Air Conditioning

There is a lot you can do in order to ensure that you do not waste energy on your air conditioning. After all, you use your air conditioner the most during the summer. In fact, there may be days when you do not wish to switch it off at all. In hot climates, having an air conditioner is very important. So you need to find out ways, which are the most energy efficient, in helping you to cool your home. This way you will not have to pay any high energy bills. Thankfully, there are many different things you can do in order to use your air conditioner in a more efficient way, spend less money, and avoid wasting energy too.

First, you need a thermostat that is programmable for your air conditioner. This is a device that is temperature sensitive. Once it is programmable, you would be able to control when your air conditioning is switched on. You need to choose from the various programmable thermostat models available in order to find the one that will suit your specific needs. There are models that you can program for the whole week. This will suit those who have varying schedules and routines. So you can program each day depending on when you leave and when you come back.
There are also the five and two day models. These can be programmed for those five weekdays and the two days at the weekend. This is best for those who follow a different schedule during their weekend.

With a programmable thermostat you enjoy a cool house when you leave and be welcomed by a cool house when you return. Your air conditioning will get switched off during the rest of the day. You would be saving on energy this way.

Second, you need to think of solar energy in order to keep your home cool and to save on money too. The solar panels you use will take in energy during the day. You can use this energy in order to power the air conditioning system of your home. This way you would be using the sun in order to keep your home cool. Even though you should not turn towards solar energy for all your heating needs, but this is definitely an efficient way for you to lower your energy bills. Even though the start-up costs for using and installing solar panels may be somewhat expensive, the long-term savings that you would be making will make it worthwhile.

Of course, regular maintenance is important but is often neglected by a lot of people. You need to clean out your system each month. This will help you to get rid of any kind of dust or debris that may be lying around. You must replace the filter, too. Having less dust will ensure that your air conditioning system works more efficiently. You will also save energy this way. 

These are simple techniques that can be practiced by all in order to save on energy bills. Click here for more energy saving tips.