Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Fri, Sep 03, 2010
A new energy-saving program aimed at improving the energy efficiency of Lorain County homes has recently been launched by Columbia Gas and Raymond Plumbing is here to help you take full advantage of the program. The program will take advantage of multiple rebates and federal tax credits now being offered for energy-efficient home improvements. Many of these money-saving rebates expire at the end of the year, so Lorain County residents are urged to sign up for the Home Performance Solutions program fast.
The Home Performance Solutions program begins with an energy audit to identify where your home is wasting energy – and your hard-earned money – and target improvement areas. Lorain County homeowners will receive a detailed energy use report that specifies energy-saving tips along with estimated energy savings and applicable rebates for implementing recommended energy-efficient home improvements. Owners of gas-heated homes who use 1,000 Ccf of natural gas or more per year will profit most from this program.
For a limited time, Columbia Gas is offering Lorain County residents a complete home energy audit for just $50, a fraction of its $500 value. Generous energy efficient home improvement rebates and tax credits available through December 31, 2010, can save Lorain County homeowners as much as 70% off the cost of installing recommended home improvements.
But the savings don’t stop there. Installation of energy-efficient gas furnaces and other home improvements can reduce your natural gas use by as much as 30%, a savings you will continue to enjoy year after year. Now is the time to take advantage of multiple money-saving offers to cut your energy use and your gas bill. Contact Raymond Plumbing today for more information.
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Fri, Aug 27, 2010
August may be coming to a close but summer’s heat will be with us for a while longer, warn Lorain County weather forecasters. If you haven’t converted your energy-guzzling air conditioner to a new, energy-efficient Carrier air conditioning system, there’s still time to make the change and cash in on Uncle Sam’s Tax Credit for Energy-Efficient Home Improvements. Investing in an Energy Star-rated home comfort appliance is an excellent way to put a little of that federal stimulus money into your own pocket for a change. Click here to get Raymond’s free tax credit facts sheet.
Investing in an energy-efficient Carrier Infinity, Performance or Comfort air conditioner will do more than save money on next April’s federal income taxes. An energy-efficient A/C costs less to operate than older, less efficient models. When your Lorain County air conditioning professional installs an energy-sipping air conditioner in your home or business, you’ll begin to realize significant savings on your monthly utility bill immediately. And those savings will continue for the life of the unit. In just a few years, your new air conditioner will pay for itself.
The savings generated by energy-efficient air conditioners are not just monetary. When you use energy-efficient appliances, you reduce your carbon footprint and help save the environment. All Carrier energy-efficient air conditioners use eco-friendly Puron refrigerant, not the ozone-damaging Freon used by older A/C units. With global warming increasing, record-breaking heat waves are predicted to become the summertime norm in Lorain County. Reducing your personal carbon footprint is one of the most productive personal actions you can take to protect the environment.
Energy-efficient appliances save money and save the environment. Sounds like a win-win for Lorain County residents!
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Wed, Aug 25, 2010
Want to instantly cut your annual hot water costs in half? Ask your Lorain County plumbing professional to install a solar water heater in your home or business. It’s that easy.
Improve Your Carbon Footprint with a Solar Water Heater
Solar water heaters are one of the exciting, new green-energy appliances coming onto the market today. Powered by the sun, Energy Star-qualified solar water heating systems are an eco-conscious way to reduce your carbon footprint and help protect the environment. And because sunshine is free, solar water heaters are as budget-friendly as they are eco-friendly. According to statistics posted on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Star website, installing a solar water heater can cut your Lorain County water bills by 50% or more.
Despite what you may think, Lorain County gets plenty of sunshine to make installation of a solar water heater cost effective. Our gloomy winters do mean that you’ll need a backup gas or electric water heater, but the savings are still considerable. According to the Department of Energy, a typical 4-person family will save $190 annually by combining a solar water heater with a backup gas-storage water heater. Backup your solar water heater with an electric water heater and you’ll save $250 per year. Larger families that use more than the average amount of water will realize even greater savings. Over the average 20-year life of a solar water heating system, you’ll save thousands of dollars on your energy bills!
Solar Water Heaters Qualify for the Federal Tax Credit
The purchase of a solar water heating system pays for itself in 7 to 10 years. Lorain County home and business owners can recoup their investment even faster by taking advantage of Federal tax credits.
While the monetary savings are a powerful incentive to purchase a solar water heater, many Lorain County residents invest in solar power to protect the environment. Use of an energy-efficient solar-powered water heating system can cut carbon dioxide emissions in half, reducing your carbon footprint by 4,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. That’s like garaging your car for 4 months!
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Mon, Aug 09, 2010
The Number One Factor People Go Green
What motivates most companies – and people -- to go green? Interestingly, for most Americans, the No. 1 factor in adopting energy-efficient, sustainable products and practices is not a desire to improve the planet or halt global warming, it’s money! Yep, business owners and ordinary folks in Lorain County go green to save green!
A whopping 97% of American businesses ranked saving money as their primary reason for investing in energy-efficient appliances, products and systems, according to a nationwide survey of corporate energy decision-makers conducted by Johnson Controls. Other decision-making factors paled in importance to saving money when energy use was on the line. In a close tie for a distant second place were:
- Enhancing their public image or brand motivated 63% of U.S. companies to go green.
- Government and utility company rebates and incentives were cited as a motivating factor by 62% of the firms surveyed. (As many noted, another way to save money.)
- Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions motivated 62% of survey participants.
How Energy-efficient Home Comfort Appliances Save Money
Individual Lorain County citizens are more likely than their corporate counterparts to go green as a matter of conscience, but saving money clearly provides an undeniably huge incentive to save energy whether you’re an individual or a huge conglomerate. Federal tax credits and Ohio rebates have spurred Lorain County sales of energy-efficient heat and cooling systems, heat pumps and hot water heaters. Lorain County consumers concerned about the initial cost of investing in energy-efficient home comfort appliances will be glad to hear that investment costs are generally recouped within a few years at most. After that, energy costs plummet to zero which means that once you’ve recouped your investment, energy use is free! You can’t beat that for saving money!
Reserve Your Rebate Today
Note to Lorain County consumers: If you’ve been thinking about taking advantage of Ohio’s appliance rebate program to install an energy-efficient water heater, stop dragging your feet. The Ohio Department of Development which oversees the rebate program is considering reassigning funds earmarked for water heaters to other appliances like refrigerators and clothes washers. Don’t lose out! Reserve your Ohio rebate today and contact Raymond Plumbing to schedule installation of an energy-efficient water heater.
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Wed, Jul 28, 2010
Increasing Global Temperatures Mean Colder Winters and Hotter Summers
If you think this year’s sweltering summer temperatures are an aberration, think again. The intense summer heat wave that has descended on the Northern Hemisphere and sent temperatures soaring into the 90s for weeks at a time is expected to become commonplace in our lifetime, warn climate researchers at Stanford University. Residents from unusually moderate Lorain County to typically cool Fairbanks, Alaska and Moscow, Russia should prepare to cope with increasingly hot summers and weeks of extreme heat.
Within 30 years, average global temperatures are expected to be 3.6 degrees higher than during the mid-1800s when regular temperature tracking was initiated. Global temperature change doesn’t equate directly into local temperatures; the effect is more far-reaching. Increasing global temperatures mean more severe weather on both ends of the temperature scale -- colder winters, hotter summers, longer droughts and more violent storms. Long heat waves are expected to occur 5 times more frequently in the 2020s than at any time during the past 60 years.
Green Energy is Key to Maintaining Your Comfort and Controlling Energy Costs
Sure dire climate predictions mean that Lorain County homeowners can expect to be running their air conditioners a lot more frequently this summer and into the foreseeable future. Ohio rebates on energy-efficient appliances and the federal tax credit for installation of energy star appliances make this an excellent year to replace your aging air conditioner with a new, energy-efficient air conditioner. As energy use goes up, Lorain County residents can expect their cooling bills to climb – and it looks like it’s just going to get worse. Moving to cheap, green, energy efficient air conditioning now is key to maintaining your family’s comfort and controlling your home energy costs in the future.
Looking to purchase energy-efficient equipment? Schedule a FREE estimate now on all installation projects
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Mon, Jul 19, 2010
Still Time To Get Cash For Clunkers
If you’ve been putting off purchasing a new energy-efficient home appliance, you’re in luck! There’s still money available in Ohio’s Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program and the state is anxious to hand that cash out to qualifying Lorain County residents. Of the $11 million originally set aside for Ohio’s cash for clunker appliances program, $9.8 million has been distributed since the program began in March. Fortunately for procrastinators, nearly $250,000 is still left in the fund and available to Ohio residents who decide to upgrade their energy-gobbling home appliances to new energy-sipping Energy Star appliances.
Save Money With Rebates
Lorain County residents can get Ohio rebates on energy-efficient refrigerators, clothes washers, dishwashers, electric heat pump water heaters and high-efficiency gas storage water heaters. Rebates range from $100 to $250 and vary by appliance. Details can be obtained from the state website at www.OhioApplianceRebate.com or by calling 1-888-686-8896. To obtain a rebate, Lorain County residents must reserve a rebate online or via phone, purchase an energy-efficient appliance within three days, recycle their old appliance and submit required information to the rebate center. Eight to 10 weeks later they’ll receive their rebate check.
Combine Rebate With Your Tax Credit
By the beginning of July, the state had mailed out 51,481 rebate checks to energy-savvy Ohio residents. Many Lorain County residents who are purchasing high-efficiency gas water heaters and heat pump water headers are combining their Ohio rebate with the Federal Stimulus Tax Credit to maximize their savings. Of course, the money these energy-efficient appliances will save them on their monthly energy bills stands to at least triple their savings!
If you’re ready to start saving energy – and cash – the energy experts at Raymond Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning can answer your questions and help you select the energy-efficient appliances that will best meet your needs. Give us a call today for a free installation estimate!
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Wed, Jul 14, 2010
The Advances of Solar Energy
Solar power is one of the hot new green energy sources being applied to everything from home comfort appliances to airplanes! A Swiss pilot just completed a successful night flight in an experimental airplane powered entirely by the sun’s energy! By 2013, scientists expect to have a plane that can circle the globe on solar power. Using the sun’s free energy to power home appliances, create electricity, even power cars and airplanes first postulated by early science fiction writers, but science is bringing the reality into Lorain County homes today. Solar Water Heaters are the newest innovation on the green energy front in Lorain County, Ohio.
Can This Work For Lorain County?
The ultimate energy-saving appliance, solar water heaters use the sun’s free energy to heat the water you use in your home. As Keith Raymond explains in an informative Solar Water Heating YouTube video posted on the Raymond Plumbing website, with a solar factor of 41, Lorain County provides plenty of sunshine to operate a solar water heater year-round. (For comparison, Miami has a solar factor of 51.)
Save Money With Your Solar Water Heater
On average, energy savings realized from installation of a solar water heater in your Lorain County home provide full payback of purchase and installation costs within the first 7 years of use. After that, all of your hot water is free! With solar panels having an average life of 20 to 25 years, a solar water heating system pays for itself in the first third of its life and continues to generate free hot water for the next 15+ years. That’s a real bargain, particularly if your family includes a couple of teenagers.
Not only will Lorain County homeowners shave a nice chunk off their energy bills by installing a solar water heater, but federal tax credits and state energy programs can cut that cost in half.
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Tue, Jun 29, 2010
Just think, if you had an energy-efficient geothermal heat pump with a waste recovery unit installed in your Lorain County home, not only would you be saving big bucks on your energy bills, you’d be enjoying FREE hot water all summer long. No more waiting for the dishwasher to finish cycling before you hop in the shower or worrying about how many showers your grooming-conscious teens are taking. Connecting a waste recovery unit to your geothermal heat pump ensures plenty of hot water for the whole family this summer -- and it won’t cost you a dime!
How A Geothermal Heat Pump Can Save Money
Geothermal heat pumps tap into the Earth’s natural temperature regulating capabilities to keep your home warm in winter and cool in summer. Geothermal heat pumps offer savvy Lorain County consumers real cost savings on their energy bills. Properly installed by your Lorain County plumbing, heating and air conditioner professional, a geothermal heat pump can save Lorain County homeowners from 50% to 70% on winter heating bills and up to 40% on summer air conditioning costs. Plus, purchase and installation of a geothermal heat pump this year qualifies for Federal Stimulus Tax Credits which could save you a nice chunk of change on your income taxes. The geothermal tax credit is available through December 31, 2016 and provides a 30% income tax credit on installed costs with no maximum limit.
Geothermal heat pumps capitalize on the ground’s natural ability to conserve energy. At a dept of 30 feet, ground water maintains a constant temperature throughout the year. The units work by transferring heat and cold between your home and the ground via a piped water system. In the summer, a by-product of that heat transfer is plenty of nice, hot water, free for the taking when you have a geothermal heat pump!
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Tue, May 25, 2010
We’ve been talking about the pros and cons of upgrading an older air conditioner to an energy-efficient air conditioner. In our last post we talked about the rising cost and environmental damage associated with keeping older Freon-cooled air conditioners. Today, we’re going to discuss the pros of upgrading an inefficient air conditioning system to a new Energy Star air conditioner.
Upgrading to an Energy-efficient Air Conditioner May Qualify for a Tax Credit
With the federal government offering Lorain County homeowners tax credits of up to 30% of the installed cost of a new energy-efficient air conditioner (to a maximum tax credit of $1500), this is definitely the year to upgrade your system. Especially if your air conditioner is an older unit or is leaking coolant, the cost of repair and maintenance will continue to increase each year. If your air conditioner uses Freon, this year alone you can expect coolant replacement costs to double over what you paid last year. Because it is known to increase ozone damage, the federal government is phasing out the use of Freon which will make it increasingly expensive to obtain as supplies dwindle. New Energy Star air conditioners like the Carrier Infinity Series, Carrier Performance Series and Carrier Comfort Series air conditioners use the eco-friendly refrigerant Puron.
Install an Energy-efficient Air Conditioner to Save 30% on Cooling Bills
Upgrading your Lorain County home to an energy-efficient Carrier air conditioner is not only good for the environment, but in addition to earning you a credit on your 2010 federal income taxes, you’ll save money on your monthly utility bills. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that Lorain County homeowners who switch to an Energy Star air conditioner can save 30% or more on their summer cooling bills.
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Fri, May 07, 2010
Heat pumps may be the new kid on the energy-efficient block and less well-known to the average Lorain County homeowner, but the savings they offer is finally getting heat pumps the attention they deserve. Heat pumps use either the earth under your home or an underground water source to absorb and dissipate heat. They work by continuously circulating water or refrigerant from a heat pump located inside your home through underground pipes, taking advantage of the fairly consistent ground temperature below the frost line to transfer energy. The liquid in the pipes absorbs heat from your home in the summer and cold in the winter. As the liquid circulates underground, that energy is released, cooling the liquid in summer and warming it in winter. When the liquid returns to the heat pump in your home, that energy is released again, cooling your home in summer and warming it in winter.
Heat pumps increase the heating and cooling efficiency of your Lorain County home. Cold and hot spots are eliminated, humidity levels are decreased and your home stays more comfortable all year round. Because heat pumps use less energy to maintain an even temperature in your home, you save money on your utility bills, a double bonus!
Geothermal heat pumps are the greenest heating and cooling technology available to Lorain County homeowners. They do not burn fossil fuels so do not add to air pollution, greenhouse gases or acid rain. With no outdoor components, heat pumps also decrease noise pollution. When you install a heat pump, you and your neighbors won’t hear any more noisy recycling whines like you do from traditional air conditioners.
With federal tax credits and Ohio energy rebates available, this is an excellent time to consider adding an energy-efficient heat pump to your Lorain County home. Heat pumps installed in 2010 will be eligible for a tax credit of 30%, up to $1500. Get the facts and find out if you are eligible for a tax credit!