Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Fri, Sep 25, 2009
News of melting polar ice caps, warming seas, and rising temperatures has everyone thinking about climate change and what they can do to reduce their carbon footprint. Reducing home energy consumption is an excellent first step toward increasing your personal commitment to protecting the environment. Here's a handy link to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Household Emissions Calculator. Follow the instructions and answer the questions to get a rough estimate of the greenhouse gas emissions you and your family produce.
Figuring out how you use energy is the first step toward reducing your personal energy consumption. Many simple measures like increasing recycling, replacing cracked caulk around windows, adding weather strips to doors, and wrapping your water heater in an insulated cover can help increase energy efficiency in your home and reduce energy use. The bonus, of course, is that by reducing energy use, you not only protect the environment, you save money. Arranging for an annual inspection of your home’s heating/cooling system by a qualified HVAC professional will keep your furnace and air conditioner operating at peak performance, reducing unnecessary energy expenditures and decreasing monthly operating costs.
Installing energy-efficient Energy Star furnaces, air conditioners, hot water tanks and other appliances in your home can also have a considerable impact on energy use. A joint effort of the EPA and U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Star products and practices helped Americans save $19 billion on their utility bills in 2008 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions of 29 million cars. By choosing energy efficient products, the average family can reduce utility bills and their carbon footprint by a third. And in 2009 and 2010, many Energy Star products may qualify for special Federal tax credits.
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Sat, Sep 19, 2009
Energy efficient heat pumps are an effective alternative to furnaces and air conditioners that save you money while saving energy. Heat pumps use electricity to move heat from cold areas to warm ones, just like a refrigerator. As heat is transferred, cold areas become colder as heat is removed and warm areas become warmer as heat is added. In the winter, heat pumps move warm air from the colder outdoors into your warm house. In the summer, warm air from inside your cooler home is transferred into the warmer outdoors. Because they work by transferring heat, not generating it, heat pumps can heat or air condition a home using only one-quarter of the energy required by a standard furnace/air conditioning system that operates by generating heat or cooled air.
Air-source heat pumps are the most common type of heat pump. They work by exchanging air between your home and the outdoors. If you currently have electric heat, adding an energy efficient heat pump can decrease your winter electric heating bill by as much as 40%. Heat pumps also decrease summer energy use because they are more effective at removing humidity from the air than standard air conditioners. Humidity decreases heat tolerance, encouraging us to run the A/C more often and at lower temperatures. When humidity is removed from the air, we feel more comfortable even at higher temperatures.
Air-source heat pumps are a good choice for temperate climates where winters are mild. As winter temperatures plummet into the teens and below, air-source heat pumps rapidly lose efficiency, making them ineffective as a heat source in cold regions. Raymond Plumbing offers several heat pumps including the Carrier Infinity Series Heat Pump with heating and cooling efficiency ratings of 7 out of 7, the best and most advanced heat pump on the market. Heat pumps should be installed by an experienced plumbing, heating and cooling professional to ensure proper sizing and operation.