Zone Heating

Heating just the parts of the house you're using can save a bundle. Don shows you numerous tricks to keep your rooms warm and your bills low.

AirFlow Breeze Vent

Mark Donovan of HomeAdditionPlus.com reviews the AirFlow Breeze Vent from AirFlow Technology. The AirFlow Breeze vent is a great home improvement device for maintaining a comfortable room temperature.

The AirFlow Breeze Vent is available at Amazon.com.

Energy-Saving Tips for the Home Heating Season

From compact fluorescent light bulbs to ENERGY STAR-rated appliances, consumers are interested in the latest and greatest “green,” energy-efficient products. While these products help homeowners make an impact, many consumers may overlook basic steps they can take to conserve energy in their home and lower energy costs, especially during winter months.

In fact, the Department of Energy reports that the typical American family spends more than $1,600 a year on home utility bills. And heating can account for almost half of the average family's winter energy bill. Experts recommend that consumers use basic winterizing practices and evaluate the latest heating systems to prepare their homes for colder weather.

Home maintenance and preparation should include:

• Sealing leaks around doors and windows.
• Adding weather-stripping or replacing worn stripping around doors and windows.
• Inspecting and cleaning chimneys.
• Caulking gaps where needed.
• Checking insulation. Focus on crawl spaces, basements, walls, floors and attics.
• Vacuuming vents and other heating components.
• Consider replacing old windows and heating systems with newer, more energy-efficient models.
• Replacing furnace filters.

“There are quick, cost-effective ways to manage your energy expenditures this winter, like having a trusted, local heating and cooling contractor conduct a routine maintenance check on your system,” says Kevin Dudash of Bryant Heating & Cooling Systems. “Additionally, a dealer can provide information about larger investments a homeowner can make to reduce energy costs associated with the winter season.”

A reliable dealer can help homeowners compare the cost of a new system to the estimated savings they may experience over the years following their initial investment. For example, although they may cost more up front, studies show heating cost savings of up to 25 percent when consumers install hybrid solutions, such as the Hybrid Heat Dual Fuel system by Bryant. The combination of a furnace and heat pump creates a system that always works at maximum efficiency. The energy-saving duo capitalizes on less expensive electricity to heat the home in milder weather, switching to more effective gas heating in colder weather.

Consumers can easily find a reliable contractor who will do whatever it takes to keep their home running at maximum efficiency. Visitors to www.bryant.com can even search by zip code for a qualified dealer in their area.

With the right home maintenance practices and a knowledgeable, trusted heating and cooling system dealer, homeowners can assure a comfortable, cost and energy-efficient winter.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Seven Tips to Slash Soaring Home Heating Bills

Consumers will likely pay record prices to heat their homes this winter, up an average of 10.5 percent from last winter, says NEADA, a group of state energy aid officials. Now is the time to give your home a “check-up.” Here are seven tips from the Comfort Institute to make your home an energy sipper instead of a gas guzzler.

1. Ask your HVAC contractor to test your duct system for air leaks. Many assume that windows and doors are the major cause of a home’s energy wasting air leaks. But according to recent research by the Department of Energy (DOE), gaps, joints and disconnections in the typical home’s duct system are much more significant. The DOE states that the typical duct system loses 25 to 40 percent of the energy put out by the central furnace or heat pump. Authorities recommend sealing ducts with a brushed on fiber-reinforced elastomeric sealant. Duct tape usually dries out and fails. It turns out duct tape is great for many things, but sealing ducts isn’t one of them.

2. Ask your contractor to perform an Infiltrometer “blower door” test. The blower door is a computerized instrument originally invented by the Department of Energy. It pinpoints where your home’s worst air leaks are, such as duct leaks, and also measures how leaky the overall house is. Most homes have the equivalent of an open window in combined air leaks. Many heating contractors offer an Infiltrometer test as part of a “Home & Duct Performance Checkup” that also checks insulation levels and overall duct performance.

3. Have your heating system cleaned and tuned. A pre-season tune up is a great investment. It reduces the chances of breakdowns on cold winter nights, improves safety and more than pays for itself through more energy efficient operation. For a free report: “How to Identify a Good Heating and Cooling Contractor,” go to www.comfortinstitute.org.

4. Replace your furnace or heat pump air filter (or clean it if it is an electronic unit). Most systems need this done every month to ensure safe and efficient operation. Keep forgetting to do it? Ask your contractor for an extended surface area central air filter that only needs to be replaced once a year. It also does a far better job of keeping your equipment and the air in your home clean.

5. Close your fireplace damper. Did you remember to close it last time you used the fireplace? Shut it now or waste precious warm air all winter long.

6. Install a programmable set-back thermostat. Turning down the thermostat eight degrees for eight hours a day will save 8 percent on home heating costs. An easy way to take advantage of these savings is to lower the thermostat temperature while away from home or sleeping. Ask your heating contractor about new models which are much easier to program.

7. Consider replacing your old furnace or heat pump. Just like a car, heating and cooling equipment doesn’t last forever. Is your system more than 12 years old? Planning to stay in your home more than a few years? Many authorities recommend replacing it before it fails permanently. New units can pay for themselves over time as they are up to twice as energy efficient. However, government and utility research has found that over 90 percent of newly installed high efficiency systems have energy wasting mistakes. Today’s new equipment is drastically compromised if it is hooked up to bad ducts.

Do some homework before talking to contractors. For more information, visit www.energystar.gov and www.comfortinstitute.org. Print out the free Comfort Institute report “Tips and Secrets to Buying A New Heating and Cooling System.”

Courtesy of ARAcontent

How to Avoid Big Homeowner Headaches This Winter

Labor Day signifies that summer is quickly drawing to a close and that colder weather will soon be setting in over many parts of the country. For homeowners, the holiday also means they’ll soon be facing a long list of home improvement and maintenance activities in preparation for winter.

Already time-starved homeowners can spend countless hours working on fall fix-up projects rather than enjoying what’s left of the warmer weather. Add this to the increasing day-to-day activities Americans are facing, such as longer work hours, less vacation time and increased family and personal commitments, and you can you see why there’s a growing trend toward finding creative ways to balance work, family and the demands of owning a home.

If homeowners can’t find the time to do the projects themselves, it’s still best to take some preventative measures or consider hiring a professional now rather than waiting until a problem occurs in the dead of winter.

To help homeowners make the best use of their time and streamline their home winterizing tasks, Mr. Handyman, the largest employer of handymen with 250 locations nationwide, offers the following tips for improving your home’s efficiency and avoiding costly winter problems:

Proper Insulation Is Key

Knowing the adequate amount and type of insulation for a home’s attic and walls can save homeowners a significant amount of money. Seventy-percent of the average homeowner’s energy bills during the winter are spent on electric heating costs, so it’s easy to see why one of the biggest mistakes many homeowners can make is not taking the time to properly insulate.

Determining how much insulation you need is the first step. You’ll want to consider, among other things, if your home is more than 10 years old, what type of home you live in, whether or not you have cathedral ceilings, if your home has a basement or if it’s built on a slab, and how you heat and cool your home.

Also know that not all insulation is created equal. Insulation is identified and labeled by R-value. "R" stands for resistance to heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power so the colder the climate you live in, the greater the need for a higher R-value.

Crack Open the Caulk

Investing your money in extra insulation for the attic and walls can be a waste of time and money if you fail to properly winterize your windows and doors. Once you’ve checked for any air leaks or drafts in your windows, apply caulk to seal any potential air leaks. Re-caulking your windows will help keep moisture out of your home. Snow and ice that thaw and then refreeze can wreak havoc if the water seeps into windows and settles on sills and ledges. A fresh lining of caulk will drastically reduce the potential of damaged windows. After caulking, you might want to take one step further and install weather stripping on the windows and doors. This will help further reduce drafts and also protect against water and moisture.

Make Plumbing Paramount

While failing to adequately winterize your windows and doors can potentially cost you a few hundred dollars a year, neglecting to insulate exposed piping can lead to burst pipes, which would cause significant damage to your home. Heating tape should be applied to all pipes that are at risk of freezing. Additionally, all exterior faucets should be drained and have their water source turned off.

Don’t Forget the Furnace

One of the simplest tasks that many homeowners overlook is changing the filter in their furnaces. A new, clean filter will help the furnace run more efficiently, allowing more warm air to reach all the rooms in a home and saving homeowner money by reducing heating costs. Because the furnace can run all winter long, make sure to check the filter at least once a month. The simple motto “change the filter on the first” is a great way to develop a pattern for checking the quality of the filter.

While these tips don’t cover all the tasks that need to be completed to properly winterize your home, they should give you a good head start this fall. Remember, sufficiently winterizing your home does take time and money, however it will not only improve your quality of life in the short term, but in the long run will add value to your home.

For more information on Mr. Handyman services available in your area, log onto www.mrhandyman.com, or call (877) 674-2639.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

How to Keep Your Family Cool and Comfy This Summer

Ahh, summer. It’s time for family vacations, warm-weather activities and a much-needed break from school. It’s also time for rising temperatures that can make your family lose their cool and make your home feel uncomfortable.

The good news is you can avoid these problems. By preparing your home for summer you can spend more time enjoying your family. Proactive maintenance is key to ensuring that your air conditioning system runs properly this summer. Just follow these easy tips from American Standard Heating & Air Conditioning:

* Schedule a check-up in the spring. Call your local heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) professional to do a routine check of your cooling system before the summer heat wave arrives and before contractors get really busy with emergency or last-minute calls. A typical maintenance visit should include checking thermostat settings, tightening all electrical connections, lubricating all moving parts, inspecting the condensation drain, checking system controls, cleaning any air conditioning coils and air filters, and adjusting blower components.

* Replace the furnace filter. A dirty filter can increase energy costs and damage your equipment -- two problems you especially want to avoid in the summer heat. To help save on replacement filter costs, some manufacturers, such as American Standard, have cleanable filters that can be rinsed or vacuumed. Make sure the replacement filter is approved by your furnace manufacturer. In addition, your HVAC professional can show you how to replace your filters on an ongoing basis to ensure your system is running smoothly all year-round.

* Breathe easier. While you may be able to open your windows in the spring, most families need to close the windows and doors in the summer to keep the cool air inside and the hot air outside. In addition, your kids may be bringing dust, dirt and pollen in the house after playing outside. This means that all these particles are getting trapped in your home. This can be especially troubling for any family members suffering from allergies that flare up in the spring and summer.

A whole-house air cleaner can help remove unwanted particles from the air in every room of a house, versus other air cleaners that just do the job in one specific room. The American Standard AccuClean whole-house air filtration system removes up to 99.98 percent of unwanted particles from the filtered air. The air cleaner attaches to your furnace or air handler to help your family breathe easier in the summer and throughout the year.

* Reprogram your thermostat settings for spring and summer. With a programmable thermostat, you can stay more comfortable inside by setting the temperature based on the changing weather outside -- whether it’s a hot, scorching day followed by a cooler night or sunny and hot during the day and warm and muggy at night. If you go away on vacation, you can also reprogram your thermostat to higher temperatures before you leave to help save energy costs.

With these easy steps, your family can enjoy the summer even more knowing your home is clean, cool and comfy. For more information on whole-house air filtration systems or to find an American Standard independent dealer near you, visit www.americanstandardair.com.



Courtesy of ARAcontent

Excessive Air Conditioner Condensation

Learn how to deal with excessive air conditioner condensation.

Air Conditioner Cleaning

Learn how to clean your air conditioner to keep it running smoothly.