Warm Your Home for the Holidays

Thanksgiving is almost here - well, tomorrow, and you want your home to be warm and inviting for any guests (or just for yourself) that you are having over. It's part of the whole thing, the "Holiday" feel. Thank goodness that in California, We don't need to worry about heat too much, but it's raining today and a furnace might be a good idea. So, if you haven't run your furnace for awhile, it is a good idea to open all of the windows BEFORE you turn it on. Why? (I know this seems counter intuitive) Because it will probably smell like dust burning. Mmmm. right? yeah, you don't want that smelling up your home - drapes and other fabrics will hold that smell - hence the opening of the windows. The smell should stop after awhile, then you can go around and close the windows. However, if the smell does not go away, or if at any time you see flames - TURN the Furnace OFF! If you have already been using your furnace this year, Excellent! However, here are some things to remember. A furnace needs to be cleaned - at least once a year, and your FILTER should be changed about every 3 months (depending on the usage). Here are some sites that explain how to clean a furnace and some tips and suggestions: http://home.howstuffworks.com/furnace-maintenance1.htm http://www.aaaiaq.com/furnace_tips.html

According to How Stuff Works "Dirt is the biggest enemy of your furnace. It can waste fuel and drastically lower efficiency. Dirt affects all three basic components of your furnace, so cleaning is the most important part of regular maintenance. The three parts of the furnace should be cleaned: the filter system, the blower, and the motor. The furnace filter should be replaced or cleaned at the beginning of the heating season and about once a month during periods of continuous use. To check the filter, take it out and hold it up to the light. If it looks clogged, replace it with a new filter of the same type and size regardless of the length of time it has been used."

Replacing your filter is so important to the running and efficiency of your furnace. Sometimes we get called out for service and the unit is not turning on at all, but when the furnace is replaced it works fine. The other site, AAAIQ gives a list of 8 tips to ensure that your furnace is running properly. Here are there first 3 suggestions:

"1. Set your thermostat at your comfort level and then Forget you have one. It takes less energy to heat air 4-5 degrees than it does to heat air 8-10 degrees. 2. Help your furnace to breath easy and work effectively, clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month. 3. Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed; make sure they're not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes. "

Utilizing your thermostat is very important also. You aren't going to get the savings monetarily or energy-wise if you are turning the thermostat on and off. So many people have higher bills than they need to because they are unsure about using their thermostat. If you need help with your thermostat, there are tutorials and other resources online or you can ask your HVAC company. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

America 'leads' the way in Air Conditioning?

In thinking about the things that America 'leads' in, I wouldn't think that Air Conditioning would be at the top of the list. On the contrary, most air conditioning producers are multi-national corporations with parts produced across the world. So, in coming across this article, I was a big confused, and intrigued enough to read on. Source: Evans, Stephen. (BBC North America business correspondent) "How air-conditioning keeps changing the US" Last Updated: Tuesday, 19 July, 2005, 22:15 GMT 23:15 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4697519.stm Mr. Evans attributes the shift of the US population to the South as a function of air conditioning, which also attracted businesses and makes the south more politically powerful. Interesting argument, I don't know that many political scientists would sign off on that one, but interesting. More interesting (to me - a history major) was his inclusion of when congress added air conditioning and some other historical numbers.

"In the end, the air-conditioners won the day. In 1925, the Rivoli cinema in New York installed a new system at an astronomical cost of $100,000 - it paid for itself in three months. Congress debated the matter in 1928 and decided for coolness rather than fortitude. In 1942, Washington became the fist city where electricity consumption was higher in summer than winter."

So, in summary? Make sure your air conditioner is running at the best it possibly can be, with check-ups and fill-ups, because it's important to have cool air.

About How Much Does That Cost?

Source: the San Diego Gas and Electric Company (http://www.sdge.com/documents/forms/energycosts.pdf) The San Diego Gas & Electric Co. has provided a pdf with approximations to how much it costs to run certain items. They even go in depth room by room to tell you how much it costs to run an iron for an hour or video games for 2 hours. The bottom line of your energy bill might not tell you too much - other than rates are high, but this break-down just might make you a little more conscious of how your energy is being 'spent.' Here is an example of one of their breakdowns focusing on the home office:

Your Filter

We get TONS of questions regarding filters - where to get them, where it fits in, what's it do even to can you come please change mine? So, aside from doing my own video series to explain all of them - I am not good in front of a camera - I do my best to find webpages that are pretty good at explaining things. This one: http://www.iaqsource.com/article.php/how-do-i-find-identify-measure-and-change-my-furnace-filter/?id=21 is EXCELLENT. There are diagrams, explanations, different makes and models and it has step by step instructions.

Of course, you can always contact your local HVAC contractor who installed your unit for information regarding your filter or replacing it. Don't be afraid to ask questions about your equipment. If your contractor isn't willing to take time to educate you about the expensive machine they have just put in your home, it's time to find a new contractor.

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Check out these other resources for finding a filter: http://www.allergybuyersclubshopping.com/furnacefilters.html http://www.furnacefilters.com/ and even www.energystar.gov

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AC Sizing & Why You Should Care

Central Air Conditioners come in a variety of different sizes. These sizes are usually referred to in Tons. Example, I have a 3ton unit. They are also available in half tons, etc. So you could have a 2 and a half ton unit. The Ton comes out of the early days of air conditioning where ice was used for cooling. It refers now, to the amount of cooling capacity a unit has. (Read more at http://www.sinclairair.com/GlossaryPage/Terms.html )

Okay, so how can you tell if your unit is too big for your house? One sign is that the air only kicks on for very short periods of time (this means that it has kicked on and cooled the house enough so that the thermostat registers a cool temperature, but the house may not be evenly cooled - illustrated by the air conditioner turning on again for a very short period of time, repeating the cycle). Another thing that MIGHT suggest too large of an air conditioning unit, is if your AC is overly loud. PLEASE keep in mind that air conditioners like any machine are generally loud, there is a motor and moving parts involved and while ac companies are working to create more quiet models, we are not "there" yet and there should be some (and depending on the age of your unit ALOT of) sound.

If your air conditioning unit does happen to be over sized, that means that it is not working up to its capacity. That means that even if it is an energy star model you're not going to save any money. Also, because it's running almost constantly, you may be even be paying MORE than you need to.

So what do you do? First check out the energy star.gov's PDF explaining sizing and what to do about it. Read up, get your information and then consider seeing a contractor.

The PDF is available at http://www.energystar.gov/ia/new_homes/features/RightSizedAC1-17-01.pdf but also on our resources page: http://www.sinclairair.com/resources/resources.html along with other helpful readings.

Replace Your Furnace?

Source: http://aceee.org/consumerguide/heating.htm#replace According to tips Provided by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

"Decide Whether to Replace Your Existing System If your furnace or boiler is older than 20 years, chances are it is a good investment to replace it with a high-efficiency model with the guidance of a good contractor. Also consider a replacement now if your system is one of the following: Old coal burner that was previously switched over to oil or gas Old gas furnace without electronic ignition. If it has a pilot light, it was probably installed prior to 1992 and has an efficiency of about 65% efficient (the least efficient systems today are 80%) Old gas furnace without vent dampers or an induced draft fan (which limit the flow of heated air up the chimney when the heating system is off). If your furnace or boiler is 10–20 years old, and you are experiencing discomfort or high utility bills, hire a highly-qualified home performance or heating contractor who can help you evaluate your existing system. Often it will be more cost-effective to improve house insulation and air-tightness, repair or insulate duct work, or tune up your system."

It's that time of year where it's getting cool - even in California. Who knows, you might even need to crank on your furnace. Wouldn't it be a shame if it didn't work when you needed it? You're having everyone over for Thanksgiving and...you're home is an ice palace. Way to show the friends and family a good time ;) Just make sure your furnace is up and running before you need to use it - so that you can call out for assistance, OR replace it in time for the holidays.

Diagrams

So yes, I know air conditioning is one of those complicated heat cycle things that scientists try to explain all the time. (usually in the process making it even more complex than it would have been...) Here is a site that has simple diagrams to explain:

• how an air conditioner works
• and then 3 diagrams explaining process

More than you ever wanted to know? Probably. Worth it? I don't know. Math-people like these things.

California's Environmental Upgrades

Source: the Newsletter (Nov. 5, 2008 / #632) from flexyourpower.org (the non-profit) encouraging energy stewardship in California. "New State Energy Plant to Meet LEED Gold Certification" The State Capital is going green. Office buildings in particular can be very hard to heat and cool (because the air usually doesn't move, and there are other 'heat-making' appliances - computers/printers/etc...). This building is going to have solar panels to power the indoor office equipment and a cylinder to release built up heat. They are also utilizing a water cooling mechanism for temperature control. Here is the architect's rendering of what the new building is planned to look like. Source: http://www.nlarch.com/portfolio/gov_dgs_cup.html. Here is the summary of what flex your power had to say about the new building:

"The facility will feature cooling towers to release heat pulled from state buildings as well as a 140-foot-tall, 4.25 million gallon thermal energy storage tank to store chilled water for plant operations during off-peak hours. Incredibly, it is expected to use only 1/10th of the water needed by the existing plant and will also include solar panels to power the office space within it. The project also recycled much of the demolition material from the old central plant and is being designed and constructed by Skanska USA Building Inc., in conjunction with other designers, architects, and subcontractors."

Great Video!

If you are trying to find ways to cut costs for the winter, this video is a great place to start. It is very well done, short and extremely helpful.

Audit Your Home Scout Style

Even the boy scouts are concerned about saving energy! (I found this amusing, I mean I don't know why they wouldn't be, it seems to fit with their overall mission, but ...really? AND on top of that, this 8 page worksheet feels an awful lot like homework)
It is generally a good idea to audit your home, or test how much energy you are both using and possibly wasting. This can be done many different ways. Some people prefer to 'benchmark' or to compare their home energy usage to similarly sized homes near them. Others prefer to call out professionals who do various measurements - occasionally using thermo-detection devices to determine where air is escaping. The scout's audit falls somewhere in between. It is a fairly easy way to do it - print out page 8 (it has a bunch of check boxes) and go down the list.
It requires things that everyone has in their home and gives you a start to finish place to start measuring your energy. The toilet paper thing, I thought was amazingly easy (and cool) who would think to see if toilet paper flaps in the breeze? An interesting approach and worth trying for that if nothing else.
So, go to this link: http://www.usscouts.org/mb/worksheets/Energy.pdf ignore the first 7 pages - that part sounds like a lot of work. Look at page 8. It's a one page audit of your home. Is it rocket science? No. bUt, also the results...not 100% accurate. Take it into consideration though, it's a heck of a lot cheaper than getting Darth Vader and his van of expensive machinery out to 'scan' your home. Plus, why weatherstrip if you don't need to?
And if you have a scout, maybe you can rack up some extra points? It's a pretty cool looking merit badge. Or at the very least you can say that you're prepared.

Is Your AC One Size Fits All?

Everybody runs into this problem...shopping for hats, "one size fits all" and your perfectly planned birthday gift is three sizes too large for the birthday boy...shopping for cars - "the seats are adjustable" but watching my 6'2 father trying to squeeze in can be quite entertaining - for me... (lol, not for him). Every now and then something seems to be one size fits all in some way or another, even in a society as diverse as we have become. EVEN Air Conditioners? Well. In a way, yes. Air Conditioners are pretty much the same across the board - they take humidity out of the air, and blow the warm air taken out of the house across tightly coiled refrigerant to cool it and then pump it back into the house. (If this interests you, there are TONS of pictures, explanations etc. included in the blog just check out: picture explaining air conditioning). So where does this different climate thing factor in? I mean safe to say quite different in southern California than let's say the South where it's humid. So our air conditioners are removing much needed humidity (or non-existent humidity) and the air conditioners down South don't do enough to take care of the humidity. Interesting, but I never would have really thought about it, that is until I came across this page. You can listen to the article or view a slide show at: http://glrc.org/story.php3?story_id=4219. (It only runs about 3 minutes and involves no reading, so why not?) The article focuses on John Proctor an inventor who is working on creating specialized systems of air conditioning for various different environmental areas.

That fact [that all air conditioners are made the same] inspired Proctor – with funding from the state of California – to design AC systems for three different climates – the hot dry west, the soggy southeast, and the more temperate Midwest. So that’s one model for Phoenix, another for Tampa, and a third for St. Louis. He built them in an attic workshop upstairs from his office.

So Air Conditioners are all made the same at the moment, but this might not always be thanks to innovative thinkers like John Proctor. If his new air conditioner could function more efficiently (without wasting energy removing humidity from the air that doesn't need to be removed) than Californians could save more money and energy when running their air. Hopefully, as time passes and energy accountability rises, we will have more inventions similar to this that will provide us an easy way to save money and energy.