Air Conditioning!

Air Conditioning is one of the summer staples. However, to stay comfortable, it's fairly easy to spend money. Help to avoid the pinching of your wallet by employing some easy tips to make your home more energy efficient. Source: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/air_conditioners.html "Energy Savers Tips: Air Conditioning." Last Access 7/29/09.

Air Conditioners Buying a bigger room air-conditioning unit won't necessarily make you feel more comfortable during the hot summer months. In fact, a room air conditioner that's too big for the area it is supposed to cool will perform less efficiently and less effectively than a smaller, properly sized unit. Sizing is equally important for central air-conditioning systems, which need to be sized by professionals. If you have a central air system in your home, set the fan to shut off at the same time as the cooling unit (compressor). In other words, don't use the system's central fan to provide circulation, but instead use circulating fans in individual rooms. Cooling Tips

Whole house fans have experts on the fence a bit. While it is a good idea to pull cool air from the outside into the home, it is not a good idea while the air conditioner is on (because that would draw warmer air and cause the unit to run less efficiently.) S0 while it may be a good idea for some houses and some climates, it's a bit much for Southern California and it's quite loud.
• Whole-house fans help cool your home by pulling cool air through the house and exhausting warm air through the attic.
• Set your thermostat as high as comfortably possible in the summer. The smaller the difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the lower your overall cooling bill will be.
• Avoid setting your thermostat at a colder setting than normal when you turn on your air conditioner. It will not cool your home any faster and could result in excessive cooling and, therefore, unnecessary expense.
• Consider using an interior fan in conjunction with your window air conditioner to spread the cooled air more effectively through your home without greatly increasing your power use.
• Avoid placing lamps or TV sets near your air-conditioning thermostat. The thermostat senses heat from these appliances, which can cause the air conditioner to run longer than necessary.
• Plant trees or shrubs to shade air conditioning units but not to block the airflow. Place your room air conditioner on the north side of the house. A unit operating in the shade uses as much as 10% less electricity than the same one operating in the sun.

(red comments added by Sinclair Air) Long-Term Savings Tips If your air conditioner is old, consider purchasing a new, energy-efficient model. You could save up to 50% on your utility bill for cooling. Look for the ENERGY STAR and Energy Guide labels. The shopping guide in the back of this booklet will help you find the right size unit for your needs. Consider installing a whole-house fan or evaporate cooler if appropriate for your climate. Check out www.energysavers.gov for more information on efficient cooling.

Hopefully these tips will help you SAVE on your energy bills!

10 ways to save energy now

Source:http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8354b258c53ef011570db75be970b The Department of Energy's Blog Energy Savers. last access 7/2/09.

1. When to Turn Off Your Lights Find out when it's most cost-effective to turn off your lights—and when to leave them on.
2. When to Turn Off Personal Computers Operate your computer and peripherals—such as monitors, printers, and other accessories—efficiently. Also check out these tips for home office and home electronics.
3. Use and Heat Your Water Efficiently There are a variety of tips here—some more costly than others—but others are quick and easy, like reducing your hot water use and turning down the temperature of your water heater.
4. Operate Your Thermostat Efficiently Pay attention to your thermostat settings and reduce your cooling costs (and heating costs in the winter). A programmable thermostat makes it easy.
5. Improve the Efficiency of Your Windows Some simple caulk and weatherstripping can help you reduce air leakage around your windows, and window coverings can help keep your home cool in the summer (and warm in the winter).
6. Avoid Heat Buildup Follow some simple strategies to reduce the heat buildup in your house on hot days, such as using window shades, avoiding oven use, and using spot ventilation when bathing.
7. Replace Lamps in Incandescent Lighting Fixtures Consider replacing your incandescent bulbs with more efficient lamps, such as compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).
8. Use Ceiling Fans and Circulating Fans A fan can keep you feeling comfortable in hot weather without blasting the air conditioner.
9. Drive Efficiently and Maintain your Car You've probably heard most of these tips before, but it bears repeating: less aggressive driving and slower speeds lead to savings. Not to mention fewer accidents and a less stressful commute for everyone.
10. Tips for Doing Laundry Efficiently Using cooler water and air-drying your clothes are just two ways you can save energy while doing your laundry.

The best way to save money on your energy is to have energy efficient appliances. However, that's not always possible because of budgetary restraints. This list allows you to fix things NOW - to change behaviors rather than expensive household goods. One comment on the bottom of the blog left by a reader explained how he and his wife would shower one after another and then run the dishwasher so that the boiler only had to heat water once a day. It's little changes like that which make up all the difference in energy bills.

Energy Controls

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idgGreenComputing/idUS352592697020090625 Thursday June, 25, 2009. Last access 6/26/09.

It can be difficult to keep your energy use in check, but companies like Microsoft and Google are trying to make it easier.

These companies are creating programs that will gather information about your specific home (occupants, year built, types of energy most used) and prescribe ways to cut back or improve your energy use. Now this sounds like a lot of work for no reward, but if you can find ways to cut back on your energy - that cuts your energy bill - which always helps, especially in this economy. Microsoft's version is called "Hohm" and it's in a beta version at the moment. It is a computerized program that allows you to benchmark your home energy use with your neighbors and others in your area. This can also help utilities gather information (Microsoft assures us 'cheaply') and provide different strategies for saving energy and promoting better energy use. Google and other sites allow you to track your carbon footprint and benchmark your energy use without collecting quite as much personal information. So it depends on how comfortable you are with the Internet and whether or not you consider your energy use something private or not. (Recall the row a while back when they released the names of energy guzzlers.)

While Microsoft's working to get its Hohm up and running, Google already has a similar online application to provide you with feedback on your energy usage. But unlike Hohm, Google PowerMeter will only work if your home has a smart meter to feed data to Google's application. Once your smart meter is installed, however, PowerMeter can give you all kinds of information from a history of your personal consumption (post-smart meter installation of course) to how much energy your dishwasher sucked up today. PowerMeter is also privacy conscious and Google says they won't share any personally identifying information with your energy provider. Hohm vs. PowerMeter While both programs look interesting, Microsoft's Hohm may have an edge over PowerMeter, as Hohm will give you specific instructions on how to save money. Hohm will also be integrated with some social networking capabilities, allowing you to trade energy savings tips and see the usage patterns of other people in your area. Of course, it's possible Microsoft's promises won't meet reality. How, for example, will Hohm know if your windows actually need to be resealed? It sounds to me like Hohm's money-saving 'tips' will end up being general suggestions based on probable causes for any energy consumption that is higher than normal. It's hard to know for sure what Hohm entails, as Microsoft isn't providing much in the way of details at the moment. But with both Microsoft and Google in the game, energy consumption tools are definitely the next big thing in green tech. Let's just hope we don't regret handing over our energy consumption patterns to two giant corporations. Hohm is available only in the U.S, but international rollouts planned for the near future may include Germany, France, the U.K. and Canada. Google's PowerMeter is currently available in the U.S., Canada and India in partnership with selected energy providers in each country.

If both of these are a bit frightening and big-brother-like, search for KillAWatt (I've blogged about it before) and I'm sure you could find it on the Internet. A lower-tech alternative and no private information collected.

Energy Proof

Taking time to make improvements on your home always helps, but making improvements little ways all at once can make a HUGE improvement!

That's the idea behind the Energy Star program of completely energy-proofing your home. They provide a step-by-step list of all of the areas of your home that you should examine to find places where you could provide better energy usage. The main areas are basic common sense: make sure your attic has enough insulation, make sure windows and doors don't leak. To see their brochure for the program please visit: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_improvement.hm_improvement_hpwes Or see a copy on our website: www.sinclairair.com/resources or download it directly here: http://www.sinclairair.com/HPwESSampleBrochure.pdf Taking a little bit of time to check to see where your home could be drafty can save you money on saved energy costs. Plus, if you have children, this is a good way to get them involved in doing something around the home without too much effort/chemicals/and it can be fun.

If your home was built more than 20 years ago, it is probably a good idea to start thinking about upgrading various fixtures on your home. An AC or furnace unit usually lasts about 15 years. While, older windows aren't prepared for the insulation/sun protection that newer windows are manufactured for. These upgrades will help to spruce up your home by making it look nice and well kept, and also keep your home more comfortable. We all want space that is functional and looks well cared for. Consider upgrades especially if your home isn't as comfortable as it used to be. Does it stay cold in winter and fry in the summer? You should probably look at insulation, a new air conditioning unit and/or shades for the windows.

All of these upgrades in combination can make your home a happier, healthier place.

Hot or Cold Spoits?

Heating or Cooling your space is only half the battle - keeping air moving and a constant, comfortable room temperature is the other!

There are many different ways to heat and cool your residence or place of business. These range from mushy swamp coolers all the way to hard-core commercial air conditioning units that live on a roof. However, the problem, regardless of the size or type, seems to be uniform cooling or heating. If there are hot or cold spots in your house or business, your air system is not as efficient as it needs to be. There is hot or cold air that is escaping, which is then making your unit work harder (and for longer) than it would normally need to. I have previously posted about what to do if you have hot or cold spots (check your duct work, seal cracks...etc.) But there is a company in Georgia that uses strategically placed fans to keep air moving like it should.

Read the complete article and Green News' take on it: http://www.green-energy-news.com/arch/nrgs2008/20080058.html Visit the Georgia company's site at: http://www.coencogroup.com

The Coenco Group's system works best for larger 'box-shaped' buildings. The company installs air conditioning systems and then does a study to see where the hot and cold patches of the room are. Then, they install fans to keep air moving and create a more even distribution in the room. With the fans installed and providing a more comfortable temperature less mainstream air conditioning (or heating) units are required to cool (or heat) the space. This has the potential to create huge savings on energy bills, while keeping the same level of comfort. Even though this technology is being used only for larger buildings at the present time, this type of fan use can be applicable to residential homes in the future. This might even be a quick fix for a homeowner. If you have a spot in your home that isn't being cooled properly, try a small house fan to circulate some of the cooled air. While a small fan isn't a permanent fix, it should at least tide you over until a better solution can be found.

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.

Easy Tips to Make a Difference in Your Cooling Bill!

“Heating and cooling your home uses more energy and drains more energy dollars than any other system in your home. Typically, 45% of your utility bill goes for heating and cooling."

The first rule of thumb in any type of equipment (especially in the home) is maintenance. If your heating and cooling system is serviced regularly by a certified technician, your unit will be more energy efficient and run for longer. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Laboratory at the Berkeley Lab,

“By combining proper equipment maintenance and upgrades with appropriate insulation, air sealing, and thermostat settings, you can cut your energy use for heating and cooling, and reduce environmental emissions, from 20% to 50%.”

This reduction can help homeowners save money on their bills.

An environmentally friendly system has a high number of SEERs. A Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio is how air conditioners are measured in efficiency and energy conservation. The current governmentally approved ratio is 13 SEER. Air conditioning units rated at 13 SEER usually have Energy Star® rebates that will also save you money. Some other tips: *Keep windows and blinds closed – the more heat you can prevent from coming into the home, the less work the cooling unit is going to have to do. *Turn on the air conditioner before the hottest part of the day. Your home “soaks” up heat as soon as the sun rises in the morning, and if you wait to begin cooling the house after it is hot, the air conditioning unit is going to have to work at full power, longer. This will increase running costs, because the unit will utilize more electricity for longer. *Clean or replace filters when needed

These are just a few ideas to kick off the warm summer months with a ‘cooler’ attitude on air conditioning maintenance.

All of the information for this blog entry can be found at http://hes.lbl.gov/hes/makingithappen/tips.html. Once inside the web page, the specific article titled “Heating and Cooling” can be navigated to using the left side bar. When there find the "Heating and Cooling" tab and click on "Tips from Energy Savers". Last access 6/9/08.

The website I am using as a source is the output of the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, a leader in science and engineering research for the U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories. This web page is titled “Making it Happen” and provides ways that everyday homeowners can conserve energy. http://www.lbl.gov/LBL-PID/LBL-Overview.html

More information at: http://www.lfpress.com/perl-bin/publish.cgi?x=articles&p=230466&s=energyguide. The London Free Press’ Energy Guide “Keeping Cool: Is Your Central Air Conditioning System Ready to Handle the Summer Heat?” April 16, 2008. *last accessed 6/10/08. This is an article also going over the various steps one should take towards pre-summer maintenance. There are also a couple of helpful links in the article to find more information. Please check back often as the blog will be updated with more information about energy saving tips for heating and cooling products!