Archive for the ‘Furnaces’ Category
February 18, 2013
As we look to improve our homes and the air in it, taking control of the airways are very important. Come wintertime, we often struggle with comfort in more ways that just staying warm. Sometimes it gets dry too. People tend to be comfortable with humidity levels a little higher than what is ideal to prevent condensation issues and mold growth.
Winter brings dryer air and a home that is more porous than it should be brings that air inside. Keep in mind that our homes are like chimneys. They are smoke stacks drawing from low and exhausting out high. When exceptionally dry air is brought into our homes it tends to make us uncomfortable. The quick fix solution is to slap a humidifier on the duct work. Voila! Comfort!
This can come with a price, maintenance for one. If you don’t keep that unit clean it can become a breeding ground for mold and bacteria. Just the sort of thing you don’t want attached to the air distribution system in your home, sort of like building over a stinky damp crawlspace.
Sealing up air leaks in your home will help control moisture by reducing much of the dry air entering in the first place. If you still need humidification then keep the unit clean and monitor humidity levels. Excessive condensation on windows, and mold growth in wintertime are signs that you might have too much moisture in the air. Take control of your airways and manage moisture too!
Thanks,
Jason
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Tags:air-sealing, comfort, dehumidifiers, dry air, furnace, humidity, winter air
Posted in Air-Sealing, Furnaces, Health / Safety / Indoor Air, Heating & Cooling Tips | Leave a Comment »
January 23, 2013
It is an honor and a pleasure to welcome our latest partner Gundlach’s Plumbing & Sheet Metal to the GreenHomes America network where we can truly help fulfill their statement, “today’s technology with good old fashioned integrity.” It is great to see our network grow in Southern California, with this new location in Bakersfield.
Gundlach’s is a plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning service provider, originating in 1900 as a plumbing repair shop. They also provide remodeling services for bathrooms and kitchens; becoming a GreenHomes America partner, they will now include home energy retrofits, allowing homeowners to dramatically improve their home’s energy efficiency and comfort levels.
Ken Wonderly, Owner of Gundlach’s says “We feel that the home energy retrofit market is going to grow substantially over the next few years and we are very excited to be part of it”. Too true, I can see it growing already. Welcome aboard!
Find out more
http://www.gundlachsservice.com/
.
Thanks,
Jason
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Tags:Bakersfield, California, Energy Upgrade California, Gundlach's, HVAC, Plumbing, remodeling
Posted in Air Conditioning, Air-Sealing, Boilers, Energy Audits, Financing/Energy Loans, Furnaces, GreenHomes America, Insulation, News, Water Heaters / Hot Water | Leave a Comment »
January 9, 2013
One good result from the end of the year fiscal cliff hanger is an extension of the residential energy tax credit.
If you haven’t used it in the past, all the way back to 2006, there is a $500 tax credit for material costs of certain energy efficiency measures done to your home.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act extended the tax credit through 2013, making it retroactive from January 1, 2012. This means last year counts as well.
10% of the cost of materials, such as insulation, exterior windows, and doors that meet Energy Star requirements, can be used. Credits for window expenses are limited, as are AC units and furnaces, so a combination of improvements will help maximize what you can get, just perfect for home performance work on your home.
Check out http://www.irs.gov/ for more information. Or see the entire American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 here. Ask us we can help!
Thanks,
Jason
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Tags:2013, air conditioner, boiler, energy tax credit, Fiscal cliff, furnace, insulation, IRS, rebate, tax credit
Posted in Air Conditioning, Air-Sealing, Boilers, Economics, Energy Audits, Furnaces, Home, Homeowners, Insulation, Oil / Coal / Natural Gas, Rebates and Incentives | Leave a Comment »
November 16, 2012
In New England it is easy to see the seasons change. It’s a time of harvest and preparation for our comfort through the coldest part of the year. There’s plenty to do outside the home never mind on the inside.
For one thing it is time to tune up the furnace or boiler before the heating season begins. Preventative maintenance is a good thing and worth the minor expense to ward of a major one in the middle of the heating season. With a contractor you trust, that clean and tune may be part of a service agreement and can save you even more.
Your heating system is not the only thing that should get a tune up though. For many of us, it’s the home too! Even with the cleanest running furnace or boiler in your home, it is important to consider how well the building is insulated, resists air leakage, deals with moisture and provides indoor air quality.
Since heating systems and buildings interact with each other, it’s a great idea to consider treating them together. Seek out certified and experienced heating and cooling technicians, and the same for your home. Consider a BPI accredited contractor that will look at your home as a system and help you prepare for the coming season making it healthier, safer and more energy efficient.
Thanks,
Jason
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Tags:air conditioning, boiler, clean and tune, comfort, energy-efficiency, fall, furnace, home energy, oil prices, tune-up
Posted in Air Conditioning, Boilers, Efficiency, Electricity Use, Energy / Efficiency / Renewables, Furnaces, Health / Safety / Indoor Air, Oil / Coal / Natural Gas | Leave a Comment »
March 27, 2012
Boy that’s just ugly.
Older homes, especially ones that had steam systems, often had pipe insulation like this; it looks a bit like white corrugated cardboard. I suspect it was as much to protect people’s foreheads from being scalded as they walked through their basement as it was to deliver the heat where it needed to go!
Fairly effective as an insulator—with the pockets of air and resistance to high heat—Aircell type pipe insulation starts to be a concern in the home as it deteriorates.
Materials containing asbestos are troublesome if they can become “friable”. This means something that was once considered solid can disintegrate quite easily. Asbestos found in vermiculite is a problem because it may already be dust. Pipe insulation made with asbestos breaks down over time and turns powdery when it is bumped.
Keep in mind that not all white pipe insulation contains asbestos, other materials are now used. Asbestos was banned in the late ‘70s and should have been out of circulation by the early ‘80s. The best course of action is to leave it alone if you’re not sure. Leave it to the experts if it needs to be removed, they know what to do. A healthy, energy efficient home is in reach; knowledge is half the battle.
Thanks,
Jason
Image used with permission by Asbestorama on Flickr.
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Tags:boilers, furnaces, Health /safety/ indoor air
Posted in Boilers, Consumer Protection, Energy / Efficiency / Renewables, Furnaces, GreenHomes America, Health / Safety / Indoor Air, Insulation, Pipe Insulation, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
March 12, 2012
Recently a news station in Atlanta did an undercover investigation of a few local heating service companies. Their investigation revealed that unfortunately some contractors tried to sell unnecessary parts and services to customers. In fact, three out of four companies were guilty of this!
When asked to inspect a properly operating heater, many of the technicians found “problems” and recommended expensive, unnecessary repairs. One actually said that the heater was leaking gas and it will “keep coming, and if the gas builds up, you know what’s going to happen.” No, I don’t want my house to blow up, but I also want to trust that a technician will not try to scam me with fear tactics. What is a customer to do?
One way to find a reputable company is to look for things that differentiate them from the competition such as certifications and affiliations. There are plenty of organizations which recognize a contractor’s good work. As a customer, you want a company that goes above and beyond to exceed your expectations. At GreenHomes America, we go beyond heating and cooling and look at a home’s overall performance.
Our franchises are Building Performance Institute certified which requires extensive training and successful testing. Ask your neighbors. A great company works to gain the trust of a customer for the long haul, not for just today. You can’t do that if you don’t want to do the right thing.
Thanks,
Jason
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Tags:BPI, CBS Atlanta, Heating and cooling, scam, service
Posted in Air Conditioning, Consumer Protection, Furnaces, Heating & Cooling Tips | Leave a Comment »
February 8, 2012
Recently one of our advisors in the San Jose area discovered a potentially deadly situation while doing routine testing in a customer’s home. Robert Urbina, a Home Comfort Advisor with Residential Energy Pro’s, while doing combustion safety testing, discovered that carbon monoxide was quickly reaching an exceptionally high level in the vent of the homeowner’s furnace.
According to BPI standards, something every GreenHomes America partner follows before and after work, he discovered a situation that needed to be addressed immediately. BPI recommends servicing equipment when CO levels climb above 25ppm, this reached well into the thousands. I’ve mentioned the dangers of CO in a home, and in this situation the CO was still finding its way up the stack. The danger occurs when something simple changes. Airflow and pressures in a home are constantly changing whether from the seasons, a remodeling change or a new fan in the bathroom. What happens when, for example, the fans in the house unintentionally reverse the flow of toxic gasses from the chimney and draw it into the home? Bad news for sure!
REP dispatched a service tech immediately to the home to further diagnose and repair the system. Thank goodness it was a straightforward fix, and in short order the system was adjusted and retested. Robert’s second reading was well within the limit, and as you imagine the homeowner was ecstatic!
For safety’s sake folks, have your heating system tested for more than just efficiency!
thanks,
Jason
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Tags:carbon monoxide, furnace, Health and Saftey, IAQ, Los Gatos, Residential Energy Pros, San Francisco., San Jose
Posted in Boilers, Energy / Efficiency / Renewables, Energy Audits, Furnaces, Health / Safety / Indoor Air, Wild Stuff | 1 Comment »
November 28, 2011
If you still have a dollar to your name after a rough (at times too rough!) shopping weekend, you might want to take a look at this nifty info-graphic which helps explains an average household’s energy use, and naturally where the rest of the money goes!
High on the list of energy use in a home is, as it might be expected, heating and hot water. Cooling is up there as well. It does depend on where you live as to which is a bigger drain on your finances but this is precisely the reason we spend so much time talking about and fixing, these areas.
Appliances are a much smaller part of the overall picture, but not to be ignored, of course. If part of your Black Friday battle included fist-fighting (whew, there was some craziness out there—sort of reminds me of that zombie discussion last month!) for a brand new Energy Star dishwasher, more power to you. It may even have been worth it if what you had was over ten years old.
Clearly as the picture suggests, heating and cooling equipment—that is your furnace, air-conditioner, or heat pump—should be in top notch shape performing their best if you are going to avoid burning money. But what if the attic insulation doesn’t keep the heat in? What if the duct work leaks and pumps conditioned air into the great outdoors? What this picture tells me is that the important things in a home are being warm or cool, having hot water when we want it, the creature comforts.
You can buy the best coffee maker in the world to make a great cup of coffee, but a cracked cup with a hole in it won’t keep the coffee around or warm long enough for you to enjoy it. Homes can just be like that. Consider a gift for you and your family this season, one without the bruises or pepper spray dangers of holiday shopping, a comprehensive home assessment so you know where it all goes and can do something about it!
Thanks,
Jason
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Tags:Black Friday, Department of Energy, energy, energy star appliances, insulation, money, shopping
Posted in Air Conditioning, Boilers, Energy Audits, Furnaces, Insulation, Water Heaters / Hot Water | Leave a Comment »
November 28, 2011
Looking down the road with our sister companies at The Linc Group, and Linc Lighting & Electrical, GreenHomes is already exploring how a shift toward electric vehicles will impact home energy use and the need for home energy efficiency. There are some big ideas being experimented with.
And another interesting idea was discussed over the weekend in a NY Times article on “data furnaces”. Very timely given the “Cyber Monday” heat we anticipate today. The basic premise is to use the tremendous amount of heat generated in data centers—from the servers that run Google, Netflix, and the rest of the internet world—to heat homes. It’s not so far fetched. We have examples of co-generation heat in this county dating back more than a century. While this used to be centered around industrial heat sources, high tech is part of that industrial base. Further, there are intriguing benefits of distributed capacity on both the energy and the internet sides.
Don’t look for Google to be asking to install servers in your basement this year. But don’t be shocked if the opportunity comes soon. Just one of the exciting things we’re working on!
Thanks,
Mike
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Tags:co-generation, cooling, Cyber Monday, data furnace, data servers, energy-efficiency, home heating, NY Times
Posted in Energy Geeks / Energy Policy, Furnaces | Leave a Comment »
November 15, 2011
Maine Governor Paul LePage has recently called for a 50% reduction in the use of oil for heating in the state. Maine is a heavy user when it comes to heating oil. 80% of our homes here are oil heated. To cut that useage in half by 2014 is an ambitious goal, for sure. LePage suggests doing this by switching to natural gas and wood pellets. 
There are efforts to move towards natural gas in the state, and I encourage it. It won’t be fast, however. While the distribution system is slowly growing, it is not there now. As for pellets, they are readily available, but if demand for them increases so might cost. Furthermore, most residential wood burning systems require the user to be hands on. The pellets don’t fill the stove themselves, and the ashes don’t empty themselves. This is the same reason why 80% heat with oil instead of wood, also abundant in the Pine Tree state.
What is missing in this discussion is our dependence on BTU’s. In other words, the focus should be on energy use, first, not fuel source. Switching fuels doesn’t solve the problem of inefficient leaky homes heating the great outdoors. It’s like an addict going from one fix to another because it’s cheaper, and they can get more for less. Fuel switching is treating the symptom and not the problem.
Weatherization efforts, increased efficiencies of heating equipment, and fuel switching when it makes sense, can have a much greater impact, and a much lower long term cost, than fuel switching alone. Efficiency Maine and the many contractors who have worked with these programs have been chipping away at this. Tux Turkel from the Maine Sunday telegram reported recently, “Maine residents slashed their heating oil use by 45% between 2004 and 2009.” We routinely save people that much off of their oil bills. Governor, we can do this, but let’s treat the real problem and break our dependence on wasteful heating.
Photo by David L Ryan boston.com
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Tags:Efficiency Maine, energy policy, energy savings, energy-efficiency, Fuel Switching, Govenor Paul LePage, heating oil, home energy, Lobster, Maine, natural gas, Wood Heat, Wood Pellet
Posted in Boilers, Energy / Efficiency / Renewables, Environment, Furnaces, Oil / Coal / Natural Gas, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
As we look to improve our homes and the air in it, taking control of the airways are very important. Come wintertime, we often struggle with comfort in more ways that just staying warm. Sometimes it gets dry too. People tend to be comfortable with humidity levels a little higher than what is ideal to prevent condensation issues and mold growth.
