September 2014

With energy costs rising precipitously over the last few years and greater focus on saving the planet and conserving natural resources becoming part of most people’s everyday lives, finding ways to cut these costs is a great way to save money and the planet at the same time. Below are some easy and inexpensive ways to save money on heating and cooling bills now and well into the future. Modernize Your Thermostat One way bills skyrocket is when appliances are working unnecessarily, as when they continue to heat or cool a room that is already the correct temperature or when no one is home. Modern thermostats can naturally regulate this, with sensors that can be set to turn the heat or air conditioning on when the house is at a certain temperature or off when it reaches another temperature. Even more modern thermostats can even sense when people are in various rooms, heating and cooling the rooms based on activity within them. While these thermostats will be initially expensive, the cost will be more than made up over time in lower electricity bills. Insulate Your Windows Windows are where the largest amount of heat and cooling created inside your house will escape, so it’s important to keep this from happening as much as possible. While you will obviously still need your windows to be functional as windows, purchasing thick curtains to hang in front of them will keep the cool in and hot sunlight out during the summer, making a...

If you are the type of person who doesn’t look under their car hood unless there is a pair of human legs sticking out from under there, you might not adequately appreciate that regular upkeep is the key to keeping your vehicle operating flawlessly. Similarly, in all mechanical devices, ongoing maintenance is essential to a finely operating machine. If your home’s air conditioning is blowing out warm air, the chances are pretty good that you need to perform some critical maintenance on your unit to ensure that you stay cool as temperatures continue to rise this summer. Check the Basics First: Settings and Filters Prior to calling out a service technician to take a look at your unit, you should take the time to check out some basic factors like your unit’s temperature settings and filter system. Determine whether or not the air conditioner is switched on to the correct cooling setting, and make any required adjustments to the unit. Ensure that any needed batteries are replaced, and the setting is switched on to the correct position. Another area that causes home owners problems with their coolant may be from a dirty or clogged filter. A soiled or damaged air filter will block the flow of cold air through the machine, and if left unchanged can cause damage to the coils inside the unit. This is a very common problem, and one that is easily fixed with a simple maintenance schedule, which details swapping out dirty filters for clean ones…