What's the Ideal Temperature for Pets in Fall?

Now that fall is here, the arrival of colder weather isn't far off, so you'll soon have to adjust the temperature settings on your programmable thermostat to lower your wintertime energy bills. Like most Broken Arrow homeowners, you're probably planning to program in substantial temperature adjustments for nights and weekdays when everyone heads off to work or school, and only the family pets are left at home. Before you make any radical setting changes, you'll want to give some thought to the best temperature for pets to stay healthy and comfortable.

Understanding How Temperature Changes Can Affect a Pet

Just like their owners, our pets can react badly to significant or sudden temperature changes, such as any sizable daily setback made on a programmable thermostat. While our dogs and cats do have fur to help them stay warm in a cool environment, an individual pet's tolerance for colder temperatures is also affected by factors like:

• Type of coat. Dogs or cats that have thick and/or long fur may not be bothered by lower temperatures. Those with short hair or smooth coats can mind being in a chilly environment, though, since they don't have a layer of extra insulation.

• Size and weight. Bigger, heavier pets tend to do fine when it's cool, while cats or small dogs may feel some discomfort at colder temperatures.

• Overall health. Pets can have problems regulating their body temperature if they're suffering from heart or kidney disease, or endocrine system issues like thyroid or Cushing's disease, and significant temperature changes may cause them undue stress.

Making Temperature Setbacks With Your Pet in Mind

Before you set specific temperatures for the coming heating season, weigh the above-mentioned factors, and talk to your veterinarian about any concerns with your pet's health. In most cases, you can go by how you'd react to temperature changes: if you find the house too cold for comfort at a specific temperature, it's likely that your pet will too.

For more advice about your comfort settings in your Broken Arrow home, contact us at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about ideal indoor temperatures and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273. Credit/Copyright Attribution: “3194556/Pixabay”

How to Perform Your Own Energy Tests

How's your home doing, energy-wise? If you're like most Americans, you probably don't know how efficient it is at using energy. A professional energy audit could probably enlighten you, but maybe that's an expense you're not quite ready to tackle. Until that day comes, you might perform some energy tests of your own and see what you can find out.

Air Leaks

Air leaks are one of the easiest energy wasters to locate, and correcting them can help you save 10-20 percent on your utility bill each year.Locate air leaks by waving a lit incense stick near obvious places for leaking air, such as around door and window frames, the edge of the floor, along baseboard gaps and where the walls and ceiling meet. Also check around plumbing and light fixtures, switch plates and electrical outlets. Places where two different types of building materials meet on the outside of your home are also likely places for air leaks.When you locate air leaks, repair them with caulk and insulation. Put door sweeps under doors and foam gaskets under the plastic covers of switch plates.

Insulation

Most homes, whether old or new, are insulation deficient and need a boost. Cover the attic floor with enough insulation to reach over the rafters. Make sure the attic door is insulated and weather stripped. Insulate ductwork in unconditioned spaces.You can blow in wall insulation this way: locate studs with a stud finder, cut out 2-inch holes in the drywall (saving the sections), then aim the applicator hose in the holes and blow in the insulation. You will have to reinsert the drywall hole sections and patch and paint.

Check Your Equipment

Check the efficiency of your HVAC system. If it's an older model, it could be time for replacement. Choose a more efficient Energy Star model.

Change to Efficient Lighting

Switch to efficient incandescent, fluorescent or light-emitting diode bulbs to save on electricity.Want to learn more about do-it-yourself energy tests? Contact Air Assurance. We provide safe, effective and efficient service and installations in Broken Arrow.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about energy tests and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273. Credit/Copyright Attribution: “geralt/Pixabay”

Getting Rid of Energy Vampires in Your Home

Reducing energy usage in your Broken Arrow home helps keep your utility bills down. Many homeowners know about shutting lights off when they’re not in use in order to save energy, but what about other energy sources that aren’t as obvious? Watch out for these energy vampires in your home, and work on getting rid of them.

Phone Chargers

Your cell phone charger doesn’t use up much electricity while you’re charging your phone, but it can end up using a significant amount if you leave it plugged in all the time or if you have multiple chargers plugged in all the time. These chargers keep using up energy while they’re plugged in, even if there’s no device attached to them. Make it a habit to unplug your charger when it’s done charging.

Cable Boxes

Cable boxes become energy vampires when they’re left on all the time. While it might seem inconvenient, turning off your cable box when you’re done watching TV can help you save energy. You should also consider plugging this device into a power strip along with your TV, video game consoles and other electronic devices. Doing so makes it easy for you ensure that all of these are shut off when they’re not being used. All you have to do is flip the switch on the power strip on and off.

Computers and Computer Equipment

Computers, laptops and related devices, such as printers and routers, use energy when they are on. Turning these off when you’re not using them can reduce energy usage by a considerable amount. As with TV equipment, consider plugging computers and computer equipment into a power strip.

Older Appliances and Devices

Older appliances and devices in your home use more energy than newer ones that are designed to be energy-efficient. Replacing these with Energy Star appliances and devices helps you reduce the amount of energy you use in your home.

If you need more information on reducing energy usage in your home, please contact Air Assurance. We offer HVAC services in the Broken Arrow area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about energy savings and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273. Credit/Copyright Attribution: “mattysimpson/Pixabay”

Professional Energy Evaluations -- What You Should Expect

It's important to do all you can to save energy, not only for your pocketbook but also for the Earth. A detailed energy evaluation is one important step. Detailed energy evaluations typically require the help of a professional. Thorough energy evaluations will be very detailed and the technician conducting your evaluation will look at several factors, including energy usage, the soundness of the structure, the amount of insulation, and the HVAC system.Hiring a professional is a good choice because professionals have tools you don't. The main diagnostic tools used in an energy audit include a blower door and thermography.

• A blower door is a large fan mounted in a flexible panel that is mounted in an outside door. It will draw air out of the house so that leaks in the house’s structure will be noticeable. Before the test, the windows, dampers, fireplace door and air intakes of wood stoves will be closed.

• Thermography consists of taking infrared scans of your house with still cameras and videos. These images will reveal the effectiveness of your attic insulation. They will also show air leakage both in the walls of the house and in the roof. Typically these scans will be performed during the blower door test as the air leaks will show up as dark streaks.

• A Duct Blaster is a system that pressurizes your duct system to analyze the integrity of your duct system, allowing detailed analysis of how much leakage or how efficient your duct system is delivering the air into the home

Your technician will also want to know your energy costs for the previous year, any problems you have been having (such as rooms that feel too cold), and your typical family routine. Some questions may include:

• Are there people home during the day?

• Where do you normally set your thermostat?

• Are all the rooms being used?

When calling in a professional, make sure you hire a certified home energy auditor. There are two non-profit organizations that train energy auditors: the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET), and the Building Performance Institute (BPI). Auditors certified by these groups will be well-trained and will look at the home as a whole system, rather than just looking at a few components.These audits currently are being supplemented by PSO, and when coupled by improvements made, up to $8250 from PSO is available towards those improvements!!To have an energy evaluation conducted in your home, contact Air Assurance today.Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  Air Assurance services Tulsa, Broken Arrow and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our current promotions and get started today!