Going on Vacation? Tips for Saving Energy While You Are Away

Vacation season is in full swing, and families from all over are preparing to leave their Broken Arrow home for a few days to enjoy some sun, fun and relaxation. Before leaving, most homeowners take the necessary precautions to ensure their home is locked up safe and sound. However, few think about saving energy while away from home. Ensuring you don’t waste energy while on vacation is just as important as stopping your mail delivery and locking your windows and doors.

Water Heater

Water heaters can be energy wasters if you’re not home to enjoy the comforts of warm water. Fortunately, most models feature a vacation mode that you can simply switch to. For gas models without a vacation mode, turn the setting to pilot. For electric models, you can either switch the water tank off at the breaker or turn the temperature to the lowest setting.

Heating and Cooling

There is no sense in running your air conditioner while you are away, and doing so is simply wasting energy. Saving energy while away from your home will require either turning the A/C off or turning the thermostat up to about 85 degrees during the summer. If you are vacationing during the winter months, set the thermostat to about 50 to 55 degrees. This temperature is warm enough to keep pipes from freezing.

Electronics

Televisions, computers, radios, blu-rays, coffee machines and many other small appliances and electronics are energy vampires that continue to drain energy even when they are turned off. Saving energy while on vacation will require unplugging these items from the outlets. Before you leave, take a walk through your home, unplugging any items that won’t be in use while you’re away.

Saving Energy Tip

Keep drapes, blinds and curtains shut to help prevent the sun's rays from heating your home, while making your house more energy efficient.

For more information about saving energy while you're away on vacation, contact the experts at Air Assurance. We have provided heating, air condition and plumbing services to the Broken Arrow area since 1985.

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). 

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Get a Federal Tax Credit for Installing a Geothermal Heat Pump

A geothermal heat pump is the most energy efficient and durable system you can use in your home and a federal tax credit exists to help you offset the higher cost of these systems. A heat pump cools and heats by moving heat from one place to another. While air-source heat pumps depend on outdoor temperatures to harvest or deposit heat, a geothermal system executes this process by using underground resources.

Since temperatures vary little underground throughout the year, the geothermal system is more efficient at both heating and cooling. They use a loop field that's buried deeply underground as the resource for depositing heat in the summer and the resource in the winter. It's the loop field that adds the extra cost to a geothermal heat pump, and the tax credits will help offset this expense.

Homeowners who install a qualifying system can deduct its entire cost, with some exceptions, to receive a 30 percent credit on federal taxes. This credit applies to primary and secondary homes, but not rental properties. It even applies to new home construction. The program is so generous because geothermal systems have a low carbon footprint. The loop field can last 50 years or more, and the heat pump itself may last 25 years.

The federal tax credit won't cover the cost of the ductwork or a backup heating coil, but it will cover the cost of the desuperheater, an upgrade that takes the heat from your home and uses it to heat your water.

A geothermal system must meet the requirements for the Energy Star program to qualify and it must be installed on or before December 31, 2016. You can deduct the entire cost of the system, except for the ductwork and heating coil, to receive the credit. There's no cap on the amount you can deduct for the loop field and the remaining heat pump and desuperheater if you opt for this upgrade.

If you'd like more information about a geothermal heat pump and the federal tax credit, contact Air Assurance, serving Broken Arrow homeowners with HVAC services since 1985.

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). 

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Surge Protection Can Save The Life Of Your HVAC System During Fall Turbulence

Any time the seasons change, you can expect to see strong weather. If you live in or around Tulsa, the change from summer's oppressive heat to fall's cooler days and crisp nights means the likelihood of wind and rain. Although these may be welcome changes to you, the unsettled weather can wreak havoc on your electronics, as well as your heating and cooling systems. One good way to prevent damage to these systems is to make sure that your home has adequate surge protection.Surge protection is designed to prevent changes to the flow of electricity into or within your home. Any spike or drop in the amount of energy traveling through the wires in your home can damage TVs, computers, household appliances and, yes, the electrical components of your heating and cooling systems.There are two basic types of surge protectors you may use in your home to protect your electronics:

1. Service entrance protection, which controls the flow of electricity into your home.

2. Point of use protection, which controls the flow of electricity from the outlet to the item drawing power from it.

For best results, a combination of these two types of surge protection should be used. Nothing can prevent all fluctuations in power, especially when Oklahoma's powerful fall storms come calling, but properly installed surge protectors can prevent a great deal of the damage caused by power fluctuations to your heating and cooling system and other electronics in your home.If you would like more information about surge protection and its benefits, please contact us at Air Assurance. We have been keeping the people of Tulsa and the surrounding area comfortable for more than 25 years and proudly maintain an all-NATE-certified service team. We can further explain the benefits of surge protection and help you with any other heating or cooling questions or problems you may have.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). Image courtesy of Shutterstock