What Are the Best Ways to Conserve Energy This Winter?

Exploring ways to conserve energy will give you a road map to energy savings in your home. The effort and financial outlays it takes to improve your home's energy efficiency will pay for itself all year long via lower heating and cooling costs and greater health and comfort. Read on to learn about the best ways to conserve energy.

• Have your heating system serviced. The technicians from Air Assurance go through the entire system cleaning, adjusting, and verifying that it's running as efficiently and as safely as possible.

• Add a programmable thermostat. When you have your system serviced, ask the technician about installing a programmable or smart thermostat to help you save energy. You can reduce heating costs by turning the temperature down when you're away and during the night. Smart thermostats give you even more options for controlling home comfort that can help you save energy.

• Check the doors and windows for air infiltration and thermal losses. Dual- or triple-pane windows prevent much heat loss through the glass, while single-pane windows have almost no insulating value. You can use storm windows or plastic window film kits from local or online retailers.

  Over time, the weatherstripping around doors and windows wears out and needs replacing. Locking the doors and windows helps prevent drafts. Draft blockers placed at the base of the doors and windows are one of the best ways to conserve energy.

• Look for other signs of air leaks around the exterior walls and the ceiling plate. Electrical switches and outlets could be leaking cold air into your home. Recessed lighting that protrudes into the attic is another source of energy loss. Vents and fans can also need additional insulation or sealing.

• Check insulation levels in the attic. Then add more insulation if you can see the tops of the ceiling joists.

• Lower the water heater's temperature to 120 degrees. Water heaters rank high on the list of energy-hungry home appliances. This temperature also prevents accidental scalding injuries and hard-water deposits from forming in the tank.

If you'd like more ways to conserve energy, contact the pros at Air Assurance. We provide HVAC services for Broken Arrow homeowners.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Keeping Your AC Constantly Running?

Walking in to your nice cool home sure is a sweet retreat on a hot summer day. You may have wondered, however, whether it's wise to keep your AC constantly running. There's no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. However, there are pros and cons to consider for your situation. Here's what to know:

Pros of Having Your AC Constantly Running

The biggest logical advantage for your AC constantly running is that your home will always be comfortable day or night. In some cases, this might be necessary. Perhaps there is always someone at home, which would be a good reason to keep your AC constantly running. Maybe you have pets that you want to keep comfortable as well.

Some newer, high-efficiency AC models are designed to run almost constantly by maintaining temperatures very close to your thermostat setting. Therefore, they don't cycle off and on nearly as much as a conventional air conditioner.

Another advantage of running your AC all the time is better indoor air quality. By constantly running your AC, indoor air is filtered much more frequently.

Cons of Having Your AC Constantly Running

One of the obvious disadvantages of having your AC constantly running is higher energy bills. Cooling and heating systems account for nearly half of the typical household's energy budget, which is likely why the AC is turned off at times.

One way to combat high energy bills and to keep your home comfortable when you need it is with a programmable thermostat. With a programmable thermostat, you can program temperature-event changes to coincide with your lifestyle, so you can save energy and stay comfortable.

Another disadvantage of constant AC is the extra wear and tear that you can place on it. If your AC is on all the time, parts are going to wear out sooner, meaning a higher cost for repairs and, eventually, early system replacement. Regular HVAC maintenance will help minimize repairs and replacement, but the fact remains that keeping your AC constantly running will take its toll sooner rather than later.

To learn more about keeping your AC constantly running (or not) in your Broken Arrow home, contactAir Assurance for the answers.

Housewarming Gifts that Actually Warm

When you’re searching for the right housewarming gifts for someone who just bought a home, give some thought to their comfort. They might enjoy and find something that complements the heating system useful like:

Blankets

Having enough warm blankets lets the new homeowners turn the heat down at night. Not only will they save energy by keeping the house cooler, but they may also sleep better as well. Scientific studies have found that sleeping in cooler rooms enhances the quality of sleep. Lower nighttime temperatures also drop heating costs. Select blankets, quilts, or comforters that are easy to wash and dry.

Fireplace kits

If the home your friends or family members are buying has a fireplace, a fireplace kit will give them the tools they need to enjoy the fire and manage it too.Besides fireplace tools, you can give them a fireplace liner or a fireplace grate, both of which make the fireplace more energy efficient. They’re designed to act as heat exchangers and instead of sending most of the heat up the chimney, they let much of it radiate into the room.

A space heater

If the new homeowner finds that the bathroom is cold compared to the rest of the house, a space heater could be one of the best housewarming gifts. It doesn’t make sense to heat the whole house for such a small room. As long as the heater has an anti-tip mechanism, is grounded and UL certified, it should be safe to use in the bathroom.

A programmable thermostat

If the home didn’t come equipped, why not make it a gift? It will help the new owners save money on heating and cooling bills and save them time. It’s too easy to forget to turn down the thermostat when racing for the door in the morning or going to bed at night. With a programmable unit, they’ll have convenience and practicality in one simple gift.

If you’d like more ideas related to housewarming gifts, give Air Assurance a call. We provide HVAC services for Broken Arrow homeowners.

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 other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273.

Daylight Saving Time and Your Programmable Thermostat

Your programmable thermostat gives you an easy way to set up a daily schedule of energy-saving temperature setbacks, without the inconvenience of making multiple manual adjustments.The one-hour change that occurs in early November with the end of daylight saving time can throw off your established schedule, though, unless your thermostat's internal clock is equipped to automatically “fall back.” If your model doesn't include this feature, you'll have to change the time for each scheduled temperature setback so your thermostat works accurately during heating season.

Additional Thermostat Recommendations for the Winter

While you're making needed scheduling changes on your thermostat to reflect daylight saving time, it's a good opportunity to make any necessary adjustments to the various temperature settings you've programmed in, to ensure your family's comfort throughout heating season.Here are some suggestions for beneficial changes:

• Set a temperature of 68 degrees for the usual time your family wakes up each morning.

• Program in a 10-degree temperature setback for the daytime periods when family members are away at school or work, and your home isn't occupied.

• Set the thermostat to raise the temperature up to 68 degrees again at the time when the first person usually arrives back home each day.

• For nighttime periods when your family is usually sleeping, program in a temperature setback of 15 degrees. Setting daily eight-hour temperature setback periods generate the greatest energy savings, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

• If it's necessary to change your normal routine on occasion, simply use the thermostat's override feature instead of making manual adjustments, so it can automatically revert back to your established schedule.

• Once you've made all your needed scheduling and temperature adjustments, it's the ideal time to put fresh batteries in your thermostat. Tackling these thermostat-related tasks is also a good reminder to test and replace the batteries in each of your carbon monoxide detectors, so you know they're ready and able to protect your family throughout the coming heating season.

For help changing the thermostat programming in your Broken Arrow home at the end of daylight saving time, 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 programmable thermostats and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273. Credit/Copyright Attribution: “thatpalletguy/Pixabay”

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”

Programming Your Thermostat for Colder Weather

Bravo if you know how to correctly set your home's programmable thermostat for maximum energy savings. But it's important to remember that the temperature settings need to be changed once the weather shifts from summer to fall and winter. A programmable thermostat with improper settings is no better than an old-school manual thermostat.

A properly set programmable thermostat allows you to program temperature changes (sometimes called "setbacks") to fit your lifestyle and schedule, or those of family members. It turns down the heating or cooling when nobody's home or when everybody's sleeping. A manual thermostat can save money, too, though it requires a vigilant human being to monitor the settings and adjust them constantly. It also doesn't allow for temperature changes when nobody's around to adjust the thermostat.

Resetting the programmable thermostat is necessary when cooling season changes to heating season, since the setbacks need to be adjusted to account for the shift from a cooling system to a heating system. Here's a sample schedule for resetting the programmable thermostat for the heating season:

• Program the temperature several degrees — as many as 10 or 12 — lower for times when you're going to be gone for more than several hours, such as at work or school.

• Set it to return to your comfort level shortly before you expect to arrive home. Leave it that temperature throughout the evening.

• Lower the temperature several degrees for overnight, since most people prefer it several degrees cooler while they're sleeping and are covered with blankets.

• Program the thermostat to return to your daytime comfort level shortly before you expect to awaken in the morning. You might decide to skip this temperature change if you're planning to go right out the door after a quick breakfast. It may strain your heating system to crank up the temperature several degrees, for a half hour or so, then reduce it again for the day.

For more advice on resetting the programmable thermostat for the heating season, please contact us at Air Assurance. We provide superior HVAC services to 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 thermostats and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273. Credit/Copyright Attribution: “sashkin/Shutterstock”

How to Increase Air Conditioner Efficiency

A high-efficiency air conditioner keeps your home cool while at the same time using less energy and costing you less money. Over time, however, issues can develop that decrease air conditioner efficiency and drive up your cooling costs. Here are a few steps you can take to boost A/C efficiency, reduce energy usage, and trim your monthly bills.

• Have preventive maintenance performed — A preventive maintenance check-up gives your trusted HVAC professional to opportunity to inspect your cooling system from end to end. He will make adjustments and minor repairs that will increase efficiency and performance quality. Maintenance should be done at least once a year, usually in the springtime before cooling season sets in.

• Change air filters — Dirty, clogged air filters can restrict the air flow your cooling system needs to work properly and at its best level of efficiency. Check filter condition at least once a month. Put new, fresh filters in when the old ones get dirty.

• Cut down on heat gain — Heat gain is the accumulation of heat inside your home from external sources. These include sunshine coming through windows, heat from appliances, and heat radiating downward from a hot attic. To avoid sunshine, close drapes and curtains. Avoid running ovens and clothes dryers at the hottest times of day. Make sure your attic is well ventilated and insulated to keep it cool.

• Use a programmable thermostat — Programmable thermostats help you get the best efficiency from your air conditioner. Use pre-programmed set points to control when the air conditioner turns off and on. Program the thermostat to reduce cooling when you're not at home, such as during the workday, then automatically increase cooling to make your living spaces comfortable when you get back.

• Seal ductwork to stop air leaks — Make sure ductwork connections are fitted tightly together and that they are sealed with mastic or metal tape.

Air Assurance is Tulsa's leading choice for professional HVAC sales, installation, maintenance, and repair. Contact us today for more information on air conditioner efficiency and how to keep your cooling system working at its best throughout the summer and beyond.

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). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Juergen-Faelchle/Shutterstock”

Tips to Save Money and Increase Energy Efficiency During Cooler Weather

Winter is coming to Broken Arrow, and that means running the furnace nearly constantly to beat the cold. It's why winter also means skyrocketing energy bills. What can you do about it? Is there a way to save money and increase energy efficiency while still maintaining your overall comfort? Here are a few tips.

• Get a programmable thermostat. Rather than having your furnace running full blast while you're not home, a programmable thermostat lets you switch between your general home comfort setting and an energy-saving setting that's a few degrees warmer. Switch to the energy-saving setting automatically during the day while you're at work and at night when you're asleep. Throw a few extra blankets on the bed to make up the difference in heat.

• Seal your ducts. Holes in your ductwork cause air (and heat) to leak out before it reaches your rooms, which requires more energy to make your home comfortable. Inspect your ductwork carefully for tears, holes, gaps and other damage that can allow air to leak out, and seal them up with metal tape or mastic sealant.

• Insulate. Even if your home has insulation, chances are it could use more. Insulation slows the flow of heat so that it stays in your home longer. Since heat rises, the best place to insulate your home is the attic. If the insulation in your attic is at or below your floor joists, then you could use more. Call an HVAC professional to help you add insulation.

• Upgrade. All the energy-efficiency advice in the world won't help if your furnace is wasting energy. That's when it's time to upgrade to one that will run more efficiently and save money. It may cost a bit, but it'll save you in the long run. Look for the blue Energy Star label, which indicates your furnace has been inspected by the federal Energy Star program and is proven to save money and energy over comparable models without sacrificing performance or features.

To learn more about improving your home's energy efficiency, 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). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “twobee/Shutterstock”

Energy Saving Tips for Your Programmable Thermostat

If your home is outfitted with a programmable thermostat, you've already taken an important step toward saving energy and money. However, if you're not sure how to program or use this modern device, you're missing out on the potential benefits. These include both greater energy efficiency and enhanced convenience.

How Does a Programmable Thermostat Differ from a Standard Thermostat?

It's all about control. With an older, manual thermostat, you have to adjust temperature settings by hand. If you forget to adjust the thermostat for when you're not home or are sleeping, the temperature setting remains at whatever point you last set it. With a programmable thermostat, you can program temperature changes to match your daily and weekly schedules. Typically, people will lower (or raise, in the summer) the temperature while they're at work or school during the day, and then program the temperature to return to their comfort level shortly before they expect to arrive home.

Three Different Types of Programming Options:

• 7-day. This is the most versatile model, allowing a separate program to be set for each day of the week.

• 5-2-day. You'll be able to have one program for five days (usually the weekdays) and a separate program that applies to Saturday and Sunday.

• 5-1-1-day. Resembling the 5-2 model, it allows a separate schedule for one weekend day and another schedule for the other weekend day, with the other five days set to the same schedule.

Save Energy by Following these Guidelines:

• Try to schedule energy-saving setbacks for a minimum of eight hours for maximum savings. Frequently adjusting temperatures will handicap your efforts to save money.

• Avoid overriding temperature settings as seldom as possible. This just defeats the purpose of your programmable thermostat.

• Let the thermostat save energy and money while you're on vacation, by keeping the temperature eight to 15 degrees higher/lower than your comfort level. There's no reason to fully heat or cool a home when nobody's home for the week.

For more advice on optimum usage of your Broken Arrow home's programmable thermostat, please 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). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “marinini/Shutterstock”