Depending on the fuel source, using a copious amount of electricity to power your home can be expensive and harmful to the environment. Most homeowners in Corpus Christi, Texas, use electricity produced by burning fossil fuels, which emit pollutants like sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and greenhouse gases like CO2. Renewable forms of energy like solar, wind and nuclear aren’t as harmful. Here’s how you can save energy, money and the environment:
Change Your HVAC Air Filter Regularly
Many homeowners don’t realize the importance of keeping a clean air filter in their HVAC system. As a result, they let the air filter in their HVAC system become clogged and cause numerous problems. A clogged air filter will inhibit airflow in your HVAC system, increasing energy bills and the risk of a breakdown that requires extensive repairs.
To ensure your HVAC system doesn’t have to use more energy to push conditioned air through a clogged filter, change it every three months. If you have pets in your home or suffer from allergies, change it every month. As a result, you’ll take a significant step toward not just saving energy but also maintaining good indoor air quality.
Upgrade to a Smart Thermostat and Use It Wisely
Are you still manually adjusting the temperature in your home? Unless you’re doing it from an app on your smartphone, you’re missing out on one of the best HVAC technologies available for saving energy and money.
By upgrading your HVAC system with a smart thermostat, you’ll avoid having to get up to change the temperature in your home. You’ll also gain precise control over your home comfort environment. You can program a smart thermostat to run the HVAC system less when you’re away or asleep and more when you’re active. Smart thermostats offer homeowners remote accessibility, provide detailed energy reports, and remind you when it’s time to change the filter.
Use the Ceiling Fans in Your Home
There are two ways to use your home’s ceiling fans to save energy and money:
- In the summer: Make sure your ceiling fan rotates counterclockwise. As a result, you’ll create a windchill effect in the room that will make you feel cooler and reduce your reliance on the air conditioner.
- In the winter: Make sure your ceiling fan rotates clockwise on the lowest speed. As a result, it’ll draw room air upward toward the ceiling and force warm air downward without creating a windchill effect.
Invest in a Professional Home Energy Audit
You can do many things to save energy and money in your home, which includes sealing air leaks, upgrading insulation and replacing incandescent light bulbs with LEDs. But to maximize your energy conservation, you need professional help.
When you schedule a professional to perform a home energy audit, they will:
- Inspect each room within the home.
- Access the past energy costs with the current costs of heating and cooling.
- Perform a blower door test.
- Conduct a thermographic inspection.
- Measure air infiltration with PFT Perfluorocarbon tracer gas).
- Perform air balancing.
- Perform Manual J, D and S calculations.
Schedule Preventive HVAC Maintenance
Maintenance is a vital part of making sure your HVAC system operates at peak efficiency to save energy and money. It’s also critical if you want to repair minor issues before they develop into major problems that could require a complete system replacement. At the very least, you should schedule preventive HVAC maintenance twice a year – once in the spring for your air conditioner and again in the fall for your furnace. As a result, you’ll ensure it operates efficiently.
A new year calls for new goals, one of which should be to save energy and the environment. To schedule a home energy audit or HVAC maintenance, contact Bodine-Scott Air Conditioning Co. at (361) 883-9900 today.
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