The To Do List

At my house, the to-do list seems never-ending. No sooner do I complete one task than another one appears. I know this is just life and it will always be this way, but there are days when I sure wish there was someone else to handle all the things that need to be taken care of, maybe something like a “House Manager.” I am sure there are people in this world that have them, but I am not one of them.

Fortunately, we do live in a country where just one phone call will generally have someone on their way to fix whatever problems you are having. Thank goodness for that. I cannot imagine having to be an expert in all fields and manage my to-do list on a daily basis. It would just be too much.

If your home comfort system is giving you trouble, let us help you mark one thing off your to-do list. Just call or email and let us hear from you.

The One Call We Really Want to Receive

We’re pretty lucky around here. Every day, we hear from people who we can help. And every day, we try to make a difference in the lives of our customers.

A lot of times our work in the air conditioning and heating business goes like this. Someone is uncomfortable and concerned when they call our company. But then they’re comfortable and relieved when we leave the home.

It’s really a great feeling to make a difference. For us, that difference is seen on the thermostat, in the lowered energy bills and in the happy faces of satisfied customers.

So we wanted to take these few moments to remind you that we’re here for you – and are always happy to hear from you. The customer who gives us the opportunity to serve is always the call we want to receive.

If we can ever be of service, please let us know. We’re happy to help.

The Cost of Efficiency

We are fortunate to live in a time where everything is becoming more efficient. While that is a wonderful thing, it does not come without a price tag. Even light bulbs are more efficient. Yes, high efficiency light bulbs will last 10 times longer than your regular light bulbs, but they are not inexpensive.
In regards to the high efficiency light bulb, it will cost you more money upfront to purchase it, but it does save you money both in energy costs and in the frequency with which it has to be replaced. So while more expensive, it does work out in your favor. This can be something that is hard to understand. We are much more prone to want a good deal upfront, or to pay the least amount of money for something out of pocket, than to focus on what it saves us on our utility bills.
The same is true for our home comfort systems. A new high-efficiency unit will save you a lot of money on energy costs, but the upfront cost can be intimidating. Read “I’d Like to Pay You $470 Cash Trade-In for Your Old Energy-Wasting Furnace” to learn how you can save money upfront (the way we like to save money) by replacing your unit and getting the benefit of saving money on your energy costs as well.

What Goes Up Doesn't Always Come Down

In grade school, we learned about the Law of Gravity – what goes up must come down. Unfortunately, that does not seem to apply to the cost of living.

I have not noticed the price of many things decreasing in years. Well, with the exception of the real estate market, but that may be the only one. Most people immediately focus on the cost of gas and other types of energy that have skyrocketed, but even the basic everyday items we need, like bread, milk, eggs, soap and shampoo have all risen in price and most have not come down.

I miss the days of doing something as simple as walking into a grocery store and not experiencing sticker shock. I cannot even imagine what prices for basic necessities will be in another 5 to 10 years.

Heating and cooling our homes is also a basic necessity and energy prices for running these units are out of control. We simply have to find ways to save money any way we can. I fear the cost of energy may not come down anytime soon.

Your Best Strategy for Three Big Gains

A lot of us in the technical trades would really enjoy being able to explain the ins and outs of air conditioning systems to anyone who will listen. Oh, we could fill your afternoon with tales of the forced-air distribution system and explain for your listening pleasure the difference between the evaporator component on the inside and the condenser component on the outside.

If you’re like most of our customers, however, you’re not into the full-length description of how your system works. But I can promise you, you’ll like knowing how your system can perform better.

So I’ll save my technical jargon for my coffee break with the techs. And for you, let me offer up the most important factor for increased energy efficiency, improved performance and lengthened operational life for your air conditioning system.

Regular maintenance.

Experts will tell you, your air conditioning system loses about 5% of its efficiency for every year that it goes without regular maintenance. And that’s just one way that skipping the maintenance routine can turn into a costly habit.

You can’t beat this weather! It feels too good outside to not be anything but happy and thankful for such a pleasant Summer.

It did get me thinking, though. How can we take advantage of these cool temps? What can we do to save money on our energy bills?

A good place to start is to get rid of any “energy vampires” you may have in your home. These are TVs, lamps, appliances and whatever else you leave plugged in all the time, but rarely use. They are using energy and costing you money even though you are not actively using them.

So, put your TVs on a power strip and turn them off when you are not at home and while you are sleeping. Also, unplug lamps and kitchen appliances that you don’t use on a regular basis.

While this is valuable information that everyone should take advantage of, you should also find out how to save energy and money on your home’s biggest energy burner – your air conditioner. There are “high-efficiency” air conditioners that can save you between 24-40% on your usual utilities.

That is definitely worth investigating!

For more information on lowering your energy consumption and putting more money in your wallet, take a look at this info, The Definition of Insanity.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

We have become somewhat accustomed to the notion that “Bigger is Better.” Whether we are at a drive-thru where you can “super size” for a better “value” than a regular meal or driving the bigger truck or SUV so you can see over the other cars, we like things BIG.

A big fish is better than a small fish. A big boat is better than a small boat. And so on… you get the idea.

Surprisingly though, bigger isn’t always better when talking about a new “high efficiency” cooling system. If you bought a new air conditioner today, it will probably be smaller than the one you bought 10 to 15 years ago.

Just replacing your old A/C with a new one the same size could cause you trouble down the road because it will be too big to meet your needs. This is, of course, assuming you have the appropriately sized air conditioner for your home now.

A cooling system too big for your home will cause frequent on-and-off cycling which will affect the humidity control in your home. Poor humidity control can lead to moisture in the air which, in turn, will lead to mold and mildew, not to mention, humid air that is just plain uncomfortable.

It is hard to imagine there is a service industry these days that is saying, “Not so fast… a bigger cooling system may NOT be what your home needs. You may need just a smaller, more efficient system to have your home feeling cool and save you money on energy costs.”