It’s not the heat; it’s the humidity. If you’re wiping the sweat off your face even while the air in your house stays at 66 degrees, that old saying begins to haunt you. Humidity has to be factored into any equation of home comfort. It’s especially important if you live in a very hot area
Continue Reading →If you haven’t already turned on your air conditioner, chances are you will pretty soon. While spring has been slow to arrive in many parts of the country, May usually brings the first heat. First, a moment of thanks. Central AC is self-contained and remarkably efficient. We usually don’t even think about it unless something
Continue Reading →We don’t have to tell you: Air Conditioning ain’t cheap. But what can you do? Live without it? Maybe– if you live in the mountains of Vermont or in the Pacific Northwest. But if you’re stuck in D.C., or Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Savannah, Biloxi . . . . (we could go on, but you get
Continue Reading →Spring! Now that it’s time to think about cooling again, maybe you have a dim memory of wondering– way back last fall– whether it’s time to replace your air conditioning system. The old recommendation was to replace the AC unit if it was more than 15 years old. But today, government and energy experts advise
Continue Reading →While a cloud of smog might be the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words, air quality, health officials these days tend to worry more about indoor air quality. After all, we spend 90% of our time indoors. (Maybe more, if we live in a northern or rainy climate zone.) Our
Continue Reading →Here’s the good news: Over the past decade, as summers became hotter, air conditioning became 30% more efficient. Bad news? Air conditioning usage doubled, which canceled out any gains in moderating climate change. The world is getting warmer. People are having fewer children, but living in larger homes. The population is growing fastest in hot
Continue Reading →A big part of the energy revolution in this country has been focused on making residential heating and cooling systems smarter, more efficient, and cleaner. The government is funding research, but business has also stepped up. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. And there’s no incentive like money to be made. Breakthrough
Continue Reading →Green energy is rapidly taking hold A revolution is transforming how Americans use and think about energy, says Bloomberg New Energy Finance. It’s an all-American green revolution! And this time, everybody wins. “Factbook 2013” was commissioned by the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), a coalition of companies from the natural gas and renewable energy/efficiency
Continue Reading →So this is the year you’re finally going to replace that clunky old air conditioner. If you have a good AC contractor, you’re already one step ahead in the game. But even if you haven’t yet selected a contractor, you can get yourself prepared to make the right decision. The EPA says that AC installation
Continue Reading →Ah, Groundhog Day! That all-American tribute to optimism! If you’ve noticed any heating problems, don’t hesitate to call your HVAC guy. The time to act is before loss of heat. But even if you aren’t having heating problems, this checklist could help keep you warm until the end of the winter season: 1. Have you had your filters changed?
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