Thursday, July 29, 2010

Cash for clunker appliances now includes central air conditioners, furnaces and heat pumps

www.asiheatingandair.com

Effective July 28, the California Energy Commission (CEC) will be administering an estimated $20 million for the California State Energy Efficient Appliances Rebate Program (SPEEARP), also known as cash for clunker appliances.

For the first time central air conditioners, furnaces and heat pumps will be included in this program. Funding will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis to eligible residential consumers who purchase California qualified residential Energy Star appliances. The new heating and air system must replace equipment of the same type that is properly recycled; limit one system per household.

This program will provide up to $1300 in rebates on high efficiency central air conditioners, high-efficiency furnaces and high-efficiency heat pump systems. This $1300, combined with federal tax credits, utility rebates and manufacturer rebates will enable homeowners to get as much as $4,200.00 towards the installation of a new heating and cooling system.

$4200 is huge amount; in my 36 years in the industry I have never seen rebates and incentives like this. Qualifying homeowners will be able to get the most energy efficient equipment ever designed for a fraction of the price. And best of all you will be able to slash the cost of heating and cooling your home 30% to 70%.

This truly is the best time in the history of heating and air conditioning to buy a new furnace or air conditioner. Money for this program is expected to go quickly as it will be providing funds for the entire state of California on major appliances, boilers as well as the replacement of heating and air conditioning equipment.

Restrictions do apply, contact ASI Hastings Heating and Air Conditioning for details. We have energy rebate specialists on staff to answer all your questions.

Energy Saving Tips

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One of the easiest ways to reduce high air conditioning bills is to keep your inside window coverings closed on the sunny side of your house. Homes with a large amount of windows, especially on the west side of the house, can save you as much as 28% on cooling costs.

Central air conditioning systems keep you comfortable by removing heat from your home. The better job you do of keeping heat from entering your home the less work your air conditioner has to do.

Heat gain from a window with no inside shading can be as much as 2 1/2 times greater than a properly shaded window. Therefore, keep your inside shades closed whenever possible. If it's practical use outside awnings to shade your windows, this will completely eliminate any heat gain from the sun through your windows.

This simple measure will reduce the runtime of your central conditioner saving your money three ways:
1. Lower utility costs.
2. Reduced A/C maintenance costs.
3. Less air conditioning repairs.

In addition to saving you money and energy, you'll find your home is more comfortable and you will be helping America towards reducing our carbon footprint and energy independence.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

My Air Conditioner Doesn't Seem To Work Well On Humid Days

HIGH HUMIDITY CHANGES THE WORK LOAD ON YOUR AIR CONDITIONER
www.asiheatingandair.com
Humidity refers to the moisture that has evaporated into the air and exists as an invisible gas.
When trying to determine if an air conditioner is cooling properly you need to take into consideration the amount of moisture in the air.
As the heat is removed from air passing over the evaporator coils, moisture condenses out of it. We know this moisture as condensation and provide a drain line for its disposal.
When the humidity is high there is more moisture in the air and more condensation will be formed. There is a price to be paid for extracting this moisture from the air and we pay in the form of BTU’s. For every pound (1 gallon equals 8 pounds) of condensate water that we produce 970 BTU’s are consumed. (12,000 btu’s equals 1 ton of air conditioning)
These BTU’s are busy removing moisture from the air, so they are not available to help actually cool down the interior of the home. This is why an air conditioner doesn’t seem to be working very well on a really humid day when in fact it is operating perfectly. With so many BTU’s being used to remove moisture there are simply not enough left to do the job of cooling the home.

Here are a few tips to get the most out of your air conditioning system when it’s really hot and humid outside.
1. Close up the house and get your air conditioner turned on early in the morning so it can get the moisture out of your home and get a head start on the cooling process. ( a rule of thumb - it can keep up… but it can’t catch up…)
2. Make sure to use the bathroom exhaust fan when showering to exhaust the extra humidity outside instead of adding it to the air conditioners work load.
3. Pull the shades on any windows that have direct sunlight beaming thru them. This radiant heat will add to the amount of work your air conditioner has to do.
4. When cooking, turn on the exhaust vent to keep the heat added to your home to a minimum