Hidden Ways Your HVAC Bill Can Cost You

What if you could give yourself a little financial boost every month by cutting down on your electricity bill? It's possible by addressing certain hidden electricity costs around your home. What could be better than avoiding the monthly dread most of us feel when we look at the electricity bill and see how much more energy we've used than we calculated? You can do that by eliminating the hidden costs associated with electricity.

What Are Some Hidden Energy Costs?

Your energy bill can be reduced in many ways. Here are some top suggestions for reducing hidden costs.

1. Run energy-gobbling appliances at off-peak hours. Electricity generally costs more when it's being consumed at peak hours, such as between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Make a point of washing and drying clothes or running the dishwasher at off-peak hours, when demand is less, so that you are paying less for energy. Some homeowners with well-insulated homes make a practice of running the air conditioner at a colder temperature at night so they don't have to turn it up so high during the day while the house is still holding cool air.

2. Eliminate energy vampires. All over your house, you may have appliances and devices that are consuming energy while they are supposedly "off," such as DVD players, VCRs, cable and satellite boxes, digital TV converters, video game consoles, standby coffeemakers, and many other appliances, which may continue to draw energy when you think they are off. Plug all these devices into a power strip and turn the strip off when the appliances are not in use. 

3. Choose more efficient appliances. As your appliances age and wear out, be sure you replace them with models that are more efficient and that use less energy, such as those rated by the government's Energy Star program. 

4. When replacing your HVAC system, make sure the new system is sized correctly. Calculate the right size with industry software rather than going by square footage and guesswork. The wrong-size HVAC system will result in greater hidden costs.

For more on the hidden costs of running your HVAC system, contact Air Assurance of Broken Arrow.

Use Ceiling Fans to Improve Cooling Efficiency

Your residential cooling system shoulders most of the burden of keeping your indoor living spaces comfortable. This can lead to some significant utility bills, however, as your air conditioner or heat pump works to keep up with cooling demand. By using ceiling fans in rooms where you and your family gather most often, you can reduce those bills and increase cooling efficiency.

Why Use a Ceiling Fan?

Ceiling fans provide a way to increase air circulation in the rooms where they are used. This helps move cool air that has settled near the floor, recirculating already conditioned air and giving it a second chance to reduce the temperature in the room.

The drafts of air from ceiling fans also provide direct cooling when they make contact with your body. The air from your ceiling fan helps perspiration evaporate on your skin, which carries away heat and keeps you cool. This effect makes the room feel cooler than it actually is, allowing you to run your air conditioner at a lower level while still maintaining consistent comfort.

Considerations When Using a Ceiling Fan

• When using a ceiling fan, remember that the drafts created by the fan must make contact with your body for the cooling effect to take place. A ceiling fan doesn't cool a room. It cools a person.

• Fan blade rotation should be adjusted to allow the fan to send down into the room below. This is most effective at directed drafts where they are needed. In the winter, you can switch fan blade direction to boost heating system performance.

• Make sure there is enough clearance between the fan and the space below it to allow safe operation. Fan blades should be mounted at about seven feet or higher, and there should be 18 inches of space between the walls and blade tips.

Air Assurance provides top-quality heating and cooling services to customers in and around Tulsa. Contact us today for more information on how you can use a ceiling fan to boost cooling system efficiency and keep your indoor living environment more comfortable.

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: “eak_kk/Pixabay”

Taking Advantage of HVAC Rebates and Savings

Any opportunity to save money on the next purchase is always welcomed with open arms. Thanks to HVAC rebates, you can get a new HVAC system for much less than the usual retail price. To be eligible for a rebate, your new system must meet certain requirements. Here are some of the HVAC rebate options that are available to Oklahomans.

• The Public Service Company of Oklahoma has a number of rebate programs for efficient HVAC equipment. They offer rebates of up to $900 for a heat pump or air conditioner replacement, $1200 for duct replacement, $700 for duct sealing and $5,000 for whole-house energy efficiency upgrades.

• Oklahoma Natural Gas is offering up to $1950 for conversion from an electric furnace to a natural gas furnace. They also have an $850 rebate for switching from an electric to a natural gas water heater.

• Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative offers rebates for Energy Star-qualified heat pumps, electric water heaters and room air conditioners. They have a $50 rebate for air conditioners and offer up to $199 for electric water heaters with efficiency ratings of .90 and above, and up to $300 per ton for geothermal heat pumps with an SEER/EER value of 19.1 or greater.

• Manufacturers offer rebates and incentives when you purchase their high-efficiency heating and cooling equipment. Lennox offers up to $1700 for qualifying systems. You can choose cash rebates, extended financing options or extended warranties. Regardless of the rebates you choose, your local dealer will handle all the paperwork for you.

• Air Assurance also offers rebates from time to time. These may include seasonal promotions such as the "Free Air Conditioner Promotion," celebration specials, and Internet-only coupons just to mention a few.

By taking advantage of these great HVAC rebates and incentives, you can make significant savings on your next HVAC equipment purchase to add to the energy savings and lower utility bills you'll enjoy. For more information on the available HVAC rebates and how you can take advantage of them, please contact us at Air Assurance. We've been serving the Broken Arrow area for more than 30 years.

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: “Christos Georghiou/Shutterstock”