Try The Home Energy Yardstick To Measure The Performance And Efficiency Of Your Home
Although we’re not out of the “cold-weather” woods yet, we can see some signs of spring coming up. This weekend we’ll move our clocks forward, and we’ll be about two weeks away from the official start of Spring!
It’s a good time to take a look at these past winter months and review the performance and efficiency of your home’s heating system. Did you get surprised by some big utility bills? Did you have some rooms that never got warm or comfortable? Do you suspect something might be affecting your HVAC system?
A good place to start assessing your home’s performance is with this online tool, the “Home Energy Yardstick.” https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=home_energy_yardstick.showgetstarted
You input some easy-to-find information, and it will give your home a rating between 1 and 10. A rating of 5 is average performance. If your home rates a 5 or below, it may be time to contact a Daffan Cooling & Heating Service Professional to review your system and see if there are any repairs necessary, or ways to improve performance with better equipment.
To give you some guidance, here are some quick tips from the Energy Star program to help you answer the “Time to Replace?” question:
It may be time to call a professional contractor if:
Your heat pump or air conditioner is more than 10 years old.
Consider replacing it with an Energy Star unit. With correct installation, these high-efficiency Energy Star units can save up to 50 percent on heating and cooling costs.
Your furnace is more than 15 years old.
A new ENERGY STAR qualified furnace can be 15 percent more efficient than a conventional furnace. If you have a boiler, consider replacing with an ENERGY STAR boiler that can be 5 percent more efficient than a standard model.
Your equipment needs frequent repairs and your energy bills are going up.
That nifty Home Energy Yardstick can help you spot unwelcome trends in your utility bills. It could be a sign that your cooling or heating equipment may have become less efficient due to age or maintenance issues.
Some rooms in your home are too hot or too cold.
A great reason to call Daffan: improper equipment operation, duct problems or inadequate insulation could be the culprit here. Have a pro check it out before you enter the dog days of summer!
No one is home for long periods of the day and you do not have a programmable thermostat.
Talk to us about programmable thermostats. They are a great way to improve your system’s efficiency and help you save money!
Your home has humidity problems.
This can make it really uncomfortable to live in your home and exacerbate health problems. Have us check out your equipment and make recommendations to improve your indoor air quality.
Your home has excessive dust.
One of the main reasons for excessive dust is leaky ductwork. It’s worth checking out to make sure your system isn’t pulling dust particles from attics, crawl spaces, and basements and spreading them all through the house.
Your heating or cooling system is noisy.
Your equipment could be working too hard if it’s having to move air through an undersized duct system. Also, noise could be a symptom of an issue with the cooling equipment coil.
