Total Energy News and Insights

It's time to lock down the thermostat In many homes now that the temperature has started to dip the thermostat might have become a point of issue. One person in the home wants the house warmer while someone else wants it colder to save on money. The thing that everyone can agree on is that heating your home while no one is there is a waste of energy and money. Programmable and smart thermostat allow you to set an away temperature. With programmable thermostat you have to manually go in to set the time for each day it's suppose to go to "away". Smart thermostats like the Nest learning thermostat learn over time based on a week or so of manual temperature changes. Other smart thermostats including the Nest will go into "away" mode based on a cellphone gps location. The upside of these is never having to manually change the thermostat. In some cases the thermostat will start the heat the home before someone gets home so it'll warm and comfortable bef...

Home Comfort starts with the right equipment for your needs and your home. What does it mean to have home comfort, we'll be talking about how to achieve this through your heating and cooling equipment.  Home comfort from an energy standpoint should be viewed through this question, are you comfortable in your home all year around? If you're warm enough in the winter time but maybe paying more than you think you should you're not comfortable. Choosing to sweat in the summer instead off turning on the AC because of the electric bill is a perfect example of not having home comfort in more ways than one. So how can you be comfortable during the winter and summer without breaking the bank, first look at how old your equipment is. If your heating system is more than 20 years old you should consider a new boiler or furnace. Air conditioning systems that are 7 years or older should be replaced. Mini-split air conditioners are much more energy efficient than window units and o...