5 ways to save energy and stay cool this summer
1. Close your blinds!
Closing your blinds in the summer reduces radiant heat from the sun entering your house or office.
Even if you close the blinds only during peak sun hours this trick will help decrease the amount of radiant heating caused by the summer sun.
2. Set the thermostat to 78 degrees
Air conditioners will run at their optimal performance level when set at 78 degrees. Making it even 5 degrees lower will result in your AC using up to 40% more energy. Keep that thermostat at 78 degrees during the day and turn it down at night, to conserve the most energy.
3. Use passive cooling techniques
To reduce the need to turn on the AC try out some passive cooling techniques.
Passive cooling techniques include but are not limited to planting trees or hedges, installing window awnings, the use of fans, and opening and closing windows and blinds at the appropriate times of day. For example you would open windows at night for the cool breeze and close them along with blinds during peak sun hours.
4. Upgrade your windows
Replacing old single-pane windows with new dual-pane ones that include Low-emissivity (Low-E). The Low-E coating reduces energy loss by as much as 50%, and as a bonus you could be eligible for tax credits for buying energy star rated windows.
5. Reduce your energy costs
Enroll with Realgy Energy Services to save on your natural gas and electricity
These simple tricks coupled with Realgy Energy Services low rates can drastically reduce your energy costs this summer.
Check out Realgy Energy Services rates and see how much you could be saving www.realgyenergyservices.com Or Call one of our Energy Brokers today 877-300-6747.
Sources:
U.S Department of Energy, Energy Savers, Thermostats and Control Systems
The Daily Green, Close Your Blinds to Beat the Heat
Earth 911, 9 Ways to Ready Your home For Summer
Houzz, Life Without Air Conditioning? These Passively Cooled Homes Say Yes
U.S Department of Energy, Energy Savers, Window Types
The Realgy Energy Saver
Realgy Energy Services has a server room that generates plenty of heat from the hardware housed there. Accordingly, we have to use air conditioners to prevent damage to the hardware. This past winter, Mathew Sudowski, Director of Sales, came up with a way for Realgy Energy Services to recover the heat lost by the air conditioner exhaust from the Realgy server room. This heat recovery helped to increase the efficiency of the furnace. Because the furnace draws in air from the two upper levels as well as the basement where the server room and air conditioner are located, this plan worked perfectly.
Mathew Sudowski, Director of Sales
With the help of a local HVAC company, Realgy was able to retrofit the air conditioner exhaust, and reduce the workload of the Realgy office furnace. This retrofit also helped to save the company money over the winter season.
View of the AC exhaust retrofit
To find out how a natural gas furnace works check out this article “How a Natural Gas Furnace Works”
How a Natural Gas Furnace Works
Natural gas forced-air furnaces are by far the most popular method of heating in North America, mainly because they can distribute heated air from a central furnace to every room of the house and they can also be used in conjunction with a central AC unit.
The basic components of a forced-air system include:
- An air handler, which may be either a stand-alone blower cabinet used with a heat pump or a forced-air furnace that includes a blower
- A means of heating air, such as natural gas-fueled burners
- Ductwork for delivering cold air to the heater via a return
- Ductwork for sending heated air back to rooms via some vents
- A thermostat for turning the system on and off
A natural gas furnace reacts to changes in a room’s temperature. When the air temperature in the room drops below the thermostat’s set temperature, it alerts the furnace. Cold air is then drawn from the room’s return through ductwork into the cold air return and through an air filter. The burner ignites to heat the air as it moves through the furnace. The circulating fan helps the warmed air circulate through the ductwork and back into the room via vents. The cycle continues until the set comfort level is reached at which point the thermostat turns the system off until the next time the temperature drops.
Sources:
Wikipedia, “Furnace”
Buzzl, “How does a Gas Furnace Work“