Making your home more energy efficient can enhance home comfort, benefit the environment, and save you money. Replacing old appliances with new, energy-efficient ones can significantly reduce utility bills and create a significant return on investment. Check out our latest infographic:

Where To Save with Your Comfort System

Summer can take a large toll on your home energy bills, which can keep you from fully enjoying the sun, good company, and much needed time relaxing by the pool. Let’s take a look at some helpful tips to save energy in the summertime.

Probably the biggest expenditure during the summer is your air conditioning. Living in the modern world of climate control means you should be able to sit at home in comfort, but that often comes at a price. How can you maintain your comfort while keeping your air conditioning bill low?

Turn up the thermostat. For every degree above 72°F, you save 1-3%, so when you’re at home, set your thermostat to 78°. When you’re out, set it to 85° or turn it off entirely. Use fans in conjunction with these higher temperatures to promote air movement, which will keep your home pleasantly cool.

Install a whole house fan. A whole house fan can bring in cool air and push hot, stagnant air out. Use the fan after sunset and in the early morning.

Increase your attic insulation. During the summer, attic insulation can lock in cool air and keep hot air from seeping into your home. If your insulation is old or has an insulation level of R-19 or less, you should consider increasing it to R-30 or higher.

Seal your ducts. Leaky ducts can account for up to 25% of the average home’s cooling costs. Consult a contractor to test your ducts for any leaks that need to be sealed up.

Replace air filters. Dirty air conditioning filters can prevent proper airflow, forcing your HVAC system to work even harder to pump in cool air and pump out hot air. Filters should generally be replaced once every three months, but during prime usage, you may want to replace them monthly for the maximum benefit.

Replace your entire air conditioner. If your air conditioner is older than 10 years or is showing noticeable signs of wear, invest in an Energy Star certified unit, which will garner up to 10% in savings.

Where to Save With Other Appliances

Saving energy doesn’t have to be a pain or cost you much of anything. In fact, there are plenty of practical steps you can take to keep your bills down.

Use your microwave. Your microwave uses about two-thirds less energy than your stove. That doesn’t mean you should be eating microwave dinners every day, but simple tasks, like boiling water for a cup of tea, can be done much more efficiently via microwave.

Use your dishwasher. Although it is possible to be more efficient washing by hand, it’s tough and not entirely rational. Instead, use an Energy Star dishwasher. Just make sure you only wash when it is fully loaded and air or hand dry your dishes.

Stock your fridge. Keeping your fridge fully stocked keeps it from heating up when the door is open.

Turn things off. Lights, appliances, and other pieces of equipment should be turned off when they’re not in use. Unplug chargers, computers, and other electronic devices as well. Even though they may be off, they can still use up some small amount of electricity.

Be smart with your laundry. Stick with cold water when washing your clothes to save up to 4 percent. Hang or line dry your clothes when possible, but if you need to use your dryer; Clean the lint trap before each use, use the auto moisture-sensing setting, and run only with full loads.

Summer should be about having a great time and making memories, not worrying about the dent that your energy bill is making in your wallet. Use your common sense, and if you ever need help, don’t be afraid to turn to a professional.

Tips for Reducing Carbon Emissions for Earth Day

With today being Earth Day, now’s a good time as any to being reevaluating your energy use and taking better care of our dear planet. Carbon emissions are one of the most ubiquitous contributors to the Earth’s ill health. These emissions come from burning petroleum coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels, so driving your car, traveling by plane, and even flipping a light switch create carbon emissions. These emissions contribute to the greenhouse effect, which is slowly warming our globe.

Let’s take a look at how you can reduce your carbon emissions to give our planet a boost this Earth Day.

Be Smart About Heating and Cooling

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, your heating and cooling system accounts for nearly half your energy bill, totaling about $1,000 a year for the average home. The harder your HVAC system has to work, the more fuel it burns, the more carbon dioxide it sends into our atmosphere. Taking even the smallest steps can reduce carbon emissions, including:

• Changing air filters
• Using a programmable thermostat
• Hiring a licensed contractor to check and maintain your system at least once a year

Seal It Up and Insulate

Along with maintaining your HVAC system, make sure you seal up your home. Air leaks and drafts force your system to work harder to heat or cool your home. Some simple steps to keep air in:

• Inspect your exterior walls and use caulk to seal up cracks and holes
• Install weather stripping around doors and windows
• Add insulation to your attic to block heat and cold

Properly sealing and insulating your home can keep your HVAC system a break and save you up to 20 percent in utility bills!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

The three R’s remain the most popular and most stated means for keeping our planet healthy, and with good reason. By reducing, reusing, and recycling, you save energy and reduce greenhouse gases generated by manufacturing, extracting resources, and disposal.

Look into recycling programs within your community. Recyclable items include:

• Newspaper
• Cardboard
• Aluminum cans
• Glass jars and bottles
• Plastic bottles

Start a compost pile for your food and yard waste. This affects carbon emissions by reducing the amount of garbage you send to the landfill and gives you a ready source of fertilizer for your garden.

Caring For Our Earth at Bob Jenson

Because we serve customers from all over San Diego and the County you can imagine the old equipment, ducting and trash that comes back to our shop! We take recycling very serious here and while the easy way would be to throw everything away to go to a landfill, we separate wood, cardboard, metal, paper, and other recyclables and take them to the proper locations to be reused and recycled!

We also have to handle things like asbestos, old mercury thermostats, and different types of refrigerants that come inside the units we remove. We have a safe process to follow for each of these hazards. We wet and seal up any small pieces of asbestos in thick plastic. Anything over a certain amount an abatement company safely removes from the customers home. The installers and technicians bring back the old mercury thermostats so we can take them to a safe drop off center. And we carefully recover all old refrigerants into tanks here at our shop, never venting it into the atmosphere, which can hurt our ozone. These tanks, when full, are picked up and the refrigerant is taken away to be cleaned and recycled.

So with some simple steps around the house, you too can make this Earth Day a wonderful day for preserving the planet’s health and beauty for many years to come.

We explore how California ranks in energy consumption compared to the rest of the U.S., how seasons effect your bill and most importantly, how you can lower your bill each month! Check out our latest infographic: