Skip to main content
24/7 EMERGENCY SERVICE AVAILABLE (619) 202-5726

The Changeout Law: HERS Testing to Save Energy and Money

Why have your Ducts Tested?

As a homeowner, there are certain rules and regulations that must be followed—and doing so can offer great value to your standard operating procedures as well as your pocketbook. In a state like California where most home energy expenditures go toward air conditioning and heating, the more help we can get with those utility bills, the better.

In this article we’re going to talk about the Changeout Law. Passed in 2005, this California law requires homeowners who are installing or replacing a ducted air system to have them tested for efficiency. And as we know, with great efficiency comes great savings.

What Exactly Does This Law Contain?

Number one: savings for the homeowner. This law requires that homes and office ducts are tested for leaks when a central air conditioner or furnace installed or replaced, and homeowners or contractors must commission a permit before beginning work.

For those homes where the entire system is replaced including all of the ducting, leakage cannot exceed 6% when tested. When only part of a system is replaced ducts cannot leak more than 15%. And that means that the efficiency of your home will improve, and your HVAC costs will be reduced.

What Is a HERS Rating?

The Home Energy Rating System (HERS) measures the energy efficiency of your heating and cooling system for one. HERS rating can also apply to your entire home by measuring its overall efficiency.

How is a HERS Rating Conducted?

Once your contractor is finished installing equipment and sealing ducts, you must choose an approved third-party HERS rater to test your system and make sure the proper forms are completed. Many trusted HVAC contractors, like Bob Jenson A/C, partner with HERS raters to make the process quick and easy for their customers.

The rater comes to the home, many times on the last day of the installation, seals all of the registers where the air comes out and pressure tests the system. If the system leaks too much, a fogger is used to find the leaks, seal and retest. Once testing is passed the final forms are filled out and submitted to the local building departments. A local city inspector finalizes the project and signs off on the permit. Although duct testing and sealing is an additional cost, the resultant energy savings far exceed the amount.

What are some Best Practices when Having Ducts Installed?

Duct Connections – You can ask your contractor how they will make and seal the duct connections. Proper connections include using zip-ties to strap ducts to metal collars, using approved tape to seal the ends to the collars and cans and applying a painted on duct sealant that will keep air from escaping and be flexible in hot and cold temperatures.

Prevent Kinks before They Happen – Ducts should be strapped out of the way and run in a way to avoid kinks. Each duct should be just long enough to make smooth turns and proper connections.

Duct System Design – A duct system is sized based on the total system capacity and the size and heat load of individual spaces duct will terminate into. Improperly design duct systems lead to higher energy bills, uncomfortable hot and cold spots within the home, humidity problems, system strain and unwanted noise.

By choosing the right contractor to install and seal your ducts properly and having them HERS tested, you can improve your indoor air quality, save money, improve the safety of your home, help reduce pollution, and remain in compliance with the California Changeout Law.

Keeping the Cool Air In and the Hot Air Out

How to Stop the Bleeding (of air)

Consumers spend a lot of money keeping their homes the right temperature—to the tune of $22 billion spent in the U.S. on air conditioning alone every year. For warmer climates, the cost of keeping a home cool can be as much as 70 percent of a summer utility bill. Of annual utility costs. When the summer months hit and your air conditioning unit is getting the biggest workout of the year, your wallet can also take a hit. In order to keep your utility budget in check, and conserve some energy in the process, take a look at these smart tips for keeping cool air in your home and warm air outdoors.

Update insulation.

If you’ve never really looked at the insulation in your home, now is the time. Find out where it may need to be updated, and where it may need to be installed for the first time. Spending a bit upfront on the right insulation will save you a lot in the long run in the form of escalating utility bills. This will also benefit you come winter when you want to keep the warm air inside. Blown-in insulation can be a more affordable option to fill all the nooks and crannies in your attic for better overall coverage.

Update windows.

Much like insulation, the windows in your home play a large role in the amount of conditioned air that stays inside and the amount that escapes. If you don’t have the budget to change out all of your outdated windows at once, pick a few each year to update until the entire house is complete.

Install weather stripping.

A great way to seal off any air leaks in your home is by installing weather stripping. Particularly vulnerable areas include doors, windows, and access points to your attic. Start by identifying air leaks in the home. There are different ways to install weather stripping, depending on the areas you are targeting, so be sure to seek the help of a professional if you aren’t sure how to do it exactly.

Hang insulated curtains.

If you want a really easy do-it-yourself way to save money on your cooling costs, invest in insulated curtains, also called thermal curtains, for the sunniest rooms of your home. These curtains come in a variety of styles and can easily fit right into the décor you already have in place. Generally, thermal curtains consist of an outer layer (the layer you can see), which looks like a regular curtain, backed by a layer of high-density foam, reflective moisture barrier, and/or a heat-reflecting film. There are many different types to choose from in both style and function.

Use your roof.

This is a great step to take, particularly if you are planning to reroof your home anyway. A lot of heat is lost through the roof during the winter time, and a lot of heat can enter the home through the roof in the summer time—it is a large surface with direct access to the sun, making it an especially important part of your home to keep efficient. There are two main options for a more efficient roof: cool roofs and green roofs. Cool roofs make use of highly reflective materials, whether through the roofing materials themselves or with the addition of a special coating. Green roofs, which work best for flat roofs, make use of natural greenery to insulate and reflect heat from the roof. Plus, they look beautiful.

The next time you go to turn your thermostat down a few degrees, consider what you could be doing to make your cooling system more efficient instead. Just a few tweaks can save you a lot of energy and money over time, and keep your home at a comfortable temperature year round.

10 Awesome Energy Saving Gadgets For Your Home

Gadgets to Save Your Home Energy Use

Saving energy at home makes a difference in your household’s carbon footprint and how much money you spend on utilities. Take a look at a few energy-saving gadgets you should be using at home to accomplish both of these tasks:

Evolve Water Saving Shower Head

1) Evolve Showerheads

Ever heard of a smart showerhead? Well, this is about as close as it comes. The showerhead goes from full blast to a trickle when the water temperature reaches 95 degrees, conserving water while you handle other bathroom tasks, like brushing your teeth. The showerhead is also low-flow, which increases the efficiency of its use during the entire showering process.

Bedol Water Powered Alarm Clock

2) Bedol Water-Powered Alarm Clock

While we are on the topic of water, how about using it instead of electricity to fuel a bedroom electronic staple? This alarm clock requires no battery or power cord. Instead, it uses the electrodes from water to produce a current that displays time for two to three months on just one fill up.

Nest Thermosat

3) Nest Smart Thermostat System

Typical thermostats require you to program them every time you want to adjust the temperature of your home but cannot actually tell who is in the building, enjoying the climate control. The Nest system uses sensors and its own algorithms to develop the most comfortable settings for when you are home and away and then puts those algorithms into action. It saves money while also offering plenty of convenience and comfort.

Thermal Leak Detector

4) Black and Decker Thermal Leak Detector

With this energy-saving gadget, you can find and identify the places in your home where hot and cool air are escaping. From there, you can work to improve your heating and cooling system efficiency.

Bug Plugs

5) BugPlug

These power monitors completely shut down your appliances when you aren’t around to use or enjoy them through the use of motion sensors. You only have to program devices once for them to work properly.

Belkin Energy Saving USB Charging Station

6) Belkin Conservative Valet Energy-Saving USB Charging Station

This can charge up to four different devices and then automatically click off after four hours. It’s perfect for charging smartphones and tablets when you go to bed at night, but avoid charging them when they don’t need it.

Eco Mower

7) EcoMow Lawn Mower

What better way to conserve energy and reuse what is already available than to recycle waste? In this case, it is grass clippings that the lawn mower collects during its course around a yard. The grass that is not used for fuel during a mowing session is converted into a dried pellet that is usable in power generators.

Voltaic Solar Charger

8) Voltaic Amp Solar Charger

These small, portable chargers are perfect for traveling or even at home when you want to avoid a wall unit and harness the power of the sun instead. After just a single hour in the sun charging, this device can charge your phone for three hours of talk time.

Maestro Room Occupancy Sensor

9) Maestro Room Occupancy Sensor

Forget about flipping a switch or even clapping to turn lights on and off. This device can sense when people enter and exit rooms and will adjust the lighting based on this potential. Some of the models even have sensors that determine whether a light is necessary when a person comes into a room based on the amount of available sunlight.

Epiphany onE Puck

10) Epiphany onE Puck

This nifty, portable device is still being crowdfunded to become readily available to households everywhere, but keep an eye out for it. The “puck” serves as a coaster of sorts, and when anything warm is placed on it, the heat is converted to energy that can then charge cell phones. So you can drink your morning coffee and charge your phone at the same time, no extra energy needed.
With these cool gadgets, you’ll be living in style and saving energy all at once.

Summertime Energy Savings Guide

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.

5 Futuristic Home Features

5 Cool Features in Homes of the Future

For much of the 20th century, humanity looked ahead, trying to figure out what the home of the future would have within its walls. People envisioned floating cities and automated homes filled with videophones, appliances controlled by voice commands, and robots around every corner.

We do have some of those things—videophones and voice command—though many of the ideas—consumer robots—are still a thing of fiction. Still, the future is something to look forward to as technology continues to develop new and convenient means of living in and navigating this complex world. Let’s take a look at some common features you’ll see in the homes of the future.

Nest Thermostat

1. Smarter, more efficient climate control

We’re already seeing some very cool futuristic improvements to the way we keep ourselves comfortable at home.
Who needs ducts? Rather than having all those ducts running through your walls, ductless systems feature a single dedicated refrigerant line. Ductless systems consist primarily of an outdoor unit and one or multiple indoor units that mount to the wall or ceiling and condition the air in each room.

Sounds simple enough, and it is. Doing away with ducts actually reduces the energy use 25 to 50 percent. Part of that comes from the inefficiencies that come with ducts—leaks, damage, maintenance. Part of it comes from the sheer control you have. Indoor units can be placed in each room and set to separate temperatures, so a room that gets more sunlight can be set to a cooler temperature than a room in constant shade.

Automated thermostats like Nest can learn your behaviors and daily schedules to provide optimal temperatures when you’re at home while saving energy when you’re out and about. These units can even be controlled via smartphone or tablet, so you can warm up your living room before you get home from work. You can also monitor your systems energy usage and make changes on the go. This maximizes your comfort while significantly cutting your utility bills.

Kwikset Kevo

2. Home security

Your home is your castle. You should feel safe in your home without worrying about intruders. Future security systems can make it easier for you to get into your home while effectively keeping out interlopers with biometric technology. Biometrics refers to identifying people through their physical traits or characteristics. You’ve seen it in many a spy or science fiction movie. Doors open via thumbprint or cornea scan or voice recognition—metrics that are unique to each individual.

Other smart lock systems, like Kwikset’s Kevo, open or lock via phone, so you never have to worry about losing your house keys again. The lock essentially recognizes your phone’s Bluetooth signal to allow entry and monitor access from other entrants. In other words, you’ll know who enters your home and when.

Smart Fridge

3. The smart kitchen

The kitchen is the beating heart of every home, the warm engine that offers food, social interaction, and family time all at once. The kitchen of the future won’t do away with any of that, but it will improve the design and function of your appliances.

Let’s take the refrigerator. There’s not much to the modern fridge. It’s just a large box that keeps things cold, but the most common problem is losing or forgetting foods in the fridge, which leads to strange smells and even stranger microbial creatures growing in your crisper. Smart refrigerators feature a touch screen interface on the door. These touch screens keep track of all the meat, produce, and condiments held within and can notify you when the foods are nearing or past their expiration date. These fridges can then go a step further by suggesting healthy recipes that you can make with the foods you have.

Smart appliances will be scattered throughout the kitchen of tomorrow, and they will all be controlled via your smartphone—see a running theme here? You can tell your dishwasher to start up when you’re at work. You can tell your oven to keep the ham warm while you finish watching the game.

Phillips Hue Lighting

4. A bright idea

Your lights tend to suck up a lot of energy, and even with constant vigilance, you may accidentally leave a light on before you head out to work. In your future home, each light bulb will have built-in Wi-Fi, so you can program your lights or remotely turn them all on or off at once.
Why limit yourself to one color? The Philips Hue system uses one bulb housing three LEDs, allowing for 16 million different colors! You can fill your home with warmer, more relaxing lights or dim your bedroom light as you drift to sleep.

Home OS

5. Your Home OS

Probably the most significant development of the future home is the idea
that everything in your home will communicate and work in conjunction with each other to make your life more enjoyable and convenient. This concept of interconnectedness will essentially turn your future home into its own operating system, so when you close a door, the lamp will automatically turn off. Your home operating system knows exactly what to do when you walk into the kitchen in the morning, lounge in your living room, or have a visitor at your front door.

It’s exciting to see what home technologies are currently in development, and even more exciting to see what lies beyond the horizon. One thing that won’t change—there’s no place like home.

9 Energy Saving Ideas for Winter Heating

Save energy this winter season

Whether your home needs an improved heating system or you want to extend the life of a recently upgraded heating system, these 9 ideas will save your household money and keep it warmer this fall season and throughout the winter.

1) Use a combination of heat sources.

Many households could actually save energy by relying on more than one source of heat. Forced-air central heat can bring the temperature up in a home very quickly but it can cost you to run it all day. Set your thermostat for the heat to come on 30 to 60 minutes before household members start coming home for the day to take the chill off then let the candles keep you warm the rest of the evening.

2) Stop losing heat from windows

Installing blinds or drapes on your windows and keeping them closed while your away can reduce the loss of heat transferred thru your window glass. Insulating blinds can be a great long-term investment that helps trap heat from the day indoors for the night. Heavy-duty winter window treatments can further contain heat on cold nights.

3) Bake in the mornings.

Start your day with a fresh loaf of bread or bake cookies in the morning for a treat later in the day. Homes are coldest in the morning and lighting the oven works double duty by heating the kitchen up fast. If you work early in the morning, try prepping your baking project the night before and popping it in the oven as you brew your morning coffee.

4) Zone Your Existing Central Heating.

We tend to spend most of our time at home in only a few rooms so why heat the entire home when you can split your heating system into zones. This is done by adding motorized dampers to your existing ductwork. Then adding a wireless thermostats in each extra zone and finally a control board to tell each zone what to do. So now, for example, you can enjoy your heating in the kitchen and living room while guest rooms and bathrooms are set at a lower temp or completely off. This saves energy because it reduces the square footage your furnace has to heat. Another advantage to zoning is it can balance the temperature of two story home, finally!

5) Install ceiling fans.

Ceiling fans are a great investment for a number of reasons: they move heat to the places where it’s needed, improve air circulation and quality, and promote better ventilation—all things that support your comfort and your greater heating system.

6) Use a humidifier.

Winter can bring dry air into your home. Adding a humidifier onto you’re your central heating or having a stand alone model can raise the humidity to a more comfortable level and you’ll find you can reduce the temperature you have your heating set at since moisture holds heat better.

7) Turn off inefficient or costly heat sources.

Certain types of electric heat and older gas furnaces may be inefficient and expensive to run. If you can’t replace your heat source this fall, try turning the heat off and using high-quality space heaters in key areas instead. Portable electric oil radiators can heat larger rooms efficiently and effectively, as can electric infrared heat. A ceiling fan can help you distribute the heat to other areas of your home. Keep a small space heater in the bathroom, which can heat up the room in seconds whenever it’s needed.

8) Add area rugs to hard-surface floors.

Some small, seasonal adjustments to home décor can make a big difference in warmth and comfort. Warm up hard-surface floors with plush area rugs in bright colors. Turn off the heat at night and use extra blankets or down comforters instead.

9) Replace windows or add insulation.

Replacing windows is a pretty big investment, but it’s one of the best you can make for your home and one that can be offset by a number of state and federal tax credits, as can adding insulation. Both of these projects are bigger investments with an even bigger long-term return, as energy bills are immediately reduced while home comfort instantly increases. Adding attic insulation alone can significantly improve your home’s ability to retain heat, as a majority of home heat escapes through the roof. High-quality windows and insulation also extend the life of your heating system by placing fewer demands on it in the first place.

Enjoy the cooler season while you heat your home and keep your family cozy with these tips. As always, call Bob Jenson Air Conditioning & Heating if you need any help maintaining your home’s central heating system, improving your attic insulation levels, or upgrading to a more efficient furnace.

Google Rating
5.0
Based on 955 reviews
×
js_loader

Schedule Service

"*" indicates required fields

By clicking “Send Message”, I am providing express written consent to receive autodialed and pre-recorded calls, texts, and SMS/MMS with marketing communications from Bob Jenson regarding home services at the phone number provided above, even if the number is on a corporate, state, or national Do Not Call list. Consent is not a condition to purchase services or products.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.