 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Q: How can you go green when it comes to heating and air conditioning? A: Geothermal Heat Pump - Geothermal technology is lowest in CO2 emissions and primarily uses the natural energy of the earth. Using current utility costs for a typical home in the U.S., the operating costs of a regular heat pump is 1.7 times the cost of operating a geothermal heat pump. High Efficiency Heat Pump - SEER ratings are similar to mile per gallon in cars. The higher the SEER rating, the more efficient the unit and the more money you save. Indoor Air Quality - The “green design” movement in HVAC emphasizes maintaining adequate indoor air quality while reducing energy consumption. The use of air filters can trap air pollutants and reduce the amount of dust in HVAC systems. Dust can serve as food to grow mold on wet coils as well as ducts reducing system efficiency. Poorly maintained dehumidifiers and air conditioners can lead to high levels of pollen, dust mites, and fungi in a home. These biological irritants can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation, shortness of breath, dizziness, lethargy, fever, and digestive problems. Unvented kerosene and gas space heaters, leaking chimneys, leaking furnaces, back drafting from furnaces, gas water heaters woodstoves, fireplaces and gas stoves can all lead to high levels of carbon monoxide. High levels of carbon monoxide can lead to fatigue in healthy people and chest pains in people with heart disease. Higher levels of carbon monoxide can lead to impaired vision and coordination, headaches, dizziness, nausea. Carbon monoxide at very high concentrations is lethal. To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning one should have a trained professional inspect, clean, and tune-up central heating system (furnaces, flues, and chimneys) annually and repair any leaks. Q: What effect does closing my doors and registers have on my air conditioning system? A: A properly installed air conditioning system will be balanced so that sufficient cold air is delivered to and returned from each room of your house. Closing doors and air conditioning supply vents disrupts this balance, causing your system to run at less than its designed efficiency. It also causes air pressure to increase in the ductwork, which magnifies the negative impact of any leaks you may have in your ductwork and reduces the efficiency of the air conditioning fan itself. You can close doors to unused rooms if there is enough space under the door to allow for sufficient air circulation. If you do decide to close some registers, never close off vents to more than 10% of your total conditioned space. SEER rating Q: What is the difference between Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratings (SEER) and tons? Is a bigger air conditioning unit better? A: SEER is a measurement of the efficiency, while tons is a measurement of size. One ton of air conditioning is equivalent to 12,000 BTU. A BTU is a British Thermal Unit, and it is simply a measurement of heat. One BTU is roughly equivalent to the amount of heat generated by burning one wooden kitchen match. Simply put, this means that a one-ton air conditioner can remove 12,000 BTU from a space per hour. To determine what size air conditioner a house needs, a contractor will conduct a heat gain/heat loss calculation, which enables the contractor to match the size of the unit to the BTU requirements of the specific house. A general rule of thumb for an average home is about 600 sq. ft. per ton. Bigger definitely is not better. A larger-than-necessary system will turn on and off more frequently and cost more to operate than a properly sized system. A unit is operating at its lowest efficiency when it initially starts. The longer a unit runs the more efficient it is. Be sure to look for a properly sized system. |
