Make Your Home More Energy Efficient In 2015!

The New Year has arrived! Christmas decorations have been put away, black-eyed peas have been eaten, and people everywhere are making resolutions with hopes of improving their lives for the new year that lies ahead. But let’s be honest, how many of us really stick to our New Year’s resolutions? A top resolution for a lot of people is to get healthy. And sure, it might be hard to go to the gym every morning, but there are things you can do around the house to get healthy in other ways.

Making your home more energy efficient will benefit the different systems in your home and will also benefit you. By making simple changes to the appliances and systems in your home you are ensuring that your home is healthy for your entire family. Below is a list of positive changes that can be made in your home that have the John Moore stamp of approval. Enjoy!

Switching to a Tankless Water Heater

The biggest benefit of a tankless water heater is never running out of hot water. With a typical family of four, the last person to take a shower in the morning often gets the short end of the stick. Most traditional water heaters provide around 35 gallons of hot water before they begin to run out. But with the tankless system, you can run your washing machine and dishwasher, fill up the bathtub, and take a long shower without running out of hot water.

“Instead of being always on and running like traditional heaters, the tankless water system shuts down until someone in the house turns on a hot water faucet,” said John Moore Services Manager & Master Plumber Joe Bany. “It is basically a heat exchanger that is made up of a bunch of coils. These coils heat up very quickly and are able to heat the water immediately as it comes through the system.”

Going tankless also means you are conserving water and will have more space throughout your home. A regular water heater is large, bulky, and needs a floor stand which takes up a significant amount of room. But a tankless water heater is mounted on a wall, and some can even be installed outdoors. This means extra storage for you in your garage — more room for stuff! Yay!

Getting Energy Star® Appliances

Energy Star® is a program that was first developed in the early 1990’s by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a method to identify and promote products that are energy efficient. Products carrying this symbol provide a way for businesses and consumers to save money and protect our environment at the same time.

All major appliances that sport the Energy Star® label, are not necessarily a better product than a comparable model, but in order to be rated Energy Star®, it must meet very strict energy efficiency guidelines as set out by that program.

Appliances carrying the Energy Star® rating typically are 10 to 20% more energy efficient than non-rated models. This means you’ll not only save money, but help your environment as well.

Using eco-friendly and energy efficient appliances like dishwashers, refrigerators, and washing machines will significantly reduce waste and keep more money in your pocket. They also use less water, and by reducing water consumption & waste, using Energy Star® rated appliances also helps protect our lakes, streams, and oceans.

Using Media Air filter

Like normal air filters, a media filter collects dust and other particles to prevent them from contaminating your air. But a media filter is like an air filter to the extreme. It is located on the back of your furnace and is designed to keep your whole HVAC system cleaner. As air travels through your HVAC system, it must first pass through the media filter, so instead of the air only filtering once, it is filtered twice, which will keep your air fresh and contaminant free.

“A media filter is a thicker filter. The average filter collects about 10% of all airborne particles, but the media filter gets up to 98-99%. It cleans almost 100% of the air,” said John Moore Services HVAC Coach Lewis Yancey. “It also collects particles down to .3% of a micron, and will remove all pollen, dust, fungi, smoke, and spores from the air.”

A good media filter can prolong the life of your HVAC system for years. It helps to keep your heater, AC system, and air ducts clean. By keeping them clean, your system won’t have to work as hard and will last longer, run more efficiently, and save you money on monthly energy bills.

Installing a Programmable Thermostat

Your thermostat, small as it is, plays a large role in the amount of energy consumed by your heating and air conditioning system. The Department of Energy says that by turning your thermostat back 10 to 15 degrees for 8 hours, you can save 5% to 15% a year on your heating bill — a savings of as much as 1% for each degree if the setback period is 8 hours long. And that is a HUGE savings! But for a lot of us, remembering to turn the temperature down before we leave for work in the morning happens long after we’ve left the house. A programmable thermostat can help.

“With a programmable thermostat you are able to set up a schedule so at a certain time of the day the temperature goes up, and later on in the day it goes down, and in the evening it goes down even further. You can set the temperature to your lifestyle,” said John Moore Services HVAC Manager Charles Griffith. “It is part of the home automation system, so you are able to control your thermostat through an app on your smart phone or through your computer.”

Whole house Water Filtration System

“Your tap water carries things like arsenic, copper, lead, and zinc,” said Joe Bany said, senior Manager and Master Plumber for John Moore Services. “There is also coliform, which is fecal matter. Most cities recycle water through the system, so there is animal fecal matter that runs through and gets into the water at the plant, which then gets back into your home. Chloramine is in there too. It’s basically chlorine on steroids, which has been beefed up with ammonia to help it live longer through the system so it kills viruses and bacteria, but there are a lot of chemicals that they add to the water to kill these bacteria that end up making it to your house.”

A whole house water filter installed by a certified technician is connected to the water line that goes in your house and filters all of the water in your home right at the source, ridding it completely of all those gross, harmful pollutants. That means that every single outlet for water in your home — faucets, baths, showers, kitchen and washing machine — use only filtered, pure water. It will also help make your water soft, which will keep your appliances running longer and is better for your skin and hair.

Making a few small changes to your home can not only save you money, but will also keep the air inside your home cleaner and keep all your systems running more efficiently. Start the year off right by calling the professionals at John Moore Services. We can evaluate your home, answer all your questions, and get your home ready for an efficient new year!https://www.johnmooreservices.com/water-quality/