Archive for the ‘Saving Money’ Category
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
By Dan Jape – Reliable Heating & Air
One of the most important aspects of your home’s heating and cooling system is the duct work. Proper duct work can make a huge difference in the comfort and efficiency of your home. I visit four or five customer’s homes each day and in the vast majority of them, I find duct work issues that need to be corrected to make sure the new heating and cooling system we install will deliver what is promised in terms of comfort and efficiency. I see a number of customers who simply are talked into replacing the equipment in their home without analyzing the distribution system and they end up with the same poor comfort level they had before they purchased a new system.
One of the most frequent problems we find is lack of the proper amount of return or intake duct work. A proper operating system has to have the correct amount of return ducts to match the output of the system. Without the correct amount of intakes, many problems will arise such as lack of cooling capacity, overheating furnace heat exchangers, freezing cooling coils and reduced life of the entire system. Many homes suffer this issue and it must be corrected when upgrading your HVAC system.
Many homes have duct work built out of fiberglass or duct board. This a foil covered, glue impregnated sheet of fiberglass that is used as plenums or distribution boxes on the top and the sides of furnaces and is a very poor choice for ducting material. It is very porous and rough inside and collects dirt and debris and after a few years of service is always filthy dirty. Mold grows on the inside of this material and it is very hard to keep the corners and seams sealed up to keep air from leaking out in attics or basements. Metal ducts and plenums need to be installed to replace this inferior product when a new system is installed in your home to assure you of proper airflow, comfort, and efficiency. In some extreme cases, I find actual splitter boxes or wyes made of this duct board to try and save money on new home construction. You can find these by looking for boxes made into triangle shapes with many ducts attached to them. These impede airflow, overwork the furnace blower, and provide inferior comfort to the entire home. They have to be replaced to make sure you are getting the full comfort and efficiency a new HVAC system can provide you.
The last and one of the most important aspects of your ducts is making sure they are sized properly to deliver the correct amount of airflow to each room in your home. Almost every homeowner I visit complains about the comfort in their bonus room or the room over their garage in a two story home. This discomfort is caused by lack of airflow to overcome the heat loss or heat gain in this special room, which is over unconditioned space and needs more air flow to make this room comfortable. I will never understand why builders ignore this room and provide a space that in many cases cannot be used in peak weather conditions. This problem is easily corrected when replacing your comfort system and should not be overlooked and if it is, the problem will still be there after the new system is installed.
One should never purchase a new HVAC system without having a competent contractor inspect the duct system to assure you that your new heating and cooling system will actually deliver the promise of comfort and efficiency that you should demand from this purchase.
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Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
by Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air
There is an exciting new Trane product we have available that will allow you to put control of your home in the palm of your hand and provide total comfort and total security from any remote location. The “LiNK” system allows you to monitor and remotely control the temperatures and energy efficiency of your home as well as controlling the door locks, security lights and even turn on cameras that show you what is happening in your home. Many different systems in your home can be controlled from your web enabled phone or laptop computer. Two hundred and thirty-one different systems can be connected to the LiNK system and all you need is an internet connection.
Controlling and monitoring you homes heating and cooling system has many uses. I never know when I will get home on any given day, so a programmable thermostat is useless for my lifestyle. LiNK allow me to adjust my temperatures when I am on my way home so my comfort level is already where I like it before I get there. LiNK will send me an alert if my home gets too hot or too cold, possibly alerting me to a problem with my system.
One of the most exciting aspects of the LiNK system you will enjoy the most is the ability to have wireless camera’s pointed at your front door and throughout your home that will show you real time pictures of who just entered your home and what is actually taking place even though you might be out of town. The LiNk system can be programmed to allow select people in your home at certain times and not others and keep a 90 day record of when and who came in and out. This could be very useful for cleaning services, exterminators etc. It would also be very handy to know when your teenagers come home and who was with them. I will occasionally get a call from my security company that I had an alarm go off and I do not know if it was a false alarm or a real emergency. So far, thank goodness, all have been false alarms, but the drive home to check it out is a very tense trip I would rather not have to make. LiNK would allow you to verify to the police that you have had a real break in and need them to actually respond.
You can remotely turn off and on lighting and open and close your garage door in addition to many other uses. You can even program your system to work in concert when you arrive from work, push a button and the garage door will open, your entryways will light up, your security system will recognize you, and your front door will unlock. LiNK can have your favorite music playing for you when you get home and while you were away, LiNK can make sure the lawn sprinkler watered your lawn on schedule. If it had rained, you could have bypassed the sprinkler system from work.
The great thing about this system is it is modular and you can slowly but surely add new devices as you find you need them and as long as they are Z-Wave compatible devices, the sky is the limit. And the best part is the system is very affordable!
Call us today (770-594-9969) to learn more about this exciting new way of controlling your home.
Tags: control door locks, dan jape, home automation, home monitoring, home security, remote lighting, remote music, security lights, wireless cameras
Posted in Air Conditioning, Care and Maintenance, Going Green, Heating, Saving Money | Comments Off
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
by Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air
Two years ago when the tax credit program started, December 31, 2010 seemed so far down the road it would never come. Well, here we are at the end of one of the best deals we have seen and there is only a few months left to take advantage of the $1500 credit that has allowed millions of homeowners to replace old inefficient heating and cooling systems. There have been many negative reports in the media about the stimulus plan and its success or failure has been debated to death by the press and talk radio, but the positive side of this bill is the impact it has had on every average homeowner who had old worn out heating and cooling systems that needed upgraded. These people have been able to purchase top of the line super high efficiency heating and cooling systems for the same price as an entry level system. A very nice added feature to these new systems is a special thermostat that not only controls temperature but also controls and removes more humidity than a regular system. The increased moisture removal makes one feel more comfortable at higher temperatures saving cooling dollars.
There are many new models and sizes available today that earn the tax credit and they give homeowners many more choices that were not open to them just a few months ago. Another positive side of this tax credit program is that all the different manufacturers of heating and cooling systems have advanced technology and efficiency to meet the government standards and these new models will be around for years after the credit program goes away in a few months. If you have not looked into the tax credit program, you should call your heating and cooling provider and at least explore this program as it ends December 31, 2010 and there is no extension or plans to extend this program, so do not miss this opportunity to cut your utility bills in half and increase your comfort by two fold.
The cold weather is here now and it is time to get your furnace checked for proper operation and safety. A properly adjusted furnace can save hundreds of dollars in cost of operation and make sure that your heating system is in top working order. Furnaces should be cleaned of rust and soot and have the heat exchanger inspected thoroughly each year. Gas pressure should be adjusted and the gas jets cleaned to assure proper operation and efficiency. Your air filter should be changed every 2 months and the blower wheel and assembly should be kept clean and free from dirt build up.
Another nice addition to your comfort system this season would be a central humidifier that adds moisture to your homes heating system. These units prevent damage to your homes hardwood floors, cabinets and furniture. They also prevent dry skin and static electricity and reduce the heating bills as it is more comfortable at a lower temperature when the moisture is increased. This is the opposite of the summer when comfort is increased with lower humidity. Call Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air at 770 594-9969 for all the details about the expiration of tax credits.
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Posted in Air Conditioning, Heating, Saving Money | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
by Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air
There is an exciting new program from the gas company that will allow you to get a $1000 rebate and when combined with federal tax credits of $1500, earns a total of $2500 off the cost of a new heating and cooling system. This is almost half the cost of the entire system and when combined with the $1000 rebate now available from Trane, makes this the most lucrative time of the year to replace your old worn out furnace and air conditioner. This new program is called “Dump the Pump” and Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air is one of the few contractors in metro Atlanta that can handle this program to make sure you get the full rebate when your heat pump is replaced. The federal tax credit is a great program designed to help a homeowner upgrade their system lowering their power bills and recoup the bulk of the cost of the upgrade.
The new program from the AGL, the local gas provider, gives you the chance to replace your old heat pump or dual fuel system with a new high efficiency gas furnace and air conditioner and get $1000 no strings attached. Many of these old heat pump dual fuel systems were installed in past years as a result of kickbacks paid to heating and air contractors or builders by the local electrical companies. Many of these systems were not installed or applied correctly and they have not given good service or comfort. The local gas company for most of metro Atlanta is AGL and they serve everyone except the city of Sugar Hill and city of Austell. If you have a marketer, such a Scana or Walton Gas you purchase your gas through AGL and can earn the rebate. This rebate is available only through a select few approved contractors chosen by AGL to perform these dual fuel replacements. Call Dan Jape of Reliable Heating and Air today for details on this program. While a heat pump can be a good choice for a basement, many times they do not work as well as a gas furnace as the primary heating system in existing older homes or homes without extensive insulation in the walls and attics. This $1000 rebate is a great opportunity to get rid of an old heat pump that never should have been installed in the first place. Dan Jape has always been careful to make sure the heat pumps that Reliable Heating & Air installs are correctly applied.
Trane now has some very lucrative rebates and finance offers available through the end of November 2010 that will help reduce the cost of a replacement system even more. Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air is one of the few chosen by Trane to be a “Comfort Specialist” which is a special factory authorized dealer that can administer programs and rebates not available to a regular Trane Dealer. There are many advantages of doing business with a factory authorized Trane Dealer like Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air. There are instant rebates of $200, $400 and even $1000 on 16, 17 and 20 seer systems. Or if you prefer, Trane will give you three year interest free financing to pay for a new comfort system as you enjoy the energy savings and comfort afforded you by modern day Energy Star systems. The 3 year program requires no down payment, so one can immediately start enjoying the comfort and savings aspect of this program without any initial outlay of resources. A new 60 months 0% APR program has been offered by Dan Jape and many customers find that that can afford to pay for a top of the line system over 5 years with no interest and make the payments with the energy savings afforded them. Many people have contacted us this past summer about high energy bills and air conditioners that cannot keep up with the extreme heat wave we have seen this year. This past winter, we also saw colder temperatures than I can remember and the cold snap went on and on for months. These new tax credit qualifying systems also save hundreds of dollars in gas cost and can improve the comfort level of any home.
Dump your Pump today and enjoy up to $3500 in true rebate and incentives that will help you long term to enjoy your most valued belonging, your home. Enjoy lower utility cost, improved comfort, and lower humidity levels today! Call 770 594-9969 today and ask for Dan Jape for all the details about this exciting new program.
Reliable Heating & Air is an approved Atlanta Gas Light Advantage Dealer and can handle all needed gas work and re certification of gas pipe that has been unused for over two years. Reliable Heating and Air will come inspect all gas pipe for safety and to make sure it is pressure tight. After gas has been shut off in a home without usage, Atlanta Gas Light requires an inspection and permit from the county or city and Reliable Heating & Air is one the few approved contractors that can handle this task. Call Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air today for help in all of your gas furnace needs or any gas piping project you might encounter. Call today at 770 594-9969.
Tags: $1, 000 rebate, AGL, Austell, dan jape, discounted air conditioning, discounted heating system, Scana, Sugar Hill, tax credits, Walton Gas
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Friday, July 9th, 2010
by Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air
In the past two years, many homes in the Atlanta area have had new roofs installed due to the hail damage and storms that have hit us hard. With these new roofs came a very harmful side effect sold to the unsuspecting homeowner by roofing companies: a scorching hot attic. Most homes in Atlanta have a power assisted fan installed that exhausts hot air in the summer and keeps the temperature down in the attic which allows the air conditioning to work properly. The duct work in many homes is actually in the attic and by having proper ventilation, the air coming out of the vents can actually be 10 to 15 degrees cooler. Attics without these fans can approach 160 degrees in the middle of the afternoon.
The problem has come from the fact the majority of roofing companies have convinced the homeowner they no longer need power fans, instead replacing them with an inferior venting system called “ridge vents”. A ridge vent is simply a cap that goes over a hole cut along the peak of the roofing shingles. It is supposed to allow super heated air to naturally rise up and out the roof of your home through convection instead of using an electric fan to blow the air out of the roof. While some heat is exhausted, nowhere near as much is actually taken out of the attic when using a power fan and the result is a hot home and an air conditioner that has to run twice as long as it should under proper conditions. Also, the shingles can get too hot, shortening the life of the new roof. Roofers promote ridge vents because they have a high level of profit for the roofing companies, but this passive venting system does not do an adequate job for most homes in Atlanta. We see home after home that can’t cool to the level it used to before the change of the attic venting system. To make matters worse, there is much misinformation on the internet about attic ventilation which makes it more difficult to know what to believe.
There are power fans that mount in the gable vents already in the attic and there are also vents that need a hole cut through the roof and are usually mounted near the top or peak of the roof. These fans draw cooler air from under the overhang or soffit into the roof and blow up to 2000 cfm of air out when needed. They are controlled by thermostats mounted in the attics that turn the fans on at somewhere around 110 degrees. Critics of these fans complain they use too much electricity and the ridge vents do not, but time after time we have noted the temperature in the attic is 20 to 40 degrees warmer without power assisted fans. Whatever amount of electricity these fans do use will come back to you with lower cooling bills and reduced run time.
Do not let anyone convince you to change from power ventilation to passive ridge vents for any reason. If you already have, consider looking into changing back to power assisted fans, as it will bring you enhanced comfort, lower temperatures and reduced power bills for years to come.
Tags: attic fan, dan jape, hot attic, vent fan
Posted in Air Conditioning, Saving Money | Comments Off
Friday, April 16th, 2010
Free service call. Free diagnostic with service call. Free repair with paid service call. Free furnace with air conditioner!! And now FREE FREON. I know you have seen them all before. That ad that screams an offer that is too good to be true. It makes you stop just a second and ask yourself, could this really be free- like that quarter laying on the ground of the parking lot- or is just a come on to get me to buy something else at an inflated price to cover the cost of the “free” offering?
I have always found there is no “free” in life, that free always comes with strings attached and sometimes those strings are not pleasant. The free service call, the free repair, the free furnace and free diagnostic are all priced into what you are charged for and in the end you pay more for usually inferior goods and services than if you had just used an honest contractor offering no free services.
Now comes the most harmful “free promotion” I have seen used as a marketing campaign to date: The offering of “free Freon” if your unit has a leak and needs a recharge of refrigerant. While this is a way to get in the home and pitch a new system to the homeowner with a leaky system which needs to be replaced, the danger of this advertising campaign is there will be people who have systems that leak thousands of pounds of Freon into the atmosphere every summer and they will take advantage of this program to simply put more Freon in their system only to have it leak out two or three times over the season. The problem with this is that Freon, which is just a brand name for R-22 refrigerant is actually difluoromonochloromethane which is a hydrochloroflurocarbon or HCFC, a poisonous toxic gas that when released into the atmosphere causes damage to the environment and the ozone layer. It is not something to be pumped into leaking systems to only leak out into the atmosphere. If you have a leaking air conditioning system, the proper course of action is the stop the leak and stop polluting the world for future generations.
If you call this company, they will gladly come out and pump your system full of difluoromonochloromethane at no charge and keeping coming back and filling it up at no charge as it leaches into the air we breathe. This is just not being socially conscious or “green”. They may think it is a good way to get into your home to try and sell you a new system, but in the real world, a lot of people will just opt to have their systems filled up over and over again, never really knowing what problem they are contributing to. A law was passed called the Clean Air Act and it called for the removal of Freon from our cars first then our homes and businesses. It is now illegal to keep pumping up a leaky air conditioner that has over 50 pounds of Freon in it and it is environmentally irresponsible to keep pumping up a home air conditioning system that will just contribute to a problem that will have long reaching ramifications for future generations.
I seriously doubt the company advertising this “free freon” promotion meant any harm. They are by all accounts an honest company that does good work. The heating & cooling industry is extremely competitive in the Atlanta area and we’re all looking for new and inventive ways to grow our businesses, but we have to make sure that we do it in an ethical and environmentally responsible manner. Pumping “free Freon” into the atmosphere is not something we should do in any way shape of form!
The bottom line is this: Do not be fooled into thinking you are getting something for nothing. Repair or Replace your leaky air conditioner instead of just pumping it up. I still believe what my parents taught me years ago: Nothing free is worth having.
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Monday, February 15th, 2010
by Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air
After a ten year phase out, Freon is now dead and gone forever and this change will have an impact on most every home and business in the country. Back in the early 1990′s, law was enacted that called for the phase out of CFC’s, halons, and HCFC,s due to the fact they destroy the ozone layer and are responsible for creating an ozone hole over the South Pole. Freon is an HCFC and whether you believe in the ozone issue or not, everyone who currently has an old air conditioner that runs on Freon will be affected by the phase out since the law mandated that no new Freon based a/c units can be built after January 1, 2010 and after January 1, 2015, there is a ban on the sale and use of Freon in residential use. As the production of new Freon is limited, the price of this gas is going up to the point to where if you have an old leaky a/c system that uses Freon R-22, it will be a better idea to replace your a/c system instead of spending hundreds of dollars fixing leaks and recharging the system with Freon. Freon is going to be expensive this summer and to keep adding more to a leaky system is not a good use of your money. The state of the economy has the price of new systems lower than ever before and warranties have been escalated to 10 years parts and labor making this the best of times to cut ties with your Freon based a/c system.
New units now use R410a refrigerant which is far better than Freon in removing heat and moisture and is the only refrigerant available for home use. New units can cut your electric bill by 50 percent while giving you comfort you have never known. There are tax credits available of $1500 from the federal government which will pay the cost of upgrading to the very best furnace and a/c system. You will get a variable speed furnace with a built in dehumidifier and a 16 seer a/c system that will keep your home cool and dry in the summer and an even temperature in the winter. There are also factory rebates of $1000 or 36 months same as cash to help with the cost of upgrading your comfort system. Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air was one of the first contractors in the Atlanta area to specialize in the new R410a refrigerant having installed some of the first units on the market late in 1999.
Every year people who know they have to replace their cooling systems get estimates over the winter when business is slow and they get the best prices of the year. But instead of going ahead and getting the work done early before the warm weather arrives, they procrastinate until it get hot and contractors are already busy, then they call and try to get off season deals. The heating and cooling business is all about supply and demand. In the warm months, there is an abundance of jobs and customers waiting to have work performed and no contractor can give you a special deal because the time to do your work could be sold at full price to the next person waiting in line. Do not wait until spring to try and repair or replace your a/c if you already know you need service. Get it done early if you want the best price and experience no waiting in a hot house. Call Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air today for details about the new green refrigerant R410a.
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Monday, October 12th, 2009
by Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air
The floods that struck Atlanta brought many tragic results included the destruction of life and home for many and my heart goes out to all those affected. Sometimes one is at a loss to understand why such occurrences happen and how they become so terrible out of something so necessary such as rain. The floodwater also can have long reaching affects on our lives and safety unless properly cleaned up and treated.
Many basements and crawl spaces were flooded with water that was laden with bacteria and byproducts of sewer due to the overflowing of the drain water systems and septic tanks. This water made its way into walls, carpets, floors, and most importantly, furnaces and water heaters. The modern day furnace is lined with insulation panels that absorbed all this very dangerous and polluted water and it cannot be removed the fibrous material. These panels have to be replaced as do all the controls devices, limits, fan motors and gas valves. The furnaces have to be removed and completely taken apart and scrubbed and disinfected and by the time all the damaged parts are replaced, one would come out much better by replacing the entire furnace. The cooling coils are also insulated with fiberglass panels that soaked up this dirty infected water and should also be replaced to ensure safe indoor air quality.
Water heaters that have been under water are extremely dangerous, as they often will relight after drying out, and people assume sine they fire up and heat water, they are safe. This could not be farther from the truth, as the water and sediment that seeped in gas valves, burners and safeties can cause trouble in the days that follow the flood. One should never attempt to light a flooded water heater without a complete replacement of the controls and burners or replacement of the entire heater. These appliances are far too cheap and the consequences of a malfunction are too severe to chance using a damaged and flooded heater.
Outdoor air conditioner condensers are designed to sit outside in the rain and they faired much better in the floods than furnaces. If an outdoor unit flooded and the controls did not get immersed under water, there is a good chance the unit can be cleaned out and put back in service. If the control box and the electronics got wet, they will need to be replaced. The coils should be acid washed and thoroughly cleaned before the unit is operated.
The two mail concerns with flooded systems are safety from gas valves and controls that were damaged and dangerous indoor air quality from fecal matter and sewer water that was mixed in with the rain water. The last area of concern was ductwork and insulation that got soaked in the flood. All duct work that got saturated needs to be replaced regardless whether it’s metal or flexible. The insulation on ductwork will never dry out to properly insulate the ductwork after it has been under water, and the ducting itself can’t be properly cleaned to make sure it is clean and disinfected to not spread airborne pollutants.
The floods hurt many people and cost untold millions in damage to homes and property. Make sure you properly repair and replace your homes heating and cooling systems along with your water heating appliances to make sure you are safe and secure and all systems work as designed.
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Friday, August 7th, 2009
by Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air
There has been some exciting news in the world of tax credits and heating and air. When the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed into law, it included a provision allowing a tax credit for a furnace that has a high efficiency blower motor regardless of the thermal efficiency of the gas burner section. Up until recently, the IRS was not recognizing this section of the law and was giving credit only for furnaces that were 95% efficient or greater and this limited many people’s choices, as this model was not always the best choice for everyone. They had not included this important “main air circulating fan” portion of the law failing to realize that in some parts of the country, the largest energy savings can be derived from electric savings from these special fans in 80% efficient furnaces. Now due to a recent ruling by the IRS, two more types of furnaces are now eligible to earn tax credits for the years 2009 & 2010. These are 80% efficient variable speed furnaces with two stage gas valves and 80% efficient single stage furnaces with super high efficient blowers. Both of this types of furnaces can now earn a credit by themselves and not just as a piece of a qualify system. This a great ruling coming just before the winter season when many people will be looking to replace their furnace and cannot afford to install a 95% model or can’t install one due to the type of home they own. Both of these furnaces will save hundreds of dollars a year for people and will provide much lower gas bills over an old 50% to 60% furnace.
On another note:
As we move closer to the beginning of the cooler weather, I want to alert homeowners to a safety problem that has become of epidemic proportions in the last year. Many thousands of homes have had to have their roofs replaced due to hailstorms that hit the metro area in the last couple of years and as we have been going in peoples attics to work on their heating and cooling systems we have noticed some alarming and dangerous problems that need to be brought to peoples attention before heating season arrives and they start using their furnaces. Roofing companies are inadvertently causing problems when replacing roofs by dislodging furnace flues completely and by pushing flues up against the wood decking of homes they are roofing. Most roofers do not come into the inside of the attic to check the furnace flues or chimneys when replacing roofs. We have found numerous flues knocked completely off and many more touching wood decking, which is very dangerous and a code violation. Double wall furnace flues must have 1” clearance from wood and the roofers are accidentally sliding the pipe into the wood and attaching the roof flashing in the wrong place. You can check for this problem by going into the attic with a flashlight and look for the round silver pipe coming from the either the attic furnace or up through the roof of the second floor and make sure it is not touching the decking or has been knocked completely off the furnace. If you have had your roof replaced recently and you are unsure if there is a problem, call your heating and air company to perform an inspection of your furnace flue, as there could be a situation that needs attention before heating season arrives.
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Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
There are some real exciting changes in the heating and cooling industry and these changes are of great benefit to you personally and the country as a whole. As some of may remember, last month, I informed you about the 2009 Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency program that will pay 1/3 of the cost of a new qualifying heating & cooling system for your primary residence. There are no income limits on this program and is simply to understand. Just replace your old worn out system with a new super high efficiency gas furnace or electric heat pump and you will get $1500 from the federal government. This $1500 for the most part has paid for the bulk of the increased cost of getting the top of the line system for the cost of an entry level system. Well, no more. There are a new line of units that will earn the tax credit money that will actually be cheaper than the base models.
In the past, the units that qualified for the credit were a considerable bit more expensive as they were loaded up with all the bells and whistles and these features interested some buyers while others were not enthralled with them. The great change that is so exciting and is sweeping through the heating and cooling industry is new units that qualify for the stimulus money, but that are more basic models that are not that much more expensive or cheaper than the entry level units when the credit is applied, giving even more people the option to get the credit.
In the world of air conditioners, to qualify for the $1500, the unit has to be 16 seer and above. That used to mean a special air conditioner that was two speed in it’s operation which enhanced it’s dehumidification ability and increased it’s efficiency even greater when it was in “low speed”. Well now a flood of 16 seer single speed air conditioners have come on the market and they are much more affordable than the 2 speeds. They are the same efficiency, but much less complex and will be a great addition to the line up of all companies product line. The mind set of the different manufacturing facilities in the past is that anybody that would upgrade to a 16 seer air conditioner would want a unit loaded up with all the components that make a unit expensive and complex. This new line of normal super high efficiency air conditioners will make them affordable to the normal income purchaser, not just the top 10 percent of consumers.
Furnaces have to be 95% efficient or greater to earn the tax credit and up until now, that meant a furnace with a variable speed blower and a modulating gas valve or at least a two or three stage gas valve that would allow the furnace to regulate its output of heat by demand. Well now there are new models coming on the market that do not have all these features, but still achieve the 95% annualized fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE). These furnaces are much less expensive and give up some very nice comfort features, but will in the end, will make these tax credits available to a whole new group of consumers that have never been able to afford this type of super high efficiency furnace. The stimulus money now makes this type of furnace less expensive than a base model of far less afue or efficiency. Until this furnace is actually in the warehouse, one major heating company has actually dropped the price of the 95% variable speed furnace with built in dehumidification to stimulate sales until the new models arrive. Now is the time to jump on one of these super high efficient models being sold at base model prices! My assumption is when the new stripped down 95% model is available in a few months, these deluxe models will return to their normal price.
There is another product in this new law that is clearly included in the language of the law, but is not being acknowledged by the IRS and it deals with furnaces and air handlers that are super efficient in their consumption of electricity and not gas. If you go to the Department of Energy ‘s web site dealing with the new law ( www.energystar.gov ) and read the section concerning the main air circulating fan or the blower of these units, it clearly states that such product is included in the stimulus package and should be included in the $1500 credit. At this time, the IRS does not understand the difference of a high efficient gas furnace and one that is super efficient in it’s consumption of electricity. I have spoken to the IRS to try and help them understand the meaning of the new law as have many others in the industry, but they mistakenly believe the only furnace that is included is one that is gas efficient and not electrically efficient. Hopefully someone form the DOE can clarify the intent of the law to the IRS and get a ruling so this law can be enforced as written. When this happens, furnaces of any gas efficiency can be included regardless of it’s AFUE rating. What this means to you is a furnace that will save you $230 to $250 a year in electricity, remove 15% to 20% more moisture, increase the overall efficiency of your air conditioner and be cheaper than a builder grade model. This is a win win situation for all. Lets hope for a quick resolution for this one.
Posted in Air Conditioning, Heating, Saving Money | Comments Off
