by Travis Seeger
Wow spring is definitely here, even though we saw some late winter snow and had a “hard” winter in general spring has arrived!!
One of the things that caused me to understand just how much winter we had was the season’s utility bills, wow! Natural gas continues to be on the rise and even though it’s a more Earth friendly fuel than propane, heating oil or coal, it is no longer the easy choice when it comes to primary heating sources.
Some big changes have happened in our industry, one of those areas is the push into geothermal heating. We have seen this as a viable option in new construction and where land or landscaping was not a consideration. New technology in the “wells,” matched with more manufacturer’s product offerings have now made this a practical option for many more of our clients. This coupled with the fact that tax credits are 30% of the project cost make this a very enticing option.
The other beauty of this product is that it produces the majority of your hot water especially in the summer time by taking the heat from your home and placing it into the water for your families use later.
Manufacturers studies show that 75% of programmable thermostats are set for “hold” and do not run an energy saving program as they are designed. To counteract this manufacturers have put the access to this programming at our fingertips, whether at our desktop or if we are on the go, on our smart-phone these systems have become web based and very user friendly. This is a huge breakthrough in controlling your homes heating and cooling system that ties into your homes network. We offer a basic system from Schlagelink or we can go a step further into the automation world with a product offering from Control4. Both of these systems are very expandable and have the ability to add energy conservation and true energy management. From your desktop or your smart-phone application you can access your homes comfort controls, lighting, door locks, security cameras in real time. Systems can also be designed to regulate indoor lighting by opening or closing blinds and even be set to turn on or off interior lighting based on customer preset limits.
If you are technologically challenged and have given up on using the programming feature of your thermostat, but, it makes you feel a little guilty every time you walk by your thermostat and its SCREAMING OUT “HOLD” and in essence saying “I’m not doing my job”. Or if you have even thought about Geothermal systems give us a call @ 636-532-5841 or drop me an email at travis@chesterfieldservice.com and we would be very happy to discuss your situation and offer solutions.
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