Nest Thermostats Energy Savings Tips

There are several things that you can easily do using a Nest thermostat to help maximize energy savings - and help minimize your utility bills. Using just a few of these tips can make a big difference.

Teach it well

Your Nest Thermostat does almost all of the work for you. All you have to do is teach it what temperatures you like, especially during the first week you have it in your home. But even after it's created a schedule for you, it keeps learning from your adjustments over time.

Turn the temperature down at night

You're keeping warm under a thick blanket tonight, so turn the temperature down to save energy while you sleep. After a couple nights, Nest will learn this habit and start doing it for you.

Look for the Nest Leaf

The Nest Leaf is an easy way to know you're saving energy, and it encourages you to continually improve your savings over time. You'll see the Leaf on the Nest Thermostat display or in the app when you set it to a temperature that saves you energy. The more often you see a Leaf, the more you save.

Try an easy 1º change

On average, for every degree you set back your thermostat, you can save 2% on your energy bill. Most people can't tell the difference between a room set one day at 70º and the next day at 69º. In fact, the difference in temperature between your nose and your toes is likely to be greater than 1º. Try a small 1º change in your temperature schedule, and see how much you've saved compared to the previous month in your Home Report.

Set your "Away" temperature thoughtfully

Nest's Auto-Away and manual Away modes will both turn off your system until your home reaches a minimum or maximum temperature that you choose during setup, on in your thermostat Settings > Away Temperatures.

The more efficient your Away temperature is, the more you'll save. Just keep in mind the needs of pets and plants before you set it too low or high.

Manually set Away when you'll be gone for a long time

You should set your Nest Thermostat to Away manually for maximum savings when you're on vacation, a long business trip, or anytime you're away for an extended period. While Auto-Away will automatically maintain an energy efficient temperature while you're gone, if it senses activity, like a friend coming over to water the plants, it could start warming or cooling the house. Setting your thermostat to Away manually keeps your home at the same energy efficient temperature until you wake it up with the Nest app or by pressing the thermostat ring.

Cranking the heat won't warm your home faster

A thermostat is an on-off switch, not an accelerator. So for most heating systems, turning the temperature all the way up won't heat your home faster. It just runs your system longer. If you want it to be 72º inside and you turn the heat up to 90º, it will warm just as fast as if you turned the heat up to 72º.

When you change the temperature, make sure to look at Time-to-Temperature on the thermostat screen to get a sense of how high or low to set the temperature. You may not know if you want it to be 72° or 74°, but it's easy to see the difference between running the heat for 15 minutes versus an hour. You'll also see the results on your energy bill.

Check your Energy History

Just like a fitness tracker, Energy History shows you your energy use over time. You can view the last 10 days of your heating and cooling activity, and how your temperature choices, Auto-Away and the weather influenced your energy usage for instance. It's a great tool to build better habits to save even more in the future.

Use your fan sparingly

Using the fan of your heating and cooling system to make a house more comfortable sounds like a good idea. It uses less energy than your AC for instance and will do a good job at keeping the air a consistent temperature throughout your home to reduce hot and cold spots. However, keep in mind that the typical fan requires more energy than many homes use for lighting. If you keep the fan on all day, it will use as much energy as a typical air conditioner running for three hours straight. Over time, this can add up to a lot of unnecessary energy use.

Try using the fan control with your thermostat or the Nest app to schedule your fan to turn on for 15, 30, 45 or 60 mins each hour for a certain time period during the day.

Use windows to heat and cool your home

In many parts of the world, there are long periods of the year when you can harness Mother Nature's heating and air-conditioning power with your home's windows, blinds and curtains to help maintain the temperature you want. For example, if you live in a place with cool summer mornings and hot afternoons, you'll save a lot of energy by opening up the windows while it's cooler and closing the windows and blinds when the day starts to warm.

Try opening the windows at night, and don't use the AC in the morning. The next day, don't open the windows, and just use your thermostat to adjust the temperature. Look in Energy History on the third day to see the difference in how much energy you saved.

Use two or more thermostats the right way

If you have more than one thermostat in your home, teach them differently so that they build schedules for each part of your home that they control. You can save even more energy by closing the interior doors between the different areas of your home. This will help to keep the warm or cool air where you want it and prevent your system from switching on when it doesn't need to.

Adjust your radiators and vents

Any time you're overheating (or overcooling) one room just to be comfortable in another, you're using extra energy. If you find that some rooms in your home are too cold or too hot, try making gradual adjustments to the vents or to the radiators in each room - close the vents for a room that heats up too quickly (or cools down too quickly when running the air conditioning).

Take care of your heating and cooling system

Just like changing the oil in your car, regular maintenance of your system will make sure it's working as efficiently as it can. If your system has leaky ducts or an old air filter, it's probably wasting energy. The Nest Thermostat looks at how often your system runs to estimate when it's time to change the air filter and will send you a Filter Reminder when you're due. Changing a filter is usually straightforward and inexpensive - you'll need to check your equipment to see what size filter you need. You can change it yourself, or you can call a local Nest Pro at Self Heating and Cooling to do it for you. The Nest Pro at Self Heating & Cooling can also look at your system and fix any leaks that can affect efficiency. To schedule a Nest Pro, call Self Heating & Cooling at 678-909-6377

Tags: energy savings, spring hvac maintenance, AC Repair, Thermostats, Nest Thermostats

Tips for Buying and Using Dehumidifiers

Summer’s higher temps raise humidity levels in your home, and all that moist air can wreak havoc on interior walls and flooring. Too-high humidity promotes the growth of mold, mildew, and other allergens that take a toll on homeowners, too — especially asthma and allergy sufferers.

How Do I Know If My Home is Too Humid?

The EPA recommends keeping your home’s humidity under 60% during the summer and between 25% to 40% in the winter. You can pick up a hygrometer at your local hardware store for less than $25; it’ll measure the air’s moisture content.

But your own comfort — or discomfort — is one of the best indicators of off-kilter humidity. Coughing, sneezing, and clammy hands can all be signs that the air is too humid.

Your home has a few ways of telling you, too:

Wonky wood: Hard-to-open wooden window frames and creaky, buckling hardwood floors are signs of swollen wood caused by too much moisture in your home.

Funky smells: A musty odor can indicate growth of moisture-loving mold and mildew.

Damaged walls: Peeling wallpaper, blistering paint, and dark spots on walls or the ceiling are all symptoms of excess humidity.

Constant condensation: Basic household activities like cooking and showering put moisture into the air, but if you’re seeing condensation on your windows long past bath time, your humidity level is probably too high.

What Are My Options for Dehumidifiers?

A dehumidifier pulls in wet air, removes moisture, and then exhausts the drier air back into your home.

There are two types of dehumidifiers: portable and whole-house. The type of dehumidifier that’s best for the job depends on the size of the space you want to dry out and how often you need to.

Portable Dehumidifiers

For one specific space, like a kitchen or a bedroom, a portable dehumidifier ($100 to $350) should do the trick. You can move it from room to room as needed during the months when moisture is a problem.

Some larger models (those with 30+ pint capacities) can be bulky to move, and with a portable you’ll have to empty the water tank each time it’s full. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about overflow; most new models come with an automatic shutoff if the water tank gets full. Some units also have humidistats, timers, remote controls, and built-in wheels.

FYI: Running your air conditioner can lower humidity in your home, but more effectively when temps are in the 80s or above. On days when the temps are in the 70s, your AC won’t be running enough to pull any significant amount of moisture out of the air. Without a dehumidifier, the air may still feel sticky even if temperature in your home is at a comfortable level.

Whole-House Systems

If you live in a climate where controlling humidity levels is a year-round battle, or you find yourself using multiple portable units, it may be time to install a whole-house system ($1,500 to $2,800), which can be integrated right into your HVAC.

There’s no tank to empty; a plastic tube and a run of PVC pipe carries water into a basement drain. If you don't have a basement, a condensate pump will route water outside or to another drain, often in a laundry room or bathroom. You’ll need a pro to install a whole-house dehumidifier.

Low-Tech DIY Options to Dehumidify

Or maybe you want to DIY — dry-it-yourself. You can dehumidify with some common household items, including:

Chalk
Kitty litter
Charcoal briquettes
Rock salt

These DIY solutions work best in small spots like closets or crawlspaces. Some do double duty, removing funky odors in addition to moisture.

Tags: air conditioning, hvac air conditioning, AC Repair, Dehumidifiers, Humidity

Winter Humidification Tips

One of the biggest problems faced by people in the winter, aside from the frigid weather, is dry air. Little to no humidity in the air can cause dry skin, itchy eyes, and irritated sinuses and throat. Extended exposure to dry air can also inflame the mucous membrane lining in the respiratory tract – which can increase the risk of infection.

Negative Effects of Dry Air

Increased likelihood of getting sick and developing or aggravating respiratory problems.
Possibility of home damage to your wood furniture, walls, floors, and electronics.
Contributes to higher utility costs because dry air feels colder, prompting you to turn up the heat, which makes the air even drier.
Increased likelihood of bloody noses, static shocks, sore throats, allergies, asthma, and dry/itchy eyes, throat, and skin.

It’s the dry air that causes many of the health problems attributed to the cold weather during cold and flu season. This is why it is important to be mindful of the humidity levels in your home. Keeping the humidity at a healthy, comfortable level will help curb many of these symptoms.

What exactly is considered “healthy and comfortable?”

The Environmental Protection Agency recommends an indoor humidity level between 30 – 60%. But keeping these levels throughout the season requires a bit of juggling. The outside air naturally affects the humidity in your home whenever doors or windows are opened.

A typical forced-air heating system will also contribute to the low humidity by replacing the interior air with drier outdoor air. But humidity in the home when the outdoor temperature is freezing or below can lead to water and ice buildup on windows and, even worse, mold along the walls.

So, it’s important to find the ideal levels that won’t harm you or your home. A good rule to follow is that the lower the outside temperature, the lower your humidity should be. Most modern HVAC thermostats allow you to set the humidity level in your home, but a hygrometer (which can be found at any home improvement store) will also give an accurate measurement.

In order to get the best all-around results, indoor humidity levels should be adjusted according to the outside temperature. Here is a short tip-sheet for a home set at a comfortable 70 degrees:

Outside temperature 20-40 degrees: Indoor humidity level should not exceed 40%.

Outside temperature 10-20 degrees: Indoor humidity level should not exceed 30%. (Be mindful that a level under 30% can cause discomfort and the usual dryness symptoms. This is when a humidifier can come in handy.)

Outside temperature 0-10 degrees: Indoor humidity level should remain at 30% or slightly lower.

Outside temperature between -10 and 0 degrees: Indoor humidity level should not exceed 25%.

If you are unfortunate enough to live in an area where the outside temperature drops to 10-to-20 below, the humidity indoors must not exceed 20%. In this instance, a humidifier is essential in keeping you both comfortable and healthy.

Humidification Tips for Dry Winter Air

Air dry your clothes to introduce humidity and save on energy costs.
Open the door to your bathroom when showering or bathing.
Houseplants help improve indoor air quality and release moisture into the air through transpiration.
Fish tanks, indoor fountains, and standing water all add moisture to the air through evaporation.
Opt for more stovetop cooking to introduce needed moisture.
Your heating system contributes to dry indoor air, so lower the thermostat when you can. You’ll save on utility bills as well.
Seal and insulate your home to keep the cold, dry winter air out.

If you begin to see condensation on your windows, your humidity level is probably too high. Measure your home’s humidity levels with a hygrometer.

In addition to personal wellbeing, when the humidity levels are within the EPA’s recommended range, a home can heat much more efficiently. These levels allow for a lower thermostat setting, which will keep your HVAC system running less and lower your utility bill. This season, be mindful of the humidity levels in your home and enjoy a happier, healthier winter.

Whole-Home Humidification

Whole-home humidification is a great solution for maintaining healthy humidity levels. It is installed directly into your home’s central air unit and works for the entire house, rather than just a single room as with portable humidifiers.

An absorbent pad/perforated panel is installed directly into your system’s airflow to introduce much needed moisture into the air. Since it gets water from your main water line, there is no need to refill or drain it. Also, there is no need to turn it on or off since it uses a built-in humidity reader to determine when to humidify or dehumidify your home.

Call Self Heating & Cooling for your professional humidification and indoor air quality assessment and consultation.

Tags: Humidification, winter, tips, AC Repair, Humidfiers, Thermostats

Winter is here! HVAC Tips to Help You Through

With cold weather knocking on the door, OK, beating on the door, you need to be able to rely on your heating system. That’s a no-brainer. What you might not know is that there are some simple things you can do to protect your system from the worst Mother Nature has to dish out, maybe get a few more weeks/months/years out of it, or at least help it keep you and your family more comfortable.

Tip 1: Keep Your HVAC System Clean

It costs a lot of money to buy a new HVAC system. It’s extremely complicated. It has a lot of electronics and moving parts and parts that heat up really hot and others that get really cold and things that light up and things that shouldn’t. And you depend on it to keep your home comfortable and your indoor air clean. Doesn’t it seem logical that it should require some care during it’s lifetime other than when it breaks? For best performance and a longer life, let us clean it and tune it up at least once a year. Twice is better, once before the heating season and once before the cooling season, but even once will help.

Tip 2: Care of Your Heat Pump in the Winter

Your heat pump sits outside all year doing what it’s supposed to do. Most of the time it ignores the weather conditions and functions just fine. However, it does not like ice. Freezing up during an ice storm is a common problem and can be the death of your outdoor unit. What happens is that a layer of ice forms on the fan and the blades outside. When your thermostat calls for heat, the heat pump turns on, the motor tries to turn the blades but can’t and and burns itself out trying. The best thing to do to prevent this is if you know there’s going to be an ice storm or sleet that’s expected to freeze, turn on your emergency heat. This will turn your heat pump off and turn on the backup heat source. Remember though that this backup heat source is the most expensive way to heat your house so don’t turn it on until the last possible minute and turn it back to heat pump (meaning turn the emergency heat off) as soon as you notice that the ice has melted off of your outdoor unit.

Note that this does not apply if you have a dual fuel system or a gas furnace/air conditioner system. This only applies to a heat pump.

Tip 3: Care of your Furnace

If you have a furnace, about the only thing you can keep an eye on that’s affected directly by cold weather is the drain line. If you have a high efficiency furnace, there is a drain line that runs from the unit to the outside somewhere or into some kind of drain. Know where that line is. In the winter it can freeze up and shut your furnace down. If it does freeze, thaw it out, turn off the breaker to your furnace, and turn it back on again to reset it. It should fire back up.

Tip 4: Designing a Home for Your Outdoor Unit

If you decide to build a lean-to or shed for your outdoor unit, remember to keep at least a four-foot clearance from the top of the unit so it can work and about two feet all the way around so it can be serviced. We have some small guys on our crews, but not that small.

You can cover the outdoor unit with a tarp or a board or something if you know it’s going to ice but BE SURE TO TAKE THE COVER OFF BEFORE YOU TURN THE HEAT PUMP BACK ON! You don’t want to waste all your hard work by burning up your outdoor unit because you forgot this little step.

Tip 5: Simple Safety Measure to Prevent Damage to Your Indoor Unit and to Your Home

It’s not a good idea to store anything too close to your indoor equipment. It’s definitely not a good idea to store anything flammable near your HVAC system. And it’s NEVER good to store anything near your gas furnace or gas water heater. Particularly in the case of older or less efficient gas or oil furnaces and water heaters, they need air in order to burn properly and to draft, or carry the harmful by-products of combustion out your chimney which you already know because you read my article about combustion safety. (A newer or more efficient furnace has a second pipe that brings in the fresh air it needs from outside.) So do yourself and your house a big favor and give your indoor units plenty of breathing room.

And that’s about it. Besides changing your filters regularly, which you should know already. If you have any questions about how to care for your equipment or want to schedule an appointment for a cleaning and tune-up because I convinced you that it’s a really, really good idea, call Self Heating & Cooling at 678-909-6377.

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Looking for the best HVAC company in Marietta, Smyrna, Atlanta and the surrounding areas? Call Self Heating & Cooling! For over 15 years, Self Heating & Cooling has been providing the highest quality HVAC products and the most outstanding customer service available — Call Self Heating & Cooling today to start enjoying your air! 678-909-6377. You can also check us out on Facebook, Google, Kudzu and Next Door to see what our customers are saying about us.

Tags: hvac, winter, tips

Winter Energy Saving Tips

This article will help you find strategies to help you save energy during the cool fall and cold winter months. Some of the tips below are free and can be used on a daily basis to increase your savings; others are simple and inexpensive actions you can take to ensure maximum savings through the winter.

If you haven't already, conduct an energy audit to find out where you can save the most, and consider making a larger investment for long-term energy savings.

LOWER YOUR WATER HEATING COSTS

Water heating accounts for about 18% of the energy consumed in your home.

Turn down the temperature of your water heater to the warm setting (120°F). You'll not only save energy, you'll avoid scalding your hands.
Find other strategies for energy-efficient water heating.

LOWER YOUR HOLIDAY LIGHTING COSTS

Use light-emitting diode -- or "LED" -- holiday light strings to reduce the cost of decorating your home for the winter holidays.
Learn about the advantages and potential cost savings of LED holiday light strings.
Find manufacturers and brands of ENERGY STAR®-qualified decorative light strings.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HEAT FROM THE SUN

Photo of a window with the curtains open. Sun is shining into the room and snow-covered mountains are visible outside. Copyright iStockphoto.com/Giorgio Fochesato.

Open curtains on your south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home, and close them at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows.

COVER DRAFTY WINDOWS

Use a heavy-duty, clear plastic sheet on a frame or tape clear plastic film to the inside of your window frames during the cold winter months. Make sure the plastic is sealed tightly to the frame to help reduce infiltration.
Install tight-fitting, insulating drapes or shades on windows that feel drafty after weatherizing.
Find out about other window treatments and coverings that can improve energy efficiency.

ADJUST THE TEMPERATURE

When you are home and awake, set your thermostat as low as is comfortable.
When you are asleep or out of the house, turn your thermostat back 10° to 15° for eight hours and save around 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills. A programmable thermostat can make it easy to set back your temperature.
Find out how to operate your thermostat for maximum energy savings. Also see ENERGY STAR's June 5, 2008, podcastfor video instructions on operating your programmable thermostat.

FIND AND SEAL LEAKS

Seal the air leaks around utility cut-throughs for pipes ("plumbing penetrations"), gaps around chimneys and recessed lights in insulated ceilings, and unfinished spaces behind cupboards and closets.
Find out how to detect air leaks.
Learn more about air sealing new and existing homes.
Add caulk or weatherstripping to seal air leaks around leaky doors and windows.
Find out how to select and apply the appropriate caulk.
Learn how to select and apply weatherstripping.

REDUCE HEAT LOSS FROM THE FIREPLACE

Photo of a fire in a brick fireplace. Copyright iStockphoto.com/Oliver Malms.

Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is burning. Keeping the damper open is like keeping a window wide open during the winter; it allows warm air to go right up the chimney.
When you use the fireplace, reduce heat loss by opening dampers in the bottom of the firebox (if provided) or open the nearest window slightly--approximately 1 inch--and close doors leading into the room. Lower the thermostat setting to between 50° and 55°F.
If you never use your fireplace, plug and seal the chimney flue.
If you do use the fireplace, install tempered glass doors and a heat-air exchange system that blows warmed air back into the room.
Check the seal on the fireplace flue damper and make it as snug as possible.
Purchase grates made of C-shaped metal tubes to draw cool room air into the fireplace and circulate warm air back into the room.
Add caulking around the fireplace hearth.
Find out more techniques to improve your fireplace or wood-burning appliance's efficiency.
Learn tips for safe and efficient fireplace installation and wood burning.

MAINTAIN YOUR HEATING SYSTEMS

Schedule service for your heating system.
Find out what maintenance is required to keep your heating system operating efficiently.
Furnaces: Replace your furnace filter once a month or as needed.
Find out more about maintaining your furnace or boiler.
Wood- and Pellet-Burning Heaters: Clean the flue vent regularly and clean the inside of the appliance with a wire brush periodically to ensure that your home is heated efficiently.
Find other maintenance recommendations for wood- and pellet-burning appliances.

If you haven't scheduled your furnace maintenance yet, give Self Heating & Cooling a call today or schedule online!

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