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Energy Saving Services From Kent
Your energy bill is going "through the roof" and you need to know who you can trust to 1) find out where the problems are, 2) the best way to correct them, and 3) design a strategic plan to
correct the problems based on your safety and your highest rate of return on your investment. What do you do? Call Kent Heating and Air, the most experienced and trusted name in indoor comfort and energy-saving services since 1954.
We guarantee we will find sources of energy loss, if any are present. That's because we don't just "guess" on your home like many heating and air conditioning contractors do. We don't recommend a new 94% efficient furnace or an 18 SEER air conditioner if you don't need one. In fact, most equipment we see installed never achieves the energy savings the customer thought he or she was buying (more on this later).
And we have the trained personnel to repair these sources of energy loss. Once sources of energy loss are identified, our technicians have the know-how to repair problems because many of them repaired their own home or another employee's home as part of their training, and receive regular training from Comfort Institute (www.comfortinstitute.org) on the latest techniques to perform energy-saving repairs.
Like you, we are interested in the facts. Instead of "guessing", we use the most advanced test equipment available, such as infiltrometer blower doors, to pinpoint the source of high energy bills for you. We print out computer-generated reports on home and business infiltration rates before we begin repairs, and do a "test out" report after repairs are made to see how well we did. That builds value for you, pride among our employee team for a job well done, and allows our boss Allen Kent to sleep peacefully at night knowing our team did their best.
What does Comfort Institute say to do? Since 1999, we have trained with industry leading Comfort Institute (www.comfortinstitute.org) to deliver the most advanced energy-saving services to Northwest Indiana homes and businesses. Comfort Institute recommends, and we agree, looking at all three sources of high energy bills: 1) the equipment, 2) the duct system, and 3) the thermal envelope (ceiling, walls, and floors).
Equipment: Yes, a Lennox high efficiency furnace, air conditioner, or ClimateMaster geothermal system can save you money on your energy bills, and is a good idea, but only if the other two variables of energy efficiency are addressed: the duct system and the thermal envelope.
Duct Systems: So you replace your 60% efficient furnace with a new 90% model, and you expect to save about 30% on your gas bill. Don't bet on it! Your furnace is 90% efficient in a laboratory, but if it's connected to a duct system that's only 70% efficient, your "system efficiency" drops to 63%, a gas usage savings of only about 21%! But you paid for a 90% efficient unit and 30% energy savings...
Duct leaks are the worst leaks a home or business can have. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy states that "typical duct systems lose 25 to 40% of the heating or cooling energy put out by the central furnace, heat pump, or air conditioner. Duct repairs could be the most important energy improvement measure you can do..."
Duct systems have tremendous pressures, both positive (supply duct) and negative (return air duct), exerted on them by the furnace blower when the furnace or air conditioner is operating. That means that air from unconditioned areas, such as an attic, crawlspace, unfinished basement, or garage can be pulled into a home or building through the return air duct, or pushed into an unconditioned area through the supply duct at a very high rate of speed. Imagine pulling 125 degree Fahrenheit attic air into your air conditioning system, and trying to cool it to 75 degrees. We see it frequently, and the results are devastating.
In fact, experts say that 1 square inch of duct leakage connected to an unconditioned area is equivalent to a 30 square inch hole in the side of your home year around! OUCH!!! And in Northwest Indiana, where our furnace blowers run about 2600 hours per year, we've seen folks paying the utility company well over $125.00 per month extra for wasted energy instead of paying themselves!
One last example on duct leakage. If 100 cubic feet of air per minute is pulled from your attic into your duct system through tiny leaks (not unusual at all), then 15,600,000 cubic feet of air will enter your home in a year's time. That's the area of a football field 325 feet high! It takes a huge amount of energy to heat or cool that air, not to mention the adverse health effects it has on the building occupants when fiberglass, cellulose, molds, filth, dust, chemicals, and allergans are pulled in with that unconditioned air. Now you've caught a glance of why people develop allergies and other respiratory problems in their 40's and 50's - your body can only take so much for so long.
If you want to know the facts and pinpoint "hidden opportunities" to save big energy dollars (and who can afford not to), call us. We'd be happy to help with testing and sealing your duct system!
* * * Note: Do not try to seal a duct system without advanced certified training and proper sealants. Dangerous or fatal conditions can result, including carbon monoxide poisoning and sealant off-gassing.
Thermal Envelope: One other area our test uncovers for energy saving opportunities is the thermal envelope comprised of your ceilings, walls, and floors. We can conveniently repair these problems, too. Leaks in this area include open plumbing chases to your attic from your basement, recessed can lights (you'd be suprised how much they leak attic air, insulation fibers, and other pollutants into your home), attic accesses, and open, unsealed crawlspaces.
Our infiltrometer test will help you identify opportunities to save money for as long as you own your home. Please call us for your infiltrometer test today. You'll be glad you did!
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