The oil industry has had problems lately. It is bad enough that the natural disasters have hurt oil refineries, slowing down production, and that speculators are playing with the pricing, we now have had some contaminates in the fuel that no one has figured out what or how it is getting in the system. Starting in late November through March, from Maine to Connecticut, there have been sporadic outbreaks of fuel oil problems that have many service providers trying to find answers to what is causing it. There has been a lot of no-heat calls and equipment shut downs due to clogged filters and oil nozzles, faulty oil pumps, and the strangest looking growth formations inside the combustion chambers that many have never seen before.
Hybrid is a big buzz word these days. The HVAC industry (heating, ventilation, & air conditioning) also has hybrid systems. The system basically consists of a conventional warm air furnace that incorporates a heat pump. With the high cost of fuel, an electric heat pump can produce cost efficient heat. Higher efficiency heat pumps will operate down to about 25 degrees (outside) before the fuel burning furnace becomes more efficient. What does this all mean?... Homeowners will subsidize their overall fuel consumption dramatically. A natural gas furnace and heat pump combination has the least operating cost over both oil & propane.
I love the comeback to the above title, why do you need to heat hot water?
All kidding aside; necessity is the mother of invention. Hot water tank manufacturers have made major advances for heating domestic water. Many have heard of or purchased on-demand water heaters, but for those who didn’t have natural gas or propane in their home, there were limited options, until now.
Here you'll find strategies to help you save energy during the 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.
With heat accounting for 60 percent of energy use in home it’s important for homeowners to decipher their most economical options. While there are a number of ways to heat a house, the right way generally boils down to budget and home design.
Navien America prides itself on manufacturing the most cost-efficient water heaters available. Navien’s built-in hot water recirculation system recirculates hot water that would otherwise be lost, thus, creating a method that lowers the cost of the customer's water bills each month. A tankless Navien can achieve 4.6 gallons per minutes; enough to satisfy two running showers and a kitchen sink. Innovations like these significantly differentiate Navien from its main competitor Rinnai.
High-Efficiency Variable Speed Circulator
The right circulator needs to do more than just move water. LeBlanc Heating uses the new Taco Bumble Bee which is designed to be the "right" circulator for efficient hydronic heating. The Bumble Bee's high efficiency ECM motor uses up to 85% less electricity than a standard circulator. Most importantly, the Bumble Bee's Delta-T variable speed technology maximizes the overall efficiency of your heating system. The Bumble Bee is engineered for energy savings, although a Bumble Bee circulator has a significant cost increase over a non-variable circulator its lifetime savings will far surpass initial cost.
The rising cost of natural gas will likely mean higher heating costs this winter for many New Hampshire residents. The Public Utilities Commission has approved new rates for two of NH's natural gas utilities. Rates will rise approximately 10% in comparison to last year. The rate increases were a direct result of the rising cost of commodities and the limited supply of natural gas in New England. The rate increase which took effect Friday November 1st is expected to impact 20% of NH homes.
Was your furnace recently red tagged or condemned by an HVAC or Heating contractor? Did your contractor tell you that you had a cracked heat exchanger? Dishonest HVAC and heating contractors will use this as a scare tactic to sell you a new furnace you may not need.
In NH, we rely on five primary fuels to heat our homes: natural gas, fuel oil, propane, wood and electricity. We use furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, wood stoves, pellet stoves and electric baseboard to convert these fuels into heat. In a quest to lower yearly heating costs, homeowners are seeking higher efficiency equipment. Unfortunately, more efficient equipment does not always equate to a lower yearly heating cost. Fuel type is a major factor that is often over looked.
Watch our furnace technicians replace and old gas furnace with a brand new high efficiency Goodman gas furnace in one day. Call us today at 603-623-0412 for your free furnace estimate.
