Lets Celebrate ENERGY STAR® Day

Each October manufactures and consumers across the county join together to celebrate ENERGY STAR® day. While not a national holiday – yet, it provides a vehicle for the exchange of energy and money saving tips as well as promotion of activities that can help us work toward a greener world. The first ENERGY STAR day was celebrated in 2012 and has continued to grow in both size and involvement. ENERGY STAR uses the day to promote energy savings as well as recognizing organizations that have partnered with them to reduce energy usage using the tagline “Save Today, Save Tomorrow, Save for Good”. Activities for the day include increase interactions on many of the current Social Media outlets with both ENERGY STAR as well as manufacturers leveraging large followings. In addition many manufacturing partners also coordinate celebrations within their own organizations.

Did you know there are energy rebates available for purchasing certified products? Rebates are available on a federal level as well as a local level, through your utility provider. Products eligible for rebates include select appliances, windows/doors, insulation, Televisions, HVAC products, lighting, water heaters, ventilation fans and much more. To learn more about rebates that you might qualify for visit the ENERGY STAR rebate finder page by clicking here.

Air King has enjoyed a long partnership with ENERGY STAR and was excited to once again celebrate the day with team members at the main manufacturing facility in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Celebrations include training sessions on how to be more energy efficient at work as well as at home, the annual handing out of high efficiency LED light bulbs and of course cake.

To learn more about Air King and energy savings, visit the ENERGY STAR section under the learning menu on the Air King website at airkinglimited.com. Also be sure to follow Air King on social media – X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Building Energy Efficient Homes

In the home building industry there are constantly changing trends. Items like the hottest new paint color, flooring material, open concept building and so on. We use the classification of trends because they seem to have a limited lifespan until the next hot thing comes in style. What we are more focused on is the direction of the home building industry, which is going to have more staying power. This is where things like building energy efficient homes come into play. Homes continue to be built to higher and higher efficiency levels. Some of this is directed by local and national codes but it is also driven by consumer demand as buyers become more educated on the efficiency of their homes.

More and more of the nation’s leading builders are now making a commitment to building energy efficient homes through the ENERGY STAR® home program. In order to certify a home as ENERGY STAR® there is a stringent list of requirements the builder must meet. This includes almost every aspect of the building process including things that probably won’t surprise you such as windows, doors, insulation, appliances and the HVAC system. What you might not know is that it also includes items such as the ducting, air filtration and ventilation fans of the home. All of these requirements must be confirmed through an independent rater/inspector for the home to receive the final sign off. This is comforting to the homebuyer, as they will have peace of mind that the home is going to perform as advertised.

So why is this a direction and not just a trend. We will get right to it – money. While there are a lot of extra benefits to using less energy (reducing our carbon footprint, using less resources…), the big one from a homeowner’s standpoint is a reduced utility bill. An energy efficient home can reduce the monthly utility bills considerably. According to ENERGY STAR®, a certified home will use up to 30% more energy than a traditionally built home. To put that in perspective, if your utility bills are $300 a month, a certified home would reduce that to $210. That is a saving of $1,080 per year. According to the Redfin the typical US homeowner stays in their home for about 12 years, meaning a savings of about $13,000. Additionally, the home will have better resale value.

Another aspect of building energy efficient homes is there is a movement that is gaining support that in order to qualify for a FHA mortgage, the home must be ENERGY STAR® certified. ENERGY STAR® already has a program called Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEM) that helps homebuyers qualify for purchasing a home as it considers that the monthly cost to maintain the home will be less, allowing more to be used to pay off the loan. While these programs are not yet mandatory, the direction they are going looks as if they will be in the near future. The good news is the major builders are already identifying this and are getting ahead of the game, committing to building certified homes.

To learn more about building trends/directions or other industry news, makes sure to read Air King’s other blog posts. To learn more about Air King’s ENERGY STAR® certified ventilation and fresh air intake solutions and how they can be implemented into building energy efficient homes visit airkinglimited.com

A Tight Home Versus Proper Ventilation

When you think of age-old rivalries or battles your mind might go to sports teams or one state versus another but it probably doesn’t go to tight home versus proper ventilation one. That’s understandable, but in the building world it is one that is gaining traction. Let's first look at each side of the battle and get a working knowledge of them.

A Tight Home

A tight home refers to how well the exterior envelope of the home is resistant to air penetration. The tighter the home, the less air it lets in or out. Most people refer to air penetration as “drafts”. In some homes you can feel the cold air in the wintertime seeping into the home. That would not be a tight house. Building technology has come a long way and with the advent of spray foam, house wraps and so forth homes are a lot tighter than they used to be. The reason a tight house is beneficial is that it will hold the warm air inside during the winter and the cool air inside during the summer. This has a direct impact by reducing the heating and cooling costs. Seems like a simple solution and we can end the article here. Well there are some downsides to a tight home. We’ll get to them a little later.

Proper Ventilation

Proper ventilation contributes to the overall indoor air quality of your home. In simple terms it is taking the bad air and contaminates out of the home and replacing it with fresh and/or filtered air. This is accomplished using items like exhaust fans, kitchen range hoods and a fresh air supply unit. So what’s the problem and how is this a battle with a tight home?

The Battle

The battle comes in that homes are being built to do everything they can to not allow air to enter or leave the home. Exhaust fans and fresh air intake are meant to do exactly that. On the tight home side of things, the argument is that you are taking conditioned air and exhausting it out. The same with bringing air into the home, causing extra stress on the HVAC system. This is a valid point, however we need to examine it a bit closer. 

Studies have found that the air inside a home can be up to 5 times more polluted than outside air. How does it get so polluted? Our normal living produces a lot of contaminants. Just think of your typical day. You wake up and take a shower. The shower produces moisture that if left unresolved can turn into mildew or mold. Then you go to the kitchen for breakfast and your morning coffee. Guess what cooking and making coffee does – yep, produces contaminates. Oh and by the way, unless you are holding your breath during all this, breathing produces CO2 that can build up in your home. We are barely alive and haven’t even gotten out of our pajamas (might be a slight exaggeration). Add in pets, cleaners, candles and a hundred more things and you can see how the air can become so polluted.

The solution

So we don’t want to exhaust conditioned air out or bring unconditioned air in, but we also need to get all the bad things out of the house. So what do we do? Here is where we try to make sense of everything. The energy efficiency side is always going to argue for less and the indoor air quality side is always going to argue for more. What we need to strive for is a balance. For most homes, as little as 30 to 50 CFM of exhaust during normal activity is all that is needed. When a shower or the cooktop is in use – a bit more is needed. The key to all of this is that when you utilize mechanical solutions (exhaust fans and air intake units) you are in control. You determine how much, when and where the air comes in or leaves. So instead of annoying drafts, you can direct the air how you want it.

Another way to counteract the energy usage is to utilize energy efficient exhaust fans and air intake units. There are a plenty of models currently on the market that will meet the air movement needed and fit within the budget.

Hopefully this gives you a better understanding of the balance between good indoor air quality and energy efficiency. So the next time you are tempted to not utilize your exhaust fans because you’re worried about “wasting” energy, remember that your indoor air quality is also very important.

For more information about indoor air quality please read through the many blog post Air King has created over the years. For more information about exhaust fans, range hoods or fresh air intake, visit airkiinglimiited.com

ENERGY STAR Homes

Have you ever used the phrase: I wish I would have (or as we say in eastern Pennsylvania – I wish I wood-a)? Probably most of us have said this phrase at one point in our lives. Building or doing a major renovation to a home can be a place where this phrase is commonly used. “I wish we would have upgraded to the better cabinets”, “I wish we would have put hardwood floors in”, “I wish we would have made the house more energy efficient” and so on. When building a new home a great place to start is making sure it is an ENERGY STAR home.

As the cost of energy continues to rise, making sure your home is as energy efficient as possible will have life long benefits. To this end, ENERGY STAR has developed the ENERGY STAR Residential New Construction Program. As ENRGY STAR puts it: “To earn the ENERGY STAR, a home or apartment must meet strict program requirements for energy efficiency developed by ENERGY STAR's Residential New Construction program. These program requirements are based on extensive interaction with the nation’s home-building industry, including builders, developers, verification professionals, and building scientists.”

So what does the entail? It starts with the exterior, making sure everything is sealed, proper installation, uses ENERGY STAR windows and so forth. You will hear this referred to as the building envelop or the thermal enclosure. All these elements are designed to prevent drafts and make the house tight. This will greatly reduce the monthly utility bills, as the HVAC system will have to work less. There are some consideration when building a tightly sealed home – make sure to read our blog post on the subject by clicking here.

Next we move to the home's heating and cooling system (HVAC). An ENERGY STAR Home will have a certified heater and/or air conditioner installed as well as special attention given to the ducting to make sure they are sealed and installed as efficiently as possible. A mechanical ventilation system that draws fresh, filtered outdoor air into the house and exhausts stale air from inside the house is also a requirement of an ENERGY STAR home. This is where Air King comes into the equation with the QFAMD and a host of ENERGY STAR certified exhaust fans and kitchen range hoods.

Onto the water management – yes we said water management. We don’t think too many people would think to add this to the check list but as ENERGY STAR states: “ENERGY STAR certified homes include a comprehensive package of water management practices and materials that help to protect your home from water damage and reduce the risk of indoor air quality problems.” These processes include making sure water is directed off the roof, the home, has moisture-resistant barriers and that materials are protected during construction. All of these ensure the home is being built to last.

We finish with the appliances and lighting. These are probably the easiest to understand, as they are typically the most visible ones. They are also ones that can easily be changed in an existing home. Many ENERGY STAR Home builders will utilize an appliance and lighting package of products that carry the ENERGY STAR certification. Items such as the refrigerator, dishwasher, clothes washers, ceiling fans, ventilation fans and so forth should all be ENERGY STAR certified. For lighting, high efficiency LED lamps should be used throughout the entire home.

Building an ENERGY STAR home will have long lasting benefits for your utility bills, your indoor air quality, your piece of mind and for the environment. If you are in the market to build a new home, make sure you talk to your builder about building an ENERGY STAR home. Remember our phrase at the beginning of this blog? Now it will be your friends and family saying, “We wish we would have done what you did.”

To learn more about ENERGY STAR certified kitchen range hoods, exhaust fans and fresh air systems visit www.airkinglimited.com. Also visit the ENERGY STAR Residential New Construction Page on their website.

Top Energy Saving Investments

Each year on April 22nd we celebrate Earth Day. While a day of celebration is great, Earth Day should really be everyday. We are going to stop and take a look at some of the top energy saving investments you can make and put real numbers behind them.

Whenever you talk about energy saving investments there is a tendency to jump right to the investment part. It is true in some cases the upfront cost is going to be high, but not always. You have to weigh all factors – cost, how long are you planning to live there (2 years, 10 years, 50 years….) and so on. Armed with that info, let's jump into it.

1. Light bulbs. Here is an easy one with a small upfront cost. Changing a 60-watt incandescent bulb to an 8 watt LED bulb. For our comparison we are going to use a bulb that you would have on for approximately 5 hours a day. A 60-watt bulb will use 0.3 kilowatts per day. At $0.13 per kilowatt (average for the US at the time of this post), that is $14 per year that bulb costs. Now use those same numbers but with an 8 watt LED and the cost is $2 per year. Currently a 60-watt bulb costs about $1.00 while a LED is about $2.00. So with our math the payback for switching to an LED is about 1 month. As an added bonus LEDs can last 5 to 10 times longer than incandescent. These numbers are for one bulb, now times that by the amount of bulbs you have in your home.
2. Water Heater. This is a bigger one and one that is best done when it is time to replace it. We are not suggesting ripping out the one you just put in 2 or 3 years ago. We are going to compare a 40-gallon standard electric water heater to a high efficiency unit with a heat pump. A standard water heater is approximately $500 for the water heater itself. A high efficiency version is about $1,150. The upfront cost is going to be considerably higher but lets look at the numbers. The average electric cost of a standard unit is about $30 a month or $360 per year. A high efficiency unit is about $12 a month and $144 per year. So right there you are saving $216 per year. That would make up the difference in cost in just over 3 years. The standard life expectancy of a water heater is 10 years. It gets even better. Currently many utility companies and states are offering rebates for high efficiency units. You might be able to make up the difference in cost immediately depending on how much the rebates are.
3. Cars. Everyone always wants to know about cars. Is it worth getting a hybrid or an all electric? As with many decisions there isn’t one clear answer. We took a major car brand and compared the standard model, hybrid and electric versions. All calculations are based on 12,000 miles per year and $3.00 per gallon of gas. We also based everything off the MSRP of the car and did not factor in any rebates or tax credits that may be available for electric cars. Unfortunately we are not going to give you a yes/no answer, but here are our calculations that will hopefully help guide you: Standard model price $25,000, 32 MPG. Hybrid model price $26,500, 48 MPG. Electric model price $33,500. Breaking this down:
1. Standard: 12,000 miles divided by 32 = 375 gallons of gas. 375 times $3.00 = $1,125 per year for gas.
2. Hybrid: 12,000 miles divided by 48 = 250 gallons of gas. 250 times $3.00 = $750 per year for gas.
3. Electric: $0 per year for gas.
4. Conclusion: Based just on price you can make up the difference in cost between a standard model and hybrid in about 4 years. For a fully electric car it is about 7.5 years (this can be greatly reduced if rebates or tax credits are available). There is also the environmental benefit of reducing the carbon output from your vehicle. Going from a 30 MPG car to an electric can save about 12,000 lbs. of green house gases per year.
4. Programmable thermostat (or smart thermostat). These are a great and simple way to reduce your energy usage. Depending on you work and living habits, you can save between 10% and 30% on your heating and cooling a year. If your average cost is $100.00 per month, that is a $10.00 savings per month. Now factor that a programmable thermostat or a smart thermostat is going to cost between $60.00 for a standard one and up to about $200.00 for a more advanced one, it could pay for itself in one to two years. Some local utility companies offer discounts or rebates on these as well.

Hopefully this gives you some “real world” information about energy saving investments you can make while still making the costs make sense. When all the numbers line up; it is a win for the environment, a win for you and a win for the future. To learn more about saving energy, visit energystar.gov or the climate change section of the Air King website.

What is a Net Zero Home

A trend in the building industry is towards Net Zero homes. The goal of a Net Zero home is to be able to provide all the energy needed for the home without using outside sources. An older term many used was “living off the grid”. When people hear that term, the mind can race to a picture of living in a tent in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness needing to forage for your food everyday. While that might sound like a fun adventure for a few days, for most of us we like the comforts we have. The good news is that Net Zero homes are designed to still give you all the modern day comforts just more energy conscience.

 

There are multiple components to a Net Zero home that are all designed to reduce the energy usage down to a level that can be sustained using alternative energy such as solar power. Net Zero homes look to be about 80% more efficient than a traditionally built home. To get there takes a total home approach – looking at every aspect of the build, inside and out.

 

Generally these homes are going to have solar panels as the main source of electrical supply. The next largest area of concentration is what is called the building envelope. This includes doors, windows, roof, and the walls. Properly and even over insulating the walls and making sure air does not leak out cracks and gaps is a key component. The goal is to maximize the energy usage of the home and not have any of it wasted by leaving the home.

 

The next largest area of energy usage is the HVAC and appliances. When a high efficiency HVAC system is used in parallel with a well insulated building envelope, it will greatly decrease how long it will need to run. Some homes will also incorporate a GeoThermal system that uses the ground temperature to regulate the home’s temperature. Net Zero homes are going to use energy efficient appliances throughout the home – washer, dryer, fridge, cooktop, etc. These will also be almost exclusively electric so as not to have to depend on gas.

 

The ventilation system of these homes is a very important element. With a sealed building envelope (also referred to as a tight house), the natural exchange of indoor and outdoor air is by nature greatly reduced or non-existent. This means that a mechanical solution needs to be added. Most homes are going to utilize either a HRV (heat recovery ventilator) or an ERV (energy recovery ventilator) depending on what part of the country you live in. The function of these units it to exchange the stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air with as minimum of an impact as possible on the temperature of the indoor air.

 

Other features of a Net Zero home are items such as LED lighting, low flow water fixtures, smart – programmable thermostat and even things like shingles that reduce the amount of heat absorbed through the roof.

 

Many would be asking right now why all homes are not being built as Net Zero homes. The answer comes down to cost. A Net Zero home is going to cost 10% to 15% higher than if you build the same home without all the focus on energy efficiency. If you are planning to say in the home for a long time, the energy savings will be more than the initial cost, but that can take between 10 to 20 years depending on where you live, size of the home and many other factors.

 

For more information regarding ventilation solutions, visit ww.airkinglimited.com. To learn more about Net Zero building and to see a project in process visit SYMBI Duplex One.