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.

How Does ENERGY STAR® Certified Ventilation Help?

For the most part almost everyone in the United States has at least seen the ENERGY STAR® logo and many understand what it signifies. Many people however only think that certification is for things like TVs, computers and appliances. While they are some of the more “big ticket” items, there are many categories of products that can earn certification including ENERGY STAR® certified ventilation.

So what sets certified ventilation apart from typical products? Here are a few of the main items. ENERGY STAR® certified ventilation must perform at a higher efficiency than standard ventilation solutions. Efficiency is measured by taking the amount of air the unit moves (measured in CFM – cubic feet per minute) and dividing that by the amount of energy (Watts) needed to operate the unit. To put this in perspective a standard low end or entry-level exhaust fan operates at about 1 watt per CFM or worse. In contrast a certified unit has to operate at a minimum of 2.8 CFM per watt with some units exceeding that and operating as high as 19 CFM per watt.

A second way ENERGY STAR® certified ventilation products stand out is they are required to offer a longer warranty. While this might not sound like a big deal, it actually is. With a longer warranty, there is more peace of mind that that product is going to last a lot longer and is constructed of high quality parts. In the case of ventilation products that typically means a better motor.

For units that have a light feature, which include some exhaust fans as well as most range hoods, the light bulb must be included or integrated with the unit and it must be a certified LED bulb. The lighting in these units can sometimes be the biggest energy draw of the unit. For instance changing from a 60-watt incandescent light bulb to an equivalent 8 watt LED is saving approximately 52 watts.

Lastly, and this one might seem a little out of the ordinary is that there are sound restrictions on the units. For most units, they must operate at or below 2 sones. Sones are the unit of measurement for sound in ventilation products. We have explained sones in some of our previous posts but basically 1 sone is the sound your refrigerator makes and 4 sones is about the sound of a typical conversation.

When you put all this together, it is hopefully clear that ENERGY STAR® certified ventilation is going to be a much better product than a standard one. For more information regarding ENERGY STAR® certified ventilation solutions from Air King including exhaust fans, range hoods and fresh air intake, please visit airkinglimited.com. For more information about ENERGY STAR®, please visit energystar.gov.

5 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Home’s Energy Usage

When you take a look around your home, there are probably some easy changes you can make to reduce your monthly energy usage, which will in turn reduce your monthly bills. Who doesn’t want to save some money each month? Here are our top 5 tips:

Tip 1 – Use LED Lamps. Yes they do cost a little more than traditional bulbs, but the savings add up very quickly. The light output (measured in Lumens) of a 9 watt LED bulb is equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent lamp. That is 51 watts less in energy usage. Now lets assume you replace a main light in your home – one that might be on for 5 hours per day. That is a savings of 255 watts per day for just one light. Times that by 365 days and you get 93 kilowatt-hours. At an average of $.12 per kilowatt-hour that is a savings of $11.16 per year for one light bulb. ENERGY STAR^® Certified LED light bulbs also last 5 to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs.

Tip 2 – Adjust Your Thermostat. Turning your thermostat down 2 degrees in the winter or up two degrees in the summer can make a large impact. While this is a little harder to calculate than changing a light bulb to an LED, the savings can be significant and add up over the course of the year.

Tip 3 – Use a Programmable Thermostat.  Very similar to adjusting your thermostat is to install a programmable thermostat. The benefit of a programmable thermostat is that it will reduce your energy usage when you are not home. Even the most basic programmable thermostat will help you save by adjusting the temperature of your home up or down depending on if the home is occupied or not.

Tip 4 – Buy ENERGY STAR Certified Products. Look for the ENERGY STAR logo when you buy products such as TV’s, Appliances, Heating and cooling systems and of course Bathroom Fans and Range Hoods. Now we are not saying you need to throw out all your household items and immediately buy new ones, but as the time comes to replace that old fridge, TV, etc. look at the benefits of ENERGY STAR certified products and compare the cost savings.

Tip 5 – Eliminate Vampire Power. Most people don’t realize that many of the appliances and electronics in your home use standby power. The biggest users are devices like TVs, printers, microwave ovens and computers. Although the energy usage is small, when you add it up it can be significant. Using a power strip that can easily turn the power on or off to these devises is one way to avoid unwanted power usage.

To learn more about how you can save energy visit www.airkinglimited.com/page/climate-change.html or www.energystar.gov/campaign/home?s=mega to asses your home’s energy usage.

Look for the STAR – Benefits of ENERGY STAR® certified exhaust fans

You see the logo all over, that bright blue square seems to be on almost every appliance in the aisle but what does it really mean?

ENERGY STAR is a division of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) that is concerned with the energy efficiency (among other items) of products. ENERGY STAR certified products meet strict requirements as put forth by the EPA.

For exhaust fans they must pass testing for energy efficiency (known as efficacy or CFM per watt), sound (sones) and air flow (CFM). The ratings are certified by the Home Ventilating Institute (HVI) – an ENERGY STAR certification body. Once a fan is determined to meet the requirements, it can then be marketed as ENERGY STAR certified.

Certified exhaust fans operate at lower sound levels, use less energy and last longer than traditional exhaust fans which takes a lot of the guess work out of choosing a fan. Not all fans are tested and held to any standard, but ENERGY STAR labeled fans are not only certified but also verified through open market testing. A main benefit of an ENERGY STAR certified product is that you can be assured that the fan has been tested and certified and will perform as advertised.

To learn more about Air King’s large selection of ENERGY STAR certified exhaust fans and kitchen range hoods, visit www.airkinglimited.com