How Energy Efficient is Your Home?

One of the joy’s of home ownership (and for many renters) are the wonderful reminders we receive each month of how much it costs to live where we live – bills.

Have you ever looked at your energy bill and asked yourself how it could be so high? Or worse, have not looked at it and just chalk it up to “it is what it is”.

Thankfully there are some easy steps that we can take that can greatly decrease our energy usage. ENERGY STAR® has developed some great resources to help you asses your home and look for ways to improve. Through the “My ENERGY STAR” program you can assess your home’s energy usage, find recommendations on how to improve it as well as a host of other information about saving energy. Most of the recommended items are very easy to complete but can have large lifetime impact on your energy usage. A large benefit of utilizing these tools is creating awareness that can have a positive influence on your decision making. The next time you need to buy an appliance, you might look a little more into what the energy usage is and make that a determining factor on which model you choose. How about the next time you need to replace a light bulb. Instead of just using what you have always used, see what changing to an ENERGY STAR certified LED will do.

The nice thing about saving energy is there is a multitude of ways to go about it and they all help. To learn more about the My ENERGY STAR® program visit the ENERGY STAR web site at www.energystar.gov. For more energy savings ideas and information on how Air King can help, visit www.airkinglimited.com

REUSE - What can I replace with reusable items in my life

Have you ever stopped and thought about how much you throw out in a day? For most of us it is probably a lot more than we think. So many times we do it out of ease and convenience. Take for example a bottle of water. It is easy to grab one on the way out the door as we head to the game, work, beach, etc. and we can justify it because that bottle of water is in a recyclable container. Great, I have done my part to help the environment! Yes it is true that bottle is recyclable, but realistically only a portion of bottles actually get recycled and it still uses energy and resources (such as oil) to manufacture the bottle as well as recycle the bottle. Now what if that same amount of water was taken in a reusable container. Most bottled water is just filtered tap water anyway. That simple act could not only help the environment it could also save you a lot of money over the course of the year. Think about how much your tap water costs (even if you use some type of filter with it) then compare that to how much a bottle of water costs.

This is just one example, take a look around you to see what else you can change. What about that brown bag you bring your lunch in, could you bring it in a reusable container? Did you just use plastic plates and silverware for the cookout because you didn’t want to be bothered with cleaning anything up – don’t worry we are not judging, we’ve been there too. The point is that there are many small things that we can do to have a positive impact on our environment but it takes a group effort. Start with something small today. To learn more about how you can reduce your carbon footprint, visit www.airkinglimited.com.

You’re outta here - removing contaminants from the home

Just mention the word paint and you can probably recall the distinct smell. Same goes for paint thinner, gasoline and many other products. While they may bring back a memory, the truth of the matter is those smells are actually VOCs, which stands for Volatile Organic Compounds.

You probably have at least heard the term VOC but tend to think of them in items that emit a very strong odor such as paint and gasoline. Unfortunately there are a lot of other household items such as cleaners, printers, glues, markers, hobby supplies, air fresheners and more that also omit VOCs.

An important element to maintaining Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is removing these contaminants from the living environment. The best way to eliminate them is to store them outside the home (always follow the manufactures recommendation for storage of these items). Opening a window will help, but another effective way is to make sure your home is properly ventilated. Using exhaust fans to remove the build up of VOCs in your home will instantly increase the IAQ. Many homes are now installing exhaust fans in the laundry/utility rooms. If you stop and think about it, these rooms are typically where cleaning supplies are kept as well as the place where you clean up after painting or doing crafts. They can be a big contributor to VOCs in the home. By installing an exhaust fan, those VOCs or taken out of the living environment.

To learn more about Indoor Air Quality and exhaust fans, visit www.airkinglimited.com

Reduce your carbon footprint – 10 easy steps to take today.

A lot has been written about carbon footprints and reducing the impact we have on the environment. While living “off the grid” might not be something all of us can do, there are some easy steps we can all take to reduce the impact our daily lives have on the environment. The added bonus is that most of these also save us money in the process. Here are ten:

1. Adjust your thermostat 2 degrees (up in the summer, down in the winter). It will lower your energy bill and reduce up to 500 lbs. of Greenhouse Gases (GHGS) per year.
2. Perform regular maintenance on your vehicles. Your car will drive better and save up to 800 lbs. of GHGS per year.
3. Reduce your driving by 20 miles a week. Do you have an opportunity to car pool? Can you take one car instead of two to the kid’s game? You will save on your gas bill and up to 1,000 lbs. of GHGS per year.
4. Reduce your kilowatt-hour usage by 20 per month. Does every light in the house need to be on at all times? You will save on your electric bill and up to 200 lbs. of GHGS per year.
5. Enable the power saver feature on your computer and monitor. A simple setting that can save up to 100 lbs. of GHGS per year.
6. Run your dishwasher only when full. This is one that has multiple benefits, you save water and energy, which save money and saves up to 100 lbs. of GHGS per year.
7. Wash clothes in cold water. Save the energy needed to heat the water being used and save up to 200 lbs. of GHGS per year.
8. Replace your incandescent bulbs. By investing in LED or CFL light bulbs instead of traditional incandescent bulbs, you can greatly reduce your energy usage saving up to 40 lbs. of GHGS per bulb per year.
9. Recycle. Recycling is something that is easy and in a lot of areas required. By recycling aluminum, steel, plastic, glass and paper, you can reduce up to 1,300 lbs. of GHGS per year.
10. Reuse. Even better that recycling, is reusing. Do you need a new bottle of water each time you leave the house or can you use a refillable one? The paper bag you pack your lunch can be recycled but what about a reusable container?

As you can see, some very easy and mostly free steps can greatly reduce your impact on the environment. Now here is the challenge – how many of these are you going to start doing today? For more tips and information visit www.airkinglimited.com

GHGS calculations courtesy of www.epa.gov

Do I really need a range hood? – YES!

Kitchen range hoods provide a vital function for the safety of your home as well as the indoor air quality. A range hood serves two basic but vital functions. The first is to prevent any flare-ups from the cooking surface from burning or damaging your cabinets.

The second function is to remove unwanted and potentially dangerous contaminants from the home such as smoke, grease, steam and odors. If you stop and think about it, the kitchen is one of the main sources of indoor air pollution. All of your heating (furnace, water heater, etc.) equipment has chimneys that take the pollutants outside of the home. When you are cooking (especially with gas appliances) you are generating a lot of pollutants. If you do not have or are not using a range hood, those pollutants are going right into the air you are breathing. As the saying goes, the kitchen is the heart of the home, so you want to keep the air in it as clean as possible. Think about the last time you maybe kept dinner on the burner a little too long and as you looked across the kitchen, you noticed a nice haze of smoke building up – be honest, it has happened to most of us. Now think about what you are actually breathing in at that point. If you had a properly sized and vented range hood operating, you might not have reached that point or at very least it would be vented out of the home much quicker.

The choices in range hoods have come a long way with traditional, contemporary, and professional styles to accent any décor. Air King also offers the largest selection of ENERGY STAR® certified range hoods on the market today. To learn more visit www.airkinglimited.com

Why do I need a Bathroom Exhaust Fan?

You walk into your bathroom and there it is looking at you – it is the exhaust fan wall switch. Do you turn it on or not? Then you ask yourself, “Why do I need a Bathroom Exhaust Fan”?

Bathroom exhaust fans provide a vital function to ensure the indoor air quality of your home. Their main functions are to remove moisture and odors from the room. Mold and mildew love moist environments, so by using an exhaust fan you can greatly decrease the conditions that promote their growth.

So if exhaust fans are so good, why doesn’t everyone have and use one? There are two main answers. The first is that not all that long ago, exhaust fans were not required by the building codes. Codes were written that if you had a window anywhere in your bathroom, you were not required to have an exhaust fan. The theory being that you could provide all the ventilation by opening a window. While that might sound good in theory, when it is February in any northern state, I am not sure how much you want to be opening windows? The building codes across the country have come a long way and now require an exhaust fan in all bathrooms, kitchens and anywhere pollutants are entering the living environment.

The second answer is the sound level. Older exhaust fans were loud and not very efficient. Technology has come a long way and now there are energy efficient fans on the market that you can’t even hear running. To learn more about Air King’s bathroom exhaust fans, visit www.airkinglimited.com.

The mystery of the 3-prong cord

What is a 3-prong cord? The simple explanation is that it is a standard cord that includes a grounding wire. The grounding prong is an added safety feature that protects you in the case of a malfunction within the appliance being used. You will see them used on many products but especially on products constructed with metal.

The grounding prong protects you in the case where one of the wires inside the product may come loose and come into contact with any of the metal. This will cause the electric current to flow through that metal. If you then touch any of the metal, you will get an electric shock that could be fatal. The grounding prong prevents this by sending the extra flow of electricity directly to ground. The circuit detects a surge of power and “trips” the circuit, stopping the flow of electricity to the unit. If you have ever had a product that trips the circuit every time you plug it in, it might be because there is a problem with the wiring of the product.

Some people will simply cut off the prong or use a cheater plug. While the unit will continue to work, you have now disabled an important safety feature of the unit. It may be able to operate for years that way, but is it really worth the risk to your home and family? Three prong grounded cords are typically required in all commercial settings such as schools, offices, hospitals and so forth. All of Air King’s commercial and industrial products include three prong grounded cords. To learn more about Air King’s commercial and industrial fans, visit www.airkinglimited.com.