Ask about Proper Installation of your new equipment

Replacing your old heating and cooling equipment with new, energy-efficient models is a great start. But to make sure that you get the best performance, the new equipment must be properly installed. In fact, improper installation can reduce system efficiency by up to 30 percent — costing you more on your utility bills and possibly shortening the equipment's life.

HVAC Tax Credits (2009 Stimulus)

February 16, 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) into law. This Act increased tax credits available to homeowners who make qualified energy efficient improvements to their existing primary residences. If you are a homeowner and are thinking about installing new HVAC equipment, you should consider the benefits qualifying equipment would provide at tax time. Not only can these credits lower your tax liability, they can also reduce your energy costs by up to 40% and provide for a cleaner environment.
Homeowners who install qualified furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, central air conditioners, and hot water heaters in 2009 or 2010 may qualify for a tax credit equal to 30% of the installed costs, up to $1500.

A list of equipment that qualifies can be found here. Since manufacturers are always changing their product lines,
please contact us to check on qualifying equipment.
Advancements in HVAC technology, energy efficiency, and performance in the last ten years means that the equipment you buy today can pay for itself in just a few years.
Qualifying Equipment for Tax Credits

Credits Limited to 30% of Installed Cost (up to $1,500) in the tax years 2009-2010.
EQUIPMENT Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard to Qualify for Tax Credit

Central Air Conditioners Split System Packaged System
16 SEER 14 SEER
13 EER 12 EER

Electric Air Source Heat Pumps Split Heat Pumps Packaged Heat Pumps
15 SEER 14 SEER
12.5 EER 12 EER
8.5 HSPF 8 HSPF

Always be Polite

Mr. Thomas V. Callahan:

Dear Sir,

Recently, I had a new "Luxaire" central air conditioning system installed in my home by your company. I would like to take this opportunity to report on this event.
On June 28th, 2008, I telephoned your company and spoke with your customer service representative, Jeff Wilder, regarding air conditioning systems. Jeff quickly responded to my home and upon inspection of my old air conditioning system, explained my options regarding a new system. His presentation was both interesting and extremely informative. His demeanor was both friendly and professional and his technical knowledge was apparent. I agreed to have the new system installed.
On the next business day the installers arrived promptly and replaced my old system. Thanks to Shawn and his helper Steve, the new air conditioning system, after some adjustments, is working superbly. I have nothing but praise for all of the aforementioned personnel and their commitment to customer satisfaction.
I have and will recommend Action Heating and Air Conditioning for home heating and cooling needs! Thank you so much.

Why should I replace my existing heating or air-conditioning system?

You may wish to consider replacing your air-conditioning or heating system if it is old, inefficient, or in need of repair. Today's systems are as much as 60% more efficient than those systems manufactured as little as ten years ago. In addition, if not properly maintained, wear and tear on a system can reduce the actual or realized efficiency of the system. If you are concerned about utility bills or are faced with an expensive repair, you may want to consider replacing your system rather than enduring another costly season or paying to replace an expensive component. The utility cost savings of a new unit may provide an attractive return on your investment. If you plan on financing the purchase, the monthly savings on your utility bill should be considered when determining the actual monthly cost of replacing a system. The offsetting savings may permit you to purchase a more efficient system.

Air-Source Heat Pumps

Air-Source Heat Pumps

An air-source heat pump can provide efficient heating and cooling for your home, especially if you live in a warm climate. When properly installed, an air-source heat pump can deliver one-and-a-half to three times more heat energy to a home than the electrical energy it consumes. This is possible because a heat pump moves heat rather than converting it from a fuel, like in combustion heating systems.

Although air-source heat pumps can be used in nearly all parts of the United States, they do not generally perform well over extended periods of sub-freezing temperatures. In regions with sub-freezing winter temperatures, it may not be cost effective to meet all your heating needs with a standard air-source heat pump.

However, new systems with gas heating as a backup are able to overcome this problem. There is also a "Cold Climate Heat Pump" which shows promise, but is currently facing manufacturing problems. In addition, a version called the "Reverse Cycle Chiller" claims to be able to operate efficiently at below-freezing temperatures.

How They Work
A heat pump's refrigeration system consists of a compressor and two coils made of copper tubing (one indoors and one outside), which are surrounded by aluminum fins to aid heat transfer. In the heating mode, liquid refrigerant in the outside coils extracts heat from the air and evaporates into a gas. The indoor coils release heat from the refrigerant as it condenses back into a liquid. A reversing valve, near the compressor, can change the direction of the refrigerant flow for cooling as well as for defrosting the outdoor coils in winter.

When outdoor temperatures fall below 40°F, a less-efficient panel of electric resistance coils, similar to those in your toaster, kicks in to provide indoor heating. This is why air-source heat pumps aren't always very efficient for heating in areas with cold winters. Some units now have gas-fired backup furnaces instead of electric resistance coils, allowing them to operate more efficiently.

Weatherization Assistance Program

The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) enables low-income families to permanently reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient. Funds are used to improve the energy performance of dwellings of needy families using the most advanced technologies and testing protocols available in the housing industry. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provides funding to states, U.S. overseas territories, and Indian tribal governments, which manage the day-to-day details of the program. These governments, in turn, fund a network of local community action agencies, nonprofit organizations, and local governments that provide these weatherization services in every state, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and among Native American tribes.

The energy conservation resulting from these efforts of state and local agencies helps our country reduce its dependence on foreign oil and decrease the cost of energy for families in need while improving the health and safety of their homes. During the past 33 years, WAP has provided weatherization services to more than 6.4 million low-income households. Families receiving weatherization services see their annual energy bills reduced by an average of about $350, depending on fuel prices. Because the energy improvements that make up weatherization services are long lived, the savings add up over time to substantial benefits for weatherization clients and their communities, and the nation as a whole.

Exploring Ways to Use Solar Energy

Exploring Ways to Use Solar Energy
Step outside on a hot, sunny day, and you'll experience the power of the sun's heat and the light. That's solar energy.

You can use solar energy to do the following:
•Heat your home through passive solar design or an active solar heating system

•Generate your own electricity

•Heat water in your home or swimming pool

•Light your home both indoors and outdoors

•Dry your clothes. Use a clothesline to reduce the energy consumed by your clothes dryer.


Passive Solar Home Design

Your home's windows, walls, and floors can be designed to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design or climatic design. Unlike active solar heating systems, passive solar design doesn't involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices, such as pumps, fans, or electrical controls to move the solar heat.

Passive solar homes range from those heated almost entirely by the sun to those with south-facing windows that provide some fraction of the heating load. The difference between a passive solar home and a conventional home is design. The key is designing a passive solar home to best take advantage of your local climate. For more information, see how a passive solar home design works.

You can apply passive solar design techniques most easily when designing a new home. However, existing buildings can be adapted or "retrofitted" to passively collect and store solar heat.

To design a completely passive solar home, you need to incorporate what are considered the five elements of passive solar design. Other design elements include:

•Window location and glazing type
•Insulation and air sealing
•Auxiliary heating and cooling systems, if needed.
These design elements can be applied using one or more of the following passive solar design techniques:

•Direct gain
•Indirect gain (Trombe wall)
•Isolated gain (Sunspace).

Active Solar Heating

There are two basic types of active solar heating systems based on the type of fluid—either liquid or air—that is heated in the solar energy collectors. (The collector is the device in which a fluid is heated by the sun.) Liquid-based systems heat water or an antifreeze solution in a "hydronic" collector, whereas air-based systems heat air in an "air collector."

Both of these systems collect and absorb solar radiation, then transfer the solar heat directly to the interior space or to a storage system, from which the heat is distributed. If the system cannot provide adequate space heating, an auxiliary or back-up system provides the additional heat. Liquid systems are more often used when storage is included, and are well suited for radiant heating systems, boilers with hot water radiators, and even absorption heat pumps and coolers. Both air and liquid systems can supplement forced air systems. To learn more about these two types of active solar heating, see the following sections:

•Solar Air Heating
•Solar Liquid Heating

Economics and Other Benefits of Active Solar Heating Systems
Active solar heating systems are most cost-effective when they are used for most of the year, that is, in cold climates with good solar resources. They are most economical if they are displacing more expensive heating fuels, such as electricity, propane, and oil heat. Some states offer sales tax exemptions, income tax credits or deductions, and property tax exemptions or deductions for solar energy systems.

The cost of an active solar heating system will vary. Commercial systems range from $30 to $80 per square foot of collector area, installed. Usually, the larger the system, the less it costs per unit of collector area. Commercially available collectors come with warranties of 10 years or more, and should easily last decades longer. The economics of an active space heating system improve if it also heats domestic water, because an otherwise idle collector can heat water in the summer.

Heating your home with an active solar energy system can significantly reduce your fuel bills in the winter. A solar heating system will also reduce the amount of air pollution and greenhouse gases that result from your use of fossil fuels such as oil, propane, and natural gas for heating or that may be used to generate the electricity that you use.

Selecting and Sizing a Solar Heating System
Selecting the appropriate solar energy system depends on factors such as the site, design, and heating needs of your house. Local covenants may restrict your options; for example homeowner associations may not allow you to install solar collectors on certain parts of your house (although many homeowners have been successful in challenging such covenants).

The local climate, the type and efficiency of the collector(s), and the collector area determine how much heat a solar heating system can provide. It is usually most economical to design an active system to provide 40%–80% of the home's heating needs. Systems providing less than 40% of the heat needed for a home are rarely cost-effective except when using solar air heater collectors that heat one or two rooms and require no heat storage. A well-designed and insulated home that incorporates passive solar heating techniques will require a smaller and less costly heating system of any type, and may need very little supplemental heat other than solar.

Besides the fact that designing an active system to supply enough heat 100% of the time is generally not practical or cost effective, most building codes and mortgage lenders require a back-up heating system. Supplementary or back-up systems supply heat when the solar system can not meet heating requirements. They can range from a wood stove to a conventional central heating system.

Controls for Solar Heating Systems

Solar system controls.
Photo credit: Sandia National Labs.
Controls for solar heating systems are usually more complex than those of a conventional heating system, because they have to analyze more signals and control more devices (including the conventional, backup heating system). Solar controls use sensors, switches, and/or motors to operate the system. The system uses other controls to prevent freezing or extremely high temperatures in the collectors.

The heart of the control system is a differential thermostat, which measures the difference in temperature between the collectors and storage unit. When the collectors are 10°–20°F (5.6°–11°C) warmer than the storage unit, the thermostat turns on a pump or fan to circulate water or air through the collector to heat the storage medium or the house.

The operation, performance, and cost of these controls vary. Some control systems monitor the temperature in different parts of the system to help determine how it is operating. The most sophisticated systems use microprocessors to control and optimize heat transfer and delivery to storage and zones of the house.

It is possible to use a solar panel to power low voltage, direct current (DC) blowers (for air collectors) or pumps (for liquid collectors). The output of the solar panels matches available solar heat gain to the solar collector. With careful sizing, the blower or pump speed is optimized for efficient solar gain to the working fluid. During low sun conditions the blower or pump speed is slow, and during high solar gain, they run faster.

When used with a room air collector, separate controls may not be necessary. This also ensures that the system will operate in the event of utility power outage. A solar power system with battery storage can also provide power to operate a central heating system, though this is expensive for large systems.

Building Codes Covenants and Regulations for Solar Heating Systems
Before installing a solar energy system, you should investigate local building codes, zoning ordinances, and subdivision covenants, as well as any special regulations pertaining to the site. You will probably need a building permit to install a solar energy system onto an existing building.

Not every community or municipality initially welcomes residential renewable energy installations. Although this is often due to ignorance or the comparative novelty of renewable energy systems, you must comply with existing building and permit procedures to install your system.

The matter of building code and zoning compliance for a solar system installation is typically a local issue. Even if a statewide building code is in effect, it's usually enforced locally by your city, county, or parish. Common problems homeowners have encountered with building codes include the following:

•Exceeding roof load
•Unacceptable heat exchangers
•Improper wiring
•Unlawful tampering with potable water supplies.
Potential zoning issues include these:

•Obstructing sideyards
•Erecting unlawful protrusions on roofs
•Siting the system too close to streets or lot boundaries.
Special area regulations—such as local community, subdivision, or homeowner's association covenants—also demand compliance. These covenants, historic district regulations, and flood-plain provisions can easily be overlooked. To find out what's needed for local compliance, contact your local jurisdiction's zoning and building enforcement divisions and any appropriate homeowner's, subdivision, neighborhood, and/or community association(s).

Installing and Maintaining Your Solar Heating System

Periodic visual inspection may be necessary to properly maintain your solar system.
Photo credit: Robb Williamson.
How well an active solar energy system performs depends on effective siting, system design, and installation, and the quality and durability of the components. The collectors and controls now manufactured are of high quality. The biggest factor now is finding an experienced contractor who can properly design and install the system.

Once a system is in place, it has to be properly maintained to optimize its performance and avoid breakdowns. Different systems require different types of maintenance, but you should figure on 8–16 hours of maintenance annually. You should set up a calendar with a list of maintenance tasks that the component manufacturers and installer recommends.

Most solar water heaters are automatically covered under your homeowner's insurance policy. However, damage from freezing is generally not. Contact your insurance provider to find out what its policy is. Even if your provider will cover your system, it is best to inform them in writing that you own a new system.