Save Energy with Electronic Thermostats

Welcome to the world of technology! The technology which is moving at such a speedy pace that every milestone that it sets is jaw dropping. Could anyone just a few dozen decades ago think that there would come a time when you'd be able to tweak the indoor temperature with so much precision and accuracy that seasons and weathers will make no difference? Did you ever notice that while you enjoy an ultimate comfort sitting right inside your living room and the sun is blazing outside, no compromise does your HVAC system make to keep you super cool? And by the way, did you also know that with the help of latest Thermostats, not only can you now schedule temperatures for your HVAC system but can also operate them from anywhere i.e Smart Thermostats/Wifi Thermostats

Let's talk about the Electronic Thermostats. Well, if you're still using your Grandma's brought Mercury Thermostat, you either love her so much to not let go of anything related to her memory or love yourself so less to give yourself the shock of fatty energy bills every month, while also putting at risk yours and the planet's life. The Mercury days are gone dude! Even the Virtual Museum of HVACR Canada features Honeywell's round (mercury) Thermostat as 20th-century classics. As said above, technology is moving at the fastest pace suggesting more efficient ways of both the home comfort and energy saving, it is wise to follow the pace of technology and improve the lifestyle using the latest of technologies.

Why Convert to Digital Thermostat? Here's why:

People are bewildered that all a Thermostat is supposed to do is tweak the HVAC system's temperature then why keep on jumping from one to another? Well, no! All Thermostats don't do the same job in the same way. Digital Thermostats work far different than mercury or classical Thermostats. Here are some reasons of why you should convert to Digital.

Mercuryless - Safer!

Digital Thermostats don't have any mercury in them and are, therefore, safer than the Mercury Thermostats that have the highest amount of mercury present in household objects. Danger!

Mercuryless - Save Earth

Did you know that only a 2.5 grams of mercury if put in a lake of 8 hectares, leaves its water undrinkable and its fish inedible for an entire year? Not only the Maintenance of Mercury Thermostats is a headache, their disposing of is difficult as well. Contrary to that, Digital Thermostats do not have such horrendous effects on the environment and the planet on the whole. Why play around with Mother Earth?

Non-Moveable parts - Easy to repair

With moveable parts Mercury Thermostat, you'd have to call a technician to fix your Thermostat every time you mistakenly throw it or have its parts misplaced. Digital provides relief from these regular issues too.

Programmable - Always comfortable

Digital provide more controls. With programmable features, you can turn the heating and cooling appliances ON or OFF before coming to the home or leaving it, saving lots of energy. Did grandma's Thermostat support that? Nope!

Save up to $200

Indeed you heard it right! With Digital Thermostats, it is possible to save up to $200 per year. The increased efficiency and precision of the Digital Thermostats lets the least energy go wasted.

Bottom Line

It's good that you still have your grandma's Thermostat. It shows your love for her but probably now that you're tired of high energy bills and the hectic situations that Mercury Thermostat causes, it is the time to uninstall the older version of the 20th century and go with the flow of 21st century; Digital and Smart Thermostats.

And yes, may your grandma rest in peace! Take the Thermostat to the store room.

Optimise your Air Ducts, here's how

There are chances that what is about to be said would be a shocking revelation for you or you could yourself be among those whose mention is going to be made here: There are homeowners that never explore Air Ducts can be optimised or that they can actually close the dampers partially when less heating/cooling is required, just like some homeowners never know how to optimise the Thermostat settings and continue to use them on a default setting throughout. Air Duct Optimization can help a great deal in creating a comfortable and balanced indoor temperature throughout the house and optimisation doesn't require much of a rocket science.

Here’s what you will need

Here's what you'll need in order to perform the Air Duct Optimization:

1. Tabletop Thermometers (as many as the rooms you need to optimise)

2. Permanent Marker

Here’s how to optimise?

In order to Optimise the Air Ducts in every room, start with one room. Let's say it is Summer and you wish to make the Optimisation for the cool air of the Air Conditioner. Open all the ducts and registers of the in use rooms. Next, turn the Air Conditioner ON and set the Thermostat to somewhere between 74 to 78 Fahrenheit. Let the rooms cool. After half an hour, check the Thermometer's reading, visit every room and partially close the dampers of the rooms that are excessively cold. Proper optimisation will take some time, a few days or maybe a week. Try this Damper tweaking until the desired temperature is achieved throughout the home. And yes, why did we have that permanent marker? Use the marker in order to mark the final handle position that you finalise for each damper.

Summer Tweaking vs Winter Tweaking

There's not much difference between the Summer and Winter Air Duct Optimisation. The only difference is that in Winters, the Furnace needs to be turned on with Thermostat temperature somewhere around 68 degrees Fahrenheit. When marking the handle positions, use 'S' for Summer, and ''W'' for Winters so that you could know which position was for which season since the damper settings would be different for Summers and different for Winters.

Why do Air Duct optimisation?

Alright so here begins the question answer session. Did you ask why is it important to do Air Duct Optimization? Okay, here's the answer:

A ductwork is used in order to circulate Air (cool/hot) throughout the home. Although the Duct network reaches every room, there are times when the conditioned Air that reaches to different parts of the home is not the same. Since a single Thermostat operates the Air Conditioner, one temperature is used for the whole home but as the flow of air is different for different parts, the temperature there is different too. This is the primary reason why many homeowners suffer from temperature difference throughout the home which is sometimes very disturbing. Optimisation of the Air Ducts is a very simple way to beat this problem. Although a careful and a little tough practice is required in the beginning, once the dampers are set, you too are all set to enjoy an even temperature throughout the home no matter what the season is.

Isn't it simple? And cool too? Your turn to try out!  

Get rid of Air Conditioner smells with tested solutions

How about turning on your Air Conditioner after a long time to enjoy its cool breeze and rather have a stinky smell spread all around? This is a common issue homeowners face; the problem of Air Conditioner smells. A stinky or fishy odour from AC has several reasons in the background which include the growth of mould and mildew, dust and debris either in the AC units or in the ductwork. Usually, homeowners make use of air fresheners to combat this problem, however, this only proves useless as long as the droplets of freshener remain in the air and that fishy odour starts coming again in a while. To solve the problem permanently, it is important to use tested ways and more than that; to know what components of an Air Conditioner actually cause these odours:

AC Components that cause odour

Evaporator Coil

Over time dust debris and other pollutants get accumulated over and around the evaporator coil. These pollutants with cool and damp surroundings of the evaporative coil create an ideal place for the mildew and moulds to grow which are smelly in nature.

Air Filters

The most common odour causing component is the system Filters. The purpose of filters is to filter the air and trap pollutants. When the filters are not changed for a long period, they fail to trap pollutants consequently circulating dirty air again and again which is also smelly.

Ductwork

Just like the Filters, the Ductwork can also become a source of producing fishy and stinky odours. This happens when ducts are not cleaned and the dust and debris are combined with dampness. A perfect ground in this way is created for moulds and as a result for odours.

How to troubleshoot Air Conditioner Smells?

If you've been troubleshooting these smells using an Air Freshener, you might already have started thinking they never fix up but hold on! They can be, however, with right strategies. Let us discuss a few:

The importance of right Filters

Cleaning of Filters is one thing which we've already discussed above, however, using the right filters is another. You might be living in an area where there's relatively more pollution or you might practice such activities at home that cause pollution. In such cases, a commonly used low MERV filter will not work for you. Install high-efficiency filters (after consulting an HVAC professional since high-efficiency filters are not suitable for all systems). High MERV filters successfully trap pollutants and thus help avoid odours caused by dust and debris.

System Cleaning - A must do!

This cannot happen that you do not do system cleaning and still have an odourless home. While people still argue on the question of duct cleaning, there's no difference of opinion that at least the systems need to be kept clean for efficient and odourless performance. As said above, one of the primary reason of Air Conditioner odours is the growth of bacteria in the units (mostly outside unit), cleaning of components is important. Although an annual maintenance and cleaning by a professional is what we strongly suggest, you can also do the cleaning yourself keeping the precautionary measures. Clean system components are least likely to produce any odours.

Air Cleaner - Breath fresh and odourless

If you haven't heard of them yet let us tell you. Air Cleaners are now available that can successfully combat odours as well as the causes of odours. High-Efficiency Air Cleaners can combat 99% of bacterias and other pollutants that cause odours. If using a high-efficiency filter and cleaning of system components doesn't solve the problem of AC odours for you, consult with an HVAC professional to install an Air Purifier.     

Are you fighting with Air Conditioner odours? Do you want a quick solution?  Use these ways and see what happens. All odours will be gone. Guaranteed!