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Energy Bills Got You Down? One of the most common problems that homeowners encounter is high energy bills. At Stark Service Company, we are dedicated to helping your family reduce your energy bills. Here are a few important facts you need to know in order to start saving today: Fact: Most energy inefficiency problems are caused by loose windows and poorly sealed building structures, leading to heat infiltration. Fact: Poor insulation, attic ventilation, and inefficient A/C and heating equipment can quickly increase your daily energy consumption, causing you to pay for energy that you didn't even use. You might as well be throwing money out the window. Solution: Quality windows and siding, coupled with proper attic insulation, attic ventilation, and high efficiency air conditioning equipment can drastically reduce your energy consumption. These products often pay for themselves in a matter of months!
In February of last year Stark Service Company teamed up with another great company, Texas Energy Concepts. TEC is a premiere Windows and Siding replacement company in the Metroplex. Owners Steve Drummond and Ben Stark are committed to energy savings and quality workmanship. Steve Drummond has many years of experience in the windows and siding industry and will personally see to your every window and siding need. Together, Texas Energy Concepts and Stark Service Company are working hard to find new ways to save your family money. You Can Also Reduce Energy Bills Through General Thermostat Operation You can easily save energy in the winter by setting the thermostat to 68°F (20°C) when you're at home and awake, and lowering it when you're asleep or away. This strategy is effective and inexpensive if you are willing to adjust the thermostat by hand and wake up in a chilly house. In the summer, you can follow the same strategy with central air conditioning, too, by keeping your house warmer than normal when you are away, and lowering the thermostat setting to 78°F (26°C) only when you are at home and need cooling. A common misconception associated with thermostats is that a furnace works harder than normal to warm the space back to a comfortable temperature after the thermostat has been set back, resulting in little or no savings. This misconception has been dispelled by years of research and numerous studies. The fuel required to reheat a building to a comfortable temperature is roughly equal to the fuel saved as the building drops to the lower temperature. You save fuel between the time that the temperature stabilizes at the lower level and the next time heat is needed. So, the longer your house remains at the lower temperature, the more energy you save. Another misconception is that the higher you raise a thermostat, the more heat the furnace will put out, or that the house will warm up faster if the thermostat is raised higher. Furnaces put out the same amount of heat no matter how high the thermostat is set—the variable is how long it must stay on to reach the set temperature. In the winter, significant savings can be obtained by manually or automatically reducing your thermostat's temperature setting for as little as four hours per day. These savings can be attributed to a building's heat loss in the winter, which depends greatly on the difference between the inside and outside temperatures. For example, if you set the temperature back on your thermostat for an entire night, your energy savings will be substantial. By turning your thermostat back 10° to 15° for 8 hours, you can save about 5% to 15% a year on your heating bill—a savings of as much as 1% for each degree if the setback period is eight hours long. The percentage of savings from setback is greater for buildings in milder climates than for those in more severe climates. In the summer, you can achieve similar savings by keeping the indoor temperature a bit higher when you're away than you do when you're at home. But there is a certain amount of inconvenience that results from manually controlling the temperature on your thermostat. This includes waking up in a cooler than normal house in the winter and possibly forgetting to adjust the thermostat (during any season) when you leave the house or go to bed. Thermostats with Automatic Temperature Adjustment To maximize your energy savings without sacrificing comfort, you can install an automatic setback or programmable thermostat. They adjust the temperature setting for you. While you might forget to turn down the heat before you leave for work in the morning, a programmable thermostat won't! By maintaining the highest or lowest required temperatures for four or five hours a day instead of 24 hours, a programmable thermostat can pay for itself in energy saved within four years. Programmable thermostats have features that you may not know about. The newest generation of residential thermostat technologies is based on microprocessors and thermistor sensors. Most of these programmable thermostats perform one or more of the following energy control functions: ~They store and repeat multiple daily settings, which you can manually override without affecting the rest of the daily or weekly program. ~They store six or more temperature settings a day. ~They adjust heating or air conditioning turn-on times as the outside
temperature changes. *If you would like to learn more about thermostats, please visit our Thermostats page. GREAT NEWS! Now you have the chance to choose a more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly refrigerant! Most air conditioners and heat pumps use a refrigerant called R-22. However, R-22 is now considered environmentally UN-friendly. Plus, it is much less energy efficient- which costs you money. So when you choose to replace your system, do yourself (and the environment) a favor. Choose to use R-410A in your next system; you'll be investing in a comfort system that will last you for many years to come. Stark offers R-410A in Carrier, Amana, Lennox, American Standard, Trane, and Maytag
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