Charlie’s household tips can save you money

January 26, 2016

You know you shouldn’t and normally, you probably wouldn’t. But what the heck? It’s the holidays. It’s not a time to save you money. 

It’s a rare person who doesn’t muster the very human skill of rationalization to spend a few extra bucks around the holidays.

If the last two months of the year are punctuated by outbursts of monetary exuberance, then the first few months of the year are balanced by the equally human need to rein in that impulse and save money when and where you can.

Charlie’s Tropic Heating & Air Conditioning knows that these opportunities surround you – literally – right in your home. Without resorting to “regifting” some of the holiday gifts you received, you can save considerable money – and start saving it today.
As northeast Florida’s foremost heating and air conditioning company, some of our money-saving tips naturally focus on HVAC issues. Some of our other ideas just might surprise you. But what the heck? Charlie’s is determined to help you unwrap your utility bills and find a surprise of a different type.

Preserve the energy you pay for every month

If you’ve ever heard your home compared to an “envelope,” you might have wondered why you should focus your efforts on sealing it. The envelope refers to your home’s doors, walls, windows and other openings – the very places where indoor air escapes and outdoor air seeps in. The U.S. Department of Energy issues a dire warning: “If you added up all the leaks, holes and gaps in a typical home’s envelope, it would be the equivalent of having a window open every day of the year.”
Seal your envelope – with Charlie’s stamp of approval – by:
Sealing cracks and holes around windows with caulk or weather-stripping.
Plugging leaks in openings that lead outdoors, such as vents, cable and TV lines and outlets.
Applying weather-stripping to exterior doors or blocking drafts with (what else?) draft guards.
Inspecting your ducts for cracks, holes, disconnects and falling mastic tape and repairing the imperfections promptly – a sometimes tricky task that Charlie’s can help you with or take on for you.
Checking the condition and amount of insulation in your attic and crawlspace, following the recommendations of the department of energy.
Being vigilant about annual furnace and air conditioning tune-ups from Charlie’s and checking your air filter every 30 days.

Cash in on other savings to save you money

With your “envelope” sealed, you can enhance the effectiveness of other money-saving tips:
• Turn down your thermostat; you can save as much as 1 percent on your gas bill for each degree you do so as long as the setback period is eight hours long.
• Counteract any chilliness you might feel with humidity. Running a humidifier with your temperature set at 68 degrees will make it feel more like 72 degrees.
• Insulate your water tank and pipes to preserve heat loss by between 25 and 45 percent.
• Replace traditional incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs), which can deliver as much as 75 percent in energy savings and last 10 times longer.
• Slay the energy “vampires” in your home – the electronics that constantly draw power while they’re plugged in but even when they’re turned off – by plugging them into advanced power strips. They are superior to standard power strips and could save you as much as $200 a year.
• Set ceiling fans to spin in a clockwise direction in the winter to push warm air down from the ceiling.
• Open your window treatments on sunny days to capitalize on heat from the sun (and close the treatments when the sun goes down).

A real “game-changer” for many of Charlie’s customers is our comprehensive, room by room, indoor and outdoor home energy audit. Without exception, it reveals issues that can help achieve both short- and long-term energy savings. Think of it as that truly rare gift: one that “keeps on giving” all year long.

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