Opening the energy bill every month has become a painful process for many homeowners across the Chicagoland area. Sure it’s nice to have a cool home during the intense heat, but is it really worth paying an arm and a leg for it once the bill finally arrives? If you are one of the thousands that have been grumbling about high energy costs, then you may be scrambling for a way to save some energy that doesn’t require giving up your comfort. Well, at Four Seasons, we have another service that will help you both save money and increase comfort! How about replacing those ancient, leaky windows with new vinyl replacement windows? Among their many benefits, you will find energy savings to be their forte. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Go Green’ Category
Replace Your Windows to Boost Your Savings! | Palos Heights, Hines
Thursday, August 4th, 2011Feeling Guilty about Not Going Green? | Oak Lawn, Orland Park
Friday, July 29th, 2011Making our homes more energy efficient has been a topic of conversation for several years now, and many of us feel an obligation to be more earth friendly and energy efficient in our homes. If you are one of those people that feel a tinge of guilt every time you turn on an old inefficient appliance, stop letting the guilt get to you and upgrade! The air conditioner is often the most inefficient appliance that homeowners are operating in their homes on a daily basis, and replacing this wasteful unit with Four Seasons could be the big step you take towards having a greener home. (more…)
Not All Types of Freon are Created Equal! | Woodridge, Westmont
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011Which refrigerant reigns supreme? This discussion has been going on for a few years now, and depending on what type of refrigerant your air conditioner uses, you may be biased towards one over the other. However, when you look at the facts, R-410a is the better choice over R-22. This is true for two reasons. First, R-410a is friendly to our environment, and second, R-410a is cheaper than R-22!
The Law of the Land
R-410a was created to be an environmentally friendly form of air conditioner refrigerant. Past forms of refrigerant like R-22 contained ozone depleting compounds and the damage being done to our environment by leaking air conditioners was becoming astronomical! That is why our government decided to take action. Since 2009 the government passed a law that banned the manufacturing of air conditioning units that required R-22. By 2020 R-22 will be completely eliminated from the HVAC industry, and as the years go by the amount of R-22 on the market will gradually decrease. This law has the potential to do a lot of good for our environment, but what does it mean for you as a consumer? (more…)
Solar Powered Air Conditioners| Burr Ridge, Villa Park, Wood Dale
Friday, May 20th, 2011For many, the idea of converting your home to solar power seems unattainable and out of reach. In the past, this may have been true, but with each passing day, solar power becomes more and more realistic for homes all over the United States. Here in Chicago and the surrounding suburban areas, Four Seasons can help you get started! You may be confused as to how a heating and air conditioning company can help you go solar, but when you consider that your air conditioner consumes anywhere from 12 to 17% of the energy in your home, it starts to make a bit more sense.
Start Small and Add on Later
A solar system consists of a series of panels that are placed upon the roof of your home and hooked into your home’s electrical supply. The number of panels dictates the number of appliances that you can run the system off of. Many homeowners will begin by getting just enough panels to cover the air conditioner’s operation. During the daylight hours, the air conditioner will be powered by the energy created by the panels of the roof as they absorb the sun. When the air conditioner is not in use, the panels can power other appliances in the home. When your home creates its own energy, you pay less for energy provided by the big power companies! The more panels you have, the less you will pay every month on your energy bills! (more…)
Spring Energy Assessments| Olympia Fields, Elk Grove Village
Thursday, March 31st, 2011One of the more recent additions that Four Seasons has made to our long list of services is professional home energy assessments. With all of the craze surrounding the “go green” movement, we wanted to offer our customers an easier way to choose exactly which energy efficient improvements they should make in their homes, and spring is the best time to have this service performed. With the summer season ahead, every penny that we can help you pinch will matter, and saving money on your energy bills is defiantly an easy place to get started.
Perfect Weather for an Energy Assessment!
The main reason why spring is the best time to have this service performed is because of the weather. It is warm enough to run the air conditioner to check for efficiency and yet it isn’t so hot that running the furnace would be unbearable. In fact, running the air conditioner during the cold of winter could cause damage to the unit in minuets, but neglecting to check the a/c for its level of efficiency leaves a major appliance out of the energy assessment equation. (more…)
Top 5 Benefits of an Energy Assessment| Plainfield, Addison, Berwyn
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011Are you looking to make energy efficient improvements in your home? Do you have to stay on a budget? Do you want to help save our planet? Not sure where to begin? Well, Four Seasons can help! Our professional home energy assessments will help you answer all of these questions and many more! A professional home energy assessment is the only way to effectively improve your home’s energy efficiency, and plan for your home’s future. Though you may not know it, energy assessments have several benefits that you can take advantage of today. These benefits include:
- Heating and Cooling Cost: Inefficient heating and cooling systems or air leaks in the home can be a major source of energy waste. An energy audit could help you pin point the source of your heating and cooling waste, and making those improvements could save you 20-30% on your bills.
- Electricity Bills: Your energy assessor from Four Seasons can help you save money on your electricity bills too! By figuring out how you and your family use electricity, your energy assessor will show you areas where cutting back will have the biggest return. (more…)
Assessing Your Energy Efficiency | Robbins, Wooddale, Hickory Hills
Thursday, January 27th, 2011If you are one of the thousands of Chicagoans who are trying to make their home more energy efficient, you may have already realized overwhelming this process can be. With all of the information circling around the internet and the news, you may be having a hard time figuring out what is best for your home and your budget. You may have already implemented a few of these changes, but are you really seeing the savings you had expected from making these energy efficient improvements? If not, you skipped a very crucial step in the “going green” process: planning!
Problems without Planning
Planning you home improvements is the first step towards making your home more energy efficient. Many homeowners will blindly choose an improvement without examining all of the factors that influence the energy efficiency of the home. For instance, upgrading a functional but inefficient hot water tank when the attic is in dire need of insulation is not the best idea. Yes you may see some savings from the upgrade, but the energy you are losing through the roof is the bigger problem that should have been handled first. (more…)
Understanding Efficiency Ratings| Elk Grove Village, Maywood, Frankfort
Thursday, January 20th, 2011Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning likes to talk a lot about energy efficiency in the heating and cooling industry, but many homeowners are still clueless when it comes to understanding the importance of having an energy efficient furnace or boiler operating in their homes. Furnace and boiler efficiency is measured in AFUE or Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. This is a percentage that represents the amount of natural gas that is actually converted into heat for your home.
For instance, an 80% AFUE furnace uses 80% of its gas to create heat, and the other 20% is lost during the combustion process. Therefore, the higher the percentage, the less gas you will use, and the lower your energy bills will be. There are different efficiency ranges, and it is important to understand the benefits and losses associated with owning a unit that falls within one of these ranges.
The Energy Efficiency Spectrum
- 65% AFUE or Lower: The general rule of thumb when determining the energy efficiency of your current heating system is: the older the unit the lower the rating. Most furnaces and boilers that are fifteen years old or older are at best 65% efficient with the gas that they consume. This is extremely wasteful, and operating a system that is this inefficient is a waste of your hard earned money. (more…)
