10-Things to Know About Geothermal Heating and the Energy Tax Credit

On December 1st 2009 The Environmental Protection Agency announced revised regulations for residential geothermal heat pumps (GHPs). The new requirements approve water-to-water geothermal pumps to qualify for the Energy Star label. In the past, the geothermal standards were conventional pumps, only. This means that homeowners are entitled to a 30 percent tax credit with the installation of any geothermal heating pump.

There are several facts to know about geothermal heating pumps, energy, and the green Tax Credit.

• Since, geothermal energy does not use fuel to create electricity, it’s considered to be excessively efficient. 

• Geothermal energy’s underlying value is that it does not generate pollution. 

• Primary, secondary and new constructions qualify for the tax credit. However, rental properties are not included.

• According to energy analysts, the water-to-water pumps will be 45 percent more efficient than the conventional ones.

• The green energy Tax Credit for geothermal pumps is effective through December 31, 2016.

• Unlike the new homebuyer Tax Credit, where there are income limitations, the energy efficiency tax credits do not impose any minimum or maximum requirements. 

• Although, the geothermal heat pump Tax Credit now includes water-to-water geothermal pumps, certain components are not covered. For instance, ducts and emergency back-up systems are not associated with the geothermal heat pump’s efficiency and do not qualify for any exemptions.

• Homeowners can apply 30 percent of the installation and labor costs to the Tax Credit. 

• All ENERGY STAR qualified geothermal heat pumps are eligible for the Tax Credit. To review a list of authorized manufacturers, click on “ENERGY STAR Geothermal Heat Pumps” to review the list.

• If you’re considering geothermal heating for your home or need professional advice, Hoffmann Brothers has the answers to your heating and cooling questions. 
  

Green Conservation Tips

When consumers overextend the budget, cutting expenditures is the commonsensical approach to save costs. Reducing energy use is not only cost efficient; but it offers healthier, cleaner air quality. In other words, conservation is green friendly.

Power it down and unplug it. Unplug unused electronics. Lights, television and other plugged in electrical products are a drain on the energy load. To reduce the overall energy load, unplug any electrical items that are not in utilization.

Control the household temperature, anytime and anywhere. Consider investing in a programmable thermostat to warm and cool the house as needed. Programmable thermostats give consumers the autonomy to control the home’s temperature without wasting energy when the home is unoccupied.

Configure timers and motion sensors. When the home is vacant, exterior and interior lighting make the home appear occupied, potentially deterring intruders. Leaving the lights on while on vacation keeps the meter running on high. Instead, opt for timers and motion sensors, which can alleviate the overall energy load.

Make lighting changes. Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) outpace incandescent bulbs in several areas. For starters, CFLS emit light longer. Green energy advocates contend that CFLs require significantly less electricity than standard bulbs. In summation, CFLs require fewer light bulb changes and minimize energy consumption.

Maintain the heating and cooling system. Changing the air filter every two to three months alleviates particle buildup; ultimately maximizing the performance and life span of the heat and cooling system.

Additionally, be sure to have the system inspected each year. To assure maximum efficiency and preventative care, have a reputable technician check and repair any potential problems. For example, St Louis Heating and cooling company is staffed with licensed and bonded employees.

Click on heating and cooling maintenance to learn more about promoting green efficiency in your home.

Geothermal Heating - Green Building Rebate

It’s not too late to obtain a tax credit for the installation of a geothermal heating system. The extended legislation is effective through December 31, 2016. In the state of Missouri, residential homeowners have a slew of clean energy tax rebate enticements to take advantage of and save energy costs. From geothermal heating to the programmable thermostat, rebates and credits cover a wide scope of eco-friendly incentives for the single family home.

Homeowners, who install geothermal systems, may be able to claim up to 30% off the installment. Among the geothermal heating credit, Missourians may qualify for a home energy audit, which credits up to a $1,000 limit per individual or a cumulative limit of $2,000 per joint taxpayer return. 

Area residents, who plan to winterize the home and qualify for the Green Building Rebate, have a bevy of clean energy and air alternatives in the home. Green technologies, which qualify for the tax credit, include:

§       Energy Audits

§       Geothermal heating

§       Home insulation upgrades                 

§       HVAC equipment / Maintenance

§       Programmable thermostats

§       Rain sensing irrigation equipment 

The maximum credit incentive for a residential single family is $2,210. 

Serving, Washington, O’Fallon, Lake, St. Louis and West St. Louis in Missouri and Columbia, Belleville, Fairview Heights, Jerseyville, Alton, in Illinois, Hoffmann Brothers is a qualified authorized HVAC contractor, who is participating and servicing single family homes in the Midwest.

Despite the generous tax rebate incentives, consumers who are interested in taking advantage of the Green Building Rebate should be aware that eligibility hinges on the installation of ENERGY STAR ® and other stipulations. 

Contact Hoffmann Brothers geothermal heating department to learn more about qualifying for the statewide green building rebate.

Heating and cooling systems that qualify for the rebate include:

• Air Source Heat Pumps - $250
  
• Central Air Conditioning - $100
  
• Gas Furnaces - $125
  
• Water Heaters-Electric Heat Pump- $150
  
• Water Heaters-Gas Condensing- $150
  
• Water Heaters-Gas Storage - $100
  
• Water Heaters-Gas Tank-less- $100
  
• Water Heaters-Solar (With Electric Backup) - $500
  
• Water Heaters-Solar (With Gas Backup) - $500
  

Source: Department of Natural Resources

 

How-to Control Expenses While Traveling

Vacation planning, also calls for reducing energy consumption, while the home is vacant. Reducing energy costs is a consumer smart tactic for traveling and controlling expenses. From changing lights, reducing the thermostat to the maintenance of the heating and cooling system, several factors influence energy conservation. When equipment is dirty or requires maintenance, it begins to impel higher energy usage.

Use this checklist (below) to reduce energy costs and ensure that your heating and cooling system operates safely and efficiently.

• Water damage is the adverse effect of a plugged drain. Find a licensed contractor to inspect your furnace, central air conditioner and / or heat pump’s condensate drain.
  
• Dirty coils hinder the cooling performance of the air conditioning system; prolonging the span that equipment is powered on, ultimately raising energy. If you’re on vacation, the extra energy loads will trigger spikes in your electricity bill. Hire a contractor to clean or replace any dirty coils.
  

Important Note: While certain tasks are easy enough to do-it-yourself, a licensed and bonded, heating maintenance contractor will alleviate any unforeseen accidents.

• Check all electrical connections to determine if they are tightened securely. Heating systems with improperly affixed electrical connections may trigger a serious malfunction. Not to mention, defectively, configured connections shorten the lifespan of the equipment.
  
• Heating and systems, lacking adequate lubrication, intensify the electricity load. Make sure that the moving parts are appropriated lubed.
  

____________________________

Before departing for your trip:

Set lamps on timers. For the best energy efficiency, replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Change air filters. Dirty air filters hinder the performance of any heating and cooling system, requiring a heavier energy load. Replace the air filters of the heating and cooling systems.

Unplug all electronic items. Plugged yet powered down electronics attribute to the electricity load. To minimize costs, unplug any electrical items that do not keep food cool.

Contact Hoffmann Brothers, a trusted heating and air conditioning company, for all your furnace, heat pump and central air conditioning maintenance and repairs needs.

Heating and Your Christmas Tree

This holiday season, Hoffman Brothers provides facts and stats about Christmas tree safety and energy efficient heating.

Christmas Tree Facts

• According to the U.S. Fire Administrations (USFA), annually 33 million American households decorate with a natural tree.
• Tannenbaum, árbol de Navidad and Christmas tree share the same meaning in German, Spanish and English, respectively.
• All Christmas trees have an aversion to heat and fire.

Prevalent Causes of Christmas tree Fires

Christmas tree fires are usually the outcome of any of the following oversights:

• Inadequately watered trees
• Flames from candles
• Trees placed in close proximity to heaters and electrical heating systems
• Shorts in electrical lighting
• Outdoor lighting on indoor Christmas trees
• Matches of lighters ignited near trees

Every year, Christmas trees account for:

• $6<>
• 200 fires
• 25 injuries
• 6-deaths

How to shop for a fresh Christmas tree?

Dried out, natural trees are more susceptible to fire-hazards than fake ones. Aside from selecting a tree green in tincture, there are several techniques to shop for a fresh Christmas tree: touch the needles; check the truck butt for stickiness; and, bounce the tree for shedding leaves. Four indications of a fresh Christmas tree, include:

• The needles are supple and don’t break when bent.
• Fresh needles are inflexible and not easy to pull off the branches.
• When the tree is shaken, few leaves fall to the ground.
• The trunk butt has a gummy residue.

Christmas Tree Safety Tips

Prior to leaving the nursery, have the tree trunk trimmed, approximately 1.5 to 2-inches and any unruly branches around the base of the tree.

Meanwhile back at home, place the Christmas tree in a stand, which accommodates water. As for proper placement and fire prevention, do not position the tree near any type of heating system: radiator, kerosene / electrical heaters, and fireplace. Try to situate the Christmas tree in a cool room or space. Remember that heated rooms tend to dry trees out. Finally, don’t forget to fill the tree stand with ample water.

Holiday Savings Tip:

Increase holiday spending by reducing energy costs with a routine heating system tune up. Dust laden filters increase the monthly heating bill by as much as 30 percent. To improve indoor air quality and save on the monthly heating bill, Hoffman Brothers offers a cost effective Maintenance Program, which will help offset the Christmas gift budget. Click “Hoffmann Brothers” to learn about saving utility costs for potentially more holiday cash.

Load Calculations - They Really Make A Difference

Every week I meet people who are looking to upgrade their old cooling and heating systems. Many are getting multiple bids and I'm amazed at how some contractors are still "guessing" what size unit to offer. It is clear they are clueless to the guidelines that are used for today's homes. A full load calculation should be required by the home owner as well as any commercial client. Department of Energy, EnergyStar and consumer advocacy groups all recommend a load calculation and warn the consumer of contractors using the old "rule of thumb" of estimating the tonnage of cooling based on square feet of space. If your business, school, or church is looking to upgrade their HVAC equipment, have one of our mechanical engineers ensure you're installing the right equipment. It doesn't take a lot of time and it's well worth the investment. It will save you thousands of dollars in utility costs, unneeded repairs, and maybe in equipment costs. Give us a call. 314.664.3011.

Federal Tax Credits...Educate Yourself Before Buying

Warning: Buyer beware! Many contractors are trying to use the 2009/2010 tax credits offered to consumers to "sweetening the deal" and close the sale. As with any government program, there are a lot of rules and regulations that you must follow. Before taking advantage of these tax credits, ensure you're not being taken advantage of by a salesperson who is ignorant of the specific requirements that must be met to qualify for a tax credit.

Take our industry for instance. I was discussing the tax credits associated with air conditioners, furnaces, and heat pumps with several salespeople. I was amazed how many didn't realize which makes and models DO NOT qualify. Unfortunately, they were basing their assumptions on equipment advertising pamphlets. Though these pamphlets explain the benefits, warranties, and options for a specific piece of heating or cooling equipment, they usually "estimate" the efficiency; especially air conditioners and heat pumps. You'll find two little words "up to" right before the SEER rating in also all equipment brochures and that can be misleading. The actual SEER is determined by the efficiency of the outside unit (called the condensing unit) coupled with the inside evaporator coil (refered to as the A-coil because of its shape), and blower type.

Some condensing units can acheive 15 SEER, but fall short of the required 16 SEER for the tax credit; and those that can meet the 16 SEER may not be able to achieve the 13 EER that is ALSO required. We have condensing units, when matched with a standard coil and single speed blower furnace, will not meet the tax credit requirements. But when that same condensing unit is matched with a high-efficiency coil and variable speed blower furnace, it WILL qualify. Now you're on your way to collecting $1500.00 on your 2009 tax return!

Heat pumps require three minimum efficiency ratings: 15 SEER, 12.5 EER, and 8.5 HSPF.

So how do you, the consumer, know what you're getting? How can you be sure that the heating and cooling units you're investing your hard-earned dollars in will qualify for the tax credits?

First, do your homework. Good contractors ensure their sales staff know how to size heating and cooling systems for your home and provide documentation stating the energy efficiency of your particular sytem. We provide ARI and GAMA certificates--demand them from all heating and cooling contractors.

Second, if you're making several energy improvements to your home, there are caps you can receive for 2009 and 2010 for specific improvements. Some improvements are exempt from these caps, so get all the facts. EnergyStar and Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) are two good resources.

If you have questions, email me! Or give me a call at 314.256.2693. I'd be happy to help you!

TAKE A DEEP BREATH, IF YOU CAN

Have you ever been so frustrated, that you just wanted to scream? You know you want to, but instead you take a deep breath and try to relax. Ah, that’s feels better. A few more slow, deep breaths, the heart stops pounding, the veins stop popping out the side of your head, and you’re okay. But what if you couldn’t—take that deep breath, that is? What if every breath was a struggle? It may be that very thing that’s causing the frustration. We take so much for granted now-a-days and breathing is one of them. It’s an automatic response controlled by the medulla oblongata (great trivia for later). We don’t even have to think about it. But we should! Unfortunately, the old saying, “out of sight, out of mind” directs our priorities when it comes to what we breathe. Example: How many times have you forgotten to change the air filter in your furnace? Did you even know there was a filter? You’d be surprised at the number of people who don’t and those who do, forget to change it until something goes wrong with their heating or cooling system. So should indoor air quality be a priority in our lives? Let the numbers help you decide.

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency studies show indoor levels of pollutants may be two to five times and in some cases more than 100 times higher than outdoor levels.

• The Global Initiative for Asthma, a collaboration of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Health and World Health Organizations, states that, “The incidence of asthma has increased 50% in the past ten years. Contributing factors include indoor allergens and indoor pollutants.”

• The American College of Allergists has put in writing, “50% of all illnesses are either
caused by, or aggravated by, polluted indoor air.”

• The Asthma and Allergy Foundation named St. Louis as the Asthma Capital for 2009.

Now if the numbers above don’t alarm you, maybe these will.

On average, 42,000 dust mites live on one ounce of dust. The average home contains 6 -7
pounds of dust. Now add the fact that each mite produces 20 fecal pellets per day. You do the math. Oh yeah, I almost forgot.

• The average mattress has 2 million dust mites

• If your pillow is over a few years old, 10-25% of the weight is dead and living dust mites

• You spend at least 1/3 of your life in bed

• Research states that 44 million homes in the U.S. (45% of all homes) have a very serious dust mite problem

• Dust mites are a MAJOR contributor to asthma and allergic reactions

This is why Hoffmann Brothers is adamant about indoor air quality. Ask yourself these
questions:

Do you have allergies or suffer from asthma?
Do you experience frequent headaches, dizziness, and/or nausea?
Do you have mildew, musty, or unwanted odors in your home?

These may be signs of poor indoor air quality. The solution is not filtering your air, but cleaning it. We can help. Call us today and get the solutions to your indoor air quality problems. It’s your and your family’s health that may be at risk.

If you have any indoor air quality concerns, please give us a call or email me at
feedback. So, for the rest of 2009, breathe easy, if you can, and if not, give us a call. We may be able to help!

Those Little Floaties In Our Air

Wow! The sun was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky. You had to squint just to look out the window. I closed all the curtains in our living room and made sure just a slender sunbeam came through the west-facing window. Then I laid on the carpet right where the light touched the floor. I slapped the carpet and up popped the little floaties. The more I smacked the carpet, the more floaties would appear. Then I’d try to write something in them only to see them swirl around my finger. The little turbulences were so cool. I was seven years old then. Life was simple and floaties were fun.

Now I’m 50 and I look at floaties very differently. I’m not so inclined to slap the carpet these days. For one, my wife gives me strange looks and for another, the knowledge of what those floaties are; and not only the ones I can see but the ones I can’t, concern me. I know they can harm me if they’re the “wrong kind” of floaties.

Today, I don’t call them floaties, well, except in the above paragraphs and this sentence. Particulates is the correct term. Particulates are those little “floaties”…okay this sentence too… that we see when a beam of sunlight shines through the window. They are also the ones we don’t see, many less than a micron in diameter. How small is that? Well, a human hair is around 100 microns in diameter. So it’s really, really small. Particulates can be all sorts of stuff: dust, pollen, mold spores, bacteria, pet dander, dust mites, tobacco smoke, etc. Here’s a bit of trivia. Did you know, on average, 80% of dust is dead skin cells? I hope you’re not scratching while reading this. You’re just making more dust!

Particulates become a major concern when we have allergic reactions to them. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) classifies most particulates as a Danger Level One Concern. There are a total of three danger levels.

LEVEL ONE
Allergens & Particulates
Dust & Pollen
Mildew
Dust Mites
Pet Allergens
Tobacco and wood smoke

LEVEL TWO
Infectious Agents
Bacterial Infections
Viral Infections
Influenza
RSV
Common Cold Viruses

LEVEL THREE
Toxic Compounds
Formaldehyde
Tobacco Smoke
Nitrogen Dioxide
Pesticides
Benzene

Nature handles these three levels with an array of purifiers: wind, rain, lightning, ultraviolet light, plants, and even bacteria. Technology has allowed us to duplicate these natural purifiers. Germicidal lights, which emits the C spectrum of Ultraviolet light, have been used for years in hospitals. Now we have residential applications. UVC attacks danger level one and two contaminants. Energy Recovery Ventilators remove stale air and replenish the home with fresh air. By using a special chamber, it transfers heat and humidity; thus you recover 70% of your energy from the outgoing air. This allows us to remove and/or dilute carbon dioxide and other toxic gases.

The best whole-house air cleaners tackle a myriad of particulates. Unfortunately, many people use the cheaper, box store variety of filters. The “filtering” capabilities of these filters are questionable. Beware of filters that claim “98% efficient”. 98% efficient at what? This is usually based on particulate size. Some filters can remove a percentage of particulates larger than 10 microns. The problem is 98% of all indoor air particles are less than 1 micron. Another problem with these filters is the density of the media fibers restrict air flow to your system reducing the efficiency of your heating and cooling system. Hoffmann Brothers has air cleaners/purifiers that can remove over 98% of particulates down to 0.3 microns. Toxic chemicals, bacteria, viruses, and some particulates are smaller than this. Fortunately we have air purifiers that eliminate all three CDC danger levels of indoor air contaminants. Some use a catalyst that breaks down odor producing gases and toxic compounds at the molecular level. We can assist you in selecting the right application.

There are some great websites for more information. I like the EPA’s site for kids: airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=aqikids.index

American Lung Association link on indoor air quality:
www.lungusa.org/site/apps/s/content.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=34706&ct=67087

Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America: www.aafa.org

A word of warning: Many room air purifiers use ozone to “clean” the air. The EPA recognizes ozone as a respiratory irritant. One of the top selling brands received a poor rating from a consumer watchdog agency. The level of ozone was so great, the state of California, which has the toughest regulations on ozone generators, took them to court and won. Don’t be fooled by the claims given by these products. The cost of several of these units would still not do the job of one of our whole-house systems and would be four or five times the investment.

Do you have concerns? Then take a step towards a solution and call us today. Give yourself the peace of mind you deserve. Make this year, a healthy one. Call today!