One of the bigger environmental concerns surrounding any house today is the state of the heating and air conditioning unit. Generally, these are called hvac units in the larger buildings and industrial places, and their job is to regulate the flow of air as well as the heat in the winter and the air conditioning in the summer. Another large part of the job of any hvac unit is to regulate the circulation of air from one part of a structure to another.
Still, the principles that apply to the office work for the home as well, and one of the best ways to make any house more ecofriendly and less expensive to operate is to upgrade the heating system. Remember that in some northern parts of the United States and Canada, heating accounts for two thirds of the utility bill. heating systems in the United States, in both private and industrial concerns, account for over one billion tons of CO2 released into the atmosphere annually as well as 12% of the country’s sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
By looking toward getting, installing and running a more efficient system, you can cut your energy bills and output in half. Knowing the kinds of systems that are available and which of these is the best for your home is the important part of the equation. The most familiar to most of us are the gas or oil systems that can be used to generate heat in a furnace or boiler. Generally, a furnace will heat the air and then blow it through ducts which is then delivered to various rooms through a series of grills. An old fashioned boiler heats water or steam that is then delivered through pipes or baseboards, and radiant heating systems circulate water through copper or plastic tubing in the floor.
The air conditioning system is more complicated than the heating system since it doesn’t use energy to create heat–air conditioners use energy to take heat away. They operate based on a compressor that sits on the outside that’s filled with a special liquid called a refrigerant. The process required to carry the heat away and replace it with cooler air requires a lot of energy and in this way air conditioning systems are a major burden on most power grids during the summer months. Generally, there are three different types of air conditioners to choose from—room air conditioners, central air conditioners and electric heat pumps. Perhaps the most versatile of these is the electric heat pump that can cool your rooms during the summer months and then act like a heater for the winter.
Remember that if you use an air conditioner at all, it will more than likely be the biggest energy user in you home. You can find out what the actual cost is by subtracting the cost of your electric bill in the spring when you don’t need it from the cost in the summer when it’s working constantly.
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