Posts Tagged ‘Southern Vermont’

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Why Consider a Ductless Heat Pump?

Friday, March 20th, 2015

The range of our temperatures in Southern Vermont can be huge: we can see summer temperatures over 80 degrees and winter temperatures of -20. It may seem impossible to find one system to handle this range of temperatures, but there is one: a heat pump. Heat pump systems can deliver air through either ducted or ductless systems, and today we’re going to talk about how a ductless heat pump system can work in your Southern Vermont home.

The Components

A heat pumps system has an outdoor unit that contains the compressor, condenser and heat pump technology, and indoor blowers that deliver the air. Each indoor blower contains a fan, a set of coils and an air filter. The blowers are about 3 feet long and can mount flush against walls or hang from ceilings. Each blower connects to the outdoor unit via a conduit drilled into an exterior wall. The conduit contains a refrigerant line, a power cord and a condensate drain pipe. A single outdoor unit can support up to 4 indoor blowers.

The Benefits of a Ductless System

One of the first benefits a ductless heat pump system offers is that it will both heat and cool your home, and it isn’t necessary to have any kind of ductwork. A second great benefit is that heat pumps do not use any kind of fossil fuel; they only use a small amount of electricity – imagine heating your Vermont home without a single oil or gas bill all winter long! This makes heat pumps very energy efficient. A third benefit is the longevity: heat pumps last an average of 20-25 years versus traditional heating systems, which last 15-20 years. Lastly, the heating and cooling heat pumps provide is very comfortable. Why? Heat pumps blow gently on a low-volume, continuous basis, so the heating and cooling feels more gentle.

Heat pumps should only be installed by experts, so if you think a heat pump may be a good choice for you Southern Vermont home, contact HB Energy Solutions today!

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How Can a Smart Meter Help My Home?

Friday, March 6th, 2015

A big part of reducing your energy usage is knowing how much energy you use on a weekly or monthly basis. But ascertaining exact numbers on your utility usage can be a challenge. One new tool that is making it easier for homeowners to get a handle on their energy usage is the Smart Meter. In fact, these meters are so helpful that in 2012, they became mandatory throughout the state of California. So what does a Smart Meter do that makes it so helpful? Let’s take a look.

What It Is

You are probably wondering what makes a Smart Meter so different, and here is the reason it is different: it reports on your electrical and natural gas usage daily. For residential properties, a Smart Meter reports on electrical usage every hour and gas usage at the end of every day; in commercial properties, electrical usage is reported every 15 minutes (gas reporting stays the same). The Smart Meter reports all this data to your utility company over a secure wireless network, and you can access your energy usage information right online. The Smart Meter can also work with solar energy, so you’ll be able to see in detail how much energy you are using from the power company and how much is generated by your solar panels. This specific information provides a baseline of your energy usage, which allows you to create a plan to reduce your overall energy usage.

What Are the Benefits?

Here are some of the benefits a Smart Meter can offer:

  • Instant outage reporting – because of the two-way communication between your Smart Meter and your utility company, any outage will be reported immediately by the Smart Meter. This helps provide better service from your utility company.
  • Reduce energy usage – having a direct reporting system allows you to see exactly when you may be overusing energy, which will help you to create an effective energy plan for your home or business.
  • Instant notification of over-usage – the Smart Meter can email you, text you or phone you when your energy usage goes too high, alerting you to potential problems with your energy utilities before they can become serious.

A Smart Meter upgrade for your southern Vermont property may be just the tool you’ve been looking for to help reduce your energy usage.

Professional Smart Meter installation is required, so call the experts at HB Energy Solutions today and see how a Smart Meter can help you!

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How Solar Heating Benefits the Environment

Thursday, January 29th, 2015

Solar heating involves the installation of solar collectors on the rooftop in order to harness the power of the sun to improve the efficiency of the home heating process. Consider how much your utilities decrease when you go out of town for a week. When you’re not relying on the utility companies for gas and electric heating, you save significantly, especially since we usually use our heating systems nearly nonstop day and night here in Southern Vermont. With solar heating, your system primarily depends on a free reliable source for energy: the sun. The sun’s rays have the power to transfer energy into your home for one specific purpose, like heating, or throughout the entire house.

Whenever you turn on your solar heating system, you’re not only saving money; you’re helping the environment as well. A solar heating system reduces your carbon footprint significantly, especially if you convert from an older standing pilot furnace. Standing pilot furnaces are no longer commonly manufactured, but they remain in some homes because their lifespan can be lengthy. Whereas today’s pilot lights operate on electronic ignition, turning on only when needed, standing pilots remained lit throughout the day, resulting in a lot of standby energy loss.

Replacing a standing pilot furnace with a solar energy system helps the environment in substantial ways, cutting down the amount of fossil fuels you use each year, reducing CO2 emissions that affect the environment. In fact, replacing any type of heating system with a solar-powered unit, from an electronic ignition gas furnace to a heat pump to an electric furnace can help to reduce your environmental impact. Any system that runs on gas, electricity, or any combination of the two contributes to greenhouse gases that pollute the air.

How It Works

Solar heating systems use solar collectors to collect thermal energy from the sun. A liquid such as water or antifreeze flows between the solar panels and a storage tank or heat exchanger. Storing the heated liquid for later is more efficient, but either system may need a backup for use when solar energy isn’t available.

Call HB Energy Solutions, we have installed solar heating systems in Southern Vermont for years, and strive to provide customers with excellent service for years to come.

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How Can I Make Sure New Gas Piping Installation Is Handled Safely?

Thursday, January 15th, 2015

While appliances that use natural gas to operate were once considered a health and safety risk, today’s gas-powered systems are safer than ever. Most gas appliances contain plenty of safety features that help to prevent gas from leaking into your home. Today, people do not have to worry as they once did about a pilot light going out and leaving the gas running. In current standing gas pilot heating systems, a flame sensor detects there us a safety hazard and shuts off the unit immediately. Other modern gas burners only ignite when needed, with plenty of safety components to prevent any hazards that may prevent gases from venting as well.

But, as with anything that uses natural gas, there is an unfortunate risk of a gas leak, particularly if an appliance is poorly installed. And if the gas pipes themselves are not installed as they should be, the risk of a leak is high. You may need new gas piping installation for a new home, an extension, or for a major renovation. Similarly, you may need new gas pipes if you’ve decided to remodel a room like the kitchen, and you need to extend gas pipes to accommodate a new oven.

Whatever your gas piping needs, you need a professional, even for the smallest of installations. The only sure way to verify that your new gas pipe is installed as safely as possible is by choosing an expert that is trained and certified to deal with a natural gas line. A professional will check all of the connections and should be able to spot any potential damage with ease. Trained technicians can also check your entire piping system if desired.

Gas leaks are a serious issue for a couple of reasons. A natural gas leak can have very serious health effects, and it’s highly flammable. Never attempt to repair a gas appliance or a gas pipe on your own and evacuate the home as soon as you suspect a leak.

The technicians at HB Energy Solutions have years of experience installing, maintaining, and repairing gas piping in Southern Vermont. Call us today!

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Is a Heat Pump Ideal for Heating in Southern Vermont?

Friday, January 2nd, 2015

Heat pumps are a really great option for any homeowner looking for a safe and efficient home heating system. There are some climates that merit specific considerations, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Right now, let’s take a look at how a heat pump works, and why you would want to install one.

Heat Pump Operation

In order to understand how a heat pump works, you have to understand the different parts that make up the system. There are two primary parts that make up a heat pump, the indoor unit and the outdoor unit. The two units are connected by a conduit, which contains power and refrigerant line. The refrigerant line runs to a coil installed in each unit, before running out of it again and back to the other unit.

When the heat is turned on, the coil in the outdoor unit begins to evaporate refrigerant. The now-gaseous refrigerant acts as a heat sink, drawing thermal energy out of the surrounding air and into the coil. The refrigerant gas then travels back down the line to the indoor unit, where it is condensed back into a liquid. This releases the thermal energy, which is used to heat the home.

Why Install a Heat Pump?

As previously mentioned, heat pumps are both safe and extremely energy efficient. They are not combustion-based systems, which means they don’t burn fuel to generate heat. Instead, they operate entirely off of electricity to move heat from outside inside. This saves energy because the heat pump doesn’t burn any sort of fuel during operation. For the same reason, the heat pump is safer than combustion-based heating systems. Combustion-based systems produce toxic byproducts, which the heat pump doesn’t have to worry about.

Now, there is something you should consider before installing a heat pump. Heat pumps rely entirely on the outside air for thermal energy. Even in cold climates, there is often enough thermal energy to keep a home comfortably heated. In extremely cold areas, however, there is much less thermal energy available for the heat pump.

If you’re concerned that a heat pump may not be able to heat your home efficiently, call HB Energy Solutions. We provide heating services throughout Southern Vermont, and will be able to recommend the best solution for you.

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How to Choose the Right Technician for Commercial Refrigeration Services

Monday, November 17th, 2014

Your commercial property depends on high-performance commercial refrigeration systems and appliances to keep business running as smoothly as possible. If your commercial cooler, ice machine, or refrigerator is on the fritz and needs repair or replacement, or if you’re looking into purchasing commercial equipment for the first time, you want to make sure you choose a quality contractor so that the most integral equipment to your business is protected from damage. So how do you choose the right contractor for the job? We’ll go over some of the things to look out for and ask about in this guide.

Steps to Choosing a Quality Technician

  • Make sure the contractor carries and distributes a wide range of products for installation. First, search through the website or ask your contractor what types of equipment they service and install, to make sure the range of products you need serviced or may need to purchase in the future are covered.
  • Ask about the various types of services they perform. Right now, you may only need a company to install or repair a single piece of equipment. However, you should try to make sure your company offers additional services you may need in the future, so that you won’t have to search around for another company when the time comes. You should especially consider choosing a contractor that offers routine maintenance, so that you can call on them to clean, inspect, and adjust your system every year and prevent repairs.
  • Find a company that offers 24-hour emergency service. Some companies offer 24-hour emergency services as well. Repair needs can occur at any time of night, and a broken refrigeration system in the middle of the night can mean big trouble for your commercial property.
  • Request an estimate. Finally, a quality contractor stands by their pricing, so make sure you can get a free estimate before the work begins.

HB Energy Solutions is a company committed to quality customer service. We offer a 100% guarantee on our work, free estimates, and free second opinions so that you know the full price of our work before we begin.

To speak with a knowledgeable customer representative about commercial refrigeration in Southern Vermont at any time of day, give our team a call!

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The Features of ENERGY KING Wood Furnaces

Monday, November 3rd, 2014

If you need a new heating system, there are a lot of unique options available for your consideration. One type of reliable heating system that homeowners often overlook is the wood furnace. Wood furnaces are often utilized for outdoor heating, but an indoor wood furnace from ENERGY KING offers low cost heating and all-around comfort for your home. Let’s take a look at some of the many features of these heating system.

  • Energy Independence: With a wood furnace, you no longer have to depend on on the unreliable and often high cost of natural gas or electricity.
  • Efficiency: ENERGY KING wood furnaces are quite efficient due to a few key features that ensure most of the heat the furnace produces enters your home. A superheated secondary combustion, for example, allows gases and particulates to ignite when they would have otherwise escaped through the chimney.
  • Durability: ENERGY KING wood furnaces are built by experienced and certified welders which indicates the highest quality, durability, and safety.
  • Environmentally Friendly: Burning wood is environmentally friendly because, although it releases CO2, the effect is no different than as if the trees had died and rotted.
  • Thermostatically-Controlled Automatic Draft: All of ENERGY KING’s wood furnaces come standard with an automatic draft, which automatically opens and closes the draft damper in order to control the burn rate. You can also use a manual damper whenever you need it.
  • Insulated Cabinet: The insulated cabinet prevents heat from moving into the room instead of into your home where it belongs, increasing efficiency.
  • Removable Ash Pan: One final important part is the removable ash pan, which simplifies the process of cleaning ash accumulation from time to time.

A wood furnace is the perfect heating system for many homes, but it may not necessarily be the right choice for you. For whatever heating system you choose, you’ll need a professional to choose the proper sized unit for your home and provide skilled installation services.

Talk to one of the professionals at HB Energy Solutions to find out more about your options for wood furnaces in Southern Vermont.

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How Does a Heat Recovery Ventilator Work?

Monday, October 20th, 2014

Vermont gets very cold in the winter, as anyone here can tell you. Making your home more energy efficient with good windows and doors, insulation, and a well-maintained heating system can make a big difference in heating bills. Unfortunately, it can also cut down the ventilation in your home, making it challenging to have clean air circulating inside. Good ventilation is important to your health, and opening a window during a Vermont winter is really not an option. What is a great option is a heat recovery ventilator in Southern Vermont. Also known as an HRV, this device not only helps to greatly improve your indoor ventilation, it also improves your energy efficiency, all at the same time. The trained experts at HB Energy Solutions are ready to help you this winter with all your heating and ventilation needs, so call us today.

What Is an HRV?

An HRV is a ventilation device that can be added to your HVAC system or mounted to an exterior wall – it just needs a direct air supply. The HRV works by exhausting the stale, warm air from your indoors to the outside while bringing in the cool, fresh air from the outside. In the heat exchanger, which is the core of the HRV, the heat energy from the outgoing air is applied to the incoming fresh air, pre-heating it before it enters your HVAC system. This pre-treats the incoming air, warming it up so your HVAC system doesn’t have to. The two air streams never mix, so there is no chance of cross-contamination.

Why Install an HRV?

Here are some of the benefits an HRV can offer your home:

  • Improved energy efficiency – as we mentioned above, an HRV can help improve your energy efficiency because it pre-heats the incoming fresh air. This takes some of the burden off your HVAC system to heat your home, which can result in less energy usage.
  • Improved indoor air quality – an HRV provides a continuous, fresh stream of air for your home, and filters it before it becomes a part of your indoor air flow. This helps improve your indoor air quality.
  • Less wear on your system – during excessively cold weather, your system has to work harder to achieve your set temperature. An HRV does some of the work ahead of your HVAC system, allowing it to operate normally, which can reduce the level of wear and tear.

If you’ve been looking for a way to overcome the winter cold without blowing your heating budget, it may be time to consider the installation of heat recovery ventilator in South Vermont.

For more information on heat recovery ventilators, contact HB Energy Solutions today and let one of our indoor air quality experts help you!

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How Does Solar Heating Work?

Monday, October 6th, 2014

In the continuing struggle to find viable forms of alternative energy, solar has taken the lead as having the most promise. More and more people are installing solar panels on their homes to supplement their traditional heating systems. What most people don’t know is how solar heating actually works. Let’s take a look at some of the most common options for solar heating.

Liquid Solar Heating

Similar to other heating systems, solar heating is split into liquid and forced air methods. Liquid solar heating is a radiant heating system, using pipes to distribute hot water throughout the house. These pipes then radiate the heat up through the floor boards or through the walls. Radiators and baseboard heaters are also common.

Rather than using a boiler to heat the water, solar heating collects thermal energy directly from a sun. Solar panels are usually mounted on the roof or a south-facing wall for maximum exposure during the day. The thermal energy collected by the solar panel is then directed to a solar storage unit, which heats the water and distributes it.

Like all solar systems, this kind of heating becomes less effective if access to sunlight is limited. Some storage units can serve as backup water heaters. You may still have difficulty heating enough water if demand is high during evenings or overcast days, though.

Forced Air Heating

Forced air solar heating works much the same way as other forced air systems. The solar panel on the outside of the house collects and uses thermal energy to warm the air in a collector unit. The collector then circulates the air throughout the house using an electric fan. Ducts are obviously required for this kind of heating if you want to heat more than one room.

Forced air solar systems tend to collect slightly more thermal energy than thermal systems. However, this advantage is usually balanced out by water being a much better medium for thermal energy than air is.

If you are interested in learning more about solar heating, contact HB Energy Solutions. We operate all over the Southern Vermont area.

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Does My Furnace Need Repair, or Is It Time for a Replacement?

Monday, September 22nd, 2014

Whether to replace or repair a furnace is a question we hear a lot during the fall. Fall is a good time to replace, if that’s what’s needed, but you should first assess whether or not your furnace needs replacing. There are some key factors to consider when deciding whether or not to replace your current heating system, and we’ve outlined them below. Whether you need replacement or repair for your furnace in southern Vermont, HB Energy Solutions has the trained technicians to assist you with all your heating needs.

Signs It May Be Time for Replacement

There are some telltale signs that it may be time for you to replace your current heating system:

  • Constant repairs – did you make a lot of repairs to your system last winter, and are facing more this year? Repair costs can add up, sometimes to the cost of a new system. It may be worth looking at where your money is better spent.
  • Rust, cracking and corroding components – it is normal for your system to incur some general wear and tear, but if you are seeing clear signs of physical breakage, it may be time to consider a replacement. Cracking and corroding parts can be dangerous – carbon monoxide may be able to escape from them – and it isn’t always possible to repair or replace the broken areas.
  • High energy bills – did you see high energy bills last winter, despite not changing how you use your heating system? Decreased energy efficiency is a symptom of a poorly-performing system.
  • Age – the average lifespan for a furnace or boiler is about 15 years. If your system is over this age, and is experiencing any of the above problems, you may be better off investing in a new heater.
  • Decreased comfort – an aging system may no longer be able to meet your heating needs. This is usually indicated by hot and cold spots in your home, or an inability to achieve the set temperature. If your heater is not operating effectively, it may be time to consider a replacement.

The best way to truly assess whether it’s best to replace or repair your furnace in southern Vermont is to work with an expert.

For all your furnace repair needs call HB Energy Solutions today and make an appointment with one of our heating specialists.

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