Biggest Energy Hogs!

February 11, 2020

It’s the month of love, and we want to remind our customers how much we love you!

That’s why we’ve created a master list of the TOP 3 energy hogs, and ways you can save $100s per year.

As you probably expected, the top two biggest energy hogs are heating and cooling…

Most of us are “casual savers” and won’t try anything beyond turning the heat down a little in winter, and turning the A/C down a little in summer. (Using sweaters or box fans, respectively, to make that choice a little more bearable.)

Well, there’s nothing wrong with that, but if that’s the only method you thought existed…Nope! It’s just barely scratching the surface!

The next “higher up” step is to get a smart thermostat, which, like we covered in a recent blog, can save you hundreds of dollars a year for the simple fact that it can keep the heat down specifically when you’re not home.

But now, let’s pull out the big guns…

If you have what’s called a modulated boiler, your home will be ridiculously efficient!

What the heck is a “modulated boiler”? Well, as you know, what a boiler is supposed to do is turn water to steam. And this takes energy. But what if more steam is being generated than you really need? Well, you avoid that with a modulated boiler! This boiler burns lower when it’s warmer, and fires higher when it’s colder.

Just in case you’re TRULY dedicated to efficiency, though, you may want to consider heating your home in a different way altogether. No, we’re not talking about dressing your house up in a giant scarf…

Here at Parker and Sons we offer geothermal heating, and you can read more about that in this blog post. Basically, geothermal heat is heat obtained from rocks in the earth. It may sound kind of “out there,” but we’re proud to be a leader in geothermal technology. The best HVAC system out there is less than half as efficient as geothermal systems!!

So, that takes care of the two biggest electricity hogs: heating and cooling. Can you guess what the next biggest energy expenditure is?

If you said WATER HEATER, you’re right!

The easy fix is just to use your water heater less, like by washing loads of laundry in cold water, or using your dishwasher instead of hand-washing your dishes whenever possible.

But those tips are just “Level 1”!

Level 2, then, is getting more serious about the type of water heater you have. The most efficient kind is a gas-powered tankless heater, because tankless heaters use highly-efficient burners to heat water quickly through a heat exchanger.

Now, for the part we’re all waiting for: the ultimate Level 3!!

If you truly wanted to spend almost no money heating the water in your home, then you would have a pretty crazy initial investment.

That’s because the best way to heat your water would technically be solar power. But the problem is, up front it costs (on average) $8,000 to get an adequate amount of solar panels to heat your water. It’s a little more popular here in Phoenix then the rest of the country, but it’s not something we specialize in!

The good thing is, here in Arizona we have solar incentives where you could save 30% or more off your…solar system? (Are we calling it a solar system??)

So, when it comes to taming those wild energy hogs, you can either go as drastic as a solar system, or just take simple measures, like a smart thermostat.

We’d be glad to install a smart thermostat for you any time! Contact us today for more information!