Source: Alabama Power

As valuable and convenient as electricity is to your lifestyle, you certainly don’t want to pay each month for energy you didn’t really need to use.  Since electricity is so easy, quiet and convenient to use, it’s easy to waste if you don’t manage energy consumption wisely.

There are a number of ways to economize without reducing your comfort or convenience.  Below you’ll find “do-it-yourself” tips to help you detect energy waste, manage energy use and save on your monthly electric energy bill:

• Cutting your heating and cooling costs
  • Refresh your air filter
  • Adjust your thermostat
  • Use efficient equipment
  • Be a fan of the fan

• Using hot water wisely

• A menu of savings in the kitchen
  • Your dishwasher
  • Your refrigerator/freezer
  • Your oven and stove

• Saving energy in the laundry room
  • Your washing machine
  • Your dryer

• No-waste lighting

• Easy energy-saving projects

• Seasonal energy savers
  • In the summer
  • In the winter

Use this energy generating tool to see where your energy costs are and where you can start cutting back.

With Coastal Green Air’s Thermonator, it’s guaranteed that you will cut back HVAC costs.  The Thermonator is the newest innovation in hot water heater management.  Click here for more on how The Thermonator can work for you.

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Saving your hard earned dollar can be as easy as turning your lights off when leaving a room. But it’s hard to monitor your condo or home when you’re away.

With Coastal Green Air’s Temp$aver system in combination with the Thermonator; your savings could become that extra $omething.

Here are a few other energy saving tips:

1. Set water heater temperature no higher than 120^oF.

2. For households with 1 or 2 members, a 115^oF setting may work fine.

3. Install water-heater wrap per manufacturer’s instructions.

4. Drain 1 – 2 gallons from bottom of water heater each year to reduce sediment build up.

5. Install heat traps on hot and cold water lines when it’s time to replace your water heater.

With this in mind check out the Thermonator for a more controlled water-heater environment.

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Noted below are several ways to save, while keeping your home at a comfortable temperature.

The Environmental Protection Agency also offers some free tools to assist in increasing home energy efficiency. Energystar.gov/homeadvisor recommends home improvement projects to increase energy efficiency.  Energystar.gov/home offers a room-by-room house tour that identifies opportunities to cut home energy bills.

1.     Tips for saving on both heating and cooling.

a.  Determine a comfortable setting for your heat and then set it two degrees lower.  For each degree lower, savings will be about 3-5%.  Conversely, find a comfortable setting for you air conditioner and then set it two degrees higher.

b.  When less heat or air conditioning is required, such as at night when sleeping or during the day when the house is not occupied, or when you are on vacation, set the thermostat significantly lower for heat and significantly higher for air conditioning.  If you have heating/AC zones in your house, turn the heat and AC back in zones you are not using.  In most homes, trying to keep a constant temperature will result in greater energy usage than reducing heat and air conditioning usage when less temperature control is required.  Some estimates indicate that you can lower your heating and air conditioning bill by as much as 10% by lowering your thermostat to reduce heat, or raising your thermostat to reduce air conditioning, by five degrees for four hours each day.  However, if you are using a heat pump for heat, avoid large changes in thermostat settings (usually over two degrees), to avoid having the supplemental heat strip activate, which is quite costly.

c.  Do not try to heat or cool your house faster by setting the thermostat to a higher or lower temperature than desired.  The house won’t heat up or cool down any faster, and chances are you won’t turn the thermostat back to the desired temperature until the house has gotten too warm or cool, resulting in excess energy consumption.  And, as noted above, if you are using a heat pump, turning up your thermostat more than two degrees above the present temperature to try to heat up your home more quickly will result in a higher cost for supplemental heat.

d.  Install a programmable thermostat to ensure temperature settings are lowered and raised when desired.  Even a moderately priced programmable thermostat will most likely allow you to adjust settings for different periods of the day, as well as weekends versus weekdays.

e.  When heating the house, keep the blinds and drapes open on the sunny side of the house to help with heating.  Conversely, keep the blinds and drapes closed on other windows to help retain the heat.  Make sure to close blinds and drapes on all windows at night to help retain heat in the house.  When using the AC, be sure to close blinds and drapes on the sunny side of the house to keep heat out.

f.   When heating your home, if you have ceiling fans run them at low speed and set them on reverse (pushing air upwards) to help move the heated air away from your ceiling and down where the people are.  If you have exhaust fans, use them sparingly since they suck the heated air out of your house.  When cooling your house, use ceiling fans (pushing air down) to create a gentle breeze.  The fans will not actually make your house cooler, but will allow you to set the air conditioning at a higher temperature to save energy costs and still feel cool.  Make sure to turn off the ceiling fans when not using the room.

g.  If you have storm windows/storm doors, make sure they are shut when heating/air conditioning to keep your warm or cool air inside the house.

h.  Make sure your forced-air heating/AC vents and return grills, and baseboard radiators, are out in the open and not blocked by drapes and furniture, so heat and air conditioning can freely circulate.  However, you can close vents in unused rooms and keep the room’s door closed to save on heating and air conditioning costs, as long as your thermostat controlling the temperature in rooms being used is not in the closed room.  Also consider keeping closet doors closed to avoid using energy to heat and air condition them.  If you have radiators, consider installing a reflective panel (available at home improvement stores) behind them to reflect the heat into the room.  If you are using space heaters make sure there is plenty of distance from the heater to any flammable materials.

i.   Remember to regularly change air filters in forced air systems.  A dirty air filter that restricts air flow can increase heating/cooling bills considerably, and may reduce the life of your system.  In systems with hot-water radiators, bleed trapped air once or twice a season to improve efficiency.

Reference: EnergySavingsNut.com

Yudelson gathers information on an annual basis to compile his “top ten” green building techniques and techology from around the world.  Just released in his Green building’s top ten trends for 2011 article some of the “top ten” trends are:

Jerry Yudelson’s Top Ten Green Building Trends for 2011 include:

1. The worldwide green building movement will continue to accelerate, as more countries begin to create their own green building incentives and developing their own Green Building Councils. More than 70 countries, on all continents, will show considerable green building growth in 2010.
2. Green building will rebound in 2011, as measured by the new LEED project registrations as a proxy for this growth. “The reduction in commercial real estate building in many countries,” he said, “was not offset by other sectors such as government, and so the growth rate of new green building projects fell dramatically in 2010.”
3. The focus of the green building industry will continue to switch from new buildings to greening existing buildings. “The fastest growing LEED rating system in 2010 was the LEED for Existing Buildings program, and I expect this trend to continue in 2011,” said Yudelson. “My 2009 book, Greening Existing Buildings, documents the strategic components of this trend.”
4. Blue will become the New Green. Awareness of the coming global crisis in fresh water supply will continue to grow, leading building designers and managers to take further steps to reduce water consumption to increase sustainability. This will be done in buildings through the use of more conservation-oriented fixtures, rainwater recovery systems and innovative new water technologies. “My latest book, Dry Run: Preventing the Next Urban Water Crisis, shows how to do this in green buildings all over the world.”
5. Green building in the United States will continue to benefit from the Obama presidency with a continued focus on greening the executive branch. New announcements of a commitment to a minimum of LEED Gold for all new federal projects and major renovations confirm and highlight this macro-trend.
6. Zero-net-energy designs for new buildings become increasingly commonplace, in both residential and commercial sectors, as LEED and ENERGY STAR ratings become too common to confer competitive advantage.
7. Performance disclosure will be the fastest emerging trend, highlighted by new requirements in California and other states. Commercial building owners will have to disclose actual building performance to all new tenants and buyers.
8. Certified Green Schools will grow rapidly as part the LEED System. This trend will accelerate as understanding of the health and educational benefits of green schools grows. Already by mid-year 2010, green schools represented nearly 40 percent of all new LEED projects in the United States.
9. Local and state governments will step up their mandates for green buildings for both themselves and the private sector. We’ll see at least 20 major new cities with commercial sector green building mandates. The desire to reduce carbon emissions by going green will lead more government agencies to require green buildings.
10. Solar power use in buildings will continue to grow. This trend will be enhanced by the increasing focus of municipal utilities as they need to comply with state-level renewable power standards (RPS) for 2015 and 2020. As before, third-party financing partnerships will continue to grow and provide capital for large rooftop systems such as on warehouses. However, we may very well see a slowing of large solar and wind systems, as federal grant support, in lieu of tax credits, is phased out.

Going Green can save you  more than just a green thumb print, it can save you $$.  The thermonator system is built with the “Green” consumer in mind.

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Gulf Power’s request for an interim 4 percent rate increase will be considered during an August 23, 2011 hearing in Tallahassee.

Public Service Commission spokeswoman Cindy Muir said the interim rate hike, if approved, would take effect in September.

Hearings are tentatively scheduled later this fall for the remaining 6 percent of Gulf Power’s proposed rate hike.

If the full rate hike is approved, the average cost of 1,000 kilowatts would jump from about $122 to $134.

However, if the interim rate increase is approved but Gulf Power’s full rate increase is denied later this year, the revenue collected from the interim rate would be refunded to customers.

Muir also said a Customer Service Hearing is scheduled in Pensacola on September 15 at 10 a.m.

The hearing is open to the public and willbe at the Escambia County School Board’s J.E. Hall Educational services Center, 30 E. Texar Drive in Pensacola, FL.

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B & P Rentals
Orange Beach AL

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Click here to check out our new product videos!

How many days was your property vacant last year?  Did you know the typical rental property is vacant an average of 145 days a year!

Coastal Green Air, Inc. can help you save energy and energy cost while your property is occupied or unoccupied.  We are very proud of our product line to date.  Our Temp$aver™ system is our original product and we are now proud to announce our newest patent pending product, The “Thermonator™”.

Coastal Green Air’s Temp$aver™ and Thermonator™ components effectively fight your ongoing energy expenses by taking the human error and behavior out of the equation regardless of whether your property is occupied or unoccupied.

It is time for you and your Alabama vacation home to start saving money and energy even if you do not rent your property.

Temp$aver™ System

• Our thermostat is pre-set within a range that the tenant cannot override (for example 70° low, 76° high).  You control the temperature range allowed and not the tenant.
• After 12 hours of no motion in your vacation home, the motion detected thermostat will automatically go into an unoccupied mode with settings of 78° in the summer and 65° in the winter.  If no motion is detected for an additional 3 hours – for a total of 15 hours – the thermostat will go into a check-out mode with settings of 60° in the winter and 78° in the summer, minimizing energy waste during unoccupied periods.
• Wireless Door Monitors – The HVAC system will turn off if the sliding glass doors or windows are left open for more than ninety (90) seconds.

The Thermonator™ System

• The wireless motion detection device will activate the “Thermonator™” and turn off your hot water heater after 12 hours of no motion.
• The wireless motion detection device will activate the “Thermonator™” and turn on when your next guest arrives and your water heater is back in service.
• Do you need and want the expense of hot water when your property is vacant?

Without Our Product

Your HVAC system is cooling or heating at below or above unnecessary temperatures and your water heater is heating water when your property is unoccupied.

Resulting

In wasted energy, wasted money, and higher power bills.

How would you answer the following questions?

1)    Do you believe your energy provider will ever drop their rates?

2)    What is my thermostat set on right now?

3)    How many days is my water heater on and no one in the property?

4)    Are renters leaving my sliding glass doors open with the AC on?

5)    Is my AC running unnecessarily when my property is vacant?

6)    Did my cleaning staff or vendor remember to set my thermostat properly?

7)    Have I received a high power bill in the off season with less rental income?

8)    Have I had a frozen AC service call with less renters or no renters at all?

9)    Who pays for the power bill each month in my vacation home?

10) Who controls the energy use each month in my vacation home?

The Temp$aver™ and Thermonator™ system by Coastal Green Air, Inc. can help eliminate the negative answer you have for each of these questions!

Why wouldn’t I?

1)    Want to save money?

2)    Want to save energy?

3)    Do what I can to stop energy waste?

4)    Start managing my energy costs now?

5)    Save $ when my vacation home is unoccupied?

6)    Start fighting my vacation homes high energy cost?

7)    Spend a nickel to save a dollar?

8)    Help improve my bottom line rental income?

9)    Want to prepare – preserve my vacation home for the future?

10) Prepare now for the next energy increase from my energy provider?

Coastal Green Air can help your vacation home save money regardless of occupancy.

We look forward to working with you and we appreciate the opportunity to introduce our company and our product.

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Coastal Green Air - Temp$aver System Wall Censor and Door/Window Monitors

The affordable technology that keeps heating & cooling dollars in your pocket.

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A wireless motion detection device will activate “The Thermonator” and turn off your hot water heater after twelve hours of no motion.

This wireless motion detection device will activate “The Thermonator” and turn on when your next guest arrives and your water heater is back in service.

The motion detector device is placed in a high traffic area in your property.

Facts & Answers to Most Questions

• The Average vacation rental property is vacant 145 days a year.
• When your property is vacant your hot water heater is still working to be ready when needed…even if this is two days, two weeks or even two months.
• We would not leave our stove/oven on when our property is vacant!
• Having your hot water heater off when your property is vacant will save the estimated life of your hot water heater.
• Twelve hours is plenty of time for a rental property to be monitored for occupancy.
• The “typical” rental guest does not take a shower or need hot water as soon as they arrive on vacation.
• Recovery time for a hot water heater that has been turned off for any length of time is different depending on the size. In most cases the recover time is 20 minutes, providing hot water to your property within the first half hour of your guest’s arrival.
• “The Thermonator” is placed inside your hot water heater closet and is connected directly to your hot water heater.
• “The Thermonator” has visible indicator lights telling you when the motion detector is working and when the hot water heater is on / off.

The U.S. Department of Energy states:

• The water heating can account for 14% – 25% of energy consumed in your property.
• That lowering the thermostat on your hot water heater by 10°can save you between 3% – 5% in energy cost. Imagine the energy cost savings if your hot water heater is off when it is unoccupied.
• You start shopping for a new hot water heater after seven years. You can save 5%-12% by installing a timer that turns off at night when you don’t use hot water and /or during peak demand times. Your property use will not allow for a timer to be used. The timer does not know when your property is occupied? No worries with “The Thermonator”.
• Your local utility charges higher rates during “on-peak” times. Even if your property is unoccupied.

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