Bel Red Energy Blog

There are some big efficiency changes coming to residential water heaters in the coming years. Starting in April of 2015, new efficiency standards for common water heaters will go into effect. In a decision and announcement made in 2010, the Department of Energy (DOE) released these new standards to give manufacturers, consumers and contractors time to prepare for these changes. If you’re thinking about a water heater upgrade in the near future, these decisions could affect you.

According to the DOE, the efficiency standard revisions, once in place, could save consumers up to $10 billion and prevent the release of 164 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next 30 years. The new efficiency standards will also reduce overall air pollution, prevent the release of extremely harmful nitrogen oxides and mercury and “avoid emissions equivalent to taking 46 million cars of the road for one year.” These are pretty drastic energy and pollution savings if the DOE’s calculations are correct.

These new standards cover both gas and electric water heaters, so they will have an impact on most homeowners and suppliers. Each type of water heating unit will have new specific energy requirements once the regulations go into effect in 2015. The typical standard of measurement for water heaters is called the energy factor (EF), which measures a water heater’s efficiency based on the amount of hot water it can produce for each unit of fuel (gas or electricity) over the course of a regular use day. The EF also indicates how efficiently heat is transferred from the energy source of the water heater to the actual water.

According to then Secretary of the DOE, Steven Chu, the potential energy saved will be crucial to increasing the overall efficiency of homes in this country in the coming years. "These energy-conserving appliance standards are a critical part of the Administration's overall efforts to save energy in homes and businesses nationwide," says Secretary Chu. "By raising the energy efficiency requirements of our everyday appliances, we will save money for American families and companies, reduce carbon pollution, and enhance our energy security for decades to come."

If you are thinking about replacing your furnace, we’ve taken steps here at Bel Red to make that as easy and quick as possible. We understand that your time is valuable, and sometimes you may not have any concerns about comfort, efficiency, or indoor air quality – you just need heat, which is why we try to make the process of quotes and estimates for this type of work painless.  We now offer an online estimate tool featuring free Quick Quote technology for fast estimates on basic furnace replacements.

Is the online estimate tool right for you? Well, it depends on the type of work you need done and the situation you find yourself in when considering hiring a contractor for heating and cooling installations, repair or upgrades. The Quick Quote tool is done completely online, making the exploratory portion of this process much easier than it has traditionally been. The tool provides a price estimate only, so it’s perfect for those without any concerns regarding comfort, energy savings, indoor air quality or other topics that could potentially factor into this type of work. If you do have questions in these areas, it is best to schedule in-person evaluation, which is also free. This in-person evaluation provides a customized quote based on specific and individual needs and provides you with answers to your heating and cooling project questions. For the most comprehensive and customized look into the needs of your home, we always offer complete Home Energy Audits, which comprehensively identifies all energy and comfort-related issues, and offers solutions to improve them.

So, how does the online estimate tool work? It’s simple – you fill out the online request form with your project detail and information and we’ll email you an estimate within one business day.  If you decide to purchase based on the estimate, there are a few steps necessary before we can start the project. A brief on-site assessment is necessary to ensure there are no installation issues. This visit also allows us to have you fill out the proper and required paperwork and conveniently schedule the installation. If we do find issues during this visit, our Bel Red professionals will thoroughly review all options you have to move forward. You are under no obligation to proceed with the installation at this point. We always want to make sure you’re as comfortable as possible with all information relevant to your home energy and heating and cooling installation needs.

When it comes to indoor air quality, one question typically pops into homeowners’ minds. Are my ducts clean? Almost without exception, a common HVAC system is pumping hot or cool air into the home all year round. It’s no secret – dirty ductwork can lead to dirt, dust or allergens clinging to this forced air and create big problems when it comes to the overall air quality within the home. So, how do we fix this?

It’s easy to jump to a quick conclusion and just decide to bring in a cleaning crew to take care of dirty ducts. While having ducts cleaned is an obvious and necessary solution, it may only be a temporary fix. Ideally, ducts are completely sealed systems. Properly sealed and functioning ducts should be enough to keep dirt, dust or worse from entering your heating and cooling system. Ducts that require regular cleaning are likely in need of repair or replacement in order to create a fully sealed system.

Leaks in the ducts are a very common cause of a faulty or regularly dirty system. Leaks that occur on the return side of the duct system are probable culprits of dirt and dust entering because this side of the system creates negative pressure, pulling air in. If the leak is in a dirty area of the house, such as the attic or crawl space, the result will be dirty air getting into the system.

Another common cause of dirty ducts, which can also be the root cause of the aforementioned leaks, is improper sealing of joints and duct connections. Expansion and contraction in these joint areas, especially in poor quality ducts, can cause leaks to form over time. Especially in older homes, many heating and cooling systems’ ductwork is out of date in terms of current code. Newer (and properly installed) systems should always be up to code and prevent leaks and air quality problems permanently.

It’s a common question that is asked by anyone who is thinking about contracting out for home improvement work. What am I paying for when I hire a professional contractor? There are many factors that go into pricing for these services, especially those of professionally trained and licensed contractors. While prices certainly can vary and should be examined to ensure fairness, there are many details that should be taken into account when searching for a contractor.

Just like with tangible goods purchased at a store, services such as HVAC, plumbing or other home improvement work require a markup. While it’s easy to understand product markups from these stores (shipping costs, overhead, cost of goods, advertising, etc.), many often overlook key components to “service markups.” Especially with highly trained and expert staff, like the team at Bel Red, there are many factors that need to be covered within this “markup” cost. While costs may initially seem higher for well trained, experienced, and licensed contractors, the cost savings of doing things right can result in huge benefits.

The cost of service for the work Bel Red does for its clients goes a long way to help ensuring that work is done properly. We spend a great deal of time and money on education and training programs for our employees, as we want to ensure all installers, service technicians, handymen, plumbers or other service providers wearing the Bel Red uniform are as knowledgeable and professional they can possibly be. This education and training includes licensing and accreditation through some of the top home energy, heating and cooling industry organizations, including ACCA, NATE, BPI and more.

Aside from training, the cost of services also includes expenses such as insurance  (including liability, property, auto, workers compensation and more) and bonding—which provides peace of mind to our customers. There are also many miscellaneous costs that are associated with in-home services such as fuel and transportation costs, vehicle and equipment maintenance costs and costs to ensure compliance with government and industry regulations on multiple levels. Providing excellent service also requires a substantial support team from customer service reps to dispatchers, accounting staff and more.

If you’re reading this post, you’re probably well aware of the many different services that Bel Red Energy Solutions offers including heating, air conditioning, home energy and plumbing services. For over 26 years customers have trusted Bel Red Energy Solutions to make their homes more comfortable, energy efficient, safe and healthy. You may, however, be a little bit less familiar with some of our other offerings, including a full range of handyman services for household repairs, maintenance and home improvement projects.

As is the case with all of our home energy and plumbing professionals, our professional handymen are extremely talented and experienced. Like those other services, our handyman services are guaranteed. Bel Red is licensed, bonded and insured for your protection; And our staff is SafeScreened Certified™ for your peace-of-mind.

Our handyman services are here to help with most any project our customers need. These services include:

• Deck repair
• Bathroom and kitchen repairs and upgrades
• Lighting and fan replacement
• Wall and ceiling repair, trim and moldings
• Interior painting
• Air sealing and weatherization
• Flooring and tile installation and repair
• Attic, garage and basement upgrades
• Pressure washing and gutter cleaning
• Finish carpentry
• Furniture, outdoor grill, and play set assembly
• Household projects and miscellaneous repairs around the home