hello@ecoyork.com

Developing Solutions that Save Time and Money

Energy Saving Tips

Home Energy Audit

Simple DIY Home Energy Audit Tricks To Cut off Your Monthly Energy Bill

Energy Saving Tips

Do you feel your energy consumption is not usual these days? Do you think your recent utility bills have shocked you because you can’t figure out how you managed to guzzle through that much energy consumption for your home? 

Keeping your home efficient in terms of energy consumption is one of the most effective ways to get down the utility bills and save a noticeable amount of money. Investing in improving energy efficiency may be a tedious job to do since it requires a lot of effort, money, and time. But that’s not the truth at all! A home energy audit is an effective way to spot inefficiencies or loopholes in your home’s energy use. A home energy audit should be considered by every homeowner on a regular interval of two to three years to ensure they are not spending more on energy than required.

You can either get help from professional home energy audit services, or you can get home performance software to do so. No matter what option you choose, you will definitely find plenty of options for a residential energy audit for sure. In case you want to perform a home energy audit on your own, here’re some useful tips you can follow to uncover how you’re using energy in your home and discover different ways to start saving more.

Related Reading – Home Energy Audits – Know the reasons why it is crucial for your home

Identify the areas of home consuming maximum energy

Before getting started with a residential energy audit, it is crucial to identify which part of your home consumers’ maximum energy. You can start by looking at lightning, hot water, heating and cooling systems, refrigeration, appliances, and cooking. 

Begin with inspecting the heating and cooling system

When it comes to home energy consumption, heating and cooling systems are one of the greatest consumers among all. According to the research, it is found that approximately 48% of the average home energy is used by heating and air conditioning. If you have a water heating system, it will add up to 18% more in the house energy consumption. You can greatly reduce your electricity by simply improving the heating and cooling systems of your home. To begin with a home energy efficiency audit, you can follow the below steps:

  • Inspect cooling or heating appliances to check for any issues. 
  • Don’t forget to examine your ducts in case you have a central air conditioner. It is possible that the duct might be having air leaks. If required, you can find professionals who can seal it up properly to avoid any leakage.
  • Identify air leaks around the doors and windows of your house. Small gaps easily allow warm or cold air to flow in your home, which at the end forces heater or cooling systems to work harder to maintain the atmosphere. 
  • Try to control the hot water usage per day and adapt water usage habits to reduce the waste of water.

Always check for insulation and sealing

Do you know poor insulation and sealing could cost you hundreds of dollars due to heat loss and cooling inefficiencies? Therefore, it is advisable to inspect your home thoroughly to identify potential insulation gaps or poor sealing as a part of your home performance audit. Make sure you check out the following things during the energy audit:

  • Make sure you examine uninsulated spaces since most of the heat loss occurs through such small gaps in the insulation. Try to check all the junctions in a home, plumbing fixtures, light switches, and any other possible areas.
  • Don’t miss out on attic insulation. It is crucial to check if there are any gaps around pipes, chimneys, or ducts of your home or not. You can seal it up using foam.
  • Did you check the wall insulation in your home? Well, that is something that requires professional energy audit services since you will need thermal imaging equipment to identify or inspect your wall insulation. In case you don’t want to get into a professional energy audit, you can make a small hole to check the insulation. 
  • In case you have an uninsulated basement, you should think of floor insulation. It is important that you check your home flooring for insulation. If it is not insulated properly, it may cause heat loss. 

Also Read – Tips to Grow Your Home Cleaning Business in the COVID-19 Pandemic

So, do you think you’re done with a home energy audit?

Well, following the above tips, you can easily perform home energy audits on your own. But do you know that general electricity waste is a major contributor to poor home energy efficiency? It is always a good idea to evaluate your electricity usage habits and potential sources of electrical waste in the appliances. To get the maximum benefit from professional home energy audits, make sure you check your light usage, evaluate light bulbs, monitor TV or computer settings, and unplug unnecessary appliances.

However, make sure you take necessary safety precautions while conducting a home energy audit on your own. Do you want experts to do a residential energy audit for your home? Or looking for home performance software? Get in touch with our experts now.

HVAC Load Calculations

HVAC Load Calculations – What is it and Why It is So Important?

Energy Saving Tips

Every home needs a specific amount of heating, cooling, and ventilation to be comfortable for the residents. And achieving such a level of comfort is entirely dependent on having the right kind of HVAC system in place. Some people do have old HVAC systems in place, but most of the time, they simply replace it with the new one and feel it is good enough to improve the performance and achieve the right kind of comfort in their home. But that’s not at all true! 

One of the most important steps or pre-requisites to install and buy any new HVAC services or system is having proper HVAC load calculations in hand. Having accurate HVAC load calculation won’t just help you get the perfect size of systems but will also help you achieve the most comfortable in-house experience. You can easily find a variety of HVAC software or eds heat load calculators in the market to perform a heat load calculation. 

Related Reading – HVAC Load Calculation – How It Helps Homeowners Get Right Kind of HVAC Systems

Okay, but what are HVAC load calculations?

Well, in simple terms, it is a mathematical process to identify the best size, application, and kind of HVAC system suitable for your home. While performing the calculations, a technician will measure a few things at your premises to determine the right size. There are a couple of factors considered, such as:

  • Total square footage of your home
  • Total number of windows, doors, and entryways
  • Validate the insulation – it is important to validate the type of material used, the density of the insulation, and how it is installed
  • Don’t forget to consider the total number of floors and the number of living space vs attic space 
  • Is there any specific kind of landscaping outside a home that can block sunlight from entering the house?
  • What sort of window treatments used to keep the sun out?
  • Just check the duct condition, size, and type of vent system used.

With these factors in mind, the technician may use a residential HVAC calculator and decide the size of the HVAC system your home requires.

What happens if you have wrong HVAC heat load calculations?

Today, you have HVAC load calculation service providers available, or you can try out HVAC software to calculate the load accurately. However, if you fail to calculate the load properly, you would end up paying more for a larger unit. The larger the unit, the shorter lifespan it will have since they will turn on and off frequently. 

Why is having correct HVAC load calculations crucial?

Using the right kind of HVAC load calculator will not just help you get the accurate HVAC heat load calculation or HVAC cooling load calculation, but it will also bring a lot of other benefits. HVAC software or HVAC load calculation service helps you get the right-sized HVAC system. 

The correct-sized HVAC system will bring the utmost comfort and efficiency to your home. Such systems will consume very little energy each day and produce an excellent result. The lower the energy consumed by the HVAC system, the lower the monthly utility bills you will have to pay. This will, in the end, help you save more. 

On the other hand, HVAC load calculations will help the HVAC services providers to diagnose critical issues in well-advance and may help you fix it before it affects your overall energy saving and comfort.

Also Read – Tips to Grow Your Home Cleaning Business in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Is it really expensive to get the load calculations completed?

Well, not really! There are plenty of resources and information available these days using which you can easily carry out the HVAC load calculations for your home. There are many professional HVAC load calculation service providers available that can do it for you. Also, you can use an HVAC load calculator or heating load calculation software to do it on your own. 

Looking for an expert to perform load calculation for your home? Give our professionals a call today, and we will do the math work for you!

Residential Building Cleaning

Basic Guidelines For Getting an Accurate Estimate for a Residential Building Cleaning Schedule on the Spot

Energy Saving Tips

Estimating a building cleaning schedule can be a little tricky. Residential spaces are distinctive and varied based on the people and their way of living. The estimation of any residential building cleaning schedule requires considering various factors such as residential area size, demand, service types, and any specific requirement of a client. 

It is very common for professional cleaning organizations to face challenges cleaning residential properties since, many times, the cleaning jobs become more complex and big as the job progresses. And this results in higher costs than expected or budgeted before starting building a cleaning schedule.

Of course, many professional cleaning organizations have cleaning business software in place, which can help them estimate a residential building cleaning schedule. But when it comes to providing an instant or immediate estimation of any house or property cleaning job, it is not as simple as quoting whatever your competitors are chagrining. If you fail to provide the precise estimation for house cleaning at first, you may miss out on a good business opportunity. 

So, how can you estimate a residential property cleaning schedule on the spot? Want to know the house or residential building cleaning schedule checklist to provide the estimation on the spot? Keep reading this blog post.

Related Reading – Tips to Grow Your Home Cleaning Business in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Make sure you quote not to just meet the client’s requirements but to beat the competitors too!

The charges for building cleaning by professional cleaning organizations usually range between $0.07 to $0.15 per square foot. When you provide an estimation for a residential property or building cleaning schedule, you must figure out where you are. But it is very vague to just pick any random number and wait for your client to approve! To ensure you come up with the most realistic estimation for house cleaning, you must study your competitors. Use the internet, make a few contacts, and try to get answers to a few questions like:

  • How much do your competitors charge on an hourly basis?
  • What are all the inclusions in the estimations provided?
  • Do they provide any specific services to the customers?
  • How about discounts for frequent or repeated orders?

There may be a lot more other things you must keep in mind when planning to provide a quote for residential property cleaning. Make sure you do enough homework to reach a reliable and meaningful quote.

Figure out residential building cleaning cost factors

When it comes to professional cleaning organizations, they provide cleaning services for a wide range of property types, and thus, average price estimation may vary greatly for building cleaning. While some customers consider hiring professional cleaning organizations for just one time, others may consider the cleaning services on a daily basis. Here’re are a few factors that may affect the overall residential building cleaning schedule estimation:

  • Cleaning rates per square foot
  • One-time charges
  • The number of bathrooms and windows affect the estimate
  • Flat or hourly rates of the cleaning service providers
Workout on your numbers

To bid or estimate cleaning costs for any house or residential property, you must need to have a few numbers clear in your mind. You may have house cleaning business software in place, but for the spot estimation, you need to know the cleanable square foot of the building. Secondly, you need to know the exact time it will require to clean a house. And at last, you have to work on your pricing structure. 

  • Calculating a cleanable square foot – Start by measuring the property space with a measuring wheel. Simply multiply length and width to get the square foot details. 
  • Calculating time to clean a building – It is based on your production rate, i.e., how much square foot your team can clean in an hour. 
  • Deciding on price structure – This should be entirely based on your market research about how your competitors are charging per hour for a house cleaning. For the safer side, you can go somewhere in the middle range to win the business.
Have a proper calculation in place

Once you have numbers in your hand, you can utilize cleaning company scheduling software to come up with an appropriate bid. Utilizing cleaning business software will help you understand if you are going to make a profit on the said account or not. 

Adjust yourself with the amount of time it requires to convince the client

In the estimation phase, to fulfill your client’s expectations, you must think of optimizing your rates. However, this doesn’t mean you lower your rates if you feel a job quoted for an hour will take a day. Estimates for a residential building cleaning schedule usually start at by an hour and knowing the facts and figures will make your job easier and will help you gain the trust of the clients.

Also Read – 8 Useful Do’s and Don’ts of Adding Online Booking to Your House Cleaning Business Website

There are all basic guidelines to improve productivity when it comes to providing rough estimates on the spot for any residential property or a house. Make sure you do have a residential building cleaning schedule checklist in hand and have done enough research to stand out among the competitors and come up with the most realistic and acceptable estimate for your house cleaning job. Looking for a cleaning company scheduling software to get reliable rough estimates for your building cleaning schedule? Get in touch with us now.

Residential Cleaning Company

Tips to Grow Your Home Cleaning Business in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Energy Saving Tips

In the past nine months, the coronavirus has severely affected the lives of millions all over the world. After a long lockdown, businesses and individuals have started buckling up to begin a new normal life. 

But recent news of a new strain of the coronavirus has shaken the confidence of people moving out, and they are now more concerned about how to keep themselves safe and maintain cleanness around in this uncertain situation. Since proper cleaning and hygiene could be the only way people stay safe from COVID-19, cleaning and maid services are glittering these days.

But as a cleaning and maid service business owner, you might be facing uncertain challenges with your business. Since people are more worried about their safety, some of them often feel insecure while opting for cleaning and maid service. In such a scenario, how can you grow your cleaning business? How can you make sure no one is contaminated while opting for your cleaning services? Here’re a few simple things you should follow to ensure you grow your cleaning business without becoming a super spreader!

  • Understand the regulations or guidelines for cleaning business

One of the very first things you should do is to stay updated with the rules and regulations to run your cleaning business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Local as well as state governments, roll out frequent guidelines and update on reducing the spread of the coronavirus. It is very crucial that you keep yourself and your employees informed about the latest guidelines and rules to offer your cleaning and maid services safely in this uncertain situation. If required, try to change certain service offerings or policies, and effectively communicate the same to the staff and customers as and when needed.

  • Go for “ZERO-CONTACT” services

The next tip is to introduce policies and procedures that eliminate all contact between your staff and the customers. If you are using any residential cleaning software, ask the service provider to help you display new procedures and guidelines on the maid service estimating software itself. You can also use a house cleaning cost estimator to estimate the cost of cleaning virtually without visiting customer premises to avoid physical contact. 

  • Don’t hesitate to communicate

In this uncertain time, many things have changed, and it is important that you keep your customers well informed about everything you are doing to keep their lives safe. Be very clear about how you are doing your business in this pandemic and what are the new policies and procedures you have introduced to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. You can create a video or send emails to reassure families what you are doing to keep everyone safe. In case you are using residential cleaning software, you can ask the developer to put an FAQ that outlines steps and precautions you are taking on the application or website. 

  • Look after your fellow members and employees

For any cleaning and maid services, their employees are at the forefront to keep the business running in this pandemic situation. Therefore, it is high time for you to think about your fellow members and employees. Always perform some basic health checks like temperature screening, provide them PPE kits, and measure other body vitals as and when reporting to the office. Also, try to introduce a healthcare coverage or protection plan for your employees to keep their lives safe. Remember, if your employees are happy and safe, they will help you grow your cleaning business.

  • Keep in touch with local health departments

When running a business in such uncertain conditions, it is always advisable to keep in touch with local health departments and government authorities to take a cue about preventive measures you should take to avoid any hassle. This will ensure you are doing everything right and helping local authorities to restrict the spread of the coronavirus. 

  • Rework on your marketing message

Last but not least, tips to survive in the coronavirus pandemic is to adjust your marketing strategy. With a “New Normal” people are living in a dilemma and uncertainty. The focus has now changed towards more secure and safe services instead of cheaper cleaning and maid services. So, it is time for you to change your marketing message by showing a level of emotional attachment with the customers.

The Bottom Line

At present, no one can think or even imagine how long it will take to get rid of the coronavirus. It has hit the economy very hard, and the home cleaning industry is not an exception in it. But if they follow a few simple tips discussed above, they can keep running their cleaning and maid services even in the worst situation without compromising the safety of the customers and their employees. What do you think about this? Share your views in the comment section…

House Cleaning Business Website

8 Useful Do’s and Don’ts of Adding Online Booking to Your House Cleaning Business Website

Energy Saving Tips

Your residential cleaning company is intended to simplify everything for your clients. Your staff mops the floor, cleans the toilets, and so much more when it comes to the house cleaning business. From the start of the day till the end, the work may get stretched and even drain your employee’s energy to help you keep your business running. Though, if not planned or scheduled properly, it may harm your business significantly. According to the survey, it is found that 50% of the consumers like to schedule their cleaning services appointments online or via email or a mobile app.

Simply setting up an appointment or online booking feature on your website won’t help you run your residential cleaning business smoothly. Like any other website, designing plays a vital role in the cleaning service providers since it is the only way through which they can get more business. Hence, incorporating any feature like online booking of residential cleaning services requires specific attention. 

In this blog post, we will discuss a few essential do’s and don’ts every house cleaning service providers should follow while adding the online booking to their residential cleaning company website.

Things you should avoid while adding the online booking to your residential cleaning services website…

  • Don’t make it clutter! 

Of course, you would love to offer as much as you can when opting for online booking for the house cleaning business. You may wish to offer plenty of information, multiple calendar options, multiple payment options, and so on. But enabling multiple options and combinations in front of the customer may confuse them and may result in loss of their interest in residential cleaning services offered by you. Therefore, try to keep the online booking as simple as possible.

  • Don’t make your customers run around the tree! 

What is lacking in most of the house cleaning business websites is a lack of appropriate design flow. If your home cleaning business website is not having a well-organized online booking feature, it becomes difficult for both you and your customers to get through the checkout process.  Instead, try to simplify the overall online booking process with filtered search, categories, subcategories, and meaningful navigation that can help customers know about your residential cleaning services.

  • Don’t forget using appropriate notifications

When it comes to the house cleaning business, it is important to keep the consumers well informed about their appointments. While designing an online booking feature for your residential cleaning services, make sure you don’t forget to use appropriate email or textual notifications and reminders to the customers. Most of the cleaning service websites lack appropriate communication and reminders with the consumers.

  • Try not to portrait that you are a jack of all if you are not offering fully automated online booking.

Designing and developing an online booking feature for your house cleaning services requires a fair share of time and effort. Sometimes, it is possible that home cleaning providers may not incorporate full online booking capabilities into their websites. That’s perfectly fine! You don’t have to pretend you are a jack of all and upset the consumers when they try to book cleaning services and end up being upset.

Things you must do while designing online booking for your house cleaning site:

  • Do allow the consumers to cancel the booking/appointment

Cancellation of house cleaning services after a booking is the most frequent problem faced by the cleaning service providers. Most of the time consumers often change their mind after booking, and you won’t like to trap your customers, right? So, it is always advisable to allow booking cancellation of cleaning services.

  • Make sure your online booking feature reflects your brand and matches with site design

To simplify the process, most of the time, home cleaning providers opt for third-party widgets or tools to enable online booking for their residential cleaning services. In such a scenario, it is crucial to customize or tweak a widget or tool to make it compatible with your brand and existing site design. 

  • Ensure your online booking is in real-time.

For the house cleaning business, customers are not at all willing to inquire first and then wait for your response. It is important that your online booking feature displays only available dates and makes a booking instantly. If no slots are available on a specific date, it should be blocked in real-time to prevent further bookings.

  • Do provide online and telephonic support for the online cleaning appointments

Sooner or later, when you incorporate an online booking feature in your home cleaning business website, you will reach a point where you cannot answer all the online appointment-related queries manually on your own. Therefore, it is important that you set up and provide online and telephonic support for the online cleaning appointments in the event when the customer has any doubts.

Clear up your mind!

When you try to add an online booking feature for your house cleaning business website, these are a few things you should keep in mind to make sure the feature helps you achieve your goals. Once the online booking feature is ready and used by the consumers, you will gradually learn new facts and tricks to smoothen your online appointment process. Want to know how cleaning business software can help you simplify the online booking process for your residential cleaning services? Get in touch with our experts to know more about it!

HVAC Load Calculation

HVAC Load Calculation – How It Helps Homeowners Get Right Kind of HVAC Systems

Energy Saving Tips

In today’s world, everything around us seems oversized. Right from the coffee mugs to homes, everything is expected to be little more than what we need. But what if you are asked to buy a shirt twice your size so that you can use that extra size when you feel needed? Would you buy it? No, right? Then why don’t we think the same when it comes to homes? People inadvertently purchase HVAC systems all the time with the thought that “Bigger is better.”

Since HVAC load calculations consume a lot of time and seek detailing, most of the HVAC load calculation service contractors usually consider the 400 to 600 square feet per ton as a rule of thumb. Most of the time, homeowners don’t even bother to know how contractors calculate HVAC Load Calculations and don’t even think about the pros and cons of oversized HVAC systems. 

So, what’s the HVAC load, and why do you need to seriously consider calculating it? Let’s find out in this post.

What is the HVAC load calculation?

The HVAC load calculation is a basic mathematical process that helps home HVAC system contractors measure several aspects of a building to determine the size, application, and style of the HVAC system. While performing a home HVAC load calculation, the service provider will consider the total square footage of a home, the number of doors, total windows, the R-value of insulation, and the total number of floors. HVAC load calculations have been performed over the years; however, with the advancement in technology, it is possible to complete this tedious job with ease using the HVAC load calculator.

Why HVAC load calculation is required? 

Helps you get the appropriate HVAC system size

In the case of the small HVAC system, it may run continuously to keep your living space cool or warm, and fail to manage comfortable room temperature. This will result in higher energy bills and unwanted wear and tear on the system. On the other hand, if the HVAC system is too large, it will waste energy by turning it on and off frequently. Moreover, it will heat the home frequently. With the help of the HVAC load calculator, the homeowners will get the right size of the HVAC system. The HVAC system that is appropriately sized can heat or cool your home more efficiently.

Improve energy efficiency

Since the load calculations are accurate, the HVAC system designed will consume less energy while producing better results. As the system neither requires more energy to keep your home cool or warm nor it wastes energy, it will greatly improve the energy efficiency for your home. Moreover, it will lower your energy bills too.

Reduce equipment cost

Again, if home HVAC load calculations are not correct, the contractor may install a larger HVAC system. You will have to pay an additional cost for the higher-capacity equipment. With the help of the right kind of HVAC load calculator, you can avoid such mistakes and can save a huge on the up-front cost when it is measured correctly with detailed calculations.

Improve health and safety 

Most homeowners often face unstable temperatures or humidity control problems due to the inappropriate size of the system. This adversely affects the health of individuals. Performing HVAC load calculations will help homeowners to get the right kind of systems that will balance the temperature within the home and contribute towards better health.

Boost HVAC system’s life

Since the HVAC system installed at home is appropriate, it will reduce the unnecessary run time of the system to manage the comfortable atmosphere in a home. This in the end reduces wear and tear of the system and increases the overall life span of the HVAC system.

Best Practices to get accurate HVAC load calculations

  • Don’t follow the outdated and erroneous practices to calculate the HVAC load. Use software applications or HVAC load calculators to achieve more accurate results.
  • If you have a doubt, don’t hesitate to test it! 
  • Never ignore short cycles of HVAC systems.
  • Just make sure you consider thermal enclosure and internal loads to get the right type of temperature and humidity.

Concluding Notes…

Getting cooling load calculations or home HVAC load calculations seems a tedious task. But ignoring or avoiding it may result in higher energy consumption, reduced indoor comfort, and affect the life of HVAC systems. Approaching a professional HVAC load calculation service may seem like an expensive move. However, a well-designed HVAC system may bring a whole host of benefits such as improved energy efficiency, reduced energy bills, and comfort for the homeowners. 

Looking for the HVAC load calculator that can help you get accurate details for your HVAC system? Get in touch with our experts now!

Home Energy Audits

Home Energy Audits – Know the reasons why it is crucial for your home

Energy Saving Tips

At its most basic, your home is the shield that protects you from all the bad, such as bad weather, pollution, and noise. And to protect you, it requires a few resources like the building enclosure and the heating system. 

Computerized energy management systems have been in place for a long time to manage and monitor such household energy-consuming resources. But higher energy consumption is still a problem. According to the US Energy Information Administration, on average each US home consumes 10,399 kWh a year. And based on the location and the way energy is received, these statistics may go high.

Most homeowners aren’t aware of how their homes could work against them by wasting an excessive amount of energy. Be it your doors, windows, malfunction of heating systems, or even cracks in the walls, all such loopholes can greatly inflate the energy usage of the homeowners. 

So, How to get over from such loopholes in energy usage? 

Well, there is hope – “Perform a home energy audit”. The energy audits are crucial for homeowners since it helps homeowners make a valuable saving on their energy bills and helps in identifying the areas where energy is wasted. Today, there is a lot of home performance modeling software available that can help you with an inexpensive energy audit. 

Why should you get energy audits done for your home?

  • Save Money! 

Yes, the very first benefit of performing a home energy audit using home performance software is that it greatly reduces the money you spend paying utility bills. Conducting an energy audit with the help of professional home performance contractors can help you identify the utilities to be upgraded. This at the end helps you save approximately 5% to 30% on your electricity bill!

  • Gives insight on energy usage patterns! 

With the help of professional auditors, you can easily come to know where and how energy is used. This greatly helps you take necessary improvement actions in your home or lifestyle to make the optimal use of energy utilities at home.

  • Helps you reduce the environmental impact. 

It is observed that homes contribute heavily when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, some of the home utilities often rely on natural resources like natural gas or coal. With the help of inexpensive energy audits, it becomes very important for the homeowners to identify the areas of improvement, reduce carbon emissions by making necessary corrections, and contribute to reducing the amount of pollution released in the air.

  • Enhance energy efficiency! 

Whether you are using home performance software or hire professional home performance contractors, the aim of home energy auditing is to help you improve energy efficiency in your home. Energy auditing helps you know air leaks and insulations and helps you validate the function of heating or cooling equipment. In case of malfunction of any of these electronic items, it is possible that you may face excessive energy consumption. Energy audits help you discover such malfunction and guide you to take necessary actions to enhance energy efficiency.

  • Boost comfort level. 

Improving the energy efficiency at the end empowers you with a more controlled home environment. Moreover, it will enable HVAC systems to perform well when it comes to cool or heat your home. Such systems’ service life is extended along with improved comfort and lowered energy bills.

  • Improve health and safety. 

Most of the hazards happen due to a lack of attention paid to electric wiring or gas leakages. Home energy auditing using home performance modeling software can greatly improve health and safety within the home. Such tools help you detect and diagnose the electrical leakages during the audit and help you ensure your wellbeing by making required changes. 

  • Value addition to your home-selling efforts! 

Homeowners who are willing to sell their homes are often facing issues of environment-friendliness. Most of the homes often lack energy efficiency measures that can add value to their home. Improving your home’s energy efficiency would greatly benefit your resale efforts. According to the report from the Sustainable Building Research Center, homes with improved energy efficiency rating could help homeowners get 10% more price than homes having lower energy efficiency rating.

Okay, but how to know if any home needs an energy audit?

Any home with age more than 10 years is required an energy audit since energy codes are consistently improving day-by-day in the U.S. Therefore, any home which is built earlier and having older codes, it is a must that homeowners should start seeking for energy audit since the standards have been upgraded. 

There are different ways you can carry out the home energy audit. You can hire professional home performance contractors, or you can opt for doing the home audit on your own or you can look for the home performance software to do it without any manual intervention.

Concluding Notes…

A professional home energy audit can help you overcome the hidden issues and improve energy consumption by your home. However, such an energy audit costs a lot to the homeowner. Instead, using a home performance software could bring a plethora of benefits mentioned above without paying hefty auditing fees. Want to know how home performance modeling software can help you with energy efficiency in the come? Contact us today!

Web Development Meeting - John Wright

5 ways to stay cool this summer

Energy Saving Tips, Saving Money

With the most recent heat waves in the North East you’re most likely trying to find ways to stay cool. There are some ways you can stay cool without using that air-conditioner.

Whether you are trying to go Eco Friendly or just trying to save some money this summer, finding ways to stay cool without using the air-conditioner can help.

Here are 5 ways to stay cool this summer:

1. Trouble sleeping?
There are a few ways to keep your bed cool and sleep in comfort. Before you go to bed put a sheet in the freezer for about an hour or two before you go to bed. Another trick is to take one of your water bottles and fill it with ice cold water, and place the bottle on the back of your knees to cool your legs.

2. Graze instead of eating big meals
Have you ever eaten a large meal and felt your body get warmer? Even if the meal was warm, that’s not the only reason. Protein enrich meals force your body to stoke its metabolic fires which make your body feel warmer. The solution? Eat smaller meals, and more frequently. Not only is it healthier, you’ll feel cooler as well.

3. Change your light bulbs
Have you still put off replacing your Bulbs with energy efficient ones? CFL Bulbs can save you 75% in energy savings, and they also put off significantly less heat than conventional bulbs. Have you ever wondered why conventional bulbs are used on farms to keep the chickens warm? The only thing these bulbs are doing for you is providing you with mini heaters throughout your home during one of the hottest times of year. The best way to stay cool is to switch the conventional bulbs with Energy Efficient CFL Bulbs. Not only will you be staying cool, you’ll be saving electricity and money as well.

Check out our Energy Savers section to learn more.

4. Close your blinds
By closing your blinds the sun won’t be radiating as much heat through your home as if they were open. You can still keep the windows open if there’s a small breeze flowing through, but closing your blinds alone should reduce the amount of heat coming from your windows when the sun is shining. Another technique to staying cool would be to provide shade near your windows. Check out our Shading Energy Savers to learn more about shading techniques.

5. Use a Fan
If you have room Ceiling Fans can provide the most amount of coolness. But if you don’t have room or the budget to install a ceiling fan, a vertical fan can work just as well. By installing fans you’ll get the circulation needed to move the air around in your home without the expensive costs of running an air-conditioner.

Another way to stay cool this summer, is to have your website developed by us. Having a Hot website will help you stay cool knowing your image is in good hands. Contact us for a Free Consultation https://www.ecoyork.com/contact-us

Do you have any more cooling tips you’d like to share? What ways are you able to stay cool whether you’re saving electricity, or your air-conditioner breaks?

Your partner in living a greener life,
Mark Lane
President Eco York, LLC

Goodbye 2010 | How to save in 2011

Goodbye 2010 | How to save in 2011

Energy Saving Tips

As the year comes to an end, it’s important to set clear financial goals for 2011.  Economic times are tough, and that means it’s time to cut the fat out of your bad financial habits and improve your financial stability for the new year.

Here are some ways to save going into 2011.

1. Make a Personal Budget. By setting a budget and sticking to it in 2011 you’ll be surprised how much you actually save.  Make sure you don’t stray from your budget, and avoid any temptations to go on a 1 day shopping spree.  Review your previous credit card statement, and you’ll most likely find a few items you could have done without.

2. Pay yourself first. If you’re fortunate enough to have a job going into 2011, make sure you set aside some of that paycheck in a savings account first.  Once some of that money is already put away, it’s hard not to save.

3. Review your monthly bills and trim them where you can.  If you pay for cable, see which channels you can remove to lower your monthly bill, if you can’t get rid of cable all together.  Check your local utilities to see if they offer any incentive plans. Meted for instance is rolling out an Energy Savings plan called Easy Green where you can save up to $60/year and also help the environment.

4. Carpool.  If you have to travel far for work (or even if it’s nearby), find out who lives close to you and setup a carpool schedule.  Not only will you save money on gas, but you’ll be helping the environment as well. With Gas prices likely to increase in 2011 and beyond, it’s important to find ways to save money on Gas.

5. Review your mutual fund expense ratios.  Often times certain stocks you may have will have higher expense ratios than they may be paying out.  It’s important to review these funds / stocks on a yearly basis and assess which funds might be worth exchanging for others.  If you have a financial advisor, setup an appointment now for the new year.  You’ll be glad you did.

6. Shop and Eat Smart.  It might seem easier to buy fast food on the go because of those “dollar menus” but in reality it’s going to cost you more in the long run.  Not only is eating Fast Food not good for you, you probably will be spending money on gym memberships.  If you buy food from your local food market you can purchase food for the whole week for less than you’ll most likely spend eating fast food everyday.  Spend your saturday morning purchasing from your local food market (or whenever they’re open), and spend one night a week preparing food.  If you spend just 2 hours, one day a week preparing your meals for the week (and storing them properly of course), you will be eating healthy and also be helping your local community.

7. Check your local Newspapers for Sales. Often times something you’re looking for or need to purchase in a particular month, could end up being on sale.  By purchasing items on Sale or on Clearance you could save quite a bit of money.

8. Save when you go out.  If you would like to have a movie night, go in the afternoon.  Typically it’s cheaper and you’ll more than likely get better seats than in the evening, when it’s most likely going to be packed. Also, look online for special deals when either going to the movie theater, or out to eat.

9. Recycle. It is possible to make money by recycling.  It might take a lot of cans to make a couple of bucks, but that money can go a long way when you stick to your saving habits.  Keep any containers that might be reusable.  Some containers you might be able to fill up with Gatorade for the kids, which is cheaper and better for them than a can of soda.

10. Recharge your Batteries.  Instead of buying regular batteries which will just end up in the landfills afterwords, purchase rechargeable. You’ll be saving the amount of batteries going to landfills (thus helping the environment) as well as save a trip you might have taken to purchase new ones at the store.

So going into 2011 start to think about where you can improve your Health, Financial Stability, and overall Future Wealth.  Make 2011 the year where you “trim the fat” rather than “put on the pounds”.  This is your year to shine.

Have a Safe and Prosperous New Year!

Your partner in living a greener life,

Mark Lane
President Eco York, LLC

Celebrate a Green Thanksgiving

Celebrate a Green Thanksgiving

Energy Saving Tips

We all  look forward to this time of year.  The leaves change color, the smell of a hot meal brewing in the crock pot, family get together, friends and family gathering around a nice cozy fire.  However sometimes we forget about Staying Green and eating Healthy.  Thanksgiving is of course one of the holidays we all are waiting for all year round.  Whether you’re a vegetarian, or not there’s always something to enjoy during the Thanksgiving Holiday.  Family from out of town comes in to visit and the smell of Turkey and Dumplings fill your house.  This is the time of year to be grateful for everything you have and to think of others who might not be as fortunate.

One of the things you can do to show how grateful you are is to volunteer at a local food bank, or even donate some cans of food that have been collecting dust in the back of your cabinet.  In addition to helping others there are some things you can do to help the environment during this holiday season as well.

Use your Dishwasher

If you have a dishwasher make sure you use it this holiday season.  A dishwasher uses about 1/6 the amount of water as if you were to wash your dishes in the sink.

You can also make your own Eco-Friendly Dish Detergent.  Grate about 2 oz of soap and mix with Hot water. Mix in Borax and washing soda. Stir the mixture until it’s nice and thick. Pour the mixture into a container and let it thicken overnight.  You can then use this mixture when loading your dishwasher after your holiday meal.

Eliminate temptation to overeat

One tip to not over eating is limiting temptation to overeat.  When you’re setting the table for your guests this holiday season, instead of putting the food directly on the table try putting the food on a counter away from where everyone will be sitting.  This technique will help eliminate the temptation to gourge and throw more food on your plate than you normally would.  If anyone wants anything to eat now they’ll have to get up to get it, which will help them think about if they really should go for seconds or thirds.

Traveling Tips

If every family would eliminate the unnecessary need to travel this holiday season you could save about 1 gallon of fuel and we would reduce green house gas emissions by about 1 million tons.  Instead of traveling far, invite your family over to your home this holiday season.  If it is necessary to travel to your holiday destination, then make sure you set your thermostat and turn off the lights while you’re gone.

What to do with the Leftovers?

One of the first things you can do is find your local food bank or homeless shelter and donate your leftovers to the less fortunate.  Use biodegradable containers and make sure you encourage your guests to take food home with them.  If you’ve prepared a big meal there’s no sense in letting the food sit in the freezer or refrigerator for months only to be thrown out and wasted later on.  Instead portion out your leftovers so that nothing is wasted and any food that can’t be saved should be donated or portioned out to your guests.

Recycle

We know most of you probably recycle on a daily basis, but sometimes during the holidays we can forget the basics.  Clearly mark any recycle bins or areas where your guests can place recyclable items during your holiday get together.  Any plastic containers, beverage containers, or packaging should be recycled to avoid unnecessary items making it to the landfills.

Remember Holidays are all about getting together with family and friends and being grateful for what you have.  Make sure you travel safe (if you need to travel), and follow these simple saving tips to make it a safe and Green Thanksgiving this year.

Happy Holidays!

Your partner in living a greener life,

Mark Lane
President Eco York, LLC

Posts pagination
Ecoyork scroll pop up
Eco york Exit