ENERGY STAR IS MORE THAN A LABEL
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN ENERGY STAR
The familiar, blue Energy Star logo—a script “energy” with the outline of the earth and a star—is a recognizable symbol commonly found on home appliances and other electronics. This offers consumers a quick glance that lets them know a product offers efficiency and cost savings based on independent testing of the product using Environmental Protection Agency guidelines—especially for heating and cooling.
Conditioning the air in a house or apartment can consume the largest chunk of a home’s energy usage. Energy consumption for space conditioning, however, has steadily declined in the past several years. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has reported that because of improvement in heating and cooling equipment, better insulation, and more efficient windows, the shift in HVAC energy consumption has shifted to other electronic appliances. While not all of this can be attributed to a simple logo on a box, Energy Star certified products do certainly provide more knowledge and smarter decision making when it comes time to make a purchase of home heating and cooling equipment.
Choosing more efficient HVAC products can be as simple as looking for the Energy Star logo on a piece of equipment. But if you’re not certain if your home is outfitted with Energy Star approved products or if your home is more than 10 years old, it is worth it to have a professional HVAC contractor like Temp Control to evaluate and inspect your home’s current equipment.
MORE THAN JUST A LOGO
For homeowners, the Energy Star program carries over to home improvement packages that offer incentives to upgrade and assess a home for efficiency upgrades.
Through the end of June, the New Jersey Home Performance with Energy Star (NJ HPwES) is offering customer incentives for single-use family homes and townhouses who are eligible to upgrade to Energy Star-compliant HVAC products. Some homeowners may qualify for as much as $4,000 in financial incentives. The program offers tiered levels of incentives based on the amount and kind of work or improvements performed. To see a comprehensive list, visit www.njcleanergy.com for rebates and promotions for residential programs.
Sometimes, however, before investing in a new system, an inspection of the ductwork or other sources of air leaks might point to a source of energy waste. Temp Control can evaluate and give you an honest assessment whether or not a simple fix is enough to improve efficiency or if it’s time to consider replacing part of the HVAC system or even converting from one energy source to another.
ENERGY STAR’S LEGACY
The Energy Star system has been in place since the early ‘90s. It started with a simple way to identify efficient and earth-friendly computer monitors. The program quickly expanded to appliances, HVAC systems, and whole-home certification. The program’s little, blue logo can certainly guide consumers to make quick choices while shopping for a device or an appliance. However, when it comes to HVAC equipment, Energy Star compliance may not be so easily identifiable. Calling Temp Control to identify, inspect and possibly upgrade your current system with Energy Star equipment can be a great start to saving energy dollars and help save the planet at the same time.