How Can I Save Energy in My Home During the Holidays?

woman adjusts thermostatIt’s the most wonderful time of the year – the holiday season! With Thanksgiving fast approaching and Christmas and Hanukkah on the way, your home will likely be filled with friends and family before you know it. While this is the time of year for food, fun, and festivities, it also is the time of year when you might be outspending your budget a bit.

If you’ve been considering how you can save some money while enjoying all the comforts and joys the season has to offer, you’ve come to the right place! In this article, we’ll talk about some home efficiency tips that can help you save energy – and money – this holiday season, and all year long. Keep reading to learn more!

Five Ways to Save Energy This Holiday Season

  1. Choose energy-efficient decorations. Lighting up your home inside and out definitely makes it a beautiful sight, but the energy those strings of light use can add up when it comes time for your utility bills. When replacing old holiday lights, choose ones that use LED bulbs instead of the traditional incandescent ones. And, consider putting them on a timer, so you won’t be wasting energy if you forget to unplug them.
  2. Deck your halls with LED lighting. This is the time of year when the days grow shorter, and that means that the lights inside and outside your home likely stay on longer. Consider replacing old, incandescent light bulbs throughout your home’s interior and exterior with LED bulbs. According to the Department of Energy, taking this measure can help you use at least 75 percent less energy than with traditional bulbs. As an added bonus, LED bulbs last up to 25 times longer.
  3. Give yourself the gift of energy savings with smart power strips. Purchasing smart, or advanced power strips for your home can help reduce energy consumption. Even when appliances and devices are off, they still can consume small amounts of energy. When you think of how many electronics are continually plugged in at your home, you can see how energy usage adds up! Advanced power strips detect when a device is in standby mode and cut off power and save energy.
  4. Keep the guest room warm with ductless heating. If you have an addition or converted space in your home that you’ve turned into a guest room, it might not have access to your home’s duct system. It can be tempting to turn up the heat in your home to warm those areas up for your guests, but that can cause your heating system to work overtime and use a lot of energy. Instead, consider installing a ductless unit in that space. Your guests will be able to control the temperature to their liking, and you’ll get more use out of the space yourself.
  5. Lower the thermostat when entertaining. Between the heat from your oven during holiday cooking and the added body heat of your guests, your home is likely to warm up once the festivities begin. Turning the heat down a bit helps you and your guests stay more comfortable – and can save a bit on heating costs.

Choose Family Danz when you need help keeping your home cozy this holiday season.

Whether you need a ductless heating system for your guest room or want to make sure your current heating system will keep your home warm and toasty during the holidays (and all winter long), Family Danz can help. As a full-service heating contractor, you can count on us for the heating installation, maintenance, and repair services you need. Just give us a call at (518) 427-8685, and we’ll be more than happy to help.

Just give us a call at (518) 427-8685, and we will be glad to assist you.Contact Family Danz

6 Ways to Winterize Your Home

Preparing Your Home for Winter

Winter usually comes early in New York – bringing with it chilly temperatures and snow. It’s important that your home is ready for cooler weather. Of course, being comfortable is the primary concern, but a home that isn’t winter-ready can use more energy. That’s because heated air can easily escape out of unprepared doors and windows, and the home’s heating system has to work harder to keep the house warm. But there are a few steps you can take to winterize your home – and enjoy better comfort.

6 Ways to Winterize Your Home6 Ways to Winterize Your Home Infographic.

  1. Make sure doors and windows are draft-free. Windows and doors that aren’t draft-proof can cause cold air to get in, and warm air to escape. You can help keep this from happening by using window insulation film, weather-strip tape, and adding draft guards at the bottom of doors.
  1. Consider adding insulation. If your home is older, there is a good chance it doesn’t have the amount of insulation it needs. Blown-in insulation can settle, leaving gaps in your walls, and older insulation is not as energy-efficient as some of the newer kinds on the market.
  1. Reverse your ceiling fans. An easy way to stay warmer is by reversing your ceiling fans so the blades move clockwise. This pushes warmer air that rises to the ceiling down into your living space.
  1. Clean your gutters. Leaves and other debris that build up in your gutter block any water from melting snow from flowing freely, which can cause ice damming in the winter – and that can make your home a lot colder and can cause damage to your roof.
  1. Install a programmable thermostat. Programmable thermostats help you enjoy better comfort and help your HVAC system operate more efficiently. You can set the temperature so that it’s lower while you’re away but toasty-warm by the time you and your family return home.
  1. Change your heating system’s filter. The filter in your heating system can get clogged with dirt and debris. This is especially the case if your system runs frequently. Not sure how to change your filter? You can always count on the professionals at Family Danz to help.

Make sure your heating system is ready for winter by calling Family Danz.

Of course, your heating system is the number-one way you keep your home warm during the winter months. Having it maintained on an annual basis is one of the best ways you can assure it operates effectively and efficiently all winter long, and lasts for years to come.

If you need heating system maintenance, just give us a call at 518.427.8685 and we will be glad to help.
Contact Family Danz

Get Smart In 2020: Five Reasons You Need A Smart Thermostat

Woman adjusting a smart thermostat through her phoneOver the past couple of decades, technology has taken us to places we could only ever imagine. Who would have guessed most of us would be carrying around a tiny device that would work as a computer, phone and camera, all the time? Or that we’d be talking to our artificial intelligence friends, Siri and Alexa, on a daily basis? The world of home comfort has also joined the smart home bandwagon, offering smart thermostats that change the way we heat and cool our homes.

Smart thermostats like ecobee and Nest are leading the way in home comfort innovation, as well as specialized smart thermostats that work seamlessly with certain brands of equipment, such as the Bryant Evolution™ Connex™ thermostat. How can a smart thermostat benefit you and your family? Here are five ways you might not have considered.

Five Reasons to Get Smart

  1. More control over your home’s heating and cooling systems. With a smart thermostat, you can precisely control your heating and cooling systems, so that you get optimal comfort in the spaces you occupy the most. And, many smart thermostats “learn” the habits of you and your family, so temperatures can change based on activities, such as at home, away, or sleeping.
  2. Better efficiency. Because you’ll have better control over your home comfort systems, they’ll operate more efficiently. Because these systems “know” when you’re occupying a space, not home, or sleeping, they’ll automatically adjust comfort levels, which will help save energy – and money on your utility bills.
  3. Simple to use. Unlike programmable thermostats of the past, which can be a little complex to program, smart thermostats are, like the name suggests, intuitive and do most of the programming work for you. And because many are easy to access via smart phone, you’ll have access to them at your fingertips.
  4. Control from wherever, whenever. Like we said above, there’s an app for that – your smart thermostat, that is. That means you’ll be able to control your system from your smart phone, laptop or desktop computer, whether you’re home or not. You’ll also be alerted to any issues with your home comfort system, so you can take care of any problems right away, before they become larger, more expensive ones.
  5. Connectivity with other smart devices. Many smart thermostats work with your home’s other smart devices, providing you with easier, more automated living. Some smart thermostats even connect to your virtual home assistant, so you can easily ask your device to turn up the heat or air conditioning, or turn it down.

Where can I find a smart thermostat for my home?

That one’s easy! Just contact Family Danz and we will be more than happy to help you learn more about smart thermostats. What’s more, we’ll help you find the right one for your home, and install it for you too! Simply give us a call at 518.427.8685 and we’ll be happy to assist you.

Click below to download our smart thermostat infographic, and be sure to share with friends!

Family Danz smart thermostat infographic