Anytime you buy a major appliance, but particularly when replacing home heating and cooling equipment, be sure to look for the Energy Star seal. In a typical household, indoor climate control accounts for the majority of energy usage, and choosing furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps and water heaters that bear the Energy Star seal guarantees savings on your utility bills, as well as the high performance you've come to expect.
The Energy Star program was created by the US federal government to give consumers a fast, easy and reliable way to identify products and appliances with superior energy efficiencies. In order to earn the label, a product must exceed government standards for energy efficiency by 10 percent or more. It must also offer other important characteristics to ensure value to the consumer, including:
- A promise to the consumer that additional up-front costs caused by higher prices can be recovered in the form of energy savings over the product's expected lifespan.
- A high level of performance, including the features and controls consumers expect from standard appliance models.
- Non-exclusive operational technologies to prevent monopolization of market sectors by single manufacturers.
- Verifiable levels of both appliance performance and energy efficiency, as determined by independent third-party inspections and tests.
The advantages of using Energy Star products go beyond savings on your utility bills. In a time when everyone needs to do their part to protect the environment, you'll also be reducing your carbon footprint by cutting back on both greenhouse gas emissions as well as electricity consumption. Both are key contributions to more sustainable living. Experts have found that if just 10 percent of American households made the switch to Energy Star appliances, annual reductions in greenhouse gas emissions would roughly be equal to the effect of taking over one million cars off the road.
At Joe Behr Plumbing and Heating, we are proud to offer home heating and cooling appliances that participate in this progressive program to customers in the Mid-Ohio region. If you'd like to learn more about the products and appliances we offer, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Energy Star and other HVAC topics, visit our website.
Joe Behr Plumbing and Heating, Inc. services the Mid-Ohio area.
