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It makes sense to build smart! What we build for you will give you a return on your investment with significantly lower utility bills, as well as transferable discounts on your power bills for the life of the home. This example of building smart represents ultimate value for our clients and is why we have partnered with Energy Star to make every home certified. Enjoy the posts below to see our promises turn into action.

Reducing Winter Energy Costs

As temperatures drop during the winter, home fueling costs often increase for home owners. Fuel options for home owners largely depend on the region — in the Northeast, fuel oil or electricity are most prominent while in rural areas, propane and wood are often the main choices. But whatever your heating fuel options are, you have options to reduce your costs.

Reducing fuel costs can involve both short-term and long-term solutions and range from simple, inexpensive changes to major home modifications. Here are some ways that you can keep the cold out and the costs down this winter:Reduce-Your-Energy-Consumption

Reduce Air Leaks 

By caulking and sealing air leaks in a home, an average household can cut 10 percent of their monthly energy bill. Use caulk to seal any cracks or small openings on non-moving surfaces such as where window frames meet the house structure. Make sure your weather stripping in exterior door frames hasn’t deteriorated and cracked, if it has, replace it.

Sealing windows and doors will help, but the worst culprits are usually utility cut-throughs for pipes (plumping penetrations), gaps around chimneys and recessed lights in insulated ceilings, and unfinished spaces behind cupboards and closets. You can buy material that expands to fill the gaps and keep air from flowing through.

Use Energy Wisely

Building Green: Energy Star Partner

Energy Star Partner LogoENERGY STAR certified new homes are designed and built to standards well above most other homes on the market today, delivering energy efficiency savings of up to 30 percent when compared to typical new homes. A new home that has earned the ENERGY STAR label has undergone a process of inspections, testing, and verification to meet strict requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), delivering better quality, better comfort, and better durability.

Geothermal Heat Pump Water Heater vs Heat Pump Water Heater

What is a geothermal heat pump water heater?

Water heating is a thermodynamic process using an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. A geothermal water heater does exactly that… [it] utilizes the earth as a heat source to heat/cool water temperatures for your space. Your utility bills will usually cut in half by utilizing geo-thermal.


Heat Extraction

While it may be difficult to explain the technology of extracting heat from air, water or ground, the concept is easier to comprehend once one understands the principles of heat extraction and heat exchange. Consider the following:

  1. All matter contains heat. Zero degrees Kelvin/Rankine (minus 273 degrees Celsius/minus 460 degrees Farenheit) is absolute zero. This is a hypothetical, but fairly well substantiated, theory. There is nowhere in the universe where absolute zero exists. Temperatures in outer space have been found to be approximately three degrees Kelvin, which supports the theories developed by scientists.
  2. Cold is the absence of heat. Cold exists only in relative terms, and plays no part in scientific theory. While we all verbalize such expressions as “It is cold out”, to be technically correct we should say “the heat level outside is ten degrees farenheit” (which, admittedly, is pretty cold).