Are you interested in saving money this year? Checking off the list can do just that for you — with very little effort. 

Your energy costs may be driving you into the poor house. The average American family spends, in some cases, hundreds to thousands of dollars in extra energy costs in their homes every year. 

It is relatively simple to cut these unnecessary costs by making smart, energy-efficient choices. Just don’t wait until the last minute or it can be costly, especially in the times we saw this past summer and winter. When temperatures are extreme, so are the prices. 

Here are some energy-saving tips: 

• To increase your heating and cooling system efficiency — replace your filters and clean your heating and cooling system twice a year. Best to have a professional company take care of this for you.

• Do not block registers and return vents with furniture or drapes.

• Unplug your devices. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average household spends about $100 per year to keep power immediately available. Multiply this by all households nationally — billions of energy is being wasted!

• Keep the tank clean. About 20 percent of the energy used by the average home is used to heat water for showers, baths, washing machines and dishwashers. Depending on the quality of your water, drain off the sediment in the bottom of your hot water heater — at a minimum of every other year. If you have that white sediment on your faucet where the water flows, think about what the inside of your water heater looks like.

• Check thermostat temperature. Set your thermostat to 68-70 degrees during the day in the winter and 65-68 degrees at night to keep your home comfortable and save on heating costs. Turning down your thermostat too low at night can actually cost more to bring the temperature up during the day. You can invest in a programmable thermostat that will automatically do this daily for you.

• Limit your use of portable heaters. They’re great for “spot” heating but running a 1,500-watt heater 24/7 can be expensive. Have a recessed wall heater installed that has its own thermostat that can be set to the temperature of your liking, whether you are home or not.

•  Replace worn washers in leaking faucets promptly. A faucet that leaks one drop of water every second wastes 200 gallons of water a month. The average cost of a gallon of water in the supermarket is 98 cents to $1.20. You can buy a lot of “latte’s” for this — or better yet, put it in your vacation fund.

• Seal and insulate your air ducts. Have you ever thought about this: Heat loss from leaky, un-insulated ducts, especially those in unheated attics and basements, can reduce the efficiency of your heating system by as much as 30 percent.

• Give your water heater a vacation too. When you leave your home for a weekend or longer, go to your electrical panel and flip off the switch for your water heater. 

• And even more importantly, turn off your main water shut-off valve. If you are not sure where this is located, we can come out and tag this as well as your main gas turn-off valve. One inch of broken pipe can lose 30-60 gallons of water per minute! Do that calculation at 98 cents to $1.20 per gallon.

Thinking ahead and being proactive can save you hundreds to thousands of dollars to spend on items more enjoyable.

Whether you are in Kalispell, Whitefish, Bigfork, Columbia Falls or anywhere else in the Flathead Valley. . .As always, your Safety and Comfort is our Central concern. Call 406-756-6656 for all your heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical and drain cleaning needs.

How often should I have my home’s heating and cooling system checked?

This question is rather interesting, and I like to compare your home’s heating and cooling system to the maintenance of your vehicle. Your home’s comfort system operates approximately 3300 hours in a year. To put this “run time” in perspective, your vehicle driven for the same 3300 hours at 65 miles per hour would travel 214,500 miles. No one would consider such a journey without arranging for oil changes, lubrication and routine tune-ups along the way to assure the efficiency, safety, and reliability of the vehicle. And how many of you actually keep a car long enough to get 214,000 miles on your odometer? Your heating and cooling system travels this journey every year.

Time and time again we are called to people’s home where they have never changed a filter or had any maintenance done and they are wondering why they are having problems with their heating and cooling system, which can be costly to fix or replaced.

Our heating and cooling systems need to be maintained just like your vehicle. If preventative maintenance is not preformed regularly or done haphazardly, the equipment will eventually require extensive and costly repairs.

We have had another hot summer, and you can guess our number one service call during this time of year is for air conditioning that is not cooling properly. Many people would associate changing filters for your furnace to run properly, however, your filters are just as important to running your air conditioner. Air conditioning equipment is designed to operate with a specific quantity of air passing over its indoor coil surface. When filters are not replaced, they clog and become coated with dirt. Similarly, the coils can get coated with dirt. This dirt reduces the amount of air through the unit below the design limit, leading to equipment failure. Another common challenge is friendly field mice deciding this is a great place to start a new home. A filter is easy enough to change, but the following two need to be done by trained maintenance technician.

For your furnace, low airflow can cause the heat exchanger to overheat. Heat exchangers are designed to operate at temperatures between 120 degrees F to 200 degrees. At higher temperatures, the heat exchanger oxidizes, its life span is reduced, or it cracks and breaks. In either case, it makes far more sense to replace air filters during regular preventative maintenance program, at a minimum, twice a year. Air flow is just one factor, proper refrigerant, lubrication and making sure all the parts are operating properly also is very important.

How old is your home’s heating and cooling system? Multiply the age times 214,000 miles, and then take a look at how often you are having your vehicle taken care. Hmmmmmmmm, I am willing to bet, your heating and cooling system has been neglected. Be ahead of the game, and call today to get your equipment properly cleaned, before our cold weather gets here.

At Central we prefer to do two system checks each year and have created a special program called our Comfort Care Program, this program is designed to take care of your heating and cooling system each year as well as create a relationship with us, which provides you peace of mind. If something happens to your system, or you have plumbing, electrical and drain cleaning needs our Comfort Care Customer is one of our top priorities for our call center.

As always, your Comfort is our Central concern, call 756-6656, for all your heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical and drain cleaning needs.

My Favorite Hamburger…I have been grilling this burger for over 30 years for my family
1 lb lean hamburger…I am a big fan of Montana grass fed
3 green onions chopped
3 tbls of Worchester sauce ½ tsp ground pepper
Mix all together with your hands…makes 4 patties
Top with favorite cheese and grill Sometimes simple is better…Enjoy