Heating Prices Set to Increase This Winter

EIA Anticipates Increases in Natural Gas, Propane, and Electricity Heating Costs

By Nick Kostora

http://www.achrnews.com/articles/127862-heating-prices-set-to-increase-this-winter

While rising energy prices and cooler temperatures prompt Americans to reach for their overcoats and pocketbooks this winter, these conditions often spark smiles upon HVAC contractors’ faces as they prepare their crews for what appears to be a busy heating season.

Home Heating Bills

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), households heating with natural gas are expected to rise 14 percent this season, increasing average residential energy costs by $80 compared to last winter.

By region, the EIA predicts households heating with propane in the Midwest will spend an average of $120, or 9 percent, more this winter than last winter; residences in the Northeast are expected to spend an average of $206, or 11 percent, more. Similarly, households heating primarily with electricity can anticipate an $18, or 2 percent, increase on their bills this winter.

Some reprieve should come for those primarily using heating oil. The EIA expects those households to spend an average of $46, or 2 percent, less this winter, reflecting a 5 percent decrease in prices and a 3 percent increase in consumption.

What Owners Need to Know About ... Rooftop-Unit Maintenance

Impacts of deferred maintenance and a strategy for mitigating them

Oct 9, 2014By MICHAEL WEST, PhD, PE, Melbourne, Fla., and RICHARD COMBES, PhD, PE, Beaufort, S.C., AdvanTek Consulting Inc. | HPAC Engineering

http://hpac.com/air-conditioning/what-owners-need-know-about-rooftop-unit-maintenance

In buildings across the country, reductions in operating budgets are delaying important equipment upkeep. This article discusses impacts of deferring maintenance on rooftop package units and outlines a cost-based preventive-maintenance protocol.

For new unitary air-conditioning and heat-pump systems, minimum energy-efficiency ratios (EERs) are 9.7 to 14 MBH per kilowatt, depending on system capacity. A substantial number of installed unitary systems, however, are operating at EERs of 9 or less, depending on condition and maintenance history.

Analysis of a rooftop package unit—RTU-2

Can My Beloved Furnace Get any Quieter or Efficient?

Who Connects a Single-stage Thermostat to a Two-stage Furnace?

September 22, 2014

By Herb Woerpel

http://www.achrnews.com/blogs/17-opinions/post/127673-can-my-beloved-furnace-get-any-quieter-or-efficient

I write and read about HVAC contracting eight hours a day. However, it’s uncommon I actually get to see these skills put to the test. It’s even rarer that such actions occur inside my own home.

Some background: My wife and I purchased our first home about two years ago. After eight months of playing the real estate game, we settled on a two-story colonial built in 1987. The home boasted many recent upgrades including a new furnace. And this isn’t your everyday, run-of-the-mill furnace. It’s a 96.7 percent AFUE, two-stage, variable-speed furnace. Lord have mercy.

How HVAC Owners Are Wasting Their Marketing Dollars

Danielle Legler June 19, 2014
http://www.godigitalmarketing.com/hvac-owners-wasting-marketing-dollars/

If you’re in the 77 percent majority of HVAC contractors who admit to not having a marketing plan in place, you’re most likely relying on word-of-mouth to gain new leads.

Or, you could be a HVAC contractor who is attempting to increase your business with marketing efforts in the more traditional, and outdated way by listing your business in the Yellow Pages – and completely wasting your money.

The Yellow Pages Are So 2002