Rocky Top Air

Want To Be More Comfortable and Save Money?

Monday, November 23rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

This week’s blog is a follow up from our posting on Oct 7^th looking at the reasons we need humidifiers in our homes. 

• How Does the Body Regulate its Temperature?

Your body is a furnace that’s constantly generating heat.  It regulates the temperature by constantly secreting moisture in the form of perspiration, which evaporates.

When any substance goes from a liquid state to a gaseous state, it absorbs heat.  This means that, as the perspiration evaporates, it absorbs heat from your skin.  The drier the air, the more rapid the rate of evaporation and the quicker your body cools.

When it’s cold outside and the forced-air heat is running and you feel a little chilly, you turn up the heat.  This dries the indoor air all the more, causing your body to kick into a higher “cooling mode”.

The higher you turn up the heat, the drier the air becomes, the more your body evaporates and the cooler you feel.

• What’s the Lowest-Cost Way to Lower Your Heating Bills?

When you’re feeling chilly, check the indoor humidity level before raising your thermostat setting.  Raise the humidity level, and you’ll feel more comfortable without increasing the heat.

At 70F, for every 10% you increase the indoor relative humidity, you increase the “apparent temperature” approximately 1F. 

For every 1F that you reduce your thermostat setting, you save approximately 5% on your energy consumption.

This means that with proper humidification, consumers can save 20% to 30% or more on their heating costs on the coldest days and nights of the winter.  They can also be healthier and more comfortable, while extending the useful life of their home and furnishings.

Are you concerned with being more comfortable in the winter and lowering your utility costs?  Call Rocky Top Air today and save $50 on the installation of a whole-home humidifier at 865.474.1511.

This blog has information taken from Charlie Greer’s Tech Daddy

Winter Heating Tips

Monday, November 16th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

The following are excerpts from the Montgomery County Maryland’s Department of Environmental Protection.

Save Money

The average family will spend over $1,300. on utility bills this year. About half of that will go to heating and cooling the home. The rest is spent on water heating, refrigeration, lighting, cooking and appliances. You can reduce your energy bills by ten to fifty percent by using a few inexpensive energy-saving measures.

Thermostats

Instead of unbundling from all your many layers when you come indoors, try keeping your house at a temperature where you will feel comfortable with a sweater on. Keep your thermostat set to 70 degrees, or lower, during the day. Set your thermostat to lower temperatures at night, or when you are not at home. 65 to 69 degrees is comfortable for most people at night. Try reducing the temperature to 55 or 60 when you are away from the house for more than a few hours. A five degree reduction in temperature setting for an eight hour time period can save you up to twelve percent on your energy bill. If you have a programmable thermostat, set it to reduce the temperature while you are away at work, and to reduce it a little less while you are asleep at night. If your thermostat is not programmable, put a little hook in the wall beside it. Hang you keys on the hook, and that will help you remember to turn down the temperature when you leave the house. You’ll also always be able to find your keys.

Ventilating Fans

Don’t overuse kitchen or bathroom ventilating fans. Turn them off as soon as they have done their job, or put them on timers to limit their operation to fifteen minutes at a time. A fan can draw out an entire houseful of heated air in about an hour.

Heating System

Keep your furnace air filter clean, clean, clean. A dirty or clogged filter can make your furnace and fan work harder, which costs you more. You’ll be warmer for less money, and breathe easier, if you clean or replace your furnace filter often. Check the filter at least once a month, and more often if you have a lot of dust. Make sure it gets cleaned or replaced at least twice this winter.

What is HVAC?

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Did you know that the Romans used something called “hypocaust” to heat their homes?  It was a central heating system which had a furnace in the basements and flues to distribute heat.  It had a system for radiating heat for rooms and even steam for the baths of the rich.

There are a lot of terms that people hear that are associated with the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) industry but do we really know what they mean?

Cooler weather is just around the corner and everyone wants to keep their homes and offices warm.  The small portable heaters are starting to show up under the desks in many cubicles.  These little heaters are typically around 5200 BTUs.  What is a BTU?  A British Thermal Unit (BTU) is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree F.  Think of it this way.  Take one gallon (8 pounds) of water and put it on your stove.  If the water is 60 degrees F. and you want to bring it to a boil (212 degrees F.) then you will need about 1,200 BTUs to do this.

We talk about our air conditioning units in tons.  Maybe your house is a 3 ton unit.  Does that mean that it weights 6,000 pounds?  Nope.  A “ton” goes back to when people used a fan blowing across ice to cool their buildings.  One ton of cooling is based on the amount of heat needed to melt a ton (2,000 lbs) of ice in a 24 hour period.  In 1881, when President James Garfield was dying, naval engineers constructed a box-like structure containing cloths saturated with melted ice water, where a fan blew hot air overhead. This contraption was able to lower a room by 20 degrees Fahrenheit but consumed half a million pounds of ice in two months’ time.

Is Your Heating System Safe?

Monday, October 19th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Were you ready for the cold weather this past weekend?  The temperatures were the lowest we have seen them in months and I am sure I am not the only person that turned their heater on for the first time this year.  The first time you turn it on, you might get a slight haze and a very light white smoke, and that burning smell of dust burning off the unit.  This is normal.  If you furnace starts to shake and black smoke comes out of the vents, turn off the unit immediately and leave the house.

People who use their stoves as a heat source are literally playing with fire, because it won’t put out enough heat and then there is the danger of the open flame.  You need to remember that a gas range stove is a carbon monoxide producer, and if it’s not venting outside, it’s venting in your home.

Caution should be used with space heaters.  Space heaters should always be unplugged when not in use, and they should only be plugged into a wall outlet.  What happens is people use an inexpensive extension chord that heats up extraordinarily hot.  If it touches a couch or drapes or something like that, it catches the item on fire. People have died because of this.

While you can do light maintenance on your furnace it’s always a good idea to get your system checked by a professional.  That’s because over time, the heat exchanger inside the furnace can develop a crack and that could allow carbon monoxide to enter you home.  Rocky Top Air has trained technicians that can check your system and make the necessary repairs needed to keep you and your family safe and warm for the winter.

Can You Live Longer If You Breathe Clean Air?

Monday, October 12th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Can you live longer if you breathe cleaner air?  The answer is “Yes” according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  The study showed that cleaner air had an estimated increase in life expectancy of 5 months. 

“Who would have thought you could get almost half a year in increased life expectancy on average just from cleaning up our air somewhat?” says study co-author Arden Pope, an environmental economist at Brigham Young University.  “That seems to me like a pretty good investment” in clean-air programs.

Unfortunately, the air we are breathing is getting dirtier.  The EPA has reported that indoor air quality can be up to 100 times worse than the air outside.  In fact, the American College of Allergists states that 50% of illnesses are caused or aggravated by poor indoor air quality. 

Consider these facts; Most homes naturally generate about 40 pounds of dust per year for every 1,500 square feet of space.  Just one ounce of dust can hold about 40,000 dust mites, one of the most common household allergens.  Up to 72 trillion allergens find their way into your home every day.  We breathe in between 1 and 10 fungal spores every time we inhale.  Pet owners are particularly vulnerable because pets give off hair and dander just walking around.

Now that you understand the importance of clean air, what’s the best way to combat the effects of modern-day pollutants?  Experts agree the best thing is to install a good quality air filtration system in your home and office to help remove these dangerous pollutants from your living and working areas.  You can start filtering out 99.98% of airborne allergens today by calling Rocky Top Air.  We are now offering a $50.00 savings on the installation of a whole-house cleaner.  Are you ready to live longer and breathe easier?

Why Do You Need a Humidifier?

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

September at Rocky Top Air

Monday, September 28th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

September 2009 has been a busy month for us here at Rocky Top Air.  We attended a Business to Business Selling class, went to the Comfort Tech conference, and won some great projects for Rocky Top Air.

The Business to Business Selling course was presented by the Act Group at the Trane facility in Clarksville, TN.  This 4 day class gave us the process and skills necessary to help us grow our light commercial business.  It also allowed us to meet other Trane dealers from across the nation and forge new friendships with them.

The 2009 Comfort Tech conference was held in Nashville, TN.  This show allowed us to network with other people in our industry.  There were fantastic seminars which were conducted from a distinguished faculty of top-notch HVAC contractors and consultants.  We also had an opportunity to explore new products and technologies from hundreds of major suppliers of equipment and services. 

We are also enthusiastic about the upcoming projects that we have been awarded.  Urban Outfitters will be opening a store in Ashville, NC.  Urban Outfitters is a retailer of clothing, accessories and apartment wares for young women and men.  We also have 2 RoboVent dust collection projects with Rein Air.  Precor manufactures high-end fitness equipment and will be opening a plant in Greensboro, NC and Lear Seating Corp. in Morristown, TN is a global supplier of automotive seating systems.  We are very excited about these projects as well as other future projects we are working on.

Are You Ready for the Fall Heating Season?

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

OK Kids are back to school.

With the days getting shorter and the outside temps starting to dip at night it will soon be heating season. Are you ready to warm things up in your house? Ok this may seem too soon, but it is never too early to insure that your heating system is in top shape.

What does taking care of you heating unit have to do with being green and saving money?

Heating efficiency has everything to do with being green and saving money. Losing heat out the chimney wastes energy. Losing heat out through the walls and ceiling is also wasteful. Using an electric heater…well you get the drift.

There are things you can do now that will save you on energy costs over the winters.

How about your forced air furnace? When was the last time you replaced the filter? This should be done monthly, especially if you have pets.

Let’s not forget the furnace cleaning. Most people have a maintenance contract that includes an annual heating tune-up. This keeps the furnace running in top form and will help conserve fuel and save on heating bills. When they clean the furnace they also can usually spot trouble before it starts.

So, don’t be caught out in the cold this winter by paying higher bills than you should.  Get your heating system ready before it is too late.

NCI Home Show 2009

Monday, August 31st, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

This past weekend we were at the 2009  NCI Home Show at the Expo Center.  We had a great time talking with all the folks that stopped by to see us and registered for the give-aways.  We are giving away an Aprilaire Whole House Cleaner, an Aprilaire Whole House Humidifer, (3) 19 point Precision Tune Ups,  (2) Tickets to this years UT vs. Georgia game, and a Home Energy Audit / Blower Door test.  We also had Sean Young there to sign autographs and take pictures with his fans.  Check out the Home Show pictures by clicking HERE.

Rocky Top Air’s First Television Commercial

Monday, August 24th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

We are excited about our first television commercial.  We shot the commercial at Michele’s brother’s house and had a great time doing it.  The commercials will start airing on WATE 6 during the Good Morning America show 7:00 to 9:00 am during the week and the Good Morning Tennessee show on the weekend starting Wednesday the 26^th.  We have also posted the commercial on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20KQoqRS5Uw  Let us know what you think…