Sealing your home's attic, outer walls, doors, windows, and floors is often the most cost effective way to improve energy efficiency and your family's comfort. With careful attention to drafts and under insulated area of your home, can save up to 20% on heating and cooling costs by sealing and insulating.

Follow These Three Energy Saving Improvements:

• Seal air leaks throughout the home to stop drafts
• Add insulation to block heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer
• Choose an ENERGY STAR® qualified furnace, water heater and air conditioner

Some air leaks are easy to find because they can be felt — like those around windows and doors. But holes hidden in your attic, crawlspace, and basement are often a bigger source of energy loss. Sealing these leaks with caulk, expanding spray foam, or weather strip will have a significant impact on your family's comfort and reduce your utility bills.

Will Sealing My Home Affect Indoor Air Quality?

There is often a concern about sealing a house too tightly; however, this is very unlikely in most older homes in the Chicago area. Some fresh air is needed for good indoor air quality and there are specifications that set the minimum amount of fresh air needed for a house.

To be safe, after any home insulating and sealing project, have an ABC home comfort specialist check to make sure that your home's combustion appliances (gas- or oil-fired furnace, water heater, and dryer) are venting properly.

Choosing the Right Insulation For Your Home

Insulation will keep your home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. There are several common types of insulation — fiberglass (in both batt and blown forms), cellulose, rigid foam board, and spray foam. Reflective insulation (or radiant barrier) is another insulating product which can help save energy.

When correctly installed with air sealing, each type of insulation can deliver comfort and lower energy bills during the hottest and coldest times of the year.

Insulation performance is measured by R-value — its ability to resist heat flow. Higher R-values mean more insulating power. Different R-values are recommended for walls, attics, basements and crawlspaces, depending on your area of the country. Insulation works best when air is not moving through or around it. So it is very important to seal air leaks before installing insulation to ensure that you get the best performance from the insulation.

To get the biggest savings, the easiest place to add insulation is usually in the attic. A quick way to see if you need more insulation is to look across your uncovered attic floor. If your insulation is level with or below the attic floor joists, you probably need to add more insulation. The recommended insulation level for most attics is R-38 (or about 12–15 inches, depending on the insulation type).

Seal Air Ducts

In houses with forced-air heating and cooling systems, air ducts distribute heated and cooled air throughout the house. In a typical house, about 20 percent of the air that moves through the duct system is lost due to leaks and poorly sealed connections. The result is higher utility bills and an uncomfortable home, no matter how the thermostat is set.

Because some ducts are concealed in walls and between floors, repairing them can be difficult. However, exposed ducts in attics, basements, crawlspaces, and garages can be repaired by sealing the leaks with duct sealant. In addition, insulating ducts that run through spaces that get hot in summer or cold in winter – like attics, garages, or crawlspaces – can save energy.

Choose ENERGY STAR® Heating & Air Conditioning Systems

If you are replacing your furnace and air conditioning equipment,ABC will installs your new system according to ENERGY STAR quality installation guidelines. This includes a thorough inspection of your duct system, including proper sealing and balancing of ductwork, to help ensure that your new system delivers the most comfort and efficiency.

If your old furnace or water heater are in need of replacement, replacing them with new, energy efficient units will save you money every month through the heating season. Chicago area residents can also save money on the purchase cost of new systems by taking advantage of 2011 federal tax credits on new, energy efficient furnaces and water heaters. The rebates vary depending on the type and efficiency of the unit, but can cover 10% of cost up to $500 or a specific amount from $50 - $300.  

To quality for these savings you must purchase your new furnace or water heater before December 31, 2011. For more information on federal energy tax credits for new, energy efficient furnaces, visit:http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index.

2011 Changes to Federal Tax Credits

Federal tax credits on qualifying, high-efficiency HVAC equipment have been modified and extended through December 31, 2011 by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. This program differs from the program effective in 2009-2010 in the following ways:

The maximum amount an eligible homeowner may receive in tax credits for purchasing qualifying products, whether those purchases are in the form of upgraded insulation, windows, HVAC equipment or other eligible improvements, will be reduced from $1,500 to $500.

The $500 cap is reduced by the total amount of residential energy property credits a homeowner has claimed for purchases between 2006 and 2010. If you have already claimed credits of $500 or more from improvements made prior to 2011, you will be unable to claim new credits for improvements made during 2011.

All furnaces and boilers, whether natural gas, propane or oil, must have an AFUE of 95 or above to be eligible for the credit.
The credit is no longer 30% of qualified residential energy property costs (including labor), but is now equal to an amount not to exceed:

The State of Illinois is not offering  energy efficiency rebates for home heating or water heaters at this time.

ENERGY STAR® Rated Home Heating Systems

Natural gas, propane and oil furnace style home furnaces can qualify with an AFUE greater or equal to 95. AFUE. AFUE stand for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. Indicated as a percentage, your furnace's AFUE tells you how much energy is being converted to heat. For example, an AFUE of 90 means that 90% of the fuel is being used to warm your home, while the other 10% escapes as exhaust with the combustion gases. The Carrier Performance 95, 96 and Infinity Series furnaces all have a AFUE greater than 95.

ENERGY STAR® Rated Water Heaters

With water heating  accounting for 14%–25% of the energy consumed in the average Chicago area home, choosing an efficient model can have a significant impact on your energy costs.
Gas, oil, propane and electric heat pump water heaters with an Energy Factor greater or equal to  0.82 OR a thermal efficiency of at least 90% can quality for a $300 tax credit.

Remember, the most important day in the life of your furnace or water heater is the day it's  installed. Your ABC Home Comfort Specialist will help you choose right energy efficient furnace or water heater for your family's needs and budget. With a profesional installation and the ABC Worry Free Guarantee, you will be comfortable in knowing that your new furnace or water heater will provide years of efficient, trouble free service.