In 1972 the UN General Assembly designated June 5 as World Environment Day with the intention of helping to raise awareness and motivate action on urgent environmental issues. Two years later, on June 5, 1974, the first World Environment Day was celebrated and promoted using the slogan “Only One Earth.”
In the 34 years since that inaugural event, humanity has made great strides in terms of some environmental issues, while we collectively struggle with others. This explains why each World Environment Day has its own theme—and its own host country.
You don’t need to focus on plastic pollution to participate in this “global celebration of nature.”
In fact, the organizers tell us that “above all, World Environment Day is the ‘people’s day’ for doing something to take care of the Earth. That ‘something’ can be focused locally, nationally or globally; it can be a solo action or involve a crowd. Everyone is free to choose.”
At Jewell Mechanical we’ll be celebrating the fact that residential HVAC units are more efficient than ever before, delivering improved performance even as they consume less energy.
This is significant—both for the environment and your energy bill.
According to energy.gov, “heating and cooling accounts for more than half the energy use in a typical U.S. home, making it the largest energy expense for most homes.” In Tennessee, that percentage might be even higher, thanks to the warm and humid weather we experience in the summer.
Tennessee Electricity Consumption
In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that “average electricity consumption for Tennessee households is 33% higher than the national average and among the highest in the nation.”
This means that upgrading to a new, more efficient HVAC system can potentially save you a significant amount of money over the course of your unit’s lifespan, and be better for the environment to boot.
Should You Replace Your HVAC System?
How do you know whether you should give strong consideration to replacing your HVAC unit?
ENERGY STAR has a list of factors to consider for replacing your heating and cooling equipment, one of which is whether your system is more than ten years old. If yes, “consider replacing [your system] with a unit that has earned the ENERGY STAR label. Installed correctly, these high-efficiency units can save up to 20 percent on heating and cooling costs.”
If you’re not familiar with the ENERGY STAR program, we discussed why ENERGY STAR is good in a past blog post. It’s worth noting that “ENERGY STAR certified products helped consumers save $20 billion in energy costs in 2016 [alone], contributing to cumulative energy cost savings of over $280 billion since 1992.”
ENERGY STAR Most Efficient HVAC List
If you think you may be interested in upgrading to a new HVAC unit, we recommend consulting ENERGY STAR’s list of most efficient central air conditioners for 2018.
You may also want to consider assessing your home using ENERGY STAR’s Home Advisor, which walks you through creating an energy profile for your home; then the tool provides you with custom recommendations that can be used to improve your home’s energy efficiency.
Simply give us a call at (615) 469-5965 with any questions you have about installing a new residential HVAC system or improving your current system’s performance. We install and service HVAC brands of all kinds, and are a proud Diamond Dealer for Mitsubishi, a brand that dominates the ENERGY STAR Most Efficient list.
As always, at Jewell Mechanical we work hard to bring you optimal residential cooling and heating solutions for your home. We provide HVAC services for Nashville and the majority of Middle Tennessee.