Manassas, Va (PRWEB) December 31, 2014

The long wait is over for residents of Manassas, Virginia as Turners Service Co. now offers their SMART Home Automation service to Manassas and Northern Virginia residents. This beneficial feature has the ability to enhance home security along with heating and cooling systems.

Turners Service Co. is known to be one of the pioneering HVAC service-provider in Northern Virginia and nearby areas. Their existence for almost two decades has proved them to be one of the best in the industry of HVACs. Their quest for innovation is never ending and now, they present their existing clients and prospective clients with the SMART home automation service.

Home automation services give their users enhanced control over their home systems and devices. It would definitely be a smart choice to avail this service for those who want to manage their houses right at their fingertips. Using smartphones or tablets, install apps which could give unlimited access to a homes HVAC systems even remotely. Among those that could be controlled by the said apps are thermostats, energy meters, smart locks, sensors, and surveillance cameras. Basically, anybody who has the app installed becomes the boss and may adjust system settings and even access energy management data.

Even your security devices such as door locks and cameras could be easily controlled using SMART home automation. Leaving car keys inside automobiles may be a common problem but with home automation, one may lock or unlock doors even without keys. Unlimited access to surveillance cameras may also be obtained. One may setup the system in a way that the app would alert the individuals who have the app installed once motion is detected. With a feature like that, homeowners are well protected from theft.

With home automation, energy is efficiently managed and prevented from getting wasted. One doesnt need to go back home and setup their HVAC or surveillance systems as a single click in the app could take care of the situation. With SMART home automation, a mobile application is the sole solution to either simple or complicated HVAC or surveillance problems.

In terms of managing energy, SMART home automation does not disappoint. Just by looking at statistics readily prepared by the app, a homeowner could easily identify and strategize efficient ways to cool or heat their own homes in the least expensive ways possible. One may even plot schedules on when HVAC or security systems need to be operational. This has been possible through the data that the applications collect directly on a certain households consumption practices.

Home automation has a lot of benefits and maintenance is relatively very easy as everything has gone digital now. Glitches are easily fixed and problems undergo immediate troubleshooting. Give Turner's Service Co. a call and they would gladly help no matter how simple or complicated an issue is.

For further inquiries about smart home automation, give them a call at 703.361.0816.

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Turner's Service Co. Announces New SMART Home Automation Services to Manassas, VA Residents

During this holiday season, you've likely been busy gettingready for all the parties, activities and family moments ahead. To make sure your home is as prepared as you are, here are six home maintenance projects suited to the colder months of the year:

1. Replace Your Windows

Energy Star estimates that you can save between $130 and $470 a year on your energy bills by replacing your single-pane windows with double-paned windows. If you dont have the money to replace your existing windows -- they can cost at minimum $1,000 -- repairing them is a cost-effective alternative. (For related reading, see: Ways To Slash Your Home Energy Bill.)

2. Repair Your Roof

Another area for maintenance is your roof. If it snows, you may find yourself with a moisture problem in your attic, which can lead to mold and mildew. This is one project youll want to have done before it gets too cold, as it could prevent shingle cracking and breakage. Hire a roofer to inspect your roof as soon as possible this winter to ensure its in good condition.

Financially speaking, winter can be one of the best times to have your roof repaired or re-roofed, since it is the off season and you may be able to get a discount. If you only need a partial re-roofing, its probably more cost-effective to have your entire roof repaired. That way, youll pay for labor just once instead of paying again when other parts of your roof start to fail. (For related reading, see: Home Improvements That Really Pay Off.)

Roof image courtesy of Clear Choice Roofing

3. Update Your Floors

If your carpets are starting to thin out, or if your hardwood floors feel like an ice rink in the morning, its probably time for you to give your floors an upgrade. Save money by buying flooring from an independent retailer rather than a large company. Independent retailers usually build 5 to 10 percent of bargaining room into their prices, so dont be afraid to negotiate. Another advantage of upgrading your floors is that it can increase the value of your home.

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Winter Home Maintenance Projects You Need To Know

JACKSON, Miss. It's tempting to crank up the thermostat when temperatures outside are falling. But did you know that's one of the main ways to increase your energy bill?

When the thermostat's cranked up, energy use increases and bills rise, too, said Robbin Jeter, Entergy Mississippi vice president of customer service. Heating and air conditioning make up more than half of most energy bills. The best way to manage your electric usage during cold weather is to keep your thermostat set on 68 degrees. Each degree warmer will increase your bill by about three percent.

Other ways to stay comfortable and save energy when the temperatures drop are:

Seal the duct work. In the South, leaky ducts waste more energy than any other problem. To stop this loss, your ductwork should be made airtight everywhere ducts attach to vents, each other and the heating/cooling unit. Use mastic (preferred) or foil tape. Some do-it-yourselfers can handle this job; other homeowners may want to hire a professional.

Think long term. Making your home more energy efficient is a good move for lowering bills all year round. You can start by checking out Entergy Mississippi's Entergy Solutions program. Through the Residential Lighting Program, you can get instant discounts on ENERGY STAR certified CFL and LED lighting. Through the READI (Residential Energy Audit and Direct Install) Program, residential customers can sign up for a free home audit and get energy efficiency information and energy-saving items installed in the home at no additional cost. More energy efficiency programs for residential and business customers will roll out in early 2015.

Entergy Mississippi, Inc. Provides electricity to approximately 441,000 customers in 45 counties. It is a subsidiary of entergy corporation. Entergy corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation's leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 14,000 employees.

Read more:
Entergy Mississippi Offers Tips for Managing Energy Usage, Costs

We'll always need buildings, so long as the wind blows and the temperature drops, but the virtual reality of contemporary life has changed our relationship to physical space. Buildings, particularly in the public realm, aren't as essential as they used to be.

How important is a convention center in the age of webinars? Schools, libraries and workplaces when information is so easy to share digitally? Airports and hotels when friends connect via Facebook and FaceTime?

Architects have felt the pressure and sweated the possibility that their once-enviable profession is headed toward irrelevancy. We'll always need them, too, but how much depends on what they can bring to the table beyond four sturdy walls and a roof.

The good news is that the profession is changing. Slowly, and with some good ideas leading the way, architects, planners and designers have begun moving from defense to offense, creating spaces that do more than protect us from the elements. The best new buildings actually make us healthier by encouraging exercise and better diet. They improve our energy levels and attitudes by balancing our exposure to light and sound. Well-designed public places strengthen communities by drawing users from across social and economic divides to shared experiences.

Architecture's next step is to build on the green movement that has made structures more energy-efficient and earth-friendly and to develop spaces that work as doctors, coaches and counselors for 21st-century life.

At Canal Park in Washington, D.C., an interactive water fountain becomes an ice rink in the winter. The park's storm-water management system recycles runoff from neighboring buildings, saving 1.5 million gallons of potable water each year. (Photo provided by Land Collective)

Mariposa, a Denver Housing Authority development that has been opening in phases, combines several of these ideas into one residential mini-city. Planners are designing the block apartment buildings with ample community garden spaces where residents can grow their own food, and integrating colorful playgrounds into the front yards. The units go for varying rents from highly subsidized to market rate so every building and floor has a mix of occupants. Located near an affordable commuter rail line in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, the development makes walking a few blocks to the train each morning more attractive than walking a few steps to the car.

Mariposa's biggest contribution to the movement may be the Mariposa Stair, a brilliant multimedia art installation that inspires residents in one new building to skip the elevators altogether. As the stair rises four floors, a Mayan folktale called "The Chocolate Tree" unfolds in chapters. Climbers can read about the plants and animals in the story's jungle setting and push buttons to hear bird calls and thunderstorms. A chandelier it's not lavish, just plastic panels and LED lights strung together with cables hangs down the center, illuminating the space in gentle red, blue and green hues.

The stair, designed by Rezan Prananta and a team from the Denver architecture firm Shears Adkins Rockmore, has a pleasant vibe and, so far, people are using it.

This holistic attitude is architecture's greatest promise and seems to be steering trends. More and more, landscape architects a subset of the profession that used to enter building ventures late in the planning to finish parking lots and lawns are emerging as project leaders, devising how sites will be organized, used and maintained. These days, they might be the ones to hire building architects to complete their vision.

More here:
Architecture future: How buildings will begin to make our lives better

The owner of a southeastern Wisconsin startup company thinks the building system he has developed could transform the construction industry.

Theres nothing out there like this, said Jim Jendusa, president of Lightweight Structures LLC. This could take off.

Lightweight Structures workers assemble a FORTECO composite frame for the Good Harvest Market store that is being built in Waukesha.

Workers pour concrete on a FORTECO frame at a job site.

Insulation decking is installed between the frames. Rebar is run through the frames. Then concrete is poured over the frames. Lightweight Structures takes the completed wall and floor pieces to the job site and installs them. Once installed, the frames are ready for drywall and the steel pieces come with pre-punched holes for wiring.

The system has numerous advantages, Jendusa said. It is more energy efficient and offers better soundproofing than wood frame construction. It costs considerably less than precast concrete construction.

Our price point is quite a bit less than what is out there in the market, Jendusa said.

Assembly of the frames requires little labor and the system can be installed quickly, both resulting in major cost savings, Jendusa said.

The labor to put this together is very reasonable, he said. Its not that complicated.

The system could be particularly in demand for big box retail construction and high rise construction of commercial and residential buildings, Jendusa said. The reduced costs of the system, improved energy efficiency and better soundproofing make the system a strong fit for high-rise construction and could provide costs savings that help more high-rise buildings get built, he said.

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Wall and floor framing system provides energy efficiency at low cost

On sunny days, Bill Cook likes to check the meter that tracks electricity produced by the solar array installed at the First United Methodist Church in Glenwood Springs. If its running the other direction, he says, it means the church is saving money rather than paying for electricity. Cook, who is the chair of the churchs Capital Improvements Committee, is especially proud on those days.

First United, whose project the Post Independent featured over the summer, is just one Garfield County congregation to install energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy systems. Since 2011, Garfield Clean Energy, which is managed by CLEER, has helped 10 church congregations across the county become better energy stewards.

Churches in Parachute, Rifle, Glenwood Springs and Carbondale have invested in solar arrays, high-efficiency heating and cooling systems and controls, insulation and LED lighting.

Churches that save money on energy costs will have more funds to focus on their primary mission, said Shelley Kaup, an energy coach for Garfield Clean Energy. They are also practicing good stewardship for the Earth and helping to preserve its resources for future generations.

Such was the case for First United Methodist, when its capital committee forged ahead with major energy upgrades in 2014. Energy efficiency improvements to the sanctuary roof solved longstanding heat loss and water damage issues. And an 11.3-kilowatt solar electric system will offset about half of the churchs annual electricity use.

With the solar panels, it was pretty much a win-win thing because that ended up being a savings of 50 percent, Cook said.

Built in 1940, the church sanctuary has a beautiful interior ceiling, but it had no insulation and no attic where insulation could be placed. Over time, the roof began leaking, damaging the tongue-and-groove ceiling. A full roof replacement would have endangered the planks and exposed timbers and joists key interior design elements that church members wanted to preserve.

So Cook consulted with an engineer and architect along with Kaup for energy coaching. The team recommended replacement of the exterior roof with structural insulated panels, or SIPs. The panels created a thick layer of insulation on the sanctuary roof, and created a strong surface for the installation of solar panels.

Most of the solar electric system was paid for through community grants and rebates, with energy coaching guidance from Kaup.

CLEER made us aware that rebates were available, Cook said. It was nice to have people helping us who are closely involved with energy conservation; they know about these programs that are going on.

Continue reading here:
10 Garfield churches take steps to boost energy efficiency

On sunny days, Bill Cook likes to check the meter that tracks electricity produced by the solar array installed at the First United Methodist Church in Glenwood Springs. If its running the other direction, he says, it means the church is saving money rather than paying for electricity. Cook, who is the chair of the churchs Capital Improvements Committee, is especially proud on those days.

First United, whose project the Post Independent featured over the summer, is just one Garfield County congregation to install energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy systems. Since 2011, Garfield Clean Energy, which is managed by CLEER, has helped 10 church congregations across the county become better energy stewards.

Churches in Parachute, Rifle, Glenwood Springs and Carbondale have invested in solar arrays, high-efficiency heating and cooling systems and controls, insulation and LED lighting.

Churches that save money on energy costs will have more funds to focus on their primary mission, said Shelley Kaup, an energy coach for Garfield Clean Energy. They are also practicing good stewardship for the Earth and helping to preserve its resources for future generations.

Such was the case for First United Methodist, when its capital committee forged ahead with major energy upgrades in 2014. Energy efficiency improvements to the sanctuary roof solved longstanding heat loss and water damage issues. And an 11.3-kilowatt solar electric system will offset about half of the churchs annual electricity use.

With the solar panels, it was pretty much a win-win thing because that ended up being a savings of 50 percent, Cook said.

Built in 1940, the church sanctuary has a beautiful interior ceiling, but it had no insulation and no attic where insulation could be placed. Over time, the roof began leaking, damaging the tongue-and-groove ceiling. A full roof replacement would have endangered the planks and exposed timbers and joists key interior design elements that church members wanted to preserve.

So Cook consulted with an engineer and architect along with Kaup for energy coaching. The team recommended replacement of the exterior roof with structural insulated panels, or SIPs. The panels created a thick layer of insulation on the sanctuary roof, and created a strong surface for the installation of solar panels.

Most of the solar electric system was paid for through community grants and rebates, with energy coaching guidance from Kaup.

CLEER made us aware that rebates were available, Cook said. It was nice to have people helping us who are closely involved with energy conservation; they know about these programs that are going on.

See the rest here:
Garfield churches boost energy efficiency

Google has brought its Nest Learning Thermostat to the UK. Here's what you need to know about Google's Nest release date, price and features.

Weve been waiting for UK availability for the Nest smart thermostat since its US release in 2011. Three years later the heating programmer and thermostat is now on sale in the UK, boasting the same features as the US version.

The Nest Learning Thermostat learns your domestic schedule, programs itself and can be controlled from an app on your phone or tablet. The company claims that the Nest Thermostat can lower heating and cooling bills up to 20 percent.

Nest Labs, recently bought by Google for $3 billion, has also announced its first UK energy partnership with npower, which will offer the Nest Thermostat to its customers as part of their energy plans. It promises more UK energy company partnerships are coming.

See also: Tado smart thermostat review

The UK release date for the Nest thermostat control is April 2, 2014. The UK price, including professional installation, is 249. It is also available for self install for 179, but Nest "highly recommends" professional installation because the Nest Thermostat connects to the heating system using high-voltage cables.

The 29 Stand for Nest Learning Thermostat is an accessory for those who dont have thermostat cables available in the wall or want to replace wireless thermostats.

Both products are sold separately and are available at more than 400 retail stores and online through Apple, Amazon, B&Q, John Lewis and Nest UK. You can also get it via the Google Play store.

Read more from the original source:
Nest thermostat UK release date and price - smart heating gadget comes to UK

Even though prices are way down, oil cant catch a break from homeowners who remain willing to spend thousands of dollars converting their heating systems to natural gas.

Heating oil has been losing market share to natural gas, electricity and other heat sources for years. Only 6% of U.S. homes used oil heat in 2012, government data show. But in the chilly Northeastern states, oil warms about 25% of all homes.

The price of a gallon of No. 2 heating oil a highly refined, cleaner-burning fuel used in single-family homes is down 26% this year, from a high of $4.242 on Feb. 24 to $3.142 on Dec. 15, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Oil industry leaders believe the price drop and the $5,000 to $19,000 expense of installing gas lines, furnaces and other equipment ought to make homeowners think twice about switching from oil to gas. Theres a large capital cost to making this kind of switch, said Richard Sweetser, president of Exergy Partners, which consults for the oil industry.

But theres no sign the price plunge has slowed the pace of oil-to-gas conversions.

Data from Con Edison, one of New York Citys gas utilities, says big buildings are switching from oil to gas at a faster pace than in 2013.

Through October, 1,249 large buildings in Con Eds New York City territory switched from oil to gas, a pace of 125 conversions per month. In all of 2013, Con Ed won 1,293 new big-building gas customers, or 108 per month. Some building owners are being pushed to change to gas becasue of city anti-pollution rules requiring a phase-out of dirtier, less refined No. 4 and No. 6 heating oil.

Con Edison has no data on single-family home conversions, but says they seem to be running at about the same pace as last year.

Cheap oil has probably kept a few people from switching over to gas, said Ryan Williams, general manager of 128 Plumbing, Heating and Cooling in Wakefield, Mass.

But Williams says customers who have changed to natural gas are still happy despite cheaper oil prices. The technology behind the gas equipment is far superior to any oil equipment, he said. Nobody would ever put oil in their house unless there was no gas on their street.

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Home heating oil is now cheap, but natural gas is even cheaper

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image

A furnace service representative examines Valerie Ferguson's furnace closet that's on her condo deck. Photo Store

Bad enough the furnace broke down in the coldest winter in a century.

For Valerie Ferguson, that misfortune Feb. 1, 2014, was the start of her heating troubles.

"I never would have guessed I'd be in a condo with no heat," she said.

The problem? New high efficiency furnaces mandated by federal law don't fit in the space designed for the furnace in Ferguson's Tuxedo Village condomium.

The federal civil servant spent the winter huddled under blankets with space heaters for warmth, unable to find a new furnace without a costly refit.

"I'd be under the afghan and the cat would be under there with me," she joked.

With winter hard on Winnipeg's heels again, Ferguson said it looked like she faced the same desperate freeze as last year but is hoping she'll have a new furnace within weeks.

In the last year, half a dozen contractors crossed her door to figure out how she can install a new furnace. Some came back twice, she said.

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Left in the cold