LITTLE ROCK (Arkansas Attorney General's Office) - As temperatures rise, so do utility bills for many Arkansans who rely on air conditioning to keep them cool during the hot summer months.

The cost of cooling a home is one of the single largest utility expenses. In Arkansas, a survey of residential electricity consumption determined that cooling a home accounted for about one-fourth of annual costs.

Fortunately, there are a number of ways that Arkansas consumers can stay cool and save money on their utility bills. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel issued this consumer alert today with advice on how Arkansans can lower utility bills during the hot summer months.

Its almost as difficult to handle the triple-digit utility bills as it is the triple-digit temperatures we experience during a typical Arkansas summer, McDaniel said. Obviously, utility costs will be higher than normal during periods of extreme heat, but there are some effective and inexpensive ways to save money and keep the house at a comfortable temperature, too.

Think about buying reflective window coatings to help keep sunlight from adding heat to the home, since more than 40 percent of the heat that builds up in a home enters through the windows.

Set the thermostat no lower than 78 degrees while at home. When away from home, set it at least five degrees warmer. (Consumers reduce cooling costs an average of 3 to 5 percent for every degree higher on the thermostat).

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Consumer Alert: Don't Sweat Summer Utility Bills

Also consider the installation of heating and air conditioning vents. Improperly designed systems may have ducts too small for the amount of air blowing out, or an overly large duct in one room may siphon off air that should be going to another part of the house. The heating and cooling system may be either undersized or too large for the duct system, providing too little or much more pressure than the system was designed to handle. A contractor can do a mathematical calculation as to what size HVAC system your home needs based on the type of materials you are using, the indoor air quality desired and the size of your home. The placing of your vents and ducts are crucial in keeping your house at a comfortable temperature year-round. If vents are placed where you plan to put down furniture or in the largest room of your home, there are going to be issues. All of these situations will add to the total cost of your installations.

You might also want to check your home for thermal insulation if you live in extreme heat or freezing temperatures. Insulation keeps the heat and cool air in your home, which means a lower electric bill than if it leaks out and turns your system on more often. There are various types of insulation that you can install in your home, and a home energy auditor can point out the best places for it in your house.

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HVAC Cost Guides | Average Heating & Air Conditioning Prices

Niagara This Week - Welland

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Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning Refrigeration Carbon Monoxide Alarms Control Systems Air Purification Furnaces and more!

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Brian Nagy Heating & Cooling

Renovations began last month and should be finished by Sept. 1. Crews are replacing the limestone steps and will install a heating loop underneath the steps and nearby sidewalks to melt ice during the winter.

The steps are a popular spot for photos among tourists, wedding parties and others. Matt White, assistant director of Capitol facility operations, said the heating system will eliminate the need for chemical de-icers that can damage the limestone.

"They were cracked and broken up," White said. "We were going to replace them anyway, so we got the idea to put the heat circle in to preserve it."

The steps will last longer without the use of chemical de-icers, officials said. Overall, the project is expected to cost $90,000. Steve Benkovsky, Capitol facilities director, said the money is part of $3.1 million the Legislature allocated to the building this fiscal year.

With this year's funding, crews also have renovated the building's air conditioning system and its heating and cooling controls. They also plan to make some roof repairs, Benkovsky said.

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Steps at state Capitol building getting overhaul

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SAN JOSE (CBS SF) In a low-turnout primary election in Santa Clara County Tuesday, the races for mayor of San Jose and three of five San Jose city councilmembers are headed for runoff elections this fall, Sheriff Laurie Smith was re-elected, and all eight ballot measures passed, according to unofficial results.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese and San Jose Councilman Sam Liccardo, neither of whom received a majority of votes for mayor, will face each other in a runoff election on Nov. 4. Six candidates who finished first and second in the balloting for the open seats in City Council Districts 1, 3, and 7 will also face off that day.

Meanwhile, in the hotly contested race for council District 5, which includes East San Jose, Magdalena Carrasco received more than 53 percent of the votes, a majority and enough to unseat San Jose City Councilman Xavier Campos, who received a little more than 33 percent.

Cortese garnered more than 33 percent of city voters for mayor to Liccardos 25 percent. After them, the other top vote-getters for mayor were San Jose Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen with 21 percent, San Jose City Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio at almost 10 percent and Councilwoman Rose Herrera with a bit above 6 percent.

Cortese, a former San Jose councilman and vice mayor who has two years remaining in his second term as supervisor, has pitched a three point plan to beef-up the citys police patrols, suppress street gangs and bring residents, businesses and schools together to resolve problems. He also advocates city-run homework centers and reading programs.

Liccardo, a one-time county deputy district attorney who relinquished his District 3 seat to run for mayor, said he wants to cut wasteful spending, reform city employee pensions, hire 200 more police officers, improve response times to medical emergencies, repair roads, reduce homelessness and have longer school days in San Jose.

Vice Mayor Nguyen gave up her District 7 seat to be a mayoral candidate.

Oliverio, who represents District 6, and Herrera, of District 8, are not up for re-election and will remain on the council. In city council District 1, which attracted seven hopefuls, Paul Fong, topped the list with nearly 29 percent of the vote and will face Charles Chappie Jones, who received more than 23 percent, in November.

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Liccardo, Cortese Headed For Runoff In San Jose Mayors Race

SAN JOSE, Calif.

In a low-turnout primary election in Santa Clara County Tuesday, the races for mayor of San Jose and three of five San Jose city councilmembers are headed for runoff elections this fall.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Laurie Smith was re-elected, and all eight ballot measures passed, according to unofficial results.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese and San Jose Councilman Sam Liccardo, neither of whom received a majority of votes for mayor, will face each other in a runoff election on Nov. 4.

Six candidates who finished first and second in the balloting for the open seats in City Council Districts 1, 3, and 7 will also face off that day.

Meanwhile, in the hotly contested race for council District 5, which includes East San Jose, Magdalena Carrasco received more than 53 percent of the votes, a majority and enough to unseat San Jose City Councilman Xavier Campos, who received a little more than 33 percent.

Cortese garnered more than 33 percent of city voters for mayor to Liccardo's 25 percent. After them, the other top vote-getters for mayor were San Jose Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen with 21 percent, San Jose City Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio at almost 10 percent and Councilwoman Rose Herrera with a bit above 6 percent.

Cortese, a former San Jose councilman and vice mayor who has two years remaining in his second term as supervisor, has pitched a "three point plan" to beef-up the city's police patrols, suppress street gangs and bring residents, businesses and schools together to resolve problems. He also advocates city-run homework centers and reading programs.

Liccardo, a one-time county deputy district attorney who relinquished his District 3 seat to run for mayor, said he wants to cut wasteful spending, reform city employee pensions, hire 200 more police officers, improve response times to medical emergencies, repair roads, reduce homelessness and have longer school days in San Jose.

Vice Mayor Nguyen gave up her District 7 seat to be a mayoral candidate.

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Cortese, Liccardo in runoff for San Jose mayor

By Katherine MozzonePublished: June 2, 2014, 7:47 pmUpdated: June 2, 2014, 7:48 pm

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE)-A heat wave surges through the metro area with the possibility of record temperatures in the net few days.

Its supposed to reach 99 or 100 degrees, in the valley Tuesday.

Summer has set in in Albuquerque and it has heating and cooling businesses slammed.

The phones have been ringing off the hook at Daniels Heating and cooling.

Our calendars are pretty booked up. Weve got about 20 calls that were going to each day this week. and then we have two installs going on each day, also, said Daniels General Manager Michelle Rhodes.

Rhodes said ever since the heat kicked in, they have seen a surge in calls, everything from tune-ups to repairs and switches from swamp coolers. Even with six technicians and two install teams, Rhodes said they are already booking appointments into next week and making repair calls a priority.

We do try to triage kind of our appointments and take care of the people that dont have any cooling, explained Rhodes.

While some are trying to stay cool inside, others are braving the heat.

Im from Louisiana and I cant stand this, Wynne Hendry said.

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Hot temps has heating & cooling companies slammed

FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) -

The city of Fresno says that the "Home Energy Retrofit Opportunity" or "HERO" Program has been successful since it started in February. The program cuts down on energy bills and water usage.

'HERO' offers low interest financing for energy efficient upgrades. The products the program offers includes; heating and cooling systems and energy saving windows, doors, roofs and insulation. Solar panels and energy saving light fixtures can also be installed.

Contractors used to install the products that will make your home more energy efficient have to be registered with 'HERO'.

The program is not free, you take out a low interest loan from the 'HERO' program and you make one payment a year. The payment is added to your property taxes. Interest from the loan is tax deductible.

For more information the "HERO" Program go to http://www.heroprogram.com or call 1-800-HERO-411.

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Would You Like An Energy Efficient Home? Try The 'HERO' Program

Batavia, Illinois (PRWEB) May 30, 2014

After losing their jobs and suffering a series of unfortunate health issues and financial setbacks, Ken and Jeanine Staples found themselves in dire straights and close to losing their home. An old, inefficient furnace from the 1940's and mounting fuel costs were adding to the pressure throughout the winter. But at last, things took a positive turn with great news from Confident Aire, Inc. announcing they had won the companys annual Ultimate Energy Transformation Award and would be receiving a new Trane 95% Efficient Furnace. As part of the award package, the Staples will also receive a home air quality test, complete cleaning of all their air ducts, a brand new hot water heater and a new programmable thermostat all at no charge from Confident Aire, the Illinois-based HVAC and Plumbing Company, in cooperation with Munch's Supply, and the Trane Company.

Pete Hansford, a family friend, had nominated the Staples for The Ultimate Energy Transformation Award without their prior knowledge. Pete admired both Ken and Jeanine for their incredible fortitude in staying positive despite a series of tremendous obstacles.

Things started to go downhill when Jeanine lost her job. Out of work only a few days, Jeanine broke her hand and wrist leaving her unable to look for work. After these injuries finally healed, she slipped on some stairs and broke both her shoulder and ankle. At the same time Ken was diagnosed with a blod clot in his leg and had to remain in the hospital for a time, leaving him unable to care for his wife. Ken had also lost his brother to brain cancer after caring for him in the Staples' home at the same time he was assisting his wife with her broken hand and wrist. To make matters worse, at the end of December Jeanine's unemployment funding was cutoff leaving the family with no income.

Ken is a self-employed handyman and was without work throughout the recent rough winter. Now that the warmer weather has arrived, Ken is still not able to work much due to his own health issues and having to care for his wife Jeanine.

Ken and Jeanine Staples are hopeful that the new free furnace will mark the start of a positive trend in their lives. They will receive a more fuel-efficient heating system and save significantly on heating bills next winter.

The new system will be installed in the next few weeks, along with the new hot water heater and air purifier and their heating ducts will be thoroughly cleaned for a healthier living environment.

Tom Wangler, owner of Confident Aire, Inc. and his Technical Team plan to visit the Staples' home to perform a load analysis of the home heating environment to determine the exact size furnace the home will require. They will also place an AirAdvice monitor in the home to test levels of VOCs, dust, mold, pollen and other aggravating airborne contaminants that can compromise a family's health. This test will be performed both before and after the installation of the new Atmos Air Ionic Air Purification System to demonstrate its effectiveness.

Assessing the homes need for a new furnace involves a very intensive evaluation of the home, said owner, Tom Wangler. At least it should be. We spend time calculating what the actual load requirements on the furnace will be. We measure the homes square footage as well as take into account other critical factors including the number and size of windows, where and how much sunshine comes into the home, the thickness of walls, room sizes and whether a garage, basement or crawlspace lies below the rooms. We also inspect air returns and heating vents to check for proper air flow and try to find those drafty areas where heat loss typically occurs.

Measuring for a new furnace can involve a complicated algorithm, but Tom Wangler and his Team use a software program to help with the calculations. If you want to maximize efficiency and maintain an optimal level of home comfort year round, you need to do the math, said Wangler.

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Confident Aire, Inc., a Heating, Cooling, Plumbing and Energy-Saving Solutions Company Awards a Trane Furnace for ...

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Newswise ROLLA, Mo. A World War II-era power plant that has provided energy to much of the Missouri University of Science and Technology campus for nearly seven decades is powering down as the university makes the transition to a geothermal energy system.

The power plant, which was constructed in 1945, burned coal and wood chips to provide steam to much of campus for the past 69 years. The plants boilers were permanently shut down on Wednesday, May 21.

By the fall, Missouri S&Ts geothermal energy system one of the most comprehensive ever undertaken by a university will be fully in service. It will provide heating and cooling to 17 buildings on campus and chilled water to the majority of campus buildings.

The geothermal system consists of three separate plants that will distribute energy from the system to different parts of campus. Over the summer, a fourth facility will be completed to provide heating and cooling to the Gale Bullman Building at 10th Street and Bishop Avenue.

The heat recovery chillers of the three main campus plants have been operating since early April, and the system is providing heat to six buildings on campus. Since mid-April, the system has also provided the majority of the chilled water supply used for air conditioning on campus, says James Packard, director of facilities operations at Missouri S&T.

The number of buildings being served by the geothermal system will probably double within a week, when one of the geothermal plants begins to produce hot water as part of the start-up and commissioning of that plants systems, Packard says. That plant is located in James E. Bertelsmeyer Hall, the new chemical and biochemical engineering building under construction at 11th and State streets.

When completed, the geothermal system is expected to cut the universitys annual energy use by 50 percent and reduce its carbon footprint by 25,000 metric tons per year. That reduction amounts to roughly the equivalent of the greenhouse gas emissions of 4,600 passenger vehicles a year. The geothermal system will also reduce Missouri S&Ts water usage by over 10 percent, or 10 million gallons per year, and eliminate a $34 million backlog in deferred maintenance costs for the aging power plant.

The geothermal project was approved by the University of Missouri System Board of Curators in 2010. Funded through the sale of bonds by the university, the system is expected to save more than $1 million annually in energy and operational costs. That savings is expected to grow to $2.8 million a year. The university plans to repay the debt over 30 years through savings from the project.

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World War II-Era Power Plant Goes Quiet as Missouri S&T Switches to Geothermal