One of the biggest challenges in winter is maintaining a comfortable climate inside the home. While this hinges upon having a properly functioning furnace, another critical aspect is your home’s ability to conserve the heat it generates. Heat is an expert escape artist, so the more escape routes your home contains, the harder your furnace will need to work to replenish that lost heat (and the more money you’ll spend as a result). To help you minimize heat loss in your home, we’ve asked seven Diamond Certified Experts to pinpoint some areas that should be addressed. Read more

Guest post by Paul Proctor of R E Roofing and Construction, Inc.

If you’re concerned about your home’s energy efficiency, you’ve probably heard about radiant barriers. But what do you actually know about them? Do they really work? And how should they be installed? In the following article, we’ll address these and other questions about radiant barriers. Read more

Imagine if your car only drove at one speed, regardless of whether you were in town or on the freeway, or if your stereo only had a single volume setting that couldn’t be adjusted. Sounds awful, right? Well, when it comes to your air conditioner, you may be dealing with an equivalent situation. In fact, the air conditioners found in many Bay Area homes only have one setting: full blast. Not surprisingly, these relics of cooling technology aren’t exactly the epitome of energy efficiency.

Fortunately, there’s a better option available: the variable-speed air conditioner. Unlike its single-speed predecessors, a variable-speed unit is able to incrementally adjust its power output in conjunction with changing climate conditions—and that’s just the beginning. Read more

The Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association (PHCC) promotes the advancement and education of plumbing and HVAC professionals and advocates for improvements in public health and environmental safety. Since its founding in 1883, the PHCC has assisted in establishing an apprenticeship system, worked with lawmakers to enact sanitation regulations, helped develop improvements in plumbing fixtures and created educational programs to keep its members up-to-date on industry advancements. The association’s goal is to “become so relevant that PHCC contractors are the best choice for professionalism, reliable products and knowledgeable service.” Read more

With the many heating and air conditioning companies operating in the Bay Area, it’s natural to assume that some are better than others, with each possessing varying degrees of experience, organization, customer service and technological proficiency. However, when it comes to choosing an HVAC company, there’s more at stake than its level of skill or service: if you’re not careful, you could pick a fraudulent one. Like many service industries, the HVAC industry is rife with dishonest businesses out to take advantage of unsuspecting consumers.

Too outrageous to be true? Not according to Bryant Kearney, service manager at Moore Solar/Heating/Cooling, who is very familiar with the handiwork of these conniving companies. “Scams are a major problem in the HVAC industry,” he affirms. Read more

Window tint can make a car look cooler, but did you know it can also make a car literally cooler? Fortified with light- and heat-rejecting properties, tint (aka film) blocks incoming solar energy from entering car windows, keeping the interior environment more comfortable and protecting drivers from harmful UV rays.

Unfortunately, California’s legal limits on tint darkness can make it challenging to get these benefits where you need them most—namely, your windshield and front side windows. Read more

Earlier this week, we posted an article featuring expert tips about residential solar. One tip mentioned a recent financing program available to California homeowners called Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE. To learn more about PACE and its benefits, watch this informative video by Diamond Certified Expert Contributor Randy Zechman of Clean Solar, Inc.

To learn more about solar power and other topics, visit our Diamond Certified Expert Reports at experts.diamondcertified.info. Read more