The Jacksonville Electric Authority is offering rebates for home energy efficiency improvements through the ShopSmart with JEA program. Rebates for heat pumps or central air conditioners qualify by purchasing ENERGY STAR central air conditioners with a 14 SEER or higher rating, and air-source heat pumps with a 14.5 SEER or higher rating.

Rebates for both central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps run from $125 to $200. Rebates from qualified contractors such as J&W Heating and Air Conditioning are clearly displayed on the invoice provided by the contractor.

Carrier Cool Cash rebates are paid on qualifying products and systems ranging up to $1,100. A system rebate increases to $1,450 with addition of Infinity® Touch™ Wi-Fi bundle or control, Infinity® air purifier, and steam humidifier.

Only Carrier systems sold as a replacement for the homeowner’s existing system or as add-on to an existing home qualify. No commercial applications, new construction applications or multi-family applications are eligible for this promotion.

Carrier units must be purchased between March 1 and June 30, 2013 and installed before July 15, 2013 to qualify. Rebates are given instantly off the installation price.

Any J&W Heating and Air Conditioning professional sales person can assist with fully understanding all rebates conditions, amounts, and when the rebate is received or credited.

J&W Heating and Air Conditioning has proudly served Jacksonville and surrounding communities since 1966, and is a 2012 President’s Award recipient from Carrier for factory authorized dealers.

Financing is available through Carrier and Wells Fargo, providing low monthly payments, preferred interest rates, and flexible terms. Online applications are available.

The majority of Energy Star tax credits enjoyed by consumers in 2011 and before have been eliminated as of January 1, 2012. The Geothermal Heat Pump tax credit offers a credit of 30% of the cost – excluding installation costs – with no upper limit.

The only other Energy Star tax credits for 2012 include solar power and wind turbine power. The difference between a tax deduction and a tax credit is with a tax deduction you deduct the amount of the cost from your gross income, along with other deductions, to arrive at your net income which is then taxed. A tax credit allows you to deduct the amount of the tax credit directly from the taxes due on your net income, explicitly lowering the amount of tax due, not the amount of income on which you are taxed. Tax credits for most people are usually highly favored over tax deductions.

To qualify for the tax credit, your new Geothermal Heat Pump must be installed in a home you own and use as either a primary or secondary residence. This includes where you live, and any second home you may have such as a beach home or a vacation home in the mountains. The tax credit does not apply to units you install in any rental properties you may own.

Geothermal Heat Pumps re among the most efficient and comfortable heating and cooling technologies currently available because they use the earth’s natural heat to provide heating, cooling, and often, water heating.

Geothermal Heat Pumps which qualify for the Energy Star rating are over 45% more efficient than standard heating and cooling options and less expensive to operate. Typically, installing any Energy Star rated heating and cooling equipment can save homeowners more than $200 a year on energy bills.

Family owned J&W Heating and Air offers a complete line of residential and commercial heating and cooling systems, and has been in business in Jacksonville for over 40 years. The company
offers each customer work by factory trained, certified technicians, planned maintenance agreements, extended service agreements, extended warranties on new equipment, free in-home estimates, competitive rates, financing plans, plus 24-hour live response for emergencies.

Give Your Outdoor Condensing Unit Space to Breath:

This means removing unnecessary grass and weeds that can block the air unit. Your outdoor condensing unit cannot cool the air inside your house if it cannot draw air inside from outside. While it may be tempting to cover it thinking that it needs to be protected from outdoor winter elements, the fact is that this is not necessary. The name says it all—outdoor condensing unit. Perhaps it was actually designed to survive outside.

Clean That Air Filter:

Having a dirty filter is a big no-no. It will destroy your unit’s efficiency, and in wintertime, can cause the evaporator to ice over. Keeping the filter clean can lower your air conditioner’s energy consumption by 5%–15%. Now, while some types of filters need to cleaned, others are replaced. Whatever the case, make sure you either replace or clean your air conditioning filters every one to two months during winter.

Don’t Forget the Coils:

Just like your air conditioner, filters need to be cleaned and so do your coils. Granted, a clean filter will help the evaporator coils from acquiring dirt too quickly, it will still acquire a certain amount of dirt. If it continues to acquire a large amount of dirt, it will lose its ability to absorb heat. Make sure you check and clean it every year. Also, don’t forget to remove any debris or leaves that may be splattered within at least 2 feet.

Sealing your Window Frame:

Before wintertime starts, make sure the seal between the air conditioner and the window frame is in complete contact with the unit’s metal case. Because this seal can be damaged by something as simple as moisture, you want to avoid having cool air to escape from your house.

Giving Good ol’ Professionals a Call:

While most of the items on this checklist sound like common sense, there is always the probability of coming across a teensy detail that may be unfamiliar to you. There’s nothing wrong about knowing your own limitations. If you come across any problem regarding your air conditioning system that you can’t figure out on your own, giving a professional a call can be both life and time saving.

When it is time to replace your air conditioning unit, talk to a representative from a Jacksonville air conditioning company about energy-efficient models. There is a wide variety of energy efficient models available. When looking at your options, make sure to pay attention to the SEER rating, or the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. Remember, the higher the SEER rating the unit is provided, the higher its level of efficiency is.

Make sure that the equipment that you are installing is the proper size for the area that it will be servicing. Purchasing an air conditioning unit that is oversized for the area that you will be cooling will lead to an overuse of power, which will cost you more to run than is necessary. Likewise, if you purchase an air conditioning that is undersized for the area that you wish to provide cooling service to, then the unit will need to work extra hard in order to properly cool the space. If you are curious about the correct size that is necessary for your home, then contact a Jacksonville air conditioning company to obtain a professional opinion.

Once your air conditioning unit is installed, make sure to set your thermostat to a temperature that will keep your home at a moderate temperature. Many energy experts recommend to set your AC unit to 78 degrees for optimal energy savings. If you feel that 78 degrees is not a practical setting for your home, then try investing in a programmable thermostat, available at many home supply stores in the Jacksonville area and also through Jacksonville air conditioning companies. Programmable thermostats allow you to lower or increase the temperature of your home at key times during the day, when you first wake up or as you return from work for example, allowing you to keep your home at an energy efficient temperature when you are not at home to enjoy the cool air.

Here are a few tips for home maintenance to your HVAC units:

• Your ventilation unit will only run properly when you are providing it with the proper maintenance support. This means replacing air filters as they are needed, which is often every month. Air filters are incredibly inexpensive, and are available at any Jacksonville area home supply store.

• In many cases, your air conditioning and heating condensers are located outside of your home, which leaves them exposed to all of the elements. It is important to regularly check these units and remove and leaves or debris that has fallen on top of the unit. Leaving debris on the condenser of your unit could cause obstruction, and lead to a malfunction.

• Another important aspect of maintenance to your condensers is to clean the cooling fans. This is something that should be done annually at the beginning of spring, or before the main cooling seasons. When debris reaches the fan blades and cooling coils they can become rusted. In order to do this task completely, it is very important that you turn off all power from the condenser unit. While this can easily be done at home, if you have any questions or concerns during this task make sure to contact your HVAC Jacksonville specialist.

• In order to keep your condenser working strong, make sure to remove any growth from around the unit. Keeping at least two feet of area clean of vegetation is a good rule to live by. This will prevent any complications from the vegetation affecting your home’s heating and air conditioning ability. In addition to this, if possible try to keep the condenser shaded from the sun to prevent any additional damage from the hot Florida heat.

Here are a few tips for staying cool indoors as we wait for the heat to finally fade away outdoors!

• Try an indoor game night. Over the course of the summer many families find relief from the sun by spending time at the beach or in the pool. When the kids get home from school, it may not be practical to load everyone in the car to head to the beach. Worst of all, the backyard is still too hot for outdoor play dates. There is a simple solution to this conundrum, try implementing an indoor game night. Invite a few friends or spend the night bonding with family Indoor games inside of your cooled off home with ice-cold AC is sure to make everyone forget the raging heat outdoors.

• Make an indoor tailgate. Fall is football season, and for many people this means it is time for outdoor barbeques and tailgate parties. Beat the heat this football season by moving the tailgate indoors. Instead of meeting up with your friends outside of the stadium, invite everyone over to your cooled off home and watch the game indoors! Instead of grilling burgers outside, impress all of your friends with a gourmet dish of chicken nachos. Indoor tailgating is a great way to enjoy the big game and the entire experience and excitement of the stadium without battling the heat. Just make sure to find Jacksonville AC repair before inviting a big crowd over!

• Try having a cold dinner. Icy even! After a long hot day out in the sun, nothing is better than spending time in your cooled off home. Instead of heating up the house that your air conditioner has worked so hard to cool off by turning on the stove, try making a cool dinner every once and a while. A few great cool meal options include salads, cooled soups, and pasta salads.

Instead of sweating,look for alternative means to cool the house down. Consider installing fans in important, common family rooms or ventilation fans to draw the heat out. Keep the windows covered and ensure the heat doesn’t infiltrate the house. Consider having a green surrounding the most intelligent tip is to have trees and plants around the home, since they can radically reduce the radiation from the sun in the summer time.

Coming back to the broken down A/C, the first thing to check is the air-filter. If you have a permanent air-filter wash it thoroughly, where as, in case its a disposable filter feel free to change it. If the cooling is still down there is no need to panic, but it is time to call for REPAIRMAN.

If you have a warranty then its good, otherwise getting a damaged A/C unit repaired will cost you dearly. Usually, the Freon gas that makes the thermostat cooler is the issue. A refill solves the issue most of the time. If the Freon refill doesn’t work your air conditioner might require complete servicing.

When selecting an A/C repair service ensure the repairman or the company is licensed and insured. A good A/C repair service will have a successful track record, certifiable experience and an honorable reputation. The first sign of a competent repairman is that he can tell the issue without having to inspect the unit, this is called experience. Its advisable that you ask neighbors and family members for recommendations. A highly recommended A/C repair service will not only ensure satisfaction, but also provide cost savings.

You should always ask for special deals and discounts offered on your warranty. Many companies offer free cleaning and discounts on parts replaced. In addition to that, a good A/C repair company will have 24 hour emergency service.

A good tip is to get your air conditioner serviced a month before the summer. The best way is to get off-site servicing, the company will be able to repair and test the unit before they re-install it at your place. Many companies offer discounted services before summer so take advantage of that.

An air conditioner not tuned regularly loses 5% efficiency each year. Have your system serviced regularly and do the minor maintenance yourself. You can always check the air filter and clean or replace it if necessary. Also you can check the electrical terminals and the thermostat control for any errors.

A frequently tuned system as many professional repairmen will tell you will run on 95% efficiency. Regular tune-up & maintenance also reduces your costs of having the air conditioner repaired every year you need it in the summer. When not maintained and you let fungi grow on the unit and dust inhabiting the insides, get ready for a big fat repair & servicing bill.

Usually A/C repair services offer special discounts before the summer season begins, so you should secure such savings on service and repair. Service usually includes cleaning the condensing unit coils, checking the electrical system of the unit, oiling of fan motors, checking all the belts, checking system operating pressures and thermostat performance.

Checking the Freon gas is very vital too. Freon gas is essentially the most important item that allows the A/C to cool the home, since this gas acts as the coolant for your unit. An air conditioner low on coolant will perform well below its potential. Freon has been categorized a greenhouse gas and getting a refill in a leaky A/C unit is prohibited. Make sure the unit has no gas leaks since this can lead to both Government penalties and environmental damage. In addition, never ask the repairmen to violate this law otherwise they can lose their license.

To ensure proper working replace your old air filters with new ones ensuring good quality. Wash the filters regularly and replace them when the occasion demands it. Also avoid closing air supply outlets in your home, because this is harmful for the operation of the cooling system.

When the air conditioning unit runs for long hours it requires routine checkups and maintenance. Even the most reliable A/C’s require a regular checkup to ensure there are no FREON leaks, damaged or malfunctioning parts and the unit is performing at optimal potential.

Modern Eco friendly devices are more reliable and their complex design allows them to have a longer life, fewer maintenance checkups and consume less power. Once your unit has lived out its life, be sure to replace with an eco friendly unit.