How a Smart Thermostat Can Save You Money on Heating This Winter

January 23, 2025

If you’re looking for ways to save on your winter energy bills without impacting your comfort, installing a smart thermostat is one of the best and easiest options. Although it usually doesn’t cost that much to heat a home in the Burbank, CA area, a smart thermostat can still save you money on heating. We’ll explain how smart thermostats work and explore the various ways they can help you reduce your energy bills this winter. How a Smart Thermostat Works Some people believe that smart thermostats don’t differ much from other programmable thermostats aside from connecting to Wi-Fi and being controlled using a mobile app. While this is somewhat true for the most basic units, most smart thermostats on the market today are far more advanced. They have learning capabilities that allow them to know when you’re home and away and start recognizing your normal behavior patterns. You still have to input your desired temperature settings at first, but the thermostat should be able to program or adjust the settings on its own after 10 to 14 days. Most smart thermostats have a built-in motion sensor that helps them to determine whether someone is still home. If no one walks...

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How to Save on Summer Cooling Costs in Burbank

July 12, 2024

It’s easier to beat the Burbank, CA summer heat with an efficient and reliable air conditioner. Even then, cooling costs can skyrocket when the temperatures soar. Try some of these tips and services to help keep your utility bills low and reduce the stress on your cooling system. Open Windows at Night Opening your windows on cool nights can be a highly effective way to reduce cooling costs. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, utilizing natural ventilation during cooler hours can significantly lower indoor temperatures and decrease the reliance on air conditioning. This practice can lead to substantial energy savings. By closing windows in the morning before temperatures rise and then reopening them at night, you can create a more energy-efficient home, potentially reducing your monthly cooling costs by up to 30%. Utilize Window Coverings Curtains, blinds, or other window coverings are essential for shielding your home from the blazing sunlight, especially on south-facing windows. The U.S. Department of Energy suggests that window coverings can reduce heat gain by up to 77%, significantly improving your home’s energy efficiency. Keeping window coverings closed during the daytime when the sun is beating down can maintain a cooler indoor environment and help...

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Should You Get a Home Energy Audit?

October 3, 2022

The best way to determine whether you should take a certain action is to understand its pros and cons. After you weigh them against one another, you can then make a sound decision. If you’re thinking about getting a home energy audit, here are seven pros to consider that can help make the decision for you. 1. Pinpoint Combustion Issues A home energy audit boasts the potential to save lives in homes that use gas or propane as a fuel source. If any type of combustion issue exists, the home energy audit can pinpoint and address the concern simultaneously. Many types of combustion risks exist in homes using gas or propane as a fuel source. A gas oven that emits too much carbon monoxide can cause death. If you have a back-drafting atmosphere in your home, it’s all the more important to address this risk, which is easily identifiable with a home energy audit. 2. Identify Air Leaks Whether you realize it or not, your home’s energy centers around satisfying your needs. If you’re too hot, you can easily adjust the AC to keep you cooler. During the cooler months, easily adjusting the furnace can keep you warm and cozy....

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What Are the 10 Best Thermostat Practices for Fall?

October 20, 2020

When fall comes, cold weather comes with it. That means you want to prepare your thermostat and your heating system to prepare for the impending cold. The thermostat is the item in your house that controls the temperature the HVAC system will attempt to heat the house too. Here are the 10 best thermostat practices for fall. 1. Insulate Your Home When air seeps out of your home, you will lose heat. That’s why you need to keep your home well-insulated. To do this, start by keeping your doors and windows shut. If your windows and doors are old, you may want to upgrade to efficiency windows and doors. The efficient windows and doors create a tighter seal to prevent air leakage. You may also want to install new insulation within your walls. This foam-like product helps prevent air from going through the walls. You can also install insulation within your ceiling. Having a well-insulated home will help your thermostat maintain your desired temperature settings better. 2. Purchase a Smart Thermostat A smart thermostat is an efficient device that allows you to preset your thermostat’s temperature to help you remain comfortable. You can set your smart thermostat to turn off...

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5 Ways to Save Energy this Fall

October 10, 2019

Whether you own a packaged unit or a heat pump, it will start to get a workout in the autumn. Below are five ways to mitigate the rise in energy bills that you’ll see during the fall season. 1. Replacing Air Filters Any ducted unit will have trouble heating if the ducts and filters are dirty. This means higher bills for increasingly mediocre performance. Pleated air filters, which are the highest in quality, should be replaced every three to six months. At , we can handle this and other minor heating repairs throughout Burbank, CA. You could even request regular maintenance. 2. Schedule Heating System Maintenance With a tune-up every autumn, you won’t have to worry about your system breaking down in the middle of winter. Tune-ups also help you save energy by eliminating any issues that were compromising the unit’s performance. 3. Checking for Adequate Insulation Your attic and walls may be lacking in the way of insulation, which means it will do little to slow down heat loss. Once you know the type, thickness, and R-value of your insulation, you can choose between adding more layers or upgrading to something with a higher R-value. 4. Preventing Drafts Drafts...

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Everything You Need to Know About Smart Thermostats

August 25, 2019

Smart thermostats are becoming more common in residential properties because they offer a high level of convenience to homeowners. The technology associated with these devices makes it possible to have more control of your energy usage each season. If you’re looking to improve the precision of your temperature settings, here are a few facts about smart thermostats. 1. They’ll Save You Energy The primary reason most people decide to install a smart thermostat is that it saves energy on the property. The devices teach themselves and remember your setting preferences over time, which can prevent you from having to perform as many repairs on the HVAC system throughout the year. The thermostat also has the power to adjust the temperature to ensure that the heating or cooling device isn’t in use when the property is vacant. With less energy used throughout the year, homeowners can enjoy spending less money on their bill each month. 2. More Comfort A higher level of comfort is provided with smart thermostats because they include remote sensors that can be placed in each room of the house. The temperatures throughout the residence are prone to vary, which makes it necessary to have more control over...

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Can You Leave Your Air Conditioner Off When You Go on Vacation?

July 20, 2019

If you have a summer vacation planned, you likely have a list of things to do around the house before you leave. When you leave your home for a long time, you make sure the doors are locks and all the lights are turned off to save energy. Should you also turn off your AC unit while you’ll be away? The answer to this question is almost always no. While leaving the air conditioner off when you’re away will definitely help to cut your electrical costs for the month, it may also lead to more costly problems. Set the Temperature Higher Instead of Turning the Unit Off Before you leave for vacation, you can set the temperature on your thermostat to a higher level than you’d normally leave it. While you may typically keep your house around 72 degrees on a hot summer day, if you’ll be gone, you can set it around 83 degrees instead. Setting it this high can help to save you money on your electrical bill but won’t cause other problems. Why You Shouldn’t Shut Off the AC Completely If you shut off your AC unit for an extended period of time, it can lead to...

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SEER Ratings: What Do They Mean?

July 10, 2019

When you start to do research about air conditioners, you’ll likely notice the term “SEER Rating.” You may be wondering what it means and why it’s so important. What SEER Stands For The term stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating. It’s determined by dividing an AC’s cooling output by the energy it consumes. The period of time factored in is a typical cooling season. Since SEER is a ratio of output to input, a higher SEER translates to being more energy-efficient. When manufacturers put a SEER rating on an AC, they’re showing the maximum rating possible. Note that the true SEER is variable, depending on your usage. If you ever have questions, the team at is here to help. What to Look For Here in California, the minimum SEER is 14. Minimum ratings are set by each state, and they’re usually either 13 or 14. However, a unit’s rating could go up to 21 or 22, or even higher in limited situations. If you’re thinking about installing a new AC, consider how efficient you’d like your unit to be. Typically, more efficient units are more expensive, but if you plan on living in your Burbank home for a long time,...

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Save Money on Your Cooling Bills This Summer

June 25, 2019

If your energy bill always feels like a bit of a shock at the end of the month, there are several ways you could address the situation. Here are some of the best strategies for keeping cooling costs low this summer while still staying out of the heat. Clean Your Air Filters Air conditioners can end up catching a lot of accumulated dust in the process of keeping your house cool. All of this extra gunk eventually starts to build up and can reduce the efficiency of the machine. In order to prevent this, we recommend cleaning your air filters at least once a month. Doing so can potentially reduce your cooling bill by up to 10% and will also help the temperature in your house stay cooler. Use Ceiling Fans If your roof is painted black or another dark color, then your house is absorbing a lot of heat. The roof might do better if it’s painted white or reflective color. Note that this will keep your home cool both in the summer and the winter, so if you tend to use your heater in winter, you might be better off trying a different strategy to reduce your energy...

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How You Can Lower Your Energy Bills

April 27, 2019

Utilities are not cheap. It costs a lot to keep the lights on and your home comfortable. High energy bills are a reality that many families deal with, and an unexpected spike can be a budget buster. In order to truly minimize costs over the long term, homeowners should not look to life hacks but rather fundamental approaches that deliver lasting change. Schedule a Home Energy Assessment The experts at in Burbank recommend home energy audits to any customers who haven’t scheduled one recently. How can you make real change without knowing what the underlying issues are? An audit encompasses your entire home inside and out and identifies your inefficiencies. You can then target those inefficiencies based on how much they are costing you and what you will save. Invest in a Programmable Thermostat If you donΓÇÖt own one yet, purchase a programmable thermostat, and learn how to use it. You’ll be glad you did. The EPA estimates that the average homeowner can save almost $200 annually, and that covers the cost of the thermostat in the first year alone. Change Your Filters Regularly Among the most common mistakes homeowners make is not replacing their HVAC filters often enough. The...

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