Home Generator Safety Tips

You may be depending on your home generator to get you thought the next bad storm or just make sure you keep the lights on when there is a grid failure. Make sure you’re ready and safe with these generator safety tips.

Ventilation: Be sure to have your generator setup in a well-ventilated area if it runs off gasoline. Just like a car its exhaust can be deadly if left running in a confined space like inside garage or indoors. Choose an area that is away from the doors and windows to make sure that you and your family is not exposed to the exhaust.

Fuel:  When storing fuel for a gas generator it is important that keep the containers that a well sealed and is made of high-grade plastic or metal. 

Don’t Connect to Home wiring: Connecting your portable generator to your home wiring is dangerous. The generator can back feed to power lines connected to your home and create a dangers situation for utility linemen that are trying to fix the problem. Check with your local utility company before installing a hard-wired generator in your home.

Overload:  Portable generators have a power rating. The generator should be only used for a certain number of appliances or equipment. The total wattage used should be less that what the generator is rated to produce.

Generator Ground:  Be sure the check your manual to find out how to properly ground the generator unit. Doing so will insure that you will have safe operation of the unit.

Be sure to call Cool-o-Matic for all your generator needs and to be prepared for whenever the lights go out.

Spring Home Comfort Checklist

Take control of home energy costs

•   Reduce air leaks in your home by caulking, sealing and weather stripping around doors and windows.
• Use exhaust fans to reduce moisture in the kitchen or bath, but turn them off when they’re no longer needed.
•  Make sure your refrigerator’s seals are airtight. Test by closing the door over a dollar bill. If you can pull the dollar out easily, the seal may need to be adjusted.
• Wash only full loads in your dishwasher and clothes washer.
• Turn off lights you don’t need to save energy and reduce extra heat in your home.
• If it’s time to replace your air conditioner, choose an energy-efficient model with two-stage cooling, such as the XC-14 (CooloMatic.com). Two levels of operation allow you to rely on the low setting most of the time.
• Prepare dinner on your outdoor grill to help reduce your air conditioner’s load.
• Check ducts for air leaks, including holes or separated sections.

Don’t let April showers bring May mildew

•   Clear leaves, pine needles and other debris from gutters and downspouts to ensure proper drainage. Check that they’re stable to avoid flying debris during storms.
• Be sure downspouts slope away from your house. They should carry water at least 5' from foundation walls.
•  Position lawn sprinklers so they don’t spray your home’s walls
•  Examine window and door seals and weather-stripping. Reseal if needed.
• Move furniture a few inches away from the inside of exterior walls to increase air circulation.
• Move furniture a few inches away from the inside of exterior walls to increase air circulation.
•  Check windows for condensation and walls for water stains, which are signs of too much humidity.
• Keep your home’s relative humidity between 30 – 50%. A humidity control system such as Humiditrol® (CooloMatic.com) can safely control humidity.

Who needs a ladder? Not these guys!

WIFI Thermostats

Yes the wave of the future is here. It may sound a little over the top but being able to control Thermostat remotely can offer some great saves on your energy bill. You can expect to save up to 300-400 dollars a year in energy costs with a programmable thermostat, which is well worth the cost of one up front.  The thermostat will gradually adjust your home’s temperature as efficient as possible rather then just turning up the heat at 5 pm for you to be home from work.

Nest

The nest has been getting rave reviews and it certainly good looking too.  It offers a great variety of features that can save you money but it cant handle multi-stage cooling systems. But if you think it’s the right fit; the Nest can program itself in about a week of use to your lifestyle. Check out all features: http://www.nest.com/inside-and-out/

Lennox iComfort

Last Summer Lennox released the iComfort that is a programmable thermostat that you can use to for your lifestyle. Just like the Nest it as a iPhone/Android app to control the comfort level in your home. See more of the iComfort here: http://www.lennox.com/icomfortwifi/