Tankless Water Heaters : Hot Water on Demand and Big Energy Savings
Imagine being able to enjoy as much hot water as you need, whenever you need it. Never running out of hot water or being able to take a shower right after another family member does, all while running the dishwasher is no longer a dream. Now, imagine doing all that for a fraction of what you spend now to run your current tank-based water heater.
Tank based water heaters — even the newer, more efficient models — are still wasting a lot of energy. The temperature of the water in the tank drops and in order for you to have hot water again, it needs to be re-heated. This happens constantly, several times a day, whether you are using it or not, whether you are at home or away.
Tankless water heaters don’t store water. The water is heated on-demand, when you need it. Top of the line models operate at a 98% efficiency rate. That means that nearly every dollar spent to run the unit is being turned into hot water. Old tank based models work at about 50% efficiency.
Tankless water heaters are also self-modulating. That means they produce as much or as little hot water as needed. They are also designed to be compact, using less space than the bulky, tank-based units.
Halco is Central New York’s most reputable heating, cooling and renewable energy company, serving the Syracuse, Rochester and Binghamton, NY area since 1984.
Visit our website of gives us a call to learn more about energy efficient water heaters, and many other services we provide to help you save money and energy!
Sealing and Insulation in New Construction
Larry Janesky from Dr. Energy Saver walks us through the process of air sealing and insulating two newly constructed condominium units.
In new construction, you have many choices of insulation material to chose from: spray foam, rigid foam board, fiberglass, cellulose or a combination of these.
Here a combination of fiberglass bats with blown and spray cellulose to insulate different areas in these units.
Because fiberglass insulation doesn’t stop air flow, the structure needs to be completely air sealed before the bats are installed. Special attention should be paid to windows, doors, and gaps around plumbing, wiring, lighting fixtures, and ducts. The ducts also need to be sealed before the insulation and the drywall are installed.
The walls between the conditioned area and any unheated, un-insulated area of the house like the garage and the attic space upstairs also receive air sealing and insulation.
NSI 3000 Carbon Monoxide Detector
The NSI 3000 CO Detector Offers Real Protection:
• Provides protection for all age groups and conditions, especially infants, children, the elderly, and highly sensitive or ill people. Other detectors barely provide minimal protection for healthy adults.
• Lets you know there’s a problem before reaching dangerous, even deadly CO levels,long before the other detectors even begin to work.
• NSI’s Model 3000 Monitors employ the same electrochemical sensor technology found in professional CO Analyzers that cost thousands of dollars. These monitors are calibrated using CO, not electronic guesswork.
OTHER MONITORS BARELY PROVIDE MINIMAL PROTECTION FOR HEALTHY ADULTS!
Excellent Customer Service: That is the Halco difference.
At Halco, we have a deep understanding of the nature of our business and the needs of our customers. We are committed to providing the best possible customer care.
We know that when our customers have heating or air conditioning problem, their comfort is jeopardized, and they need help right away.
When you call Halco, you will never speak to a machine. Our offices are open until 9:00 pm every day of the week. And if you happen to need our services after our extended regular hours, we also offer 24-hour emergency service.
In a typical HVAC company, if you call after hours, the call center will have to locate an available on-call service technician: a process that can significantly delay help.
Halco technicians are never on-call. They work their regular hours, within a multiple shift schedule that allows us to provide service for extended hours and take care of your emergency service call.
When it comes to heating, cooling, plumbing and renewable energy services in the Finger Lakes, NY region, no one does it better than Halco. We offer expertise, reliability and world-class customer service, and we’ve been serving Syracuse, Rochester and surroundings since 1984. Call us today!
High Efficiency Heating and Cooling Systems
A lot of energy is wasted with older-model heating and cooling equipment found in many homes. Today with high energy prices, the cost of running standard HVAC equipment is- no pun intended- through the roof.
These days, you need to make sure that every dollar you spend on running your HVAC equipment will be used to heat and cool your home and not be wasted up the chimney. Old models working at 50%, 60% and even the 80% efficient systems sold in the 1980s do not work well at all. Modern high efficiency equipment works at 95% efficiency or higher.
For example; the standard chimney. Old chimneys- which leak an enormous amount of hot air that you pay to heat — are no longer necessary. Modern high efficiency units are vented to the outside through small PVC pipes running through the side wall. The bulk of the air you paid to heat stays where it belongs: in the living areas of your home.
At Halco, we pride ourselves in choosing and installing only the best high efficiency systems to fit each individual home’s needs, as well as the homeowner’s expectations and budget. We thoroughly inspect and evaluate each home to design a solution that will give you the best performance per dollar invested.
To learn more about high efficiency systems and many other ways to save money and energy at home, visit our website or contact us for a free estimate.
Saving Energy with Heat Pump Water Heaters
Heat pump water heaters harvest heat from the surrounding environment to provide hot water for your home. A heat pump water heater boasts a 230 % energy efficiency rate, which means you get more than twice the performance for each dollar spent running the system. Compare that to a typical electric water heater that works at less than 100% efficiency.
Paired with a geothermal heating and cooling system, a heat pump water heater becomes super-efficient, because the ambient heat absorbed by the water heater unit is provided by the geothermal HVAC system.
Halco is the leading, most reputable heating, cooling and energy conservation company in the Finger Lakes area, serving Syracuse, Rochester and surrounding towns since 1984!
If you are serious about saving energy, lowering energy bills and living more comfortably, give Halco a call for a free estimate, or schedule a comprehensive home energy audit to learn even more ways to make your home green and comfortable!
Retrofitting Net Zero | Turning Existing Homes into Net Zero Homes
While many companies offer new construction of Net Zero homes, Halco is the only company in the Finger Lakes area that specializes in retrofitting existing homes — even old homes, built as far back as the 1800s — into Net Zero homes.
A Net Zero home is a home that provides all the comfort and features of a modern home, but is completely self-sufficient, relying on power generated by renewable energy based systems. In other words, these homes generate all the power they need for heating, cooling, water heating, lighting and electricity, rather than depending on the power generated by the grid. The result is a home in which the homeowners pay virtually no energy bills.
The process of Net Zero retrofitting includes a thorough home energy evaluation, and a series of improvements in insulation and air sealing to tighten up the building’s envelope. This is done to make sure the house is able to conserve and use energy efficiently.
Standard heating and cooling systems are usually replaced with geothermal HVAC systems, which harvest heat from the earth to keep the home comfortable. Hot water is usually provided by a Heat Pump water heater, and the electricity used for lighting, appliances, utilities and electronics is provided by wind or solar power systems.
Most existing homes can be transformed into Net Zero, or highly energy efficient ones. If you are considering energy efficient upgrades or looking into ways to switch to Net Zero, off-grid lifestyle, Halco is the only company in Syracuse, Rochester and nearby areas with the experience, technology and expertise to transform the home you already have in one that performs as well as a newly built green home.
Give us a call for a Free Estimate and let’s show you what we can do for you… today!
Renewable Energy in the Finger Lakes Region, NY
Halco is a company with a vision; a more sustainable future with comfortable and affordable to own homes, powered by clean, inexpensive and renewable energy. This is why several years ago Halco opened a Renewable Energy division, specializing in wind power, solar power, and geothermal energy systems.
The Finger Lakes region in NY provides plenty of all these resources, and Halco crews have been installing at least one of these systems every single day. The Renewable Energy Division has been rapidly growing, making it the leading provider of renewable energy systems in Central New York.
Halco also helped retrofit a number of existing homes into Net-Zero homes, using different combinations of these renewable energy systems.
Imagine living comfortably in your existing home, without having to pay energy bills. A dream? No. A vision that is now a reality for many homeowners in the Finger Lakes, NY area.
Are you ready to make the switch? Call Halco and let’s see how we can make your energy efficiency dreams come true.
Geothermal Heating and Cooling in the Finger Lakes Region
Geothermal heating and cooling systems harvest the power of the earth to heat and cool your home.
Geothermal energy is a clean, permanent and renewable source, that can lower your propane or oil-based energy bills by up to 2/3, especially if your existing system is propane or oil based. In other words, a geothermal system pays for itself in a very short amount of time.
Unlike typical geothermal systems that require extensive excavation of the yard, systems installed by Halco are very retrofit-friendly, using a only small piece of real estate. In many cases, a 12 foot circle is all that is needed.
Here’s how it works. Earth taps are inserted into holes drilled down 100 ft. into the earth. These taps are used to send a liquid refrigerant into the ground. The chemical absorbs the earth’s warmth which turns it into a hot vapor that rises back into the system. After passing through compressors that increase the vapor temperature, it is then sent though coils on top of an air handler to produce enough heat to keep your entire home warm. In the summer, the process is reversed and the ground absorbs heat from your home like a sponge, to keep it cool and comfortable.
If having a more comfortable home while lowering your heating and cooling bills sounds like a good investment to you, or if you want to learn about other options to save energy and money give as a call for a free estimate!
Solar Energy | Installing Solar PV Systems in the Finger Lakes, NY Region
Halco is the leading Solar Photo-Voltaic system installation company in Central New York’s Finger Lakes region.
Solar PV Panels produce all, or part of the energy your home needs to power heating, cooling, lighting, appliances, utilities and electronics. Local homeowners tend to mistakenly believe that New York is not a good area for Solar powered systems. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. There is plenty of sun in New England to power most homes.
Solar PV Panel installation typically requires a lot of southern exposure and some roof space. If the home does lack the roof space or doesn’t get a lot of southern exposure, Halco can build pole-mounted systems or install the panels that act as the roof of other structures, such as outdoor kitchens, decks, gazebos, etc.
When combined with geothermal heating and cooling systems, and heat pump water heaters, Solar PV panel systems can generate enough power to allow the home to be completely self-sufficient and function completely off-grid. In other words, it becomes a Net Zero home, where homeowners will never have to pay an energy bill again. Isn’t that a beautiful thing?
If you are ready to make adopt a Net Zero, off-grid lifestyle, no other company in Syracuse, Rochester and nearby towns can offer you the experience, expertise and quality service you get from Halco. We’ve been serving the Finger Lakes area since 1984. Call or e-mail us today!
Dense Packing a Cathedral Ceiling
This 80-year old cape-style house is a Sears, Roebuck and Co. home, from when they used to sell houses through a catalogue. The home’s attic and wall cavities were previously insulated by Dr. Energy Saver and Larry Janesky’s team is now back on the job to perform additional energy efficient retrofits. This time, they will be insulating an existing cathedral ceiling and shed roof with dense packing cellulose.
This is a technique that dense packs 3.7 lb of cellulose per cubic feet into existing wall and roof cavities. If properly applied the densely packed cellulose provides excellent R-value between 3.5 and 4.0 per inch, and also helps stop air flow.
The cathedral ceiling in this home hangs above a charming farm room, carefully restored with a stained wooden ceiling. To avoid disrupting this cozy little room, Dr. Energy Saver opted for accessing the ceiling from the outside. Cellulose application is a messy process and in an existing home it should only be done from the inside of the living space if there is absolutely no other choice.
The roof above that room is an unvented roof. There was a ridge vent, but no soffit vents so Larry and his team opted for an unvented assembling. When they took a portion of the roof off, they noticed that it was remodeled at least a couple of times over the course of many years, and received two layers of rigid foam insulation, amounting to an R-Value of about 20. The problem is that the rigid foam was not air sealed so air was still leaking out of the house. To make matters worse, bees had found a home in the roof eating parts of the foam board and causing dust to fall from the roof into the room below. By dense packing cellulose to insulate that cathedral ceiling the air flow will be interrupted. Cellulose is also treated with Borate, a harmless, naturally-occurring mineral that has the ability to deter bugs, so bees, ants and termites won’t find that ceiling so inviting anymore.
The shed roof was also insulated from the outside. The team took down the gutters and the fascia board to access the little attic space below the shed, blowing the cellulose through each open bay.
Dr. Energy Saver takes pride in making old and new homes more comfortable, energy efficient and environmentally friendly every day. If you have uneven temperatures around the home, rooms that are too hot or simply cold or drafty, or if you just want to save money in heating and cooling, we can help. Call Dr. Energy Saver today for a complete home energy evaluation.
To learn about more ways to save money and lower your energy bills, visit our website and watch other episodes of Dr. Energy Saver’s ‘On the Job’ video series.
Job Opportunities in Syracuse and Finger Lakes
Halco is the leading heating, air conditioning, plumbing and energy conservation company in the Finger Lakes area, serving Syracuse, Rochester, Binghamton and surrounding areas in NY and providing world-class customer service since 1984.
We install, repair and service residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment, perform renewable energy upgrades, and offer comprehensive home energy audits along with a full range of energy-saving home improvements, including home insulation and air sealing, to help homeowners and businesses lower energy bills.
We are continuously growing, and hiring new talent. Along with competitive wages and benefits packages, our service employees work on fixed schedules that never require anyone to be on call. We offer many opportunities for career advancement within the company. Our employees are constantly being trained to stay up to date with the most recent advances in energy efficient technologies and practices. They receive professional certification which qualifies and prepares them for jobs in the most promising emerging industry: energy conservation.
If you are a career-minded individual, interested in green career opportunities and have the will to learn new technologies and new skills, we would love to hear from you! Visit our website and send us your resume today!
