Environmental Efficiency by Controlled Air Inc

We are happy to announce that March 18th is Controlled Air Inc’s 31st Anniversary. We would like to thank all our employees and customers who have been vital to the on-going success of Controlled Air for all these years. In this economy it is important to have dedicated employees that you trust, as well as customers who believe in the quality of your work. We are looking forward to another 31 years leading the way in service and environmental efficiency in the HVAC field. Thank you!

Cogeneration also called CHP or combined Heat and Power is an integrated energy system that can create heat as well as electricity. It is extremely energy efficient and has a high Return-On-Investment. There are also some wonderful tax incentives out there, as well as a few low interest loans & grants. We have spoken about cogeneration before and will probably will mention it again. It is one of our favorites. The Federal Tax Incentive: What is the tax incentive for Cogeneration or (CHP) property? A 10% investment tax credit, applicable to only the first 15MW. Who is eligible? Owners of systems smaller than 50 MW may take advantage of this tax credit, and their systems must be placed into service by December 31, 2016. Only the original constructor may take the tax credit. What are the incentives and how do they work? The incentive is an investment tax credit, a reduction in either overall individual or overall business tax liabilities. The incentive can also be applied to the alter...

It is confusing at best trying to keep up with all the new legislation that is going on in the government. Some things say they are trying to increasse spening and funding for energy efficiency and the next cutting it. Currently there are a few major items that are being decided on that will have a major impact on what happens with energy efficiency funding in the future. The Good: The President has put in a request for 29.5 bil budget request for the DOE and EERE(Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy) program. This increase would stregthen renewable energy resources, boost clean energy research, and cut expenses to pursue the goal of 80% clean energy sources by 2035. The budget includes large increases for EERE programs including, 135% increase for geothermal technology, 115% increase for building technologies, 88% increase for solar energy, and a 61% increase for wind. The weatherization spending would increase by 52%. The new budget would also promote renewable energy and energy ef...

With the Economy being what it is, Connecticut made some changes to the rebates and incentives available for green energy funding. Also the utilities made some changes as well. We do our best to stay up to date about all these so that we can make recommendations to get you the most out of the available funding. There have been a lot of changes, but I will just mention a few of the most important at the moment. First of all, if you have any plans to do energy efficient upgrades do it soon! I know many of you might be waiting for the upswing in the economy, but as of 2012 they are reducing the funding by 35% and it is available on a first come first serve basis. Also 50% of the funding for 2011, has already been allocated. You don't want to lose your opportunity to receive this funding because you hesitated too long. Another important aspect of receiving funding is you always want to talk to a CL & P or UI representative before beginning any part of the project. We can help you w...

We would like to congratulate our President, Vincent Chiocchio for recently getting elected to the Connecticut Green Building Council's Board of Directors. He will also remain as the Event Committee Chair. Vincent finds it a great honor to be part of an organization that is helping green building in Connecticut get the recognition and support that it deserves. The CTGBC mission is: "The CTGBC is a non-profit 501(c3) organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Connecticut through the promotion of intelligently designed and constructed high performance energy efficient buildings. Throughout the year we hold a series of workshops on green building topics, networking opportunities, membership meetings, educational forums, seminars on green buildings and periodic CT based LEED™ training in connection with the US Green Building Council. The CTGBC also monitors activities in Connecticut related to high performance green buildings and maintains a speaker’s bureau. "...

Controlled Air highly recommends the cleaning of a hydronic system to provide the best heat transfer and longevity of any closed loop boiler system. A closed loop system is a system that holds water under pressure and continually recirculates that water. The pH of the water should always be tested to prevent the effects of too much acidity which will deteriorate the system from the inside out. If in doubt a complete flush with plain city water (which is usually 6.0 to 8.0) should at least bring the pH to neutral. This will introduce oxygen into the system so it should be accompanied with the proper inhibitors. Besides Ph there is also a loss of efficiency when the system is not clean. Iron oxide, scale, oil, and even bacteria can coat the internal surfaces of the heat exchangers and heat coils which will prevent proper transfer and result in loss of energy dollars. We have found in many cases the need to chemically clean and then flush the entire system to remove the buildup. Some syst...

Service contracts can be overlooked if they do not seem to be immediately necessary, but the savings they can have for your business can be truly beneficial. Very large facilities and manufacturers often have service contract for their heating and cooling, because any down time could be truly detrimental to their business. But what about for smaller businesses? Downtime in your heating and cooling can also make an impact on your business. If you have any type of customer base such as in a retail store, having no heat or cooling and quickly lead to customers venturing else where. Even if you have no customers, uncomfortable employees leads to less productions. Service contracts can help reduce this downtime by providing scheduled maintenance, computer monitoring, and quicker response times. Different types of contracts can offer different forms of services. Planned Maintenance contracts provide all of the preventive maintenance needed for the your HVAC and temperature control equipment....