ENERGY STAR

CASE STUDY

ENERGY STAR®

HVAC Quality Installation

Finally Finding Comfort

Moreno Valley, ( A

Soon after Linda and her family bought their new house 25
years ago they found that two rooms were consistently
either too cold or too hot, A few years ago, they upgraded
to new doubie-paned windows, with the hopes that it would
solve their comfort problems. But they found that the
improvement was minor. Those rooms were "driving us
nuts," said Linda.

Last year, the family decided to upgrade the home's
furnace and air conditioner, Linda looked to her electric
utility company, Southern California Edison (SCE), to help
find a quality contractor. SCE offers an ENERGY STAR
Quality Installation program to provide maximum efficiency
and comfort in heating, ventilation and air conditioning
(HVAC) systems, On the utility's website, www.ac-
quality.com, customers can see a list of participating
contractors who have been trained to offer this specialized
service. Linda called several contractors from the list and
also checked with the Better Business Bureau. Ultimately,
she selected JBS Mechanical, based in San Bernardino,
CA.

JBS Mechanical staff began by conducting a
comprehensive assessment of Linda's home and the
existing HVAC system. This assessment included
collecting information about the home to determine the
appropriate equipment size and measuring air flow and
leakage in the duct system,

In Linda's home, JBS technicians found that the air
conditioner was oversized and the ductwork was
undersized and leaking 30% of the air into the attic. As a
result, conditioned air was not being well distributed
throughout the entire house, So, in addition to replacing
the old air conditioner and furnace with new, properly
sized, high efficiency models, they also redesigned and

replaced ductwork to provide adequate air flow throughout
the house and reduce leakage, During installation, the
technicians also made sure that the system refrigerant was
properly charged and air flow in the system was correct. "It
now works great! Changing the ductwork made a big
difference," Linda said. JBS submitted the installation file
to SCE and Linda earned a rebate toward the cost of her
new installation,

After the system was installed, SCE conducted
independent testing to verify that the system passed the
ENERGY STAR Quality Installation requirements. "With the
ENERGY STAR program, we felt we had back up people
with us to make sure the system that was installed
correctly, We had the program on our side," said Linda.

Now, Linda and her family are comfortable in their entire
home all year round. Linda highly recommends the Quality
Installation program, "It's just great. It's not just the rebate
money. It's the confidence it gives you in the company
putting the system in."

The ENERGY STAR Quality Installation program is offered
by EPA in partnership with utility companies in several
states. Benefits of the program include:

» Up to 30% savings on heating and cooling costs

> Increased comfort throughout the home

is* Improved system efficiency and air distribution

To find out more about HVAC Quality Installation,
visit: www.energystar.gov/HVACQI

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