28 The Courier sun • at home • APRIL 23, 2015 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com at home Stay cool by going green this summer If the thought of a scorching summer without adequate cooling sounds tough, think about the strain an overworked air conditioner unit places on both your household budget and the environment. Around two-thirds of all American homes have an air conditioner unit, amounting to a cost of more than $11 billion annually in usage alone, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Accounting for around 19 percent of all household electricity consumption, every home equipped with an air conditioning unit emits roughly two tons of carbon dioxide each year, significantly impacting the environment. Your air conditioning-related energy consumption may be considerably higher than the average American household, depending on where you live. For instance, homes across the southern states are more likely to have higher levels of energy consumption due to the extreme heat throughout the year. The country’s hottest states - Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Oklahoma and Mississippi - account for almost a quarter of the country’s entire annual electricity usage. This kind of high electricity usage and waste has a major impact on both the environment and your monthly utility bills. Eco-minded Americans are consciously making choices that not only reduce their impact on the environment but also help reduce the squeeze on the monthly household budget. Air leakage from a home’s walls, windows, ceiling and floors can account for up to 40 percent of the energy lost by your home. Air leakage forces your air conditioner unit to work overtime to compensate for the lost air, increasing your energy usage and thereby increasing your utility bill at the end of the month. One effective solution that offers immediate and long-term cost savings is replacing a home’s traditional fiberglass insulation with high-performance spray foam insulation. Spray foam insulation, such as Icynene, is eco-friendly and a wise investment for homeowners who want to make improvements to their home that have a positive impact. Able to perform in all climates, spray foam insulation in a home allows homeowners to use their cooling systems less throughout the summer and furnaces less during winter. Plus, this modern insulation material helps to effectively control a home’s indoor environment letting you stay cool and green all summer long. As a modern insulation solution, spray foam insulation expands rapidly to completely seal a home’s walls, floors and ceilings to prevent air leakage. Insulation experts from Icynene note that quality spray foam insulation can noticeably reduce monthly cooling and heating costs, in some cases by up to 50 percent. Additionally, spray foam insulation helps minimize random airborne moisture and pollutants from entering the home, ideal for anyone currently suffering from seasonal allergies. More information on how spray foam insulation can help homeowners minimize air leakage is available online at www.icynene.com. Courtesy BPT Metro Cabinet and Flooring COUNTERTOPS STARTING AT $45 PER SQ. FT. Including Installation $600 OFF FOR PURCHASES OF $5000 OR MORE Specializing in: • Kitchen Cabinetry • Floor Tiles • Hardwood Flooring • Granite and Quartz Countertops • Commercial & Residential Carpeting • FREE 3-D Design • FREE Estimate • FREE Measurement 100-07 Metropolitan Avenue, Forest Hills 718.544.2634 Fax: 718.263.2032 F R E E E L E C T RO N I C S R E C Y L I N G EVENTS A R E COMING TO QUEENS T H I S S P R I NG Avoid a fine: it’s now illegal to discard electronics in the regular trash! All Events from10AM–4PM Rain or Shine Sunday, April 26 • DOUGLASTON Douglaston Train Station (westbound) Pedestrian Mall, 235th Street and 41st Ave Sunday, May 3 • FOREST HILLS Forest Hills Jewish Center, 69th Road b/w Queens Boulevard and Austin Street Saturday, May 16 • ASTORIA Broadway Library, 4020 Broadway b/w Steinway and 41st Streets Saturday, June 13 • EAST ELMHURST Jackson Heights Shopping Center Parking Lot, 77th Street b/w 30th and 31st Aves WE ACCEPT: Working and non-working computers, monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, cables, TVs, VCRs, CD/DVD players, phones, audio/visual equipment, video games, cell phones and PDAs For more information contact the Lower East Side Ecology Center at lesecologycenter.org or 212.477.4022 We would like to thank our sponsor:
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