JOB Heating & Air Conditioning Saskatoon is eager to provide the best possible customer experience. Their aim is to be a professional resource for our clients before, during, and after the sale! Their team takes pride in service knowledge of modern equipment and training. They are recognized by peers and offer sales, service, training & installations for residential, and commercial Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing systems in Saskatoon and area. In their latest article on water heaters, they share tips on how to reduce water heater energy bill expenses.
Water heaters account for nearly 20% of the average home energy bill. In fact, the only appliance that costs more to run than your water heater is your furnace. If you are looking to cut costs on your energy bill, water heaters are worth paying special attention to. Learn tips to reduce your water heater energy bill expenses from the experts at JOB Heating & Air Conditioning.
1. Insulate your hot water heater tank and pipes.
If you have a hot water heater tank, ensure it is insulated. Not only does tank insulation prevent heat loss, but it also lowers the risk of fire in the home. The same goes for your hot water heater pipes. If the pipes are not insulated, your water heater has to work harder to heat water. In order to conserve heat energy, it is recommended that you insulate a minimum of 6 feet of piping.
2. Lower the thermostat temperature on your hot water heater.
When your hot water heater comes from the manufacturer, chances are the thermostat will be set to 140 F (60 C). However, a thermostat setting of 120 F (48.88 C) is the hottest you should require. Having a lower thermostat temperature will reduce the risk of mineral buildup and will extend the overall life of your water heater.
3. If your hot water heater is older, be sure to add heat traps.
Heat traps are valves that trap heat energy that would otherwise be lost and can reduce your energy bill by up to $30 each month. Newer hot water heaters will come with heat traps already installed, so it is best to consider an upgraded unit rather than installing heat traps on your existing unit if your current hot water heater may be nearing the end of its life.
4. Use a timer on your hot water heater.
Traditional water heaters typically heat water all night long, which is very inefficient considering you do not use hot water at night. If you do not have a tankless water heater, installing a timer will give your water heater a rest and save you money.
5. Install low-flow faucets in your home.
Though this may seem like a bit of an investment, replacing your faucets with low-flow options can reduce annual hot water usage in your home by up to 60 percent. Installing low-flow faucets will ensure more money stays in your pocket.
6. Schedule maintenance service for your hot water heater.
Often, homeowners will maintain their own hot water heater tank, including draining and cleaning the unit themselves. This often leads to problems and ends up costing more money. It is best to let an experienced professional maintain your hot water heater.
Let the experts at JOB Heating & Air Conditioning ensure your water heater is not costing you more than it should. Schedule your maintenance service today.
JOB Heating & Air Conditioning is a Trusted Saskatoon plumbing company. We show up on time, deliver on budget and we leave the work area cleaner than when we arrived! At JOB we take pride in our plumbing services in this city and surrounding area, so nothing means more to us than testimonials from our clients as their preferred plumber in Saskatoon.
JOB products and services include:
‘Your Comfort is Our Concern!’
JOB Heating & Air Conditioning Saskatoon is eager to provide the best possible customer experience. They aim to be a professional resource for our clients before, during, and after the sale! Their team takes pride in service knowledge of modern equipment and training. They are recognized by peers and offer sales, service, training, and installations for residential and commercial Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing systems in Saskatoon and the area. Their latest article discusses the effects of a clogged air filter on air conditioning systems.
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Clogged air filters are the primary cause of cooling system problems. Is it time to replace your air filter? Learn from the experts at JOB Heating & Air Conditioning the effects a clogged air filter has on air conditioning systems.
Clogged Air Filters Cause Air Conditioning Units to Work Overtime
The Air Conditioning unit must work harder when the air filter is clogged with dirt and debris. This is to compensate for the blockage of airflow. When the air filter is dirty, the air conditioning unit must work overtime, which is ineffective at cooling the home. Replacing the air filter every 3 months will protect an Air Conditioning unit from becoming damaged and can eliminate potential failure.
Clogged Air Filters Increase Energy Consumption
Clogged air filters increase energy consumption, which leads to higher energy bills. Because air conditioning systems rely on a blower fan to recirculate air, a dirty air filter can use up to 15% more energy. The more clogged the air filter is, the harder the fan has to work to draw cool air throughout the home. A clean air filter will allow the air conditioning system to function efficiently, saving energy and cost.
Clogged Air Filters Cause Inadequate Cooling of Your Home
Air conditioning systems rely on a blower fan to recirculate air. When the air filter is clogged with dust and debris, the blower fan must work harder to pass air through, resulting in reduced airflow. When airflow is reduced due to a clogged air filter, the air conditioning system must work harder to cool the home. The system will also have to run longer to cool the home to the desired temperature level.
Clogged Air Filters Contribute to Poor Air Quality
When the air filter is clogged, dust and debris are recirculated back into the home. Poor indoor air quality results in allergies and is problematic for people with respiratory conditions. Replacing the air filter ensures the air conditioning system will recirculate the cleanest air possible. A fresh air filter from JOB Heating & Air Conditioning will improve indoor air quality for you and your family this summer.
At JOB Heating and Air Conditioning, we fix, maintain, service, sell, and install all brands of residential and commercial air conditioning units in Saskatoon and the surrounding area. Contact JOB today to get your air filter replaced and keep your air conditioning unit operating at peak performance. We guarantee you will be cooled down and comfortable in no time!
JOB products and services include:
‘Your Comfort is Our Concern!’
As an award-winning SASKATOON REAL Estate agent Marla Janzen knows the city and surrounding area extremely well. She strives to find her clients the perfect new place to live while negotiating the best terms and price possible. She has a keen eye for house layout and home staging, which really benefits her clients, most of whom are past client referrals! In her latest Saskatoon real estate tip, Marla shares an important seller tip about home upgrades.
⭐ MARLA JANZEN- A SELLER TIP ⭐
An Important Seller Tip About Home Upgrades
If you're selling your home, it’s hard to justify spending money on upgrades - on the other hand, if some things are outdated, your home might lag on the market.
Either way, you’ll want to maximize your time and money by doing some “for-sale upgrades”. I suggest zeroing in on buyer hot spots, where buyers will pay the most attention. The rooms buyers most closely inspect (and judge) in a house are the kitchen and master bath. These are the interior spaces where the most value can be added during a sale, so they need to look their best.
A well-appointed kitchen will dramatically increase the value of your home, so it’s worth spicing up yours to grab buyer attention. The same holds true for the bathrooms, especially the master bath. A sparkling master bath with clean lines will charm open-house-goers with modern upgrades like dual vanities and soaking tubs.
If you’re thinking about selling your home, contact award-winning SASKATOON REAL Estate agent Marla Janzen today for a free consultation! She would be happy to offer you her personalized opinions.
Marla guarantees to provide you with a stress-free, hassle-free, wonderful experience and we are sure once you have met her that you will not contact anyone else!
Wiegers Financial & Benefits is one of the largest private financial planning and employee benefits consulting firms in Saskatchewan. Its Saskatoon Financial Planning Division provides business owners, households, retirees, and students with expert investment and insurance planning services to help them reach their long-term financial goals. They also have a Benefits and Personal Insurance planning division. In this latest Wiegers Financial tip they share information and advice for Farm Estates Wiegers Financial Benefits are Trusted Saskatoon Financial Advisors and Trusted Saskatoon Insurance and Group Benefits experts
As a Canadian farmer, you’ve lived through your fair share of unpredictability. Whether it was the farm crisis or one too many years of lackluster harvests, you took your farm through the worst combinations Mother Nature and the markets could throw at you, beating the odds to build something your family is truly proud of.
Looking back at the ups and downs of farming, you’d never take any of it back. And you want to leave the challenge behind for the next generation so that your family’s legacy can continue to flourish long after you’re gone. Successful farmers are constantly thinking about what’s next. If you’re over 50, planning the future of your farm should be your top task. The work you put in now could set your farm’s estate up for one of the most anticipated outcomes in your entire farming career. You know how rare that can be in the agriculture industry!
Speaking of your career, you’ve worn many hats over the years: accountant, labourer, veterinarian, weatherman, mechanic, scientist – the list goes on. Through the demands of your job, you’ve learned to ask for help when you need it. So if you’re willing to call your neighbour down the road at harvest, you should be willing to work with the expert up the street on financials.
A financial advisor provides leadership when you need it. They have your best interests in mind while navigating the blind spots of your farm’s estate, connecting a knowledgeable team of specialists to determine how to plan your family farm’s future best. The most common regrets farm estate financial advisors hear from farmers are that they wish they would have talked about it either ten years earlier before they lost their health or before inflation led to a big misstep in their tax strategy.
You may be thinking about farm estate planning because you’ve been pressed by your child who’s made sacrifices for the farm, or you’ve witnessed what happens when farmers leave a mess behind. Don’t wait until things fall apart. If you have a lot of unanswered questions about your farm’s estate, proper planning will bring clarity to problems that exist and provide answers that may solve them. Bring in your biggest concerns and prepare to give your financial advisor honest answers to the following questions.
These are the top six considerations when you're farm estate planning:
1. How do I want to spend the rest of my life?
Is it important to maintain the standard of living that you’ve become accustomed to? Or will you sacrifice your standard of living in the future so your kids can farm?
There are a variety of options for either scenario. For example, if you’re retiring, you could potentially sell two-quarters of land so you can continue to live comfortably.
2. How can I minimize the tax impact?
This is a big one as there are many opportunities. Financial advisors minimize the tax impact on a farmer who’s turning the farm over to the children who will be farming moving forward. They do this through a framework of tax minimization strategies such as capital gains exemptions or tax-deferred rollover options.
3. Do I want to consider family harmony?
Having more than one child makes handing off the farm estate to one child a complicated matter. Land prices are high and farm values are increasing to millions of dollars. What happens often is that suddenly you have a $5 or $10 million farm and the children who have not chosen to farm, get nothing or very little as part of the farm estate. Financial advisors try to find out if giving non-farming children a fair payout is a priority. If it is important, they help you get a life insurance plan in place to compensate them when the moment comes. For example, if your farm is transferred to one child, the other two children will receive a large insurance contract.
Sometimes, farming children make sacrifices to help their parents on the farm. They built equity in the farm when they could have worked somewhere else. In other cases, farming children were paid fairly and didn’t have to sacrifice, but the farm value went up and they want a piece of it. It’s critical to look objectively at the effort that’s been made to reward your children fairly.
4. Are my children’s marriages strong?
Your farm could have been in your family for three or four generations. Over that time, your family might have built outside assets and a large nest egg. One divorce could cost half of your family farm and more. Most farmers don’t want to pass their hard-earned estate onto someone who isn’t family. Divorce is common. Talk about how it could affect your farm before the nuptials. Your future in-laws should know your farm is protected in the event of a marital breakdown.
Financial advisors recommend pre or postnuptial contracts. The best time to write this contract is before the marriage but it can happen afterward. For instance, “We’re not passing the farm onto you unless you sign this contract that says if your marriage doesn’t make it down the road, the farm will stay in our family name.” This conversation is critical because farms are now worth millions. If you don’t take precautions on nuptials, half of your family farm could disappear.
5. Is my succession plan viable?
Most farmers choose to pass the land on to their children. But what happens if all of your children go off to university and don’t come back to the farm? If you do have a child who wants to continue farming, have you thought about whether he or she would make a good successor? Financial advisors recognize when people have the financial acumen to run the business and operations side of farming. And when they don’t.
For example, your middle-aged child could have been farming his entire life but doesn’t have a penny to his name. He likely isn’t the ideal financial custodian of your estate. A good financial advisor must tell you what they’ve observed and made sure you’re indicating that in the plan. Otherwise, handing your farm over to a child who continually mismanages money could cost your family’s legacy soon after you sign over the farm. It’s your responsibility to make it possible for your successor to succeed. Whoever you choose, you’ll want to ensure that the farm estate will be financially viable moving forward.
6. What are my objectives?
You and your spouse may have different goals of what to do with the farm estate. For example, one of you may want to transfer everything and the other could be more conservative. Financial advisors will ask questions to find out what’s important to each of you. This will give you an idea of where you may want to compromise and what you’re not willing to let go of. Then, they’ll begin to coordinate legal and accounting to finalize your farm’s estate plan.
You don’t want to leave critical decisions related to succession planning, marital breakdowns, unexpected taxes, and more to a spouse who could be reeling after you’re gone. Managing your farm estate without a plan is the biggest mistake you can make as a farmer. Talk to your Wiegers Financial & Benefits financial advisor if you’re over 50 with questions about your farm estate planning.
Cliff Wiegers, CFP, TEP, CH.F.C., CLU, B.Comm
Financial Planner, Manulife Securities Investment Services Inc. Insurance Representative, Wiegers Financial and Insurance Planning Services Ltd.
Wiegers’ Benefits Consulting Division includes many consultants and support staff who custom-design the most employee-valued and cost-effective group benefits, personal insurance, employee assistance programs, and retirement plans available. Contact Wiegers today for a no-obligation consultation to determine how they can help you.