Blueprints Blog

2 Energy Efficient Home Upgrades

Written by Greg Drusch | Feb 24, 2012 6:00:00 AM

At Cypress Homes we are dedicated to building the most comfortable, safe, durable, and efficient homes for our customers.  That it is why it is crucial that we stay up to date with latest and greatest home features.  Here are 2 new features that add to your home’s comfort, safety, longevity, and efficiency.

The Eternal Hybrid Water Heater

Traditionally, all homes have been built with tanks or “tankless” water heaters. Although new and improved models have been built each method has its flaws. In a tank, cold water enters from the top, it is then heated from the bottom, and once the water is hot, it leaves through the top of the tank. The water leaves sediments on the surface as it is heated from the bottom forcing the burner to work harder to heat the water. Additionally, a tank is limited in its ability to produce continuous hot water as the large body of water is heated just once and wasted heat leaves the tank. In a tankless water heater cold water passes through a series of coils that reduce water pressure in order to heat water quickly. The heat is activated by flow alone, so the cycle must start over again every time a faucet is opened. This impacts temperature consistency and delays hot water delivery.

The Eternal Hybrid Water Heater solves both problems! In Eternal’s Counter Flow design, cold water enters from the bottom, and is heated in 3 directions with 44 radiating transfer pipes. This system self cleans away sediments and reuses energy to heat water rather than wasting water pressure. This smaller system can replace multiple tanks and provide endless hot water with consistent pressure.

2-Stage Furnace

A conventional single stage furnace runs on only one speed and will turn on and off to monitor temperatures.  Shutting on and off leads to temperature fluctuations throughout your home and puts a significant amount of stress on the furnace over time.  The 2-Stage Furnace conveniently has 2 speeds: a low-fire and a high-fire position.  The furnace will operate in its low-fire stage during periods of mild weather and will utilize the high-fire stage during colder, more extreme weather.  This leads to increased comfort, more consistent temperatures, and energy savings.  This furnace is especially opportune in Wisconsin’s ever changing climate. When it comes to your plants, you might find it hard to keep them alive when there is less sunlight, a greenhouse heater is a better option during uncertain cold months.

The photos above were taken in our Karalyn House.  We are extremely happy to pass this new technology on to our customers.  If you have any questions about these features or if you are considering building your dream home please visit our website at www.callcypresshomes.com.

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