This article outlines new efficiency standards for residential air conditioners, furnaces, and heat pumps proposed by a joint agreement between manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates. This proposal will be submitted to Congress for inclusion in upcoming energy legislation.

From the Alliance to Save Energy: "The nation’s leading manufacturers of residential central air conditioners, furnaces, and heat pumps signed an agreement with the nation’s leading energy efficiency advocacy organizations that will establish new federal standards for those products."

A press release from the U.S. Environmental Projection Agency with statistics on how the vast majority of U.S. households know about the Energy Star label.

Some remodeling projects may improve your home without significantly increasing your home's value. Find out which ones pay back.

Replacing or improving a furnace may not pay off as handsomely as it did during the energy crisis of the late 1970s. But it may deliver steady, modest savings. Read this guide to choosing furnace size, efficiency, and features.

With a typical installed price of $2,300, a gas furnace is a major investment. What are the best choices? Our surveys of 500 professional heating installers and some 38,000 subscribers offer guidance.

These features and extras are among those most often highlighted in product literature or sales pitches for furnaces. They are more likely to be found on higher-efficiency furnaces; indeed, some are standard features of such furnaces. However, some manufacturers also offer them on premium versions of low-efficiency furnaces.

By using energy efficiently at home, you not only lower your energy bills, but prevent air pollution too. Here are ways to save, offered by the ENERGY STAR program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The rollback to a SEER 12 standard from a SEER 13 would sacrifice about one-third of the energy savings that could be achieved by SEER 13. A SEER 13 standard will decrease national energy consumption, lower summertime utility bills for millions of households, reduce pollution from power plants and improve public health.

This is to confirm our communication to you on the upcoming Department of Energy's regulation requiring a 30 percent increase in the minimum Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) for residential air conditioners and heat pumps that will go into effect January 23rd 2006. With a purchase of a 13 SEER or greater unit there will be a gain in energy efficiency, approximately 30 percent, a home cooling/heating system that will meet the requirements of 2006 and into the future, and a monthly utility bill savings over the lesser SEER equipment.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it will enforce a 13 seasonal energy efficiency rating or "SEER" standard for residential central air conditioners. This standard, which will apply to central air conditioners starting in January 2006, increases by 30 percent the SEER standard that applies to models sold today.

Sample revenue growth planning sheet

"Available scientific evidence shows that at concentrations that do not exceed public health standards, ozone has little potential to remove indoor air contaminants. Some manufacturers or vendors suggest that ozone will render almost every chemical contaminant harmless by producing a chemical reaction whose only by-products are carbon dioxide, oxygen and water. This is misleading."

Even the best air cleaner may be a questionable investment, since there's little medical evidence that air cleaners alone reduce the effects of indoor pollutants for those with asthma and allergies.

Don't assume that any air cleaner will improve your health. "There's no definitive proof that air cleaners improve air quality in any way that benefits the health of those with or without allergies or asthma"…

November is the time of year to check your appliances for leaks or damage, before using them in the coming cold months. A sad tragedy can easily be avoided by observing simple maintenance practices.

Furnaces and water heaters produce a killer gas. Here's how to detect it…

Know the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. At moderate levels, you or your family can get severe headaches, become dizzy, mentally confused, nauseated, or faint.