Cherokee County workers have a big job ahead of themselves Friday morning following severe weather. Emergency Management said everywhere you turn, there are trees and power lines down, especially on the way to Gaffney along U.S. Highway 29. Highway 150 in Pacolet is also a mess. We found trees snapped in half and people checking out the damage. Melanie Baker was running errands, but when she got home she was too afraid to get out of the car so Melanie rode out the storm in her driveway.
"The wind was unbelieveable. The car was actually moving while I was sitting in it and I thought it was going to blow away. And there was pretty good sized hail.
She said she eventually got out of the car and went inside her home, but her hands and legs were shaking. Melanie said she does not have much storm damage, but some of her neighbors weren't as lucky.
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Duke Energy Offers Tips that Lead to ‘Cool Savings’
1. Close window coverings during the day. During peak cooling hours, solar heat gain can account for one-third of the load on an air conditioner. When home, close the drapes on the sunny side of the house or close all window coverings if leaving for the day.
2. Raise the thermostat setting. Cooling below 75 degrees in the summer can double a bill. For each degree cooled below 78, cooling bills can rise by as much as 10 percent. On the other hand, raising the thermostat from 73 degrees to 76 degrees could save 30 percent on air conditioning costs.
3. Close windows at night. While it’s tempting to give the air conditioner a rest on cool nights, watch the weather forecast before opening the windows at night. If tomorrow is going to be hot again, keep the air conditioning on and the home closed through the night to keep the humidity out of house. Humidity is a significant load on an air conditioner.
4. Insulate attic ducts. If air conditioning ducts are visible in an attic, more insulation is probably needed on these ducts. Cool air ducts in a 120-degree attic in the summertime need to be fully buried under 6 inches of insulation. In other words, they need to be out of sight. The factory insulation on these ducts is usually only about 1 inch thick and not adequate for hot attics. Heat absorbed by exposed attic ducts can add 20 percent to 40 percent to your bills.
5. Upgrade to high-efficiency air conditioning. New, high efficiency, 13 SEER air conditioners will use only half the energy compared to a 15-year-old air conditioner. If an air conditioner is 10 years old or less, maintain it well and keep it. If it is between 10 years to 15 years old, minor repairs are okay. If an air conditioner is older than 15 years and needs substantial repairs, the best alternative is to replace it with a new, high-efficiency system.
6. Properly size the air conditioner. A properly sized air conditioner is very important for comfort, humidity control and energy bills. When buying a new air conditioner, it should be properly sized based on a detailed energy analysis of the home. Avoid the common mistake of a little bump-up for good measure.
7. Replace old refrigerators. Many faithful old refrigerators seem to run forever and it’s so easy to find an unused electric outlet in the garage. But an old refrigerator may use twice-as-much energy as a new energy-efficient refrigerator. Refrain from putting the old one in the hot garage where it is only partially filled and only seldom used. This seemingly resourceful action could add $180 per year to an energy bill.
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