Heating Your Home or Business - THE CHOICE SHOULD BE YOURS - Click here to read more.
If weather trends continue, this summer should be as warm—or warmer—than last year. And you can count on humidity, too. Is it time to put replacing your AC system on your to-do list?
We get this question every spring, and the answer is always, “It depends.” Sometimes, a few repairs and a tune-up will have your air conditioning system running like new. There are a few factors to consider. Here’s what you need to keep in mind:
Even well-maintained equipment will start to fail after 10 or 15 years. Repairs will get more frequent—and more expensive, once the warranty is expired. If you have an older system that uses the phased-out R-22 refrigerant, you should definitely replace it. R-22 is hard to get—and very expensive.
The cost of a tune-up is usually worthwhile. It can prevent lots of small problems from turning into expensive repair jobs.
If you do need a repair, we recommend the $5,000 rule: Multiply the age of your system by the cost of a repair. If it’s more than $5,000, you’re better off replacing your cooling equipment. So, for example, if you have an 8-year-old system and the estimate for repairs is $1,200, you’d get $9,600—you’ll get better value from replacing your system.
Ask us for more information about our Silver Air Conditioning Preventative Maintenance Service Plan. With this plan, your annual tune-up is included, we give you priority service for no-cooling calls, and a 15% discount on all parts and labor.
Your equipment will give you plenty of signals it’s ready for a repair. Noise, including rattling, grinding and just louder operation means your equipment is working harder than it should. Be aware of these other signs of pending problems:
How did your cooling system perform last summer? Did you experience frequent breakdowns? A big increase in your energy use despite getting a tune-up is another big sign that your AC is not running as efficiently as it should be.
On the other hand, if you have spaces that don’t seem to get cool, adding a ductless mini-split can address the problem without adding an ugly window unit or replacing your whole system.
The good news is that a new AC system will run more efficiently and help you cut your cooling costs by as much as a third. Our pros can help you access your needs and talk to you about trouble spots, like hard to cool rooms.
We know every house is different—a “cookie cutter” approach doesn’t work—and the best system in the world is only as good as the installation. We’ll show you why spending extra for an ultra-high efficiency system might not be worth the cost for you, and we’ll help you navigate your options and find the best choice for your budget and your space.
If your system still has a few good years, it’s never too soon to schedule your AC system maintenance. Our technicians will perform a multi-point precision tune-up to ensure your equipment is running right. Annual maintenance is the key to getting the best performance out of your home’s cooling system.
Whatever your needs, the pros at Brideau are here to make sure your cooling equipment is ready for the season. Contact us today.
If it’s time to choose a new water heater for your home, there’s a lot to consider. Your water heater is an important part of the comfort and function of your home. It generates all the warm and hot water you and your family need to bathe, clean your clothes, wash your hands, clean your dishes, and more. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that heating water accounts for roughly 20% of your energy bills.
Whether you’re in the market for a new water heater or simply want to make sure the water heater you already have is working as efficiently as possible, call on Brideau Energy. We provide water heater installation, water heater tune-ups, and water heater repairs in Central Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.
Make Brideau Energy your source for all things related to water heaters. Our master plumbers are here to help you determine if it’s time to upgrade, provide annual tune-ups, perform repairs, and answer your questions. We offer free, no-obligation assessments. And we can even help you navigate the rebate and financing options available to you.
Two of the more common types of water heaters are storage (or conventional) water heaters and tankless (or demand) water heaters. Each offers some advantages and potential disadvantages. Which is right for you will depend on which pros and cons matter most to you and your family.
Conventional or Storage Water Heaters have a reservoir of hot water waiting to be used that needs to be kept above a certain temperature. They tend to last 10 to 15 years. They cost less to purchase and install than tankless water heaters, but they’re not as efficient as tankless water heaters because of the potential for standby heat loss and the need to reheat water that falls below a certain temperature before it can be used. Additionally, when all the hot water in the tank is used, it gets replaced by cold water that needs to be heated. So members of your household might find themselves waiting for hot water to shower etc.
Tankless Water Heaters only generate hot water on demand. They tend to last 20 years. They cost more initially than storage water heaters, but they’re up to 34% more efficient than storage water heaters. They also cost less to operate than storage water heaters. And since there’s no tank, you don’t need to worry about tank corrosion, tank leaks, and all the associated damage and expenses that can plague a storage water heater. Additionally, tankless water heaters take up less space than storage water heaters.
Which type of water heater is right for you will depend on a few factors including whether it’s more important to save on the upfront costs or over the lifetime of the water heater as well as the hot water output your household needs. Storage water heaters allow for simultaneous and multiple uses of hot water (until the reservoir’s hot water supply is depleted). Tankless water heaters can handle up to 5 gallons of hot water per minute. So they’re not as well suited to multiple simultaneous demands for hot water. However, you can install multiple water heaters to meet high hot water demands.
Whatever water heater you decide on, the experts at Brideau Energy can help. We’ve served the residents of Central Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire since 1987. Let us put our years of experience to work for you.
Contact Brideau Energy today. We’re here to help!
This winter has already dealt New England some bitterly cold days. Those cold temps aren’t just uncomfortable, they can put your home and property at risk if you’re not sufficiently prepared. When the temps really drop, you need to worry about frozen pipes. Having frozen pipes is bad enough, but since water expands when it freezes, frozen pipes can also lead to burst pipes. And that’s an even more serious problem that could be very costly to fix.
If you live in Central Massachusetts or Southern New Hampshire and need professional plumbing services, look no further than Brideau Energy. Our master plumbers can handle just about any plumbing job or plumbing emergency, including frozen pipes.
Even though Brideau Energy is here for all your plumbing needs, frozen pipes are something we’d like to see our customers avoid. Keep reading to find out how.
You can’t stop winter in its tracks, but there are some things you can do to make it less likely that your pipes will freeze on those really cold days. Here are some tips for avoiding frozen pipes:
As a family-owned, top-quality fuel company, Brideau cares about your family’s comfort and safety. When you call us to your Central Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire home, we’ll complete all our work to the highest safety standards in the industry. And we’ll guarantee our work will be done correctly and in a timely fashion.
Contact Brideau’s plumbing team today to learn more about the services we offer or to request an estimate.
Propane’s versatility means it can be used in and around the home in a variety of ways. Chances are you use propane for more than one thing in and around your Central Massachusetts or Southern New Hampshire home. Because of propane’s many applications, it is also available and used in a variety of quantities. Propane can be stored in cylinders small enough to be portable for use with your grill, outdoor heater or RV. Propane is also stored in large tanks (some aboveground some underground) for residential, commercial, and even industrial uses.
Brideau Energy offers our customers a variety of propane tank services. We install propane tanks and provide tank monitoring. If you’re in the market for a new propane tank, our team of experts can help you choose the right size tank for your home’s needs. If you’d prefer to lease your tank, we can take care of that as well. You won’t have to pay a lot of money for installation, and we’ll handle the maintenance and repairs.
At Brideau Energy, we make having a propane tank as easy as possible. Keep reading to learn more about propane tanks and the propane services we offer.
Aboveground propane tanks can last 30 years or longer. How long a specific tank lasts will also be determined by the tank’s size and how well it’s maintained.
Underground propane tanks can last anywhere between 20 to 30 years. How long a specific tank lasts will also be determined by what type of soil it’s in and how well it was installed.
Propane tanks come in a variety of sizes to accommodate a variety of uses. The knowledgeable team at Brideau can help you determine which size is best for your household.
Here’s an overview of the different tank sizes Brideau Energy offers:
With a propane tank monitor in place, you don’t have to physically go check your propane tank’s level. You can have all the information you need on your phone or tablet. Brideau Energy recommends tank monitoring for all of our customers. With a wireless tank monitor, you’ll have peace of mind and save money because there’s virtually no chance you’ll experience a run-out. Having a tank monitor also removes the guesswork from scheduling your fuel deliveries.
Tank Monitoring Benefits
Brideau Energy offers complete propane tank services, including installation and tank monitoring, in Central Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. We also offer both automatic and will-call propane delivery. The choice is yours.
Contact Brideau Energy today to learn more about the propane tank services we offer.
Here in New England, we know how to get through a tough winter. And this winter has already been pretty tough. Homes across the country have experienced record-breaking snowfall, freezing temperatures, and power outages. If you’re not prepared and don’t take the necessary precautions, winter can be more than challenging, it can be dangerous or even deadly. Sadly, this winter has already been all of the above. That makes this is a good time to review some of the important steps you can take to be ready for your fuel deliveries and keep your family safe this winter. You’ll be protecting your household and making it easier for the Brideau team to deliver heating oil and propane to your Central Massachusetts or Southern New Hampshire home.
Whether you receive heating oil, propane, or both from us, there are some simple things you can do this winter to help us deliver your fuel efficiently and safely. Top of your mind should be ensuring that all your walkways and driveways remain clear and accessible—even after a winter storm. To prevent a runout, you should also keep a close eye on your fuel levels. This will help you avoid a no-heat emergency.
The following checklist will help you protect your home and make it easier for the fuel delivery team at Brideau to do its job in a safe and timely manner:
As a family-owned, top-quality fuel company, Brideau cares about your family’s comfort and safety. We offer the households of Central Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire fair pricing, personalized service, and reliable fuel delivery.
Contact Brideau today to become a customer, request a fuel delivery, or receive service. Your comfort is our priority.
When it comes to heating your Central Massachusetts or Southern New Hampshire home this winter, you need a fuel company you can trust. Brideau Energy is the area’s premier family-owned, top-quality fuel company. We make your home comfort a priority. And you can count on us to provide easy, safe, and convenient heating oil delivery.
In addition to being a premier fuel delivery company, Brideau Energy is also committed to a carbon-neutral future. That’s why we deliver Bioheat Plus® fuel.
What is Bioheat fuel? It is a domestically produced fuel that’s the product of a blend of ultra-low-sulfur heating oil and renewable biodiesel. Renewable biodiesel is made from organic and recycled products, such as used cooking oil, inedible corn oil, soybean oil, canola, tallow, fats, and algae. There are different tiers of Bioheat Plus® fuel. The difference between each one is how much biodiesel is blended in.
One great thing about Bioheat Plus® fuel is that it doesn’t require any changes to be made to furnaces, boilers, or storage tanks. It’s perfectly compatible with the heating system you already have. And if you have one of the latest compact and highly efficient boilers or furnaces in your home, you’ll be glad to know that in addition to drastically increasing the fuel efficiency of your home and reducing consumption, it will work especially well with Bioheat Plus® fuel.
There are a lot of reasons to feel good about using Bioheat Plus® fuel in your home. First of all, it’s safe. It has been approved by ASTM International. That’s the agency that sets industry standards for fuels and lubricants. Furthermore, Bioheat Plus® fuel offers several advantages over traditional heating oil and several other fuels.
Here are some of the meaningful benefits Bioheat Plus® fuel offers over traditional heating oil and many other fuels:
Brideau cares about the future of our planet and our present central Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire customers. That’s why we deliver Bioheat Plus® fuel. And that’s why we remain committed to making your home-heating experience as easy, safe, and convenient as possible.
Contact us today to learn more about Bioheat Plus® Fuel and what it can do for your home. Your comfort is our priority.
For hundreds of businesses in a variety of industries, diesel fuel plays an important role. It keeps fleets of vehicles on the road, from delivery trucks to law enforcement vehicles to school buses. It can power industrial and agricultural equipment. It can also power generators that provide backup and emergency power to keep essential facilities like hospitals and nursing homes up and running, protect servers and related technology from extreme temperatures, and keep refrigerator units running so that perishables aren’t lost.
From hospitals and nursing homes to schools and businesses, diesel fuel keeps residents and employees safe and comfortable and essential equipment up and running—protecting lives and valuable information even when the power grid fails. It also keeps vehicles on the road—whether for the military, local law enforcement, school, farm, or delivery company.
What is diesel fuel? Diesel fuel is a product made from refined crude oil and biomass materials. It is the specific distillate fuel oil made for use in compression ignition engines that got its name from inventor Rudolf Diesel.
Brideau Energy offers our customers in central Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire exceptionally competitive pricing on diesel fuel delivery. Whatever business you’re in, we’ll make it our business to reliably deliver for you.
Brideau Energy is a family-owned business that has faithfully served our customers since 1987.
Your business can depend on Brideau Energy just as hundreds of others in the region do. Here is a selection of some of the businesses and industries that already depend on us:
If your business uses diesel fuel, make Brideau Energy your source for top-quality diesel fuel. We provide on-site deliveries for off-road construction equipment (typically Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.). We also offer fleet fueling for commercial truck fleets of all sizes. And those can be scheduled for late afternoons and evenings when your trucks are done for the day. That saves you time and money.
Brideau Energy has the resources to fuel a commercial fleet of any size with our computerized metering and printout systems. We also have a card-operated system on Route 68 in Templeton that’s available 24 hours a day.
Brideau Energy provides our customers with top-quality diesel fuel. The low-sulfur clear on-road diesel we supply will help to extend the lives of the engines in your fleet. We also sell low-sulfur off-road diesel that’s colored red to make it easily distinguishable from on-road diesel (which is subject to taxes).
As a family-owned, top-quality fuel company, Brideau Energy has earned the loyalty of hundreds of businesses in central Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.
Contact Brideau Energy today to learn about diesel fuel delivery and how we can make a difference for your business. We also offer bulk gasoline delivery.
Because there are so many different ways to use propane in and around your Massachusetts home and beyond, propane gets stored in different ways. Propane is easy to transport in the smaller cylinders you use with your grill, outdoor heater or RV. Large propane tanks (some aboveground some underground) store propane for residential, commercial, and even industrial uses.
Brideau Energy offers our customers a variety of propane tank services. We install propane tanks and also offer tank monitoring. Our team of experts is also here to help you choose the right size tank for your home. We’ll factor in the size of your home, your fuel usage, and your budget to help you make the best choice for your household. If you choose to lease your tank, you won’t have to pay a lot of money for installation, and we’ll handle maintenance and repairs.
At Brideau Energy, we make having a propane tank as easy as possible. Keep reading to learn more about the propane tanks and propane services we offer.
When it comes to propane tanks, there’s no one size fits all option. Our technicians are trained and knowledgeable. We understand all the variables that need to be considered when trying to pick the right tank. For example: How big is your home? How many gallons of propane do you use (on average) every month? Do you use propane for home heating, to power appliances, or both?
Here’s an overview of the different tank sizes Brideau Energy offers:
Not sure which tank size is right for your home? The team at Brideau Energy can help you make the right choice.
Brideau Energy is there for you even after you purchase or lease your propane tank. We recommend that all our customers sign up for tank monitoring. Having a wireless tank monitor will give you peace of mind. There’s virtually no chance you’ll experience a run-out and it removes the guesswork when it comes to scheduling your deliveries.
Tank Monitoring Benefits
Brideau Energy is a reliable source of propane tank services in Central Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. We’re here to answer all your questions about leasing a tank or tank monitoring.
Contact Brideau Energy today to learn more.
Chances are you’re already benefiting from all that propane can do in and around your Central Massachusetts or Southern New Hampshire home. Propane is portable. That means you can take it with you tailgating this football season. Propane is versatile. You can use it to cook, heat your home, warm your water, and so much more. And propane is eco-friendly. It’s an efficient and clean-burning fuel.
You already know what propane can do in and around your home, but how much do you know about propane itself? For instance, do you know what it is and where it comes from? Hopefully, your propane comes from Brideau Energy. We provide convenient propane delivery to our New England customers. You can choose the convenience of automatic delivery or opt to remain a will-call customer if that’s your preference. Either way, you can rely on Brideau Energy for your propane services.
Ready to learn more about propane? Keep reading.
Propane is a product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining. It’s often compressed and stored as a liquid. You may also hear it referred to as liquefied petroleum gas, LPG or LP. Propane is nontoxic and colorless.
There is so much propane can do residentially and commercially. Propane is an extremely versatile fuel. It can be used for heating, water heating, cooking, and powering a variety of appliances. It can also fuel vehicles. When used as a fuel for vehicles it’s called propane Autogas.
Propane offers a lot of benefits. That makes propane a good choice for your New England home. Here are some of the advantages propane offers:
Brideau Energy is a reliable source of propane delivery to homes across Central Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. And if you’re not currently using propane to heat your home, our installation specialists can make your transition to propane a simple and painless process.
Contact Brideau Energy today to learn more about the propane services we offer.
Autumn is a great season. The leaves change color. The temperatures dip, but there are still lots of lovely sunny days. And if you like pumpkin spice, you’re living your best life.
Autumn is also a great time to make sure your home’s heating system is ready to get you through whatever winter has in store. It may even be time to purchase a new heating system.
When you upgrade to a new and more efficient heating system, your family will enjoy greater comfort even on the coldest of days and you’ll enjoy the savings on your energy and repair bills.
Some people use the words “boiler” and “furnace” interchangeably, but they’re not the same thing. A boiler and a furnace can each be part of a home’s heating system, but they work differently.
Boilers are hydronic heating systems. They use hot water or steam to heat your home. A hot water boiler burns fuel to heat water that is then pumped through pipes to baseboards, radiators, in-floor radiant tubing, or other sealed hydronic devices throughout your Massachusetts home. With a steam boiler, the process is very similar. However, the water is converted to steam before circulating throughout your home.
Furnaces are forced air systems. Furnaces burn fuel to heat air. That hot air is then pushed through a system of ducts that lead to vents throughout the home.
You can tell which type of heating system a home uses by checking for radiators and vents. A home with radiators (or baseboards) has a boiler. A home with vents has a furnace.
The cost of a new furnace or boiler can be worth it. An older furnace or boiler won’t run as efficiently, so your fuel and energy bills will be higher. An older system will also cost you more in repairs.
When is it time to replace your heating system? If your repair costs will be 50% or more than the cost of an upgrade, it’s better to make the investment in upgrading a high-efficiency heating system.
How much will it cost you to replace your heating system? While there are many variables that will be at play, here are some very general average costs.
The latest data shows that the average cost to replace an oil-fired furnace runs between $2,500 and $6,000, although a high-efficiency unit might increase that cost to closer to $10,000. Boilers are a little more expensive to replace. The cost to replace a boiler system can range from $3,000 to $6,000, but a high-efficiency boiler could be as much as $12,000 to install.
Bear in mind that these numbers are national averages, and costs range from region to region. There are also many other factors that can affect the cost of your heating system upgrade, including the brand you choose, the square footage of the home, the complexity of the installation, labor costs and the size of the heating system (in BTU power).
You can rely on Brideau for heating installation and service. We install, service, and repair boilers and furnaces. If it’s time to upgrade, come to Brideau for the expert installation of a dependable and high-efficiency boiler or furnace. Not sure what to choose, we’ll send a specialist to your home for a free assessment. We’ll also let you know if you qualify for any rebates.
If you decide to stick with your current boiler or furnace, schedule a maintenance visit so one of our technicians can find and address any potential issues and get your heating system working as efficiently as it can. You may also want to enroll in our service plan. It includes a yearly tune-up as well as discounts on diagnostic/service fees and parts and includes emergency service in case you lose heat.
At Brideau Energy, the comfort of your home is our priority. We have served the residents of Central Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire since 1987.
Contact Brideau Energy today to learn more about our furnace and boiler services.
