Earth Hour - Saturday March 28th
Earth Hour is this Saturday, March 28th, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm your local time (wherever you are in the world). Please consider turning your lights off during this hour as a statement that you care about global warming. This is a great opportunity to teach your children about global warming and how something so simple as turning out a light can save so much energy and have such an impact.
For more information on this event, please go to http://www.earthhour.org.
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Swimming Pool & Hot Tub Weather is Around the Corner
Although it seems like Winter may never end ( it’s suppossed to snow again this Friday) it will and it’s just around the corner. What does that mean to us? It means that soon we’ll be able to leave the house without being bundled up like eskimos. We’ll be able to enjoy the beautiful outdoors and fresh air once again. Before you know it you’ll be in your backyard in front of the BBQ cooking up some burgers. Perhaps you’re planning on installing that pool or hot tub this summer? Just think, for the cost of a pool you can have mini vacations at home in your own backyard year after year. So, if you think that a new pool or a hot tub might be included in your summer plans …. start planning now! Friendly Electric would be delighted to help you with the entire project from start to finish. However, you should know that projects of this nature require a little advanced planning so that you can reap the rewards the entire summer. Often times clients wait until we are already in the middle of the summer fun to purchase and install their pools, which means that they end up only enjoying the water for a brief portion of the season. So I suggest you start today. It only takes a day for Friendly Electric to wire the pool, but the paperwork and the inspections require a little more time than that. Some townships take weeks just to approve your permit package, and summertime is their busiest season. So why not avoid the rush, and get started on your summer projects today. Give Friendly
Electric a call, we’d be happy to guide you through the entire process.
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day members of the Friendly Electric team were out in their St. Patty’s Day gear to wave hello to commuters on their way to work. They wore silly hats and green wigs and waved to the traffic. They held up a large banner that read, “Wave… it’s Friendly!” Most people couldn’t resist to wave back or honk their horns! It made everyone smile a little bit on their way to work, and it was just plain fun. To those of you who honked or waived back, thanks for being a good sport! Remember, it doesn’t cost anything to be Friendly to your Neighbors, and it makes you feel good!
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Save money this summer!
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- In warm climates, where summertime heat gain is the main concern, look for windows with double glazing and spectrally selective coatings that reduce heat gain.
- If your air conditioner is old, consider purchasing a new, energy-efficient model. You could save up to 50% on your utility bill for cooling. Look for the ENERGY STAR® and EnergyGuide labels.
- Keep in mind that insulation and sealing air leaks will help your energy performance in the summertime by keeping the cool air inside.
- Plant trees or shrubs to shade air conditioning units but not to block the airflow. Place your room air conditioner on the north side of the house. A unit operating in the shade uses as much as 10% less electricity than the same one operating in the sun.
- Don’t place lamps or TV sets near your air-conditioning thermostat. The thermostat senses heat from these appliances, which can cause the air conditioner to run longer than necessary.
- Consider using an an interior ceiling fan in conjunction with your window air conditioner to spread the cooled air more effectively through your home without greatly increasing your power use.
- Don’t set your thermostat at a colder setting than normal when you turn on your air conditioner. It will not cool your home any faster and could result in excessive cooling and, therefore, unnecessary expense.
- Set your thermostat as high as comfortably possible in the summer. The less difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the lower your overall cooling bill will be.
- Whole-house fans help cool your home by pulling cool air through the house and exhausting warm air through the attic. They are effective when operated at night and when the outside air is cooler than the inside.
- For air conditioners, look for a high Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER). The current minimum is 13 SEER for central air conditioners.
- During the cooling season, keep the window coverings closed during the day to prevent solar gain.
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Save Money this Winter!
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- During the heating season, keep the draperies and shades on your south facing windows open during the day to allow the sunlight to enter your home and closed at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows.
- Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable when home.
- By resetting your programmable thermostat from 72 degrees to 65 degrees for eight hours a day (for instance, while no one is home or while everyone is tucked in bed) you can cut your heating bill by up to 10 percent.
- Weatherize your home—caulk and weatherstrip any doors and windows that leak air.
- Properly maintain and clean heating equipment.
- Replace furnace filters regularly.
- Check the insulation in your attic, ceilings, exterior and basement walls, floors, and crawl spaces to see if it meets the levels recommended for your area.
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Phantom loads are raising your electrical costs!
Did you know that many appliances continue to draw a small amount of power when they are switched off. These “phantom” loads occur in most appliances that use electricity, such as VCRs, televisions, stereos, computers, and kitchen appliances. In the average home, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. This can be avoided by unplugging the appliance or using a power strip and using the switch on the power strip to cut all power to the appliance.
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Energy Star Products - saves you money on your electric bills!
If you live in a typical U.S. home, your appliances and home electronics are responsible for about 20 percent of your energy bills. These appliances and electronics include everything from clothes washers and dryers, to computers, to water heaters. By shopping for appliances with the ENERGY STAR® label and turning off appliances when they’re not in use, you can achieve real savings in your monthly energy bill.
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New Study Offers Hope for Possible Test to Detect Ovarian Cancer in Early Stages
New Test for Early-Stage Ovarian Cancer
March 10, 2009 — A blood test to detect elevated levels of the protein CA125 — combined with ultrasound — may prove to be an effective screening strategy for ovarian cancer in its earliest and most treatable stages, new research suggests.
Very early findings from the largest randomized ovarian cancer screening study ever conducted are promising, researchers say.
But it will be several years until it is clear if the screening method evaluated in the trial saves lives.
More than 200,000 postmenopausal women in the U.K. are participating in the study, which will end in 2014.
“These early results show that screening is feasible,” study researcher Usha Menon, MD, of the University College London tells WebMD. “But we don’t yet know if this screening saves lives and if so, at what cost. The hope is that we will have these answers in 2014.”
Most Ovarian Cancers Found Late
Ovarian cancer is highly treatable when detected early, with a survival rate of 92% at least five years after being diagnosed. But more than two out of three patients are diagnosed with advanced-stage disease, when the five-year survival rate is only 20% to 30%.
More than 21,000 new cases of ovarian cancer were diagnosed in the U.S. in 2008, and more than 15,000 women died from the disease, according to American Cancer Society.
This is why the stakes are so high for the development of an effective screening strategy to detect ovarian cancer in its earliest stages, Menon says.
The CA125 blood test, first developed in the early 1980s, measures a protein that is elevated in ovarian cancer patients. The second generation of the test has proven useful for evaluating how well patients respond to ovarian cancer treatments.
But its usefulness as a screening tool to detect ovarian cancer is more controversial because false-positive rates tend to be high, leading to unnecessary follow-up testing and surgery.
In the U.K. study, researchers evaluated a new way of using the CA125 blood test, which they hope will prove more useful for diagnosing the disease.
Traditionally, a CA125 level of 35 or above has been considered elevated and a level of CA125 below this has been considered normal.
But in the risk-assessment model developed by Menon and colleagues, a woman’s absolute CA125 level is less important than changes in CA125 from year to year. Age is also considered, since ovarian cancer risk increases with age.
CA125 Plus Ultrasound
The ongoing U.K. study includes 202,638 postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 74 at recruitment between 2001 and 2005 who were randomly assigned to undergo no screening, annual screening with ultrasound alone, or annual screening with ultrasound and the CA125 blood test for 10 years.
CA125 Plus Ultrasound continued…
Early results from the trial show that CA125 plus ultrasound detected 90% of the ovarian cancers identified so far in the combined screening group, while ultrasound alone identified 75% of cancers reported in this screening group.
Almost half of the cancers detected in both screening groups were early-stage cancers. The total number of cancers detected in the two screening groups was similar.
But the combined-screening group had fewer repeat tests and almost nine times fewer surgeries performed to confirm disease for every ovarian cancer detected.
Thirty-five surgeries were performed to detect one cancer in the ultrasound alone group compared to three surgeries for every cancer detected in the combined screening group.
The study is published in the April issue of The Lancet Oncology.
American Cancer Society Director of Cancer Screening Robert A. Smith, PhD, says final results from the U.K. trial, along with as yet unpublished results from a study conducted by the National Cancer Institute, should reveal more about whether CA125 and ultrasound will prove useful for routine screening.
“For two decades we have been exploring ways to effectively use CA125 and ultrasound to screen for ovarian cancer,” he says. “If these studies conclude that these new methods of using these tools have a favorable benefit-to-harm ratio, routine screening for ovarian cancer may become a reality for postmenopausal women.”
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Friendly Electric Sponsors the Warnsdorfer Elementary School PTA Healthy World/Healthy You
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Angie’s List Super Service Award
Dear Friends,
Thanks to all of you who rated our company on Angie’s List! As a result of your great feedback Friendly Electric has earned the Angie’s List Super Service Award We can’t thank you enough for helping us to earn this great honor! We are grateful for your trust and your appreciation. Here at Friendly Electric we truly value our customer and our reputation. Thank you again.
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