HomeSense Winter 2011 by Hudson Ink

HomeSense <COMPANY>’s

Smart and simple ways to enrich your home living

What Are My Options? As you consider whether to upgrade, replace, fine-tune or maintain your furnace or heater, you’ve got options to consider. For example, one homeowner recently asked about switching from a oil-fired boiler to a gasfired boiler. It can be done, and if a natural gas line is already

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running into the home, say, for a gas stove, it’s typically a relatively easy process. But is it a good idea? That’s when you begin to weigh investment and return. If the boiler is more than 10 years old, you’d likely be better served by investing in a highefficiency replacement that will save you month after month on your utility bills. If your heater is more than 10 years old, and you are experiencing discomfort or high utility bills, you’ll want to get your system evaluated by a professional. Besides replacing your system, you could also see improved energy efficiency by increasing house insulation and repairing or insulating ductwork or tuning up your system. Call us and we can help.

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By <Name> Dear Friends, Times like these make me think of the old Sesame Street phrase, “Brought to you by the letter P.” Polls will tell you that the thing most people are concerned about has to do with our pocketbooks and our paychecks. Politicians are picking at each other. And you get the feeling that a lot of folks in the country are peeved! Well, I wish I could help sort it all out, but I’m mainly focused on my main responsibilities: serving customers and helping you stay comfortable in your home. I’m fortunate. I get to do work I enjoy with people I care about. And what that means to you is that you have my personal assurance that we’re here to help, and you can always call when you need us. Are the systems in your household running well? Hope so. Heaters will be “on go” for a

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Contents Inside…

Your Quick Call Comfort Hotline:

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• Small Budget Improvement • Need to Get Someone on the Phone?

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The home comfort system that takes nearly half of your household energy budget may be asking for a little time and attention. Whether you’re toasty warm this winter and how much you’re shelling out to your utility company are among the ways it communicates its needs.

My Word

Is Your Heater Trying to Tell You Something?

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Winter 2011

Seasonal Shift

ow would you characterize your relationship with your heater or furnace? Smooth sailing? Needs improvement? Neglected?

Inside This Issue:

Home Watch Need to Get Someone on the Phone?

eceiving good customer service over the phone is, sadly, a shock for many folks. You can almost picture an emergency room form where the complaint is, “My heart took a jolt when a real person answered my customer service question politely, helpfully and quickly.” We’re more likely to expect: “Your call is important to us. You are 33rd in line for the next available customer service representative. Someone will be with you in three hours. Please stay on the line.” But you don’t have to take this sitting down. Instead, when you find yourself in an auto-attendant purgatory, try these tips to find your way out: • Press zero for operator. In most places within an automated system, pressing zero will take you to a person. • Speak “customer service representative” or “operator.” Voice-controlled systems such as the kind where you can speak your account number often recognize the request. FYI, the systems will also recognize anger/ profanity, if you’re particularly irritated, and will want to find a person to calm you

HealthWise Seeking Health Information Online

is another source online that can ow’s your health? If we need to, we can pause while you be found at www.nlm.nih.gov/ check your answer on Google. medlineplus. It seems as if, these days, people But do note: some organizaaren’t thinking in terms of symptions identify content that is from toms but of keywords. That’s “sponsors,” which doesn’t make it because health information is one wrong, but should make you aware of the most popular areas of online of the potential for profit. research. In fact, according to Is It InforPew Internet/Pew Remation – or search Center studies, MisinformaIt’s easy to see a list about 80% of people who use the interof symptoms and think tion? Online net look online for you’ve figured out your support comhealth information. munities for own diagnosis. particular health In some ways, conditions can be this is a good thing, good for learnleading to better ing from the experiences of others informed medical consumers. In and getting tips that you can put some ways, there’s risk. It’s easy to to use. But your search may also see a list of symptoms and think lead you to personal points of you’ve figured out your own diview in blogs and comments that agnosis. There is also a great deal of misinformation on the web. you should be willing to question. And some sites, like always, are Those experiences could very well more concerned about seeking be legitimate. But can’t you think your money than seeking your of two or three people in your own well-being. life whose personal opinions you wouldn’t trust – even if they did Consider the Source As write a blog? you find information on the web, check to see who is providing Finally, don’t let online inforthe content. Is it a respected ormation be a substitute for actual ganization dedicated to research medical advice. If you’re having and awareness (think American symptoms of a serious medical Cancer Society, American Heart condition, seek the attention of a Association, etc.)? Besides sites medical professional. focused on specific health areas, you’ll also find broad sources of information. WebMD.com and Mayoclinic.com, for example, are two well-known providers of information on health conditions, symptoms, treatments and support communities. Medline Plus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and part of the National Institutes of Health,

“Quotable”

Spring, summer, and fall fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition. —Mignon McLaughlin

MoneyWise Small Budget Improvement: Better Looking Cabinets

ainting your kitchen cabinets can freshen up the busiest room in your home. But don’t think you’ve got to shell out big bucks to get it done. If you do it yourself, your investment is suddenly down to the cost of your supplies and your time, and you’re on your way to creating a low-cost, high-value home improvement. What does it take? Here are the basics: Be Prepared Prepare your areas by removing what can be removed and protecting what stays behind. That means emptying cabinets and drawers and clearing off counters. Protect surfaces with drop cloths. Tape off areas where the cabinets touch walls and floors. Set up a workspace for your painting – if possible in a garage or basement, but if indoors, make sure you’ve got proper ventilation. Remove and Fill Remove the doors and drawers or drawer fronts that are to be painted, and remove

the hardware (handles, pulls and hinges). If you’re replacing your hardware with a kind that doesn’t fit the existing holes, or if you want to move your current hardware lower on the cabinet, fill the holes with a wood filler. Clean and Sand Clean the door and drawer surfaces and sides with a cleaner-degreaser. Be thorough, paying particular attention to areas near the stove, where grease and dirt collect. Sand the surfaces and wipe away any dust or sawdust with a moist cloth. Paint Apply a primer to each door and drawer front. It’s a good idea to paint the inside panel of the cabinets first, then the outer framework. If needed, sand the primer to remove brush marks. Wipe off the dust again. Next step: apply two coats of the top coat, and when it’s dry, reinstall the hardware and put everything back in its place!

Did You Know? • By weight, Bone is five times stronger than steel.

This space can be used for trivia, recipes or for anything • The costliest ever is named Little Nicky, who cost his owner special you’d like cat to furnish.

$50,000. He is a clone of an older cat.

You can also use this space to put a QR Code and direct your • The world’s oldest known recipe is for beer. customers to a web portal Hudson, Ink can create and host. • portal The average home more pollution does the average car. This can host an creates online-only article, than informational video, answers to trivia questions, online coupons andcombined. links to your • Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world website to build web traffic and help your SEO.

• You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.

Home Smart

Are Signs of Rust Signs of a Problem?

hen everything’s working well, how do you know when something’s about to go wrong? Your furnace may not tell you unless you know where to look. For example, at the start of the heating season, a homeowner took the inspection cover off his gas furnace and saw rust inside the cabinet. Backing up a moment, the furnace was working fine, and he was comfortable in the home. So from that perspective, there was nothing wrong. But should that rust really be there? Sure, it could be normal signs of an aging system – or perhaps something much worse than the effects of condensation. For example, if it’s a rusty heat exchanger, that’s a sign of a problem. If the heat exchanger has leaks or cracks, that creates a weakness in your system that could allow carbon monoxide to leak into the home. A professional contractor can take a look and make the assessment best – which is one more reason your seasonal tune up can be both energy-saving and life-saving.

So count on us for:

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New Customer_____________________________________________ ad

P.S. Please use the coupons in this newsletter for helpful savings for yourself – or share them with a friend!

Just clip this out and give it to a friend who is having a heating/cooling problem. If they redeem this coupon with your name as the referral, we will give them a $15 discount. After all, your friends are our friends, and we look forward to serving them soon! Referred by_______________________________________________ is

<NAME>

We appreciate the friendship we share with you, our customer. It’s a pleasure to provide superior service and value to you, and we’d like to extend this same expertise to your friends.

A Friendly Offer

Sincerely,

When you have a repair on your heating and air conditioning system, you’re already not having a good day. So we’d like to make things easier on your wallet. Clip this coupon for a $25 savings on your repair bill, and just give us a call. We’ll give you our best service, as quickly as we can. Call <COMPANY> ©2011 at

Wishing you a great season and many good things brought to you by the letter P – like peace and prosperity!

A tune-up is still the best way to increase the life HomePoints of a very Storm windows and doors sizeable can reduce heating costs investment by as much as 15% by in your keeping heated air from leaking outside. home – and it’s also the best way to keep more energy dollars in your pocket. Now, doesn’t that sound like a good idea?

• 24-hour Service, 7 Days a Week. Why wait when you don’t have to? • Your Brand and Your System fixed right by neat, skilled techs. • Up Front Pricing. Know the price before we start. No surprises! • Finance terms to suit your needs. Let us help you. • Over <#> solid years of caring service. Let us solve your problem. Call <COMPANY> at <PHONE>.

Get $25 Bucks Off the Best Service We Can Bring On.

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while longer. So let us know if you have any problems. Or if you missed your tune-up and safety check at the beginning of the season, we can get that done for you too.

Your Comfort Counts. se fo th r a is pa ad, ck on ag e e of of y ot ou he r o r s wn am , o pl r c e al ad l u s. s

My Word (...from page 1)

(Discount only available to NEW customers)

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