Rick McNeal, owner of Ranchwood Veterinary Hospital in south Oklahoma City, realized he had an expensive problem.
2. Always opt for ENERGY STAR� qualified bulbs and fixtures.8. Next in cooling the house come ventilation and insulation. If you have an attic, and the power is on, you should have a vent fan that keeps air flowing through the attic. Along with that, we suggest you have roof vent turbines, or a ridge vent (your home supply store can tell you all about these). In extremely hot weather, you might set a garden sprinkler on your roof and let it run for the hottest couple of hours of the day provided your area is not on water restriction. As for �insulation� one way to insulate parts of the house is to close off seldom-used rooms (especially those on the sunny side of the house), and close off their AC vents if any. This blocks heat and also reduces the area that your limited AC has to cool.7. Wash only full loads of laundry and dishes and use water- and energy saving settings - and cold water - whenever possible.While we�re here, we�d be remiss in our duties if we failed to give you the symptoms of sunstroke and heat exhaustion, both of which require medical attention:"The environment has been an obsession with me since I was a child," he said.5. Don�t drastically turn down the temperature on your thermostat. Your house won�t cool down any faster.4. Though �bare as you dare� is the way to go indoors in limited AC, most of us would prefer to have good air conditioning. If yours is out, or if power sources are uncertain, go someplace that has AC like the mall or other places that don�t mind people coming in and hanging around a while. Also, you can �AC pool� with friends just like you�d car pool. Go to a friend�s house who has a good AC system.1. Regularly clean or replace the air filter in your furnace.2. Turn down the thermostat at night and when the house is empty, or install a programmable thermostat.Other energy-efficiency efforts include replacing florescent lights in most of the veterinary clinic.6. Increase insulation in the attic, walls and crawl space, if applicable."I remember driving by here when I was a kid and telling my parents I wanted to be a veterinarian," he said.9. Unplug your second refrigerator and put all your food in one.5. For an older hot water heater, consider a water heater blanket. Check your manual prior to installation.NcNeal said he has long been concerned with environmental issues.3. During the day, let the sun heat your home by opening curtains and blinds. Be sure to close them again in the evening.The clinic has 12 employees, including three veterinarians in addition to McNeal. The facility includes a pet boarding area. What was the backyard for the house is divided into exercise areas for dogs at Ranchwood Veterinary Hospital's Pet Resort and pets coming for day-care services.Early improvements after McNeal purchased the building and veterinary hospital included tasks as simple as caulking and plugging holes, he said.10. Use power management settings on your computer. Turn off your computer and monitor at the end of your work session.2. Eat small, light, non-spicy meals. Eating heavy meals cranks your metabolism and can raise your body temperature. Also, digestion robs you of energy. Since the heat is already robbing you of some energy, you don�t need to add to this drain by taxing the digestive system. However, don�t skip meals since it�s food that replenishes the electrolytes you lose through sweating and increased water consumption.3. During the heat of the day, keep windows and outside doors closed.7. To protect your pipes and keep it warmer under the floor, make sure your crawl space vents are closed.We�re here to give you tips and tricks to help you beat the heat should you be susceptible to extreme temperatures, or should your power be out. Here�s a short list of suggestions:McNeal received an associate degree from Oklahoma City Community College in 1991 and a bachelor's degree in zoology from Oklahoma State University in 1993. He earned his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from OSU in 1998 and worked as a veterinarian in south Oklahoma City, Midwest City, Norman and Newcastle before buying Ranchwood Veterinary Hospital in 2005.
"I would do it all over again for sure," he said.
Author: David Page
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