Archive for September 1, 2010

Kate Miller | September 29, 2010
8 comments

Winter House Fire Precautions

Winter is on the way, and that means trading in our tank tops for thick sweaters and our sandals for snow boots. We also need to take certain precautions to prevent house fires. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, the winter months have the highest occurrence of house fires. Initially you may think that this is a result of all of the holiday decorations, candles, and fireplaces, but there is one cause of house fires that you may not even realize. This appliance causes 15,000 house fires a year, and it is responsible for 15 deaths and around 400 injuries a year as well. Any guesses?

Although you may not have guessed it, your clothes dryer is the offender. There is a spike in dryer related fires in the winter as well. Maybe it is because of all of the lint filled sweaters and blankets that we constantly use during these months, but whatever the cause, you need to protect your family from clothes dryer fires. This type of fire is very preventable if you take notice of the warning signs, and have your dryer vent cleaned regularly. Read more

Category: Contractors, Duct Cleaning, Helpful Tips, Safety | Tags: , , , , ,
Kate Miller | September 27, 2010
2 comments

NATE Certified Technicians Only!

Your furnace breaks down in the middle of the winter, and you have already done every check that you know of in an effort to get the unit back up and running. Once you have given up, you give in and decide to call an HVAC contractor to lend you a hand. Flipping through the phone book, you see many large ads that make various promises, but how are you going to pick one? No one has the time or money to spend on a technician who doesn’t know what they are doing. So, you should look for a company that promotes NATE certified technicians.

What is NATE? Read more

Category: Air Conditioning, Consumer Protection, Contractors, Heating, Helpful Tips | Tags: , , , , ,
Kate Miller | September 23, 2010
4 comments

Understanding Your Furnace Air Filter

When you have a central furnace and air conditioning system, air quality often becomes an issue. These types of systems use duct work to transport air throughout your home. As one vent delivers the heated or cooled air to the room, another vent is drawing air into the duct work to be sent back to the furnace or air conditioner. The air in your home will cycle through the system at least 45 times or as much as 140 times a day, depending on how much you run your HVAC systems. Dust, dander, pollen, mold spores, and many other microscopic particles are being cycled along with the hot or cold air. This constant recycling of polluted air is often what leads to poor indoor air quality.

Your furnace and air conditioner should have an air filter as your homes first line of defense against these nasty particles. But, finding the right air filter for your home can become very frustrating once you find out how many choices you have. The four main types of air filters that are on the market for residential HVAC systems include: Read more

Category: Air Conditioning, Air Quality, Furnace, Helpful Tips | Tags: , , , , ,
Kate Miller | September 20, 2010
31 comments

Geothermal Heating and Cooling

Geothermal heat pumps are one of the most efficient ways to provide your home with heating and cooling. If you have never heard about it before, you are not alone. But, oddly enough geothermal energy has been around for nearly 10,000 years! It is only in recent years that this industry has grown though. As the cost of more traditional heating and cooling methods go up, consumers are looking for alternatives. Geothermal heating and cooling is defiantly the option they were looking for.

What is a Geothermal Heat Pump? Read more

Category: Air Conditioning, Go Green and Energy Efficiency, Heating, Helpful Tips, Money Saving | Tags: , , , , ,
Kate Miller | September 15, 2010
16 comments

Choosing a Programmable Thermostat that Works Best for You

Did that old dial thermostat finally break? If you are still living in the 1950’s when it comes to thermostat technology, I suggest a swift jump into the present world of programmable thermostats. The change in technology may seem drastic and complicated, but the benefits of having a programmable thermostat make learning how to use it more than worth it. But how do you know which thermostat will best meet your needs?

Benefits of installing a programmable thermostat Read more

Category: Air Conditioning, Go Green and Energy Efficiency, Heating, Money Saving | Tags: , , , ,
Kate Miller | September 13, 2010
8 comments

UV Lights in Your Duct Work

When you think of ultra violet light chances are the first thing that comes to mind are the harmful rays of the sun and not your HVAC systems. However, UV light can be harnessed and put to good use in the duct system of your home. If installed properly by a reliable HVAC contractor, UV lights can improve indoor air quality by destroying odors and harmful particles, and it may even boost the efficiency of your heating and air conditioning systems.

What is a UV light and how does it work?

A UV light is a machine that is mounted into your duct works supply and return vents or over the air conditioning coil. It uses a light bulb that emits powerful UV-C rays into the duct system. UV-C is an invisible part of the sun’s light spectrum. It has the ability to alter the DNA and RNA of microorganism which will sterilize them. Once sterilized, the microorganisms can no longer grow or reproduce and are killed off in a short amount of time. Read more

Category: Air Conditioning, Air Purification, Air Quality, Duct Cleaning, Heating, Home Improvements, Money Saving, Safety | Tags: , , , , ,
Kate Miller | September 9, 2010
20 comments

Carbon Monoxide in Your Home

Carbon monoxide could be leaking in your home right now, and unless you have a detector installed, you wouldn’t even know that it was happening until you were poisoned. Yet, every day your run your furnace, boiler, or hot water tank you are risking a carbon monoxide leak. To prevent something like this from happening to your family, you need to be aware of what causes this type of leak, and what you can do to protect yourself.

Furnace and Boiler Heat Exchangers

Gas fired furnaces and boilers use a heat exchanger to heat the air or water that they use to heat your home. In a furnace or boiler, combustion is created when the gas mixes with air and ignites the burners inside the unit. The burners then transfer the heat to the heat exchanger. Every heat exchanger has two sides. One side is in contact with the harmful combustion gases, and the other side is in contact with the air or water that is going to be circulated through the home. This way the combustion gases like carbon monoxide and never in contact with the air that we breathe. We are protected by the barrier created by the heat exchanger. In a furnace, there will be a draft inducer motor that will filter the toxic gases outdoors. Read more

Category: Boiler, Furnace, Heating, Helpful Tips, Safety | Tags: , , , , ,
Kate Miller | September 7, 2010
24 comments

How Your Furnace Heats Your Home

Many people know little to nothing about how their furnace works. You may know what certain parts are, like the pilot light for example, but how does your furnace use that tiny flame to generate heat for your entire home? In order to gain a better understanding of how this works, you must first understand how each of the main components of the furnace work individually. Knowing how the furnace operates can help you have a better understanding of the repairs it may need when the furnace breaks down.

Main Parts and their Function

The furnace is made up of a lot of different parts that are all necessary for the unit to function properly. However, there are a few main components that are directly involved in the furnace’s creation of heat, and those are the ones you should focus on. We should leave the more technical parts to the professional HVAC contractors. Read more

Category: Consumer Protection, Contractors, Furnace, Heating, Safety | Tags: , , , , ,
Kate Miller | September 1, 2010
13 comments

Flex Duct Disaster

Many homeowners pay little to no attention to their duct work, but if you have flex duct in your home, it probably deserves a good inspection, because it could be costing you hundreds of dollars annually not to! Flex duct is a type of duct work that consists of wire, plastic, and insulation. It is very flexible, ergo the name “flex duct”, and has been used by thousands of contractors as a cheap and easy way to install duct work in a home.  The problem lies in the installation of flex duct. Unless your contractor really knew what he was doing, odds are it was installed improperly.  Improper installation of flex duct can lead to poor airflow, and it may be chocking your HVAC systems.

Big Problem #1

The first major problem with flex duct is  air friction. Flex duct creates more air friction than any other type of duct work even if it is installed properly. Unfortunately, this problem only gets worse when it is installed improperly. Many contractors assume that, because flex duct work is so bendable, it is ok to bend it around tight corners.  Just because it is capable of doing something, it doesn’t mean that it should.  Bends and kinks in the duct work increases the air friction which decreases air flow into the various rooms of the house. Read more

Category: Air Conditioning, Consumer Protection, Contractors, Heating, Money Saving | Tags: , , , , ,