On Choosing and Maintaining a Good Furnace

An efficient furnace makes sure your family stays warm throughout the winter season. As your furnace plays an integral part in comfortable living, you need it functioning at optimum performance. Throughout the years, however, your furnace is likely to experience wear and tear. If your unit is more than 15 years old and gives you more problems than comfort, it may be time to replace it.

A faulty installation will not only leave your family in the cold but could also be the cause of a fire emergency. To prevent this from happening, be sure to find a reputable furnace dealer that will guide you in obtaining a unit from trusted brands in the industry. These companies employ trained and certified technicians to ensure quick and efficient furnace installations. More importantly, you can make full use of their factory warranties and service guarantees.

After your unit has been installed, you can arrange for an annual maintenance program from your dealer to keep the new equipment running smoothly and even extend its service life. If you encounter any problems, you can take advantage of their services for furnace repair, as well. Once you begin working with a reliable dealer, you will have a one-stop shop for all your furnace needs without needing to worry about who to call.

Keep the Repair Guys Close for Your Heating Woes

Given that winter only happens once a year, some homeowners tend to take the maintenance of their heating equipment for granted. As long as their units are running, most people are contented with letting them be without inspecting for potential issues. If you deal with your heating system this way, there is a big chance that you may encounter severe damage at the most inopportune time. In other words, it pays to remain vigilant at all times.

When making sure your heating equipment at home is running efficiently, not only you promote a comfortable living environment for your family but also reduce the risk of any health hazards. If you encounter a problem in any part of the system, have it fixed immediately. In any case, it is best to have a professional take a look at your unit during the fall season to make room for any repairs before winter sets in. This way, you will have a fully functioning heating system during the coldest season of the year.

Choose a heating repair service provider that maintains the highest standard of expertise. A professional company hires only certified technicians who know the ins and outs of a heating system, from how the unit works to how it should be maintained. By having a trusted expert conduct this assessment, you can rest assured that your heating system will run smoothly.

AC Tune-up Should be a Spring Cleaning Priority

Everyone always looks forward to the spring season after a frigid winter. As plant life begins to shake the snow off and bloom once more, homeowners start cleaning out their homes and repairing any damage the house may have suffered during the winter.

Experts agree that one task of utmost importance during spring cleaning is checking up heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Furnaces, which are winter workhorses, still prove useful in the spring and will need a few final tune-ups before being retired for the summer.

Ventilation and air conditioning systems, however, need more extensive checking to make sure they are fully functional come warmer weather. Air conditioning system inspection includes cleaning the outdoor component, the interior of the unit, replacing filters, etc.

Though you can do all these tasks by yourself, it is best to have them completed by professional air conditioning technicians. However, once you've had pros perform the initial assessments and necessary repairs, you can also ask them for advice on how to do subsequent minor maintenance work by yourself. It can help you save a few dollars or precious time once you call for air conditioning repair again and need to explain a problem to a technician.

HVAC Safety Highlights CO Poisoning Prevention

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas. Inhaling carbon monoxide is a health hazard as the gas is toxic to humans. Prolonged exposure to the gas can result in irreversible damage to both the nervous and circulatory systems.

Year in and year out, overworked and neglected furnaces inevitably emit carbon monoxide once their components such as gas lines, exhaust stacks, and vents show signs of problems. This possibility becomes even more likely during the winter months when pipes can freeze and snow can block vents

Whether you are a renter or homeowner, it is your responsibility to check on your furnace to see if it is in working condition. All the more furnace inspection matters in areas where consistently cold weather necessitate the regular use of heating systems. Call an HVAC technician to regularly perform an inspection and any necessary tune-ups on your home furnace. Otherwise, if you are renting, demand that your landlord implement a strict building maintenance program.

You can bolster these precautions by installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home, as well. Of course, you should also make sure that these devices are made by top-quality manufacturers and will not fail you in an emergency.

Some Winter Maintenance Tips for Your Oil Furnace

As winter approaches, it'll be once again time to gear up your heating equipment for months of keeping your home warm and toasty. Among such equipment is your trusty oil furnace. Here are a few cleaning and maintenance tips that you can follow to keep your furnace in good condition throughout the season.

Many oil furnace designs tend to develop soot quickly, and a buildup will eventually impact their effectiveness. Make sure that you clean them regularly and check on the blower's condition before the winter, and once again in the middle of the heating season.

As with the blower, you also need to check on the air filters at about the same frequency and replace them as necessary. Read the manufacturer's instructions for cleaning and replacing these, since most furnace designs have filter systems that vary in appearance and operation.

Check your oil furnace for a strainer; make sure that it is cleaned out when you're planning on replacing your filter. Then check for leaks in the furnaces' supply lines, since they are very damaging to your home's heating system when left unremedied. You will need the services of a professional heating repairman in this case.

You should make sure to check your oil furnace for any repair needs well before the winter temperatures begin to subside significantly. By doing so, you will be assured that your heating won't run out just when you need it the most.

What to Do Whenever Your Furnace Acts Up

Winter is coming, and homeowners in Salt Lake City certainly can’t afford to be caught unprepared. While the cold months may be brimming with festivities, temperatures can drop to uncomfortable levels, especially when your furnace is dysfunctional. Before you get all snowed out, here are some basic furnace repair tips you might want to follow.

First, keep in mind that most heating systems are equipped with thermostats. If you have a conventional non-programmable one at home, consider replacing it with a digital programmable version that can be set to shut down at your preferred time. Such a feature allows you to save energy yet keep your home sufficiently warm.

Next, replace your furnace filter with a new one as necessary to improve heat flow efficiency. Experts in home heating recommend that this be done monthly. During winter, it's best to have several replacement filters at hand so you’ll have spare supplies should the old one require emergency replacement in the midst of a raging blizzard.

For best results, it's always ideal to call in a professional technician to fix your malfunctioning furnace before it’s too late. You might do more harm than good if you attempt to fix it yourself. An expert can take care of all the complex tasks and ensure that your furnace is up and running in no time.

A Look at Some of the Best Salt Lake City AC Units

Even though Utah’s Great Salt Lake minimizes the effects of high temperatures, summer in Salt Lake City can still be very hot due to the absence of cold fronts. As such, most residents resort to keeping their air conditioning (AC) units turned on for much of the day to stave off the heat, with varying degrees of success. Interestingly, AC units in the city are just as diverse as the people who live in it.

The most common type of AC is the window air conditioner, a self-contained unit that is affordable, simple to use, and easy to install. Despite its name, this type of AC can be installed by drilling a large enough hole in the wall, although experts largely discourage this method due to the possibility of air leaks. Meanwhile, a heat pump works by pumping indoor heat outward, or vice-versa, depending on current climate conditions.

Other households utilize central air conditioning systems, which are considered some of the most expensive and complex AC units out there. The system itself requires a lot of planning because a central AC that is too large for the house can short cycle (i.e. the cycling compressor turns on and off rather quickly) within a short period. However, such a system is considered very efficient at cooling down indoor temperatures and doesn’t emit loud mechanical noises to boot.