Do you know how much the furnace has changed over the years?
Home heating has been around for a while. It started with simple wood-burning stoves and fireplaces to today’s high-efficiency, natural gas-powered furnaces. As the years have gone by, heating technology has improved more and more. This means the furnace sitting in your basement could be extremely out-of-date if it is an older model – running inefficiently and not giving you the home comfort you’re paying for.
Efficiency isn’t even the biggest difference between new furnaces and older models. Not only are today’s furnaces held to a higher standard efficiency-wise, they contain comfort-enhancing technology that can make your home more comfortable, and do so quietly.
Here are some technology improvements that make today’s furnace’s outstanding.
Variable-speed technology. Many of today’s gas furnaces, particularly high-efficiency models, contain variable-speed blower motors. A variable-speed model can do just what the name implies – vary the speed at which the air is blown throughout your home to exactly meet your comfort demands. This leads to a better mix of air, reducing hot and cold spots.
Multiple stages of operation. Traditional furnaces have two stages, 100% capacity and off. Furnaces that can operate in multiple stages can vary firing capacity to more directly meet your homes comfort demands at a given time. This help you save money and can lead to better home comfort.
Blower delay. Want to make sure you aren’t treated to a blast of cold air as soon as your furnace kicks on? Invest in a model that features a blower delay. This assures that your ducts are warm by the time air starts moving through them.
And that’s just scratching the surface. Make sure you ask your contractor about the comfort features in addition to efficiency when you’re buying your next furnace.
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Do you know what the refrigerant in your HVAC system does?
Heating season is in full swing. Do you use a heat pump to heat your home? If so, chances are your system contains refrigerant.
There are many components that make your HVAC equipment work. One of these components is your refrigeration system. Refrigerant facilitates the transfer of heat either to or from air that is distributed throughout your home. Refrigerant removes heat from the air as it evaporates and adds heat to the air when it condenses. Evaporation and condensation occurs in coils of the same name – the indoor, evaporator coil and the outdoor, condenser coil. In different portions of the cooling cycle (or heating for heat pumps), your refrigerant is either a liquid of a gas.
A few years back, the HVAC industry had to switch from R-22 refrigerant (Freon) to R-410A. R-410A does not contain chlorofluorocarbons (a.k.a. CFCs). This means that it does not contribute to ozone depletion were it to escape into the air. Other refrigerants, like R-22, do contribute to ozone depletion.
If your heat pump isn’t heating or cooling correctly, there could be an issue with your refrigerant system. Make sure you always call a contractor for HVAC system maintenance. You don’t want to attempt to repair your refrigerant system unless you know what you’re doing. Not only is refrigerant expensive, you could damage one of the other crucial components of your system (like your compressor or coil) leaving you with a much bigger repair bill and a longer time without heating or cooling.
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Have you already experienced your first snow of the year?
Are you hoping for a snowy holiday season? There’s nothing quite like snow around the holidays. However, while it can create a festive atmosphere, there are some things you’re going to want to keep in mind when it comes to your home comfort equipment – particularly if you have a heat pump.
Some of these tips are geared at keeping you safe, while others are focused on keeping your utility bills low. Ensure you have a happy holiday season by following the tips below.
Advice for heat pump owners:
- Don’t have your unit installed directly on the ground. This is to avoid potential air restriction and blocked drainage due to snow and ice build-up.
- Consider planting shrubbery to block heavy winds. Just make sure to allow clearance for service calls and proper airflow – at least two feet.
- Don’t be alarmed by defrost mode. When your heat pump is in defrost mode, it will temporarily reverse operation so that warm air is being supplied to your outdoor equipment. This is to melt any ice or snow that may have accumulated on the system. This is perfectly normal and should not last too long.
- If it gets particularly cold, consider pairing your heat pump with a gas furnace. This way you can always use the most fuel-efficient source for the temperature.
Advice for gas furnace owners:
- Make sure your exhaust pipes are clear or snow and debris. The waste materials produced by your gas furnace during operation need to go somewhere. Make sure your flue is not blocked.
General advice:
- Resist the temptation to dramatically raise the temperature in your home. This will not warm your home more quickly, will raise your utility bills and may damage your unit.
- Change your furnace filter. A clean filter is good for maintaining premium air quality and maximum airflow. Try to remember to change your furnace filter once-a-month.
- Don’t forget your annual maintenance appointment. This is the best way to make sure that your gas furnace of heat pump is ready for the heating season. Also, before your appointment, make sure that if it has snowed or iced outside, your walkway is clear. Your contractor will greatly appreciate it.
Have you scheduled your annual maintenance appointment with your local HVAC contractor yet?
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How automated is your home?
Have you given much thought to your thermostat? There are many options out there, some of which you may not know about. Some thermostats only work with single-stage equipment, others only work with single-stage equipment, others only work with a dual-fuel configuration. There are non-programmable thermostats and programmable thermostats. There are also thermostats considered “smart” that can not only effectively control your home comfort, but learn too.
If you’re considering a new thermostat for your home, here are some things you should know about smart thermostats.
Smart thermostats have a lot of the same capabilities as your run-of-the-mill programmable thermostat. You can adjust temperature based on the time of day, whether it’s the weekend or a weekday, and more. You can make sure that when you arrive home, you are comfortable. Programmable operation can help you save money on utilities; you won’t waste heating and cooling dollars on an empty home.
However, smart thermostats are able to do much more than a programmable model. They can act as part of a complete home automation system. With a smart thermostat, you can control your thermostat from your tablet or smartphone – you don’t have to be near the box on the wall. For example, if you’re heading home from work during the winter and want your home to be toasty warm when you arrive, adjust your thermostat before you get there. When you walk in the door, it will already be the temperature you specified.
Some smart thermostats do even more. They can learn your schedule and preferences. They can judge when you’re most likely to be home or away – automatically adjusting temperature based on your schedule. Imagine your thermostat knowing that you like your home cooler while you sleep and being able to make that adjustment without any input from you.
The goal of a smart thermostat is to maximize comfort, give you complete control of your home’s temperature and save energy. If you are interested in installing one of these thermostats in your home, talk to your HVAC contractor during your fall preventative maintenance appointment.
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How much time do you spend in front of a screen?
For years, word-of-mouth recommendations have been king when it comes to contractor recommendations. Think neighbors talking over a fence or families talking over the phone. However, the platform has changed over the past few years. Now, people are turning to the internet for their recommendations. Have you ever used the internet to hire a professional to work on your HVAC equipment?
Start your online contractor search by visiting online review sites – like Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor! Why’s that? Well, you can read reviews, see the services a company offers and compare different contractors. You can also do a simple Google search on the contractor you’re considering. This may pull up their website, other sources of reviews or their Better Business Bureau profile.
An online contractor search is a good thing! However, an online equipment search is not so great – especially if you are looking at an online auction site. There are no guarantees when it comes to the quality, warranty or legitimacy of the equipment being sold. If it seems too good to be true, changes are it is.
The same principles apply to hiring a heating and air conditioning contractor. If they are offering you an unbelievably low price – especially if they haven’t examined your home – the installation won’t be worth the initial cost savings. Heating and air conditioning contractors work in a field that requires a lot of skill and expertise. You don’t just want any “Joe Schmoe” working on your equipment. An inexperienced hand can cause major problems.
Don’t just go with the first contractor you find. Set up a consultation with several different professionals. Get in-person quotes, ask plenty of questions and make sure they are the right person for the job.
Need some help finding a contractor in your area? Start off with the Maytag HVAC contractor locator.
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Are you hiring a contractor to work on your HVAC equipment?
It’s fall preventative maintenance time! Are you looking around for a heating and cooling professional to work on your gas furnace? The most important part of any installation or service call is the very beginning – the hunt for a qualified HVAC professional. Are you doing the right things to make sure that the professional you hire is up to the job?
Here are the dos and don’ts of hiring an HVAC contractor.
Do…
- Get multiple bids if you are having new equipment installed.
- Ask them about their certifications and licenses.
- Ask if they’ve ever worked on your brand of HVAC equipment.
- Check online review sites to make sure they have a positive reputation with past clients.
- Ask your friends and neighbors whether they have used the contractor in the past
- Check to make sure they are professional when they arrive at your home.
- Ask tons of questions about the work being done to your equipment.
- Ask about your warranty if you are having new equipment installed – is it your responsibility to registers, or will your contractor do it for you?
- Review their Better Business Bureau listing.
Don’t…
- Go with the first contractor you find simply because they are the first contractor you found.
- Go with the lowest bidder unless you are certain they have a reputation for doing quality work.
- Assume they know what you expect out of a new HVAC system. Make your expectations clear.
- Forgo a contractor all together and fix your equipment by yourself.
- Forget to ask about a maintenance agreement.
Have you scheduled your fall preventive maintenance appointment yet?
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Do you know how to properly change a furnace filter?
Fall is only a few short weeks away. Do you know when you last changed your furnace filter? Changing your furnace filter regularly and properly is important for indoor air quality, your family’s health, and the life of your heating and cooling equipment. Neglecting to change your furnace filter results in poor airflow and decreased filtration power.
Many homeowners should change their disposable furnace filter once a month, but the bare minimum is once a season. That’s why now is a great time to go ahead and change it out properly. Do you know the correct way to change your furnace filter?
- The first thing you need to do is find out where your furnace filter is located. Is it in your ductwork? Near your furnace? Inside the air handler or furnace cabinet? If you are not sure where your filter is located, make sure you get in touch with a contractor.
- Next, find out what size filter you need along with the proper filtration power. Higher efficiency filters can eliminate dust throughout your home and block all sorts of harmful airborne contaminants.
- Correctly place your furnace filter. This is where knowing which way the arrow is supposed to face is important. Always make sure that the airflow arrow on your furnace filter is pointing towards your furnace or air handler.
If you have questions or concerns about your furnace’s filter, make sure you get in touch with your local heating and cooling specialist. Especially, if you aren’t sure where your filter is located. You don’t want to go poking around in your ductwork or furnace cabinet to try and locate your filter. When in doubt, call a professional.
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Did your contractor preform a Manual J load calculation?
Tons? BTUs? What does it all mean? Sizing matters when it comes to a new heating or air conditioning system. Did your contractor properly size your new equipment before installing it in your home?
Rule-of-thumb measurements or basing the size of your new system on what you already have is not best practice. A contractor should preform a Manual J load calculation to determine the size of your new heating and air equipment.
But, what is a Manual J load calculation?
Simply stated a Manual J load calculation factors in the different characteristics of your home (such as square footage, position of your walls, building materials, etc.) to determine how much heating or cooling capacity your home needs. Air conditioner capacity is measured in tons and BTUs. Tons – in relation to HVAC – is not a measurement of weight. A ton in HVAC is defined as a measurement of capacity in relation to melting one ton of ice over a 24-hour period. One ton is equivalent to 12,000 BTU/h.
But, why does a proper load calculation matter?
An undersized or oversized air conditioner can have an impact on the comfort of your home. Undersized air conditioners never reach temperature settings, run constantly, dry out your air and may have a shorter life. An oversized air conditioner will go through a process known as “short-cycling.” When an air conditioner short cycles, it reaches your desired temperature too quickly. Sound like a good thing? Well, your air conditioner is responsible for more than just temperature. It is also responsible for removing enough humidity from your home’s air. When an air conditioner short cycles, it is not removing enough humidity, and an overabundance of humidity can make your home feel warm and encourage mold growth – yuck!
When your local contractor comes out to give you a quote, make sure they perform a Manual J load calculation before they determine your needed cooling capacity. If they say you don’t need one, this could be a red flag.
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Do you know how much the air conditioner has changed?
When air conditioners were first used in commercial applications in the early 1900s, it operated using ice. A lot has changed since the air conditioner was first created. For one, central air conditioners use refrigerant instead of ice to cool a space.
Things have been progressing at a rapid pace over the past few decades. Regulation changes and technological advances are allowing engineers to improve and refine the central air conditioner. Here are a few of those improvements.
Higher Efficiency. Efficiency standards in the early 2000s were significantly lower than they are today. Back then, air conditioners had to meet a minimum efficiency requirement of 10 SEER. In 2006, efficiency standards were raised from the 10-SEER minimum to 13 SEER. Since then, there have been even more changes. Now, minimum efficiency standards vary from region to region – with homeowners in the South having to meet a higher efficiency minimum than homeowners in the North.
Greater Home Comfort. Technological advances have made it so that maximum home comfort is now more achievable than ever. Air conditioners manufactured today contain innovative technology like variable-speed motors, swept-wing fan blades, modulating technology and more. Not to mention, you can couple your high-efficiency air conditioner with a zoning system and/or a smart thermostat and gain maximum control over your unique comfort needs.
Quieter Operation. Like greater home comfort, technological advances have made it so that air conditioners today operate at noise levels that are lower than ever. For example, air conditioners than use modulation technology ramp up to speed in stages as opposed to going through abrupt on and off cycles. This means fewer noisy on and off cycles.
Smart Thermostats. Thermostats are getting smarter and smarter. There are models that are your standard, digital non-programmable models while others can run based on your schedule and even connect with your phone or tablet for on-the-go temperate monitoring.
Ability to Select the Best Professional for the Job. The internet has made it easier than ever to select the right contractor for your installation, service or maintenance. You don’t have to rely on word-of-mouth recommendations alone. You can look at their online presence, which may even include reviews.
So, how old is your air conditioner? If it is over 10 years old, you may want to call your local contractor and talk about your replacement options.
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Decide whether the statements are true or false.
True? False? You decide.
- Lowering your thermostat temperature cools your home down more quickly.
- Closing vents and registers in unused rooms is a great way to save money.
- It’s a good idea to briefly open a window during the winter to air your home out.
- If you want more cooling power, invest in a bigger air conditioner.
- You should change your furnace filter once a season, or more frequently, especially if you have pets.
- Schedule preventative maintenance once a year – before the summer.
Answers.
- False. Lowering your temperature settings may ultimately result in a cooler home, but it does not result in quicker cooling. All it does is make your air conditioner or heat pump run longer – raising utility bills.
- False. Your air conditioner is designed to heat and cool a certain amount of space. Closing vents and registers can negatively impact home comfort and damage your cooling equipment.
- True. Opening your windows briefly during the winter can help alleviate stale, stagnant air during the winter. However, keep it brief. You don’t want your heating power escaping outdoors.
- False. Like number 2, your air conditioner is designed to cool a certain amount of space. Your contractor should perform a Manual J load calculation to determine the size of your new air conditioner.
- True. A dirty filter lowers indoor air quality and can restrict airflow. Restricted airflow results in decreased home comfort, potential system damage and higher utility bills.
- False. You should schedule preventative maintenance with your local HVAC contractor TWICE a year – once for your air conditioner during the spring and, again, for your furnace during the fall.