How Often Should You Get HVAC Maintenance?

February 8, 2021

How Often Should You Get HVAC Maintenance? A well-maintained HVAC system could leave homeowners with fewer worries and concerns. Who wants a furnace to break down on one of the coldest days of the year, or any day for that matter? Thankfully, routine maintenance could deliver reliable assistance that keeps a heater operating smoothly. Sometimes, a thorough inspection picks up on a minor problem that could turn into a significant disaster. Catching these issues in time might save homeowners from aggravation and repair costs. How often should routine maintenance and inspections occur? Here are some things to keep in mind. Making Plans for Routine Maintenance Generally, an annual service visit could be adequate for many homes and their accompanying systems. Some sources may suggest a visit once every two years is fine, but once a year might make more sense for some homeowners. Suggestions for routine maintenance checks once every two years come with a caveat. A property located in a mild climate with consistent weather throughout the year may not deal with scorching summers and freezing winters. Therefore, the system might not go through extensive use. Annual inspections become critical in other regions where there are concerns about leaving...

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Do Humidifiers Work in the Winter?

January 20, 2021

Do Humidifiers Work in the Winter? Have you noticed that your family’s complaints about their physical comfort increase in the winter? If the air inside your home gets too dry, the body gets dried out, too. The skin, eyes, nose, and mouth can become itchy and very uncomfortable. Your heater may be keeping you warm indoors, but you may still be terribly uncomfortable. Balancing the moisture inside your house can enhance the quality of life you live. A humidifier or humidifying system can increase the moisture in your indoor air. Even when you live in a humid climate, a humidifier may be required during the winter. This is because modern heating systems dry out the air in a dramatic way, regardless of the humidity outdoors. Installing a modern humidifier is an important solution to consider when improving the quality of the indoor air you breathe. Moisture Levels Support Good Health The level of humidity in the air identifies the amount of moisture or water vapor present. When there’s too much humidity, you can feel sluggish and uncomfortable. Too little humidity can cause the body to get dried out and itchy, and dehydration can be enhanced. The right level of humidity...

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The Benefits and Limitations of Heat Pump Use in Winter

December 18, 2020

The Benefits and Limitations of Heat Pump Use in Winter Manufacturers build reversible mechanical systems within heat pumps so that they can provide either heated or cooled air. The reversibility function means that in cold weather your heat pump can extract heat energy from outdoor air and move it into your home. On the surface, the notion that cold outdoor air has heat energy to offer feels difficult to believe. However, the depressurization of refrigerant moving through the heat pump lowers its temperature below the outdoor air. This allows the refrigerant to draw heat from the slightly warmer external air. Pressurization and Depressurization Placing refrigerant under pressure increases the temperature of the refrigerant because the molecules are crowded and colliding with each other and producing heat energy. Alternatively, reducing pressure on refrigerant gives the molecules space to spread out and therefore cool down. The reversing valve within a heat pump controls whether pressurized or depressurized refrigerant is moving into the outdoor unit. In the winter, the heat pump moves depressurized coolant outside. Because depressurization has caused the refrigerant’s temperature to drop, it cools the coil outside. As long as the cooled coil achieves a lower temperature than the outside air,...

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How a Zone Control System Saves You Money

November 20, 2020

How a Zone Control System Saves You Money A zone control system built into your HVAC system is an excellent way to exert much greater control over your HVAC system’s operation. This greater control directly translates to savings, refined comfort, and other great benefits. To learn more about how it works, follow along. What Are Zones? In most homes and businesses, the layout of the entire structure is organized into different “zones.” While zones aren’t necessarily marked by physical borderlines, they’re used by your HVAC installer and service technicians to better assign heating and cooling values to the various parts of the structure. For example, a home with three bedrooms might be mapped out to have four or five zones. Each bedroom would likely be considered its own zone, while other major areas of the home are considered to occupy another one or two zones. By zoning out a structure, the professionals can isolate these specific areas and design a system that can adequately affect each of them. Larger homes typically have more zones. Smaller homes have fewer zones or may even just be considered to encompass a single zone. How Zone Control Works As the name suggests, “zone control”...

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Preparing Your Thermostat for Heating Season

October 18, 2020

Preparing Your Thermostat for Heating Season Autumn has arrived in St. Louis, MO, and cold winter temperatures won’t be far behind. Now is the best time to make sure your thermostat is ready. Checking and setting your thermostat now ensures that your home will be comfortable throughout the winter months of the year. Read on for seven tips on preparing your thermostat for the heating season. 1. Check Its Battery Programmable and smart thermostats use batteries to save your settings and power the backlight of the touchscreen. If the battery loses its charge, your thermostat will lose its programmed temperature settings. Thermostat batteries usually last for two years, but it’s a good idea to check them every six months. You can test its voltage with a multimeter, or our technicians can do it for you during your fall heating system tune-up. 2. Calibrate the Temperature Sensor All thermostats have a temperature sensor. A power outage or shutdown of the equipment during a repair or replacement could cause the thermostat to lose the calibration of the temperature sensor. Calibrating thermostats can be tricky, but it is possible to do it yourself. The manufacturer’s website or owner’s manual should provide detailed instructions....

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Decoding Common HVAC Terminology

September 19, 2020

Decoding Common HVAC Terminology If you need air conditioning, heating, and other household comfort systems, then you’ll probably end up doing some online research. A quick search may give you a lot of unfamiliar terms. These will range from confusing phrases to very cryptic abbreviations. To conduct a successful search for HVAC systems, it’s good to understand the various terms, phrases, and abbreviations. This will help you understand everything there is to the system that you purchase. To help you decode these terms, the following is a list of the most popular terminologies and their meaning. EER This term is an abbreviation of the Energy Efficiency Ratio. You will mostly find this terminology used for geothermal heat pumps and also air conditioners for windows. When used, the rating provides an idea of how efficient your heat pump or air conditioner is. Using this ratio, you have a way of differentiating between and comparing various products. To calculate this ratio, EER assumes that the indoor temperatures are at 80 degrees, outdoor temperatures are at 95 degrees, and the humidity is 50%. ACCA When looking for technicians to help you with HVAC solutions, understanding what ACCA means could be handy. This term...

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FAQs About Ductless Air Conditioning

August 8, 2020

Ductless Air Conditioning A ductless air conditioning system is both efficient and dependable. If you live in an older home with no ductwork, installing a central HVAC unit is expensive and requires a lot of time. A ductless air conditioning system—also called a ductless mini-split or ductless HVAC—is designed for homes without ducts. This type of system controls the temperature in the rooms of your home. The two components are an air handling unit and an outdoor heat pump. How Does the System Work? A ductless AC system works just like a heat pump but without the need for air ducts. When the temperature is warmer, warm air is taken from your home by the air handler. The air is then sent over evaporator coils containing refrigerant to absorb the heat. The warm air is sent to the outside unit to lower the temperature in your home. During the colder months, everything happens in reverse. Heat is absorbed by your outside unit then passed through a line containing refrigerant, resulting in warm air blowing into your home through your air handler. A ductless AC system is effective because of heat transfer. Hot air is removed from your home during the...

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How to Improve Seasonal Allergies with Better Indoor Air

July 14, 2020

Improve Seasonal Allergies with Better Indoor Air Seasonal allergies are a challenge for many people. In the spring and autumn, pollen grains, mold spores and other seasonal irritants leave allergy suffers feeling miserable. In an ideal world, retreating to the safety of your home would give you a break from allergy triggers. However, poor indoor air quality can concentrate allergens and leave you feeling even worse. What Causes Seasonal Allergies? Allergies are an unpleasant part of life for a large section of the population. You’ve probably heard of people with life-threatening allergies to things such as bee stings, peanuts and shellfish. Other people may have a mild allergic reaction to pet dander. The red itchiness from poison ivy is an allergic reaction to a compound found on the plant. The human immune system causes all of these reactions. When you injure your body, you may see swelling and redness at the site. These are signs of your immune system at work battling bacteria and preventing infection. When you have a cold, the sneezing and sniffling are byproducts of your body fighting off the virus. An allergy is what happens when the immune system treats something harmless as a threat. For...

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Why Does My AC Smell?

June 13, 2020

Why Does My Air Conditioner Smell? When temperatures rise during the summer, you want your air conditioner to be in peak functioning condition. An AC that is operating accordingly will enable you to remain cool and cozy even in the middle of a heatwave. Unfortunately, as you keep relying on your air conditioner over the years, the machine’s wear and tear are likely to lead to various malfunctions. One of the most common cooling system problems that customers complain about is the foul smell that seemingly suddenly permeates from the unit to the rest of your household. Any mysterious smell from your AC unit may indicate myriad malfunctions and needs to be addressed accordingly. Want to know the reasons why your AC unit is suddenly giving off an unbearable odor? Here are seven possibilities. 1. Clogged Air Filter Your AC system is likely to pick up pollutants and other particulates during its day-to-day operation. Over time, these substances build up significantly and may manifest in terms of a foul smell that spreads when the air conditioner is operating. If your air filters have unwanted particulates, then the air in your indoor environment will become unhealthy and hazardous. Make sure to...

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Precision Maintenance Agreements From Scott-Lee

May 10, 2020

Maintenance Agreements Maintenance agreements offer several benefits in cities like St. Louis, MO. A maintenance agreement is similar to a business guarantee to an HVAC company like . For your loyalty, you are given some benefits like: Priority customer status Discounts of some parts No overtime charges Inflation Peace of mind When you sign an agreement for maintenance on your heating, cooling, and ventilation system, you understand that regular inspections and tune-ups are important. This is how you keep the unit within the warranty. It is also how you ensure that it makes it to its expected life expectancy. Since the equipment is cleaned, lubricated, and tested, the unit is less likely to break down in the middle of summer or winter use. Energy efficiency is achieved more easily, which leads to fewer energy costs. You are also less likely to incur costly repair costs. The following are the types of maintenance agreements offered by . Air Conditioner It is said that the kind of weather experienced in your area is hot, humid and damp as well as wet and wetter. So, you probably spend a lot of time indoors. While indoors, you probably want to be away from the...

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