Browsing Category Heating
Q: What is the Energy Star Program and why should I care?
A : Well, the Energy Star Program was designed to encourage people through, usually tax credits to go and upgrade their systems with more energy efficient systems. When you see the Energy Star logo, you know that you are using a product that uses less energy than some of the more standard or generic products out more…
Q: Do I need a carbon monoxide detector in my home, why and what kind?
A: Depending on the age and type of your system a carbon monoxide detector can be a very good idea. Carbon monoxide is usually introduced into the home when an older heat exchanger develops a defect. A heat exchanger is a piece of metal where, when the gas burns, it takes the heat out through more…
Q: Why should I participate in a service club?
A: Well participation in a service club, we call ours our comfort club, can offer many benefits. One benefit may be that the contractor who has your service club membership might be able to catch things before they go wrong, not after they go wrong. It is the same principle of why should you change more…
Q: What question should I ask a heating and cooling contractor before I hire them?
A: Well, when hiring a heating and cooling contractor, I would ask them questions like how long have they been in the air conditioning or furnace business and what type of installations do they normally do. A company that has been in business for a significant time tends to be a little more stable than more…
Q: How does the insulation in my house affect my energy costs?
A: Insulation is a tremendous factor affecting your heating and cooling costs. If you have poor insulation, outside air is more readily able to infiltrate your home. Much like an insulated bag that is used to carry home ice cream from the store, insulation in the home, both in the outside walls and the attic more…
Q: Will a programmable thermostat reduce my heating and cooling energy consumption?
A: Yes, if you use the program on the thermostat it will. What a programmable thermostat does is it allows you to automatically change the settings of your thermostat to fit your lifestyle with out having to physically touch the thermostat each time. You can set the programmable thermostat to lower at night during the more…
Q: How should I choose and HVAC contractor?
A: Well, some of the things you want to look for is reputation, how long have they been in the business? You will also want to find out what type of checks they do on their employees. Do they use sub contractors or are the people that work for them full time employees? Do they more…
Q: What’s a good price, what’s a fair price for an air conditioner or furnace filter?
A : It truly depends on the type of the filter it is. The more dirt you want to catch, the higher the MERV rating you want to get. Then the higher the MERV rating you want the higher the cost is going to be. For a filter around a 12 MERV rating, you can expect more…
Q: What would the payback be for a new high efficiency furnace, compared to one that is 40 years old?
A: Well, in order to determine that, what we would need to do is establish what the efficiency was when the unit was first installed. Units can lose anywhere from a quarter to a whole percent efficiency depending on how well they’re maintained on a yearly basis. At 40 years old, you could have a unit more…
Q: What are the pros and cons of using a heat pump?
A: Well, the pro would be what we are all going after. Heat Pumps provide lower heating bills. On average a home with a gas furnace with a heat pump will get about 30% to 50% percent less utility bills than just a straight gas furnace by itself. It’s what’s called a dual fuel system, or more…