Archive for July, 2011

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Top 10 Mistakes People Make When They Buy HVAC Equipment

Friday, July 29th, 2011

Every year millions of homeowners buy a new HVAC system for their home. Whether for heating, cooling or air quality, they make a huge investment in a new system that will be with them for years to come. Unfortunately, many of those people make big mistakes when buying their next system, so to help you avoid doing so, here are some simple things you should not do.

  1. Ignoring Air Quality – Air quality is about more than comfort. It affects the health of everyone in your home equally. Consider it carefully when installing a new system.
  2. Avoiding Even Heating and Cooling – One room being cooler or warmer than another is not okay. It’s bad for your system and bad for your home’s comfort level. Have insulation and ductwork checked before installation of a new HVAC system.
  3. Not Upgrading Your AFUE or SEER – New systems are highly efficient. Take advantage of that by buying one with a higher AFUE or SEER rating.
  4. Not Vetting Your Contractor – Always spend time checking up on your contractor, reading reviews and asking other customers how their experience was.
  5. Skipping the Service Agreement – Service agreements save money and help your system last longer. Don’t skip them.
  6. Buying the Cheapest Option Available – It may be tempting, but a cheap HVAC system is a bad idea if you want it to last and save you money in heating and cooling. Even a midrange system will save you money in only a few years with higher efficiency ratings.
  7. Picking the Same Model You Already Had – New models are stronger and more efficient. When possible, get an upgrade and your bills will reflect the difference.
  8. Waiting too Long to Buy – The longer you wait, the more you pay in heating and cooling bills for an old, worn down system. If you know you’re going to buy a new system, act fast to save the most possible money.
  9. Not Asking Questions – If you have a question, ask it. There is no such thing as a stupid question when looking for a new HVAC system.
  10. Ignoring Maintenance Recommendations – Maintenance recommendations are optional but almost always to your benefit. Research on your own before committing to anything, but don’t ignore the necessity either.

If you do things just right, your new HVAC system will last for years to come and provide steady, comfortable heating or cooling throughout that time. But, if you rush through things, make a hasty decision and neglect to do any research, you may have issues with your system in far less time than you’d like. Be smart and you’ll be rewarded.

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What to Look for When a Home is 20 Years Old

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011

The older the home you look for, the more careful you need to be in your research. Of course, if you can avoid any of the major issues that crop up in 20 year old constructions, you can come away with a fantastic home that is comfortable, easy to modify and in an established neighborhood with good schools, plenty of trees, and a solid maintenance history.

The Stuff to Watch Out For

When a home reaches 20 years old, there are quite a few problems you’re likely to run into. Consider the fact that the furnace, air conditioner, and roof are all designed to last at least 20 years. That means that unless they were highly maintained and regularly inspected they may be ready for replacement right about now.

So, when looking at homes, have any prospective purchases fully inspected for things like dry rot, termites, old furnaces and air conditioners and so on. You are also likely to run into older bathrooms and kitchens that need to be updated. For most people this is simply an inconvenience, but for those on a tight budget it can be a deal breaker.

What You Should Want

Of course, there are a lot of benefits of an older home if you can find them. Specifically in the 20 year old timeframe, you’ll find that trees have matured, the yard is well established and if the neighborhood is good, local schools will have plenty of support in the community. These are all factors you should take into consideration when looking for an older home.

Maintenance is something you won’t be able to avoid, especially if the home you’re looking at was not well cared for by the previous owners. However, after a couple of years, even an older home can be worked into tip top shape so that nothing will break or give out unexpectedly. Much like a used car, if you do your research well ahead of time, you can be sure you get a home that won’t have any “breakdowns” for a few years to come.

And for those out there who like to customize, keep in mind that older homes are much easier to change. Newer homes are built on prefabricated slabs that make it nearly impossible to remodel or change them, especially in highly regulated areas. Older homes are easier to remodel and often have plenty of space in which to do so.

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How Can You Improve Your Home’s Air Quality?

Monday, July 25th, 2011

One of the easiest ways to protect the health of your family is by maintaining high air quality in your home. Without good air quality, you run the risk of contracting Sick Building Syndrome or making other problems like allergies or asthma worse. Depending on what type of air quality system you already have in place, there are many things you can do to improve your air quality.

Filter Changes

The easiest way to improve air quality is to maintain the equipment you already have. Specifically, change your filters regularly. Filters each have a specified period of time for which they will last. However, if your home has high levels of larger contaminants like pollen and dander, you may need to change your filter more often.

Beyond filter changes, make sure your filtration device uses high quality HEPA filters, capable of stopping debris as small as 0.3 microns.

Cleaning Your Ducts and Equipment

Another easy way to reduce the load on your air quality system without paying for new filters every two months is to clean the equipment and the ducts in your house. Ductwork quickly gets clogged with dirt, dust, and other debris being blown by your furnace and air conditioner. If you have a boiler and radiant heat system this is less of an issue, but you should still check your air vents and any air conditioner units in your house for excess dirt and debris buildup.

Your air quality equipment should have a specified timeline for regular cleanings – usually every six months to one year depending on the size and quality of the equipment. A lot of this cleaning can be done by you, but for advanced cleaning or parts replacement, you may need a professional.

New Equipment

Finally, you can buy new equipment that does a better job of removing contaminants from your indoor air. If you have only a simple air filter, consider getting a purifier as well to remove other contaminants like smoke and gas. If you have a smaller piece of equipment that works well but longer keeps up with the entire house, there are larger purifiers on the market that can handle a bigger space. Additionally, proper ventilation can help with your indoor air quality if you don’t currently have enough fresh air circulating through your home.

No matter what your problem, there is a solution you can work toward to keep the indoor air quality of your home high.

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The Facts About Indoor Air Quality

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

One of the least understood aspects of your home’s comfort system is the indoor air quality. Most people assume that once they have a good furnace and air conditioner installed, there’s nothing left to worry about. However, with the push in the last 20 years to reduce energy loss through poor insulation, most homes are sealed up tighter than ever before. This doesn’t just cause stuffy indoor air – it can actually lead to illness.

How Bad Can Indoor Air Quality Get?

Homes built in the 1980s were recommended to have one third of the ventilation of those built before. Today, the standards have returned to their original levels, but for many years, homes were built with poor ventilation and excessive insulation. The result is a space that holds the air in too well. Everyday contaminants and allergens like dust, pollen, pet dander, mold, or smoke cannot get out of your home and as a result, you can get sick.

In fact, some people even suffer from Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). This is when they feel ill constantly, with respiratory symptoms that have no root cause and are hard to diagnose. Often, it is because they simply breathe too many contaminants and too much stale air.

Fixing Air Quality Is Simple

The first thing needed to fix air quality is a good filtration system. Despite what many people think, simple filtration is not that expensive. There are big, powerful purification systems with advanced ionization units and UV lighting to kill bacteria and viruses, but most families are served well with a simple HEPA filter to remove things like dust, pollen and dander.

It’s a good idea to have your indoor air quality tested, however, just to make sure other contaminants are not present. High humidity can lead to mold growth, and poor ventilation can lead to exhaust or gas fumes in your home. A good carbon monoxide detector is recommended for the latter, but testing should be done to make sure nothing else is floating around.

Finally, make sure your home is properly ventilated. Standard ventilation tends to leak heated or cooled air outside, so many homeowners now opt for energy recovery ventilators. These systems have heat exchangers that transfer warm air between indoor and outdoor air.

However you want to fix your indoor air quality issues, know that there are plenty of things you can do with the help of a good filtration device and regular cleanings of your ductwork and vents.

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How Often Do You Change Your Filters?

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

The core component of any good air quality system is the filter. A good air filter removes almost all of the particles that inundate your home every day – from the pet dander that flakes off of your cats or dogs to the pollen released by plants both indoors and out.

But many homeowners are not aware of when they should change the filters in their air quality system. They know it should be done regularly, but how often and when do you ignore the manufacturer’s recommendation to ensure higher quality air?

Know Your Home

The first thing to consider is the size of your home and what types of contaminants you must deal with each day. Air testing helps with this, as does regular cleaning of the areas around your air filter, including your ductwork. If you don’t have any pets and don’t keep any plants inside, your biggest air quality issue is likely dust, and dust will only fill up the filters quickly if you have a large family.

However, if you have a lot of pets, multiple plants and a large family, the odds are that your filter is being put through the ringer every day – asked to filter out a tremendous number of contaminants. This is when you might need to change the filter more often.

Changing Your Filter

If you have a high quality HEPA filter, it’ll probably work for as long as it’s rated. Only lower quality filters or those not large enough for the space in which they are installed will fail early. However, keep in mind that a HEPA filter, even when it can last longer, should always be changed no later than the manufacturer’s recommended date.

For most homes that timeframe is about 6 months. However, some higher quality filters can last as long as 12 or even 18 months in the right conditions. If you use your air filter in conjunction with an air purifier, you should also have the cartridges changed out at the same time as your filter.

If you think you are changing your filters too often, you can always have your air tested to determine if the contaminants in your home require less filtration. Some home have filters larger than they need installed or lower grade filters that get changed too often unnecessarily. As long as your family is safe and healthy, you might as well try to save some money.

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Energy Recovery Ventilator – What Is It and When Do You Need It?

Monday, July 18th, 2011

It isn’t cheap to heat and cool the air you circulate through your home every day. In fact, heating and cooling can be the most expensive energy related systems you operate. So, the last thing you want is to open a window and pour all of that conditioned air into the great outdoors.

That’s why most modern homes are sealed up so tightly. The heated and cooled air you enjoy so much needs to be retained, both to save money and to reduce your energy use. It’s why the government offers credits for things like insulation upgrades and the purchase of more energy efficient comfort systems.

But, while sealing everything saves you money and reduces your energy use, it can negatively impact your indoor air quality. Without proper circulation and ventilation, the air in your home grows thick with indoor contaminants like pet dander, pollen, dust, and possibly even bacteria or gasses. Normally, these things would be circulated outside through traditional ventilation. But, because of your heating and cooling system, the age old method of cracking a window to let a little fresh air in just doesn’t work anymore.

An energy recovery ventilator solves this problem. Instead of just pouring heated or cooled air outside and replacing it with fresh air, an energy recovery ventilator passes the air through a series of chambers. Within those chambers the heat is transferred from the warmer air to the cooler air.

In the winter, this means the indoor air passes its energy to the incoming air, retaining the heat your furnace or boiler generated. In the summer, the air coming in from outside passes its heat energy to the cooled indoor air as it leaves and only cool air enters your home.

In effect, an energy recovery ventilator works to reduce the cost of both heating and cooling. It is true that most indoor air quality systems are designed to remove many of the contaminants you flush outside, but relying solely on your air purifier or filter puts undue stress on the equipment. Not only will you need to replace filters and cartridges more often, you may need to replace the entire system earlier than you would otherwise. If you’re tired of losing all that conditioned air just to get a fresh breath, look into these amazing machines for your indoor air system.

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Installing Automatic Thermostats – Quick Fix to Energy Savings

Friday, July 15th, 2011

While you probably spent a lot of time researching your home heating and cooling system to make sure you got one with great energy efficiency ratings and all of the other features you were looking for, one thing you may not have thought a lot about is your thermostat. The thermostat in your home is your direct link to your home comfort system, and the type and quality of the product you have in place can have a much bigger impact on the performance of that system than you may initially realize.

Of course, any thermostat will get the basic job done. You set it for the desired temperature and it will communicate that information down the line to the heating and cooling system. But the better the thermostat you’re using, the better the communication and coordination between the two devices will be. And many advanced thermostats come with all types of special features that can both enhance the quality of your indoor environment and save you some considerable money in the long run.

Saving Money with a New Thermostat

So how can a thermostat save you money? There are actually a couple of ways. For instance, an automatic thermostat can be programmed to switch your heating and cooling system on and off at different pre-set times of day. That means you can have the heat or air conditioning turned off during the day and still come home to a comfortable house. Simply set the thermostat to come on right before you get home and you’ll be able to walk into a perfectly temperature controlled environment without having to keep the heat on all day.

Automatic thermostats can come with other great features as well. For instance, you can set them up to maintain different temperatures in different parts of your home. That way, your home comfort system doesn’t have to work harder to keep your whole house warm or cool when only part of it is in use. And when your home comfort system is working less and using less energy, it will last longer so you won’t have to pay for repairs or a new system nearly as frequently as you might otherwise.

You’ll also pay less on your monthly energy bills the whole time, adding up to a great deal of savings. It might never have occurred to you that a new thermostat could save you so much money, but with all of these benefits, it’s definitely worth looking into.

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Attic Fans – Cool Your House Quickly

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

When you’re worried about keeping your home cool in the summer, having a good air conditioning system is probably the first thing that comes to mind. And a high-quality, energy efficient air conditioner is definitely an important component of your home comfort system. But if you really want to get the most out of that air conditioner without paying too much in energy costs, you should look into having an attic fan installed as well.

The Value of a Good Attic Fan

So why do you need an attic fan if you already have an air conditioner? Well, to begin with, a great deal of the heat that comes into your house during the summer does so directly through the roof of your home. As the sun beats down on your roof hour after hour, heat is constantly being transferred through the roof and into your attic. And as the temperature in your attic rises, some of that heat is transferred to the air in your living spaces as well.

Of course, with your state of the art air conditioner in place, you probably won’t even be aware that this is taking place. But because the heat coming into your attic raises the temperature in other parts of your home, your air conditioner is working that much harder to maintain a comfortable temperature in all living spaces. And that means it’s using more energy than necessary to keep your house cool.

One easy way to combat this situation is to put in an attic fan. Many of these devices even run on solar power, so once they’re in place, they cost you virtually nothing to operate. A good attic fan will switch on anytime the temperature in your attic gets above a certain level and will work quickly to channel that extra heat right back outside. This means that your attic temperature will stay at a reasonable level, and the rest of your house will not be impacted by the heat coming in through the roof.

While an attic fan isn’t a terribly complicated piece of equipment to install, it’s worth it to have the job done by a professional because it does involve cutting a hole in your roof all the way through to your attic. A professional can make sure that the hole is in the proper place and sealed up tightly so water, bugs and other debris don’t find their way in.

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Is My Home as Comfortable as It Could Be?

Monday, July 11th, 2011

When it comes to indoor comfort, there are a surprising number of things you need to take into account. Of course, you need to have a good heating and cooling system in place so that you can easily maintain a comfortable indoor temperature all year round. But that really isn’t enough when you’re trying to create the optimal indoor environment. So what else do you need to consider?

Humidity 101

Well, for starters, it’s a good idea to check the humidity levels in your home. Improper humidity can lead to all sorts of problems, and it can also make it harder for your home heating and cooling systems to maintain a comfortable temperature. Air that’s too dry doesn’t hold heat as well as properly humidified air, so in the winter, your heating system will have to work harder to keep your family comfortable. Too little humidity can also dry out your skin and cause the symptoms of colds, allergies and asthma to last longer and be more severe.

On the other hand, if there is too much humidity in your home, you’re more likely to develop problems with mold and dust mites. And your home cooling system will have a harder time keeping you comfortable indoors. Luckily, there are plenty of great humidification and dehumidification systems on the market right now that can take care of all of these types of problems for you, and they’re definitely worth looking into if you’re concerned about the overall comfort level in your home.

Indoor Air Quality

Along these same lines, you should take the time to have your indoor air quality checked by a professional. Indoor air pollutants are a growing problem, particularly in newer homes that are sealed up tight against the elements. These seals prevent all of your temperature conditioned air from escaping and make your home more energy efficient, but they also lead to inadequate ventilation and a buildup of things like gasses, dust mites, bacteria, mold spores and pet dander in your indoor air.

These are obviously not the types of things you want to breathe on a regular basis, so it’s a good idea to invest in ventilation and an indoor air quality system that can bring in a steady supply of fresh air from outside and remove any harmful contaminants from the air circulating through your home.

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Comfort Options

Friday, July 8th, 2011

When it comes to finding the best way to keep your home comfortable all year round, there are quite a few options to consider. Of course, you first want to make sure that you have a good home heating and cooling system in place. But no matter how good they are, these systems can’t get the whole job done on their own. If you really want to obtain the optimal indoor environment for your home, you need to incorporate some other pieces of equipment as well.

Temperature Control Done Right

The best place to start building up your home comfort system may be with a state of the art programmable thermostat. These devices can be incorporated into just about any home heating or cooling system and will provide you with pinpoint control of your indoor environment. Not only will you be more comfortable indoors all year round, but you will likely save money by keeping your indoor temperature finely tuned.

Another great investment when you’re trying to create the most comfortable indoor environment is a zone control system. These products integrate with most home comfort systems and allow you to set different temperatures for different areas of your home at different times of day.

That way, you don’t have to heat your whole house to 70°F when you’re watching TV in your living room at night. Instead, you can simply turn up the heat in the area of the house you’re occupying and. This saves you both money on your heating bills and wear and tear on your furnace. Plus, it lets you keep areas like your kitchen cooler since you generate a lot of heat while you’re working in there.

The Air Your Breathe

Another factor that contributes greatly to your indoor comfort, whether you realize it or not, is your home’s indoor air quality. There are all types of pollutants that can find their way into your indoor air these days, and unless you have something in place to catch them, they can cause all types of problems for you and your family.

These pollutants trigger allergies and asthma or make the symptoms of these conditions worse. They also cause cold and flu symptoms to linger for longer, and some of the more noxious contaminants can make you sick all on their own. With this in mind, you’ll probably want to add an indoor air cleaner to your home comfort system as well.

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