Heat Repair In DC

kattyjames

Maintaining a gas furnace is a very crucial job which must be done from time to time. It must be cleaned every year. Along with the cleaning, you have to check the furnace, whether it is working properly or not. If it is not working properly, then carbon monoxide is produced.

Heat Repair In DC

Carbon monoxide is highly poisonous and can cause flu like symptoms, confusion, dizziness and many other health hazards. Carbon monoxide is a by-product of the incomplete combustion of natural gas. Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless. Older furnaces emit more carbon monoxide due to the decreased efficiency of the combustion.


Heat Repair In DC
Also, older furnaces develop cracks and these cracks serve as an outlet for the leakage of carbon monoxide. These cracks in the furnace are not even visible to the naked eye. Therefore, it is important to undertake…

View original post 478 more words

Heat Repair In DC

kattyjames

Washington, the jewel of the Midwest… As nice as Washington is, it also gets pretty cold during the winter months, which is pretty much the longest season in the area. With this cold weather, HVAC operation is detrimental to the Washington homeowners for their well-being.

Heat Repair In DC

It’s mostly important if elderly or newborns are living in the residence. Most homes in Washington have either furnaces or boilers, and if not maintained they could fail on a very cold night when temperatures drop significantly. To avoid these expensive furnace repairs, regular yearly maintenance is needed to keep HVAC equipment performing within factory specifications.

Heat Repair In DC

A well-trained technician will first perform a clean-up of dirt that could buildup in the blower and burner compartments. After checking if blower wheel is clean, a technician will check the temperature rise on the furnace. With…

View original post 159 more words

Heat Repair In DC

kattyjames

Zero-Clearance Fireplaces

Our clients often ask us about adding a wood burning fireplace to an existing home. Because it involves foundation construction and a masonry chimney, adding a fireplace can be expensive. A zero-clearance wood burning fireplace, however, can be installed in almost any home, in almost any location in the home, using existing floor structures and a prefabricated chimney, minimizing much of the cost.

Heat Repair In DC

Zero clearance refers to a prefabricated fireplace unit that can be installed almost directly against combustible surfaces, such as walls or floors. A prefabricated chimney is then run up the inside or outside of the house.

Heat Repair In DC

Selecting a Zero-Clearance Fireplace

Zero-clearance fireplaces come in a variety of types. Not all types are suitable for every situation. Consult an expert before you buy and keep these considerations in mind:

Heat Repair In DC

Where…

View original post 503 more words

Heat Repair In DC

kattyjames

The Central Humidifier

A Cold Climate Balancing Act

Indoor humidity levels can get uncomfortably low during cold winter months. Dry air causes:

dry skin, lips, throat and nose
shrinkage and cracking of woodwork, such as moldings, door frames and hardwood floors
damage to musical instruments, such as pianos, guitars and violins

A central humidifier automatically adds moisture to the air.

Heat Repair In DC

What Is Humidity?

Humidity refers to the amount of moisture in the air. The measure of humidity is called “relative humidity,” and designates the amount of moisture in the air relative to the maximum amount possible before the air becomes saturated. This maximum moisture count is also relative to air temperature – the hotter the air the more moisture it can support. If the relative humidity in your home is 50%, and you decrease the indoor air temperature, the relative humidity increases.

View original post 542 more words

Heat Repair In DC

kattyjames

Oil fired furnaces are the second most common heating type in North America. In some areas, oil furnaces are more common than gas.

Oil is delivered to the home and pumped into a storage tank. A common tank size is 275 gallons but some home have much larger tanks. The oil company can predict your oil usage and deliver oil before you run out, usually when the tank is still 1/3 full.

Heat Repair In DC

Oil from the storage tank is drawn into the burner. The burner atomizes the oil (turns it into a mist of tiny oil droplets), mixes it with air and ignites it with a spark. The resulting flame shoots out of the blast tube and into the burner chamber. Combustion gasses move through the heat exchanger where heat is transferred to the household air stream. The combustion gasses then make their…

View original post 505 more words

Heat Repair In DC

kattyjames

High Humidity in the Home
A high relative humidity in your home encourages mold growth and dust mites, can make your house smell musty, and can potentially damage your home and your possessions. In simplest terms, “relative humidity” refers to the amount of dampness in the air. This Pillarto-Post® Info Series offers suggestions for addressing high humidity.

Heat Repair In DC

Measure It
You can measure humidity levels with an inexpensive device called a hygrometer, easily obtained at any hardware store. Take a measurement in a few areas to see if the problem is localized, or if the house is humid throughout. A humidity level of 50% is normal for the summer. In the winter, the ideal indoor humidity depends on the outdoor air temperature and may be 30% or less on colder days.

Heat Repair In DC

Control Humidity at the Source
Whole House High…

View original post 434 more words

Heat Repair In DC

kattyjames

Electric Heat
Residential electric heating systems are clean, nearly one-hundred percent efficient, and easy to maintain. Unfortunately, electric heat tends to be the most expensive heating. Generating electric heat involves inefficiencies and energy losses during conversion from fossil fuel to heat energy, from heat energy to mechanical energy, from mechanical energy to electrical energy, and finally from the transmission of electricity to your home. In the end, it would be cheaper and more efficient to burn the fossil fuel directly in your home.
Except for one mitigating factor: delivery of the fossil fuel to the home comes at a cost. In remote areas where the delivery costs of fossil fuel are high, electric heat may be a less expensive option.

Heat Repair In DC

Heat Pumps
An electric heat pump does not generate heat, it just collects heat from outside and moves it inside. When you…

View original post 552 more words

Heat Repair In DC

kattyjames

The forced-air gas furnace is the most common heating system in North America. It has undergone many improvements over the past few years making them efficient, quiet and reliable.

Heat Repair In DC

Efficiency

Most of the heat generated when a gas furnace burns goes into the house, but some of the heat goes up the chimney. Furnace efficiency refers to the amount of heat delivered into the house relative to the total amount of fuel energy used. Another way to look at it: if you burn $1 worth of gas and you get 80 cents worth of heat into the house, your furnace is operating at 80% efficiency. This quotient is often called AFUE, or annual fuel utilization efficiency.

Heat Repair In DC

Furnaces are classified into three efficiency categories, each correlating to a specific design: conventional, mid, and high efficiency designs.
Conventional
A conventional…

View original post 467 more words

Heat Repair In DC

kattyjames

Maintaining a comfortable home in the winter months depends significantly on how well your furnace functions. Furnace maintenance includes inspection, cleaning, repair and replacement if necessary.Failure to regularly care for your furnace may not only result in having to prematurely replace your unit, but also may present a safety hazard.

Heat Repair In DC

Time Frame
Although you can tune up and undertake service of your furnace more frequently if you like, make sure that you do it at least once a year. The ideal time to tune up and maintain your furnace is the fall. Choose a time that is long enough before the beginning of winter to ensure that you have time to schedule repairs to your furnace if there is a serious problem or issue that needs addressing.

Heat Repair In DC

Significance
You don’t want to enter the winter months with a…

View original post 278 more words

Heat Repair In DC

kattyjames

A short note today.
If you have not done so in the past few months, you are late.
Winter is fast approaching.
You should have your home’s furnace cleaned / tuned-up now if you have not done so in advance of the winter heating season.

Heat Repair In DC

In fact, if you have not already done so, stop reading this article and make the appointment with your chosen furnace maintenance company now.

We had ours done late (for us) last week. We called on September 10th and had to wait until September 25th before they would appear at our home to do the job.
A little prevention is worth a pound of cure, eh?

Heat Repair In DC

The last thing you want is an furnace working efficiently to cost you money because it has to use more energy (home heating oil, natural gas, etc.)…

View original post 167 more words