if you do nothing else to care for your heater, you should at the very least replace the heater filter on a regular basis. some people get lucky and the only negative consequences of heater neglect are poor air quality and low efficiency, but failing to replace the filter regularly could potentially choke the life out of your heater. chances are you don’t want any of these problems in your house, so now is the time to give your heater and the air in your house a little tlc by replacing the air filter. but, how do you know which one to choose?
Archive for the ‘safty’ Category
furnace filters: merv ratings
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011Duct Cleaning Extremes
Friday, December 16th, 2011Over time many of us have grown accustom to dealing with very visible and reputable companies. In many ways many of us, myself included, have grown to expect the best from companies and assume that every company is concerned about it’s reputation. Unfortunately this is not as true as you would home.
winter house fire precautions
Friday, October 28th, 2011cold seasons is on the way, and that means trading in our tank tops for thick sweaters and our sandals for snow boots. we also need to take certain precautions to prevent house fires. according to the u.s. fire administration, the cold seasons months have the highest occurrence of house fires. initially you may think that this is a result of all of the holiday decorations, candles, and fireplaces, but there is one cause of house fires that you may not even realize. this appliance causes 15,000 house fires a year, and it is responsible for 15 deaths and around 400 injuries a year as well. any guesses?
prevent heater breakdowns
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011heater preparations can really help prevent breakdowns and potential hazards. a thorough heater clearing, when done correctly can save you money, time and improve the efficiency of your current heating system.
get your boiler ready for winter
Saturday, August 27th, 2011with cold seasons encroaching on our warm seasons fun as every day passes, now is the time to review the heating system and make sure that we are all prepared for the snow, sleet, and freezing temperatures that are soon to become our reality. if you have a boiler system, you have special steps that you must take to correctly care for your type of system.
UV Lights in Your Duct Work
Sunday, June 19th, 2011When you think of ultra violet light chances are the first thing that comes to mind are the harmful rays of the sun and not your HVAC systems. However, UV light can be harnessed and put to good use in the duct system of your home. If installed properly by a reliable HVAC contractor, UV lights can improve indoor air quality by destroying odors and harmful particles, and it may even boost the efficiency of your heating and air conditioning systems.
What is a UV light and how does it work?
A UV light is a machine that is mounted into your duct works supply and return vents or over the air conditioning coil. It uses a light bulb that emits powerful UV-C rays into the duct system. UV-C is an invisible part of the sun’s light spectrum. It has the ability to alter the DNA and RNA of microorganism which will sterilize them. Once sterilized, the microorganisms can no longer grow or reproduce and are killed off in a short amount of time.
The duct work in your home is a breeding ground for microorganisms that produce odors and that can be harmful to your health. By placing a UV light in the duct work, you are able to kill off these organisms as the air circulates through the home. On average, the air in your home can be circulated through the duct work as much as 75 times a day. As more and more air is exposed to the UV light, the cleaner the air in your home becomes.
What does it work on?
If you have a central air furnace, then you probably have an air filter inside that unit. The standard air filters that are used can only capture particles down to a certain size. Many microorganisms are so small that they can still get through the filter and continue to plague your HVAC system. Your standard air filter also does little to decrease odors in the home. But, UV air purifiers work on a broad range of microorganisms. These are some of the ways that a UV light can purify your home:
- Kills mold spores
- Destroys pollen spores
- Removes damp musty smells
- Gets rid of pet odors
- Eliminates allergy irritants
- Kills viruses
- Eradicates bacteria
- Removes smells caused by smoke, paint, wood stain, and food
Most of these can be cleaned up in the surfaces of your home, but the reason why they stick around so long is because they get trapped up in the duct work. The best time to have a UV light installed is after a duct cleaning. You should have a professional duct cleaning company come out to your home and perform a thorough duct cleaning. Once that is complete, have them install a UV light to take care of any particles that are still floating in the air. This combination will not only drastically improve your indoor air quality; it will also improve the efficiency of your heating and air conditioning systems. The cleaner the duct work is the cleaner the furnace and air conditioner will be. Clean units run more efficiently, and clean duct work allows for better air flow which allows the units to work less often. Both of these save you money on your energy bills.
Is it safe?
Yes, UV lights are safe to use in your home if they are installed properly. UV light cannot travel through plastic, metal, or glass, and when it is inside your ducts you should never be exposed to the light. Also, many people will warn you that UV lights create ozone emissions. Ask you serviceman if the unit he offers creates ozone before you allow him to install it. Overall, you should not have anything to worry about. UV lights have been used in hospitals and to sterilize medical instruments for years. So if it is safe enough to be used on instruments that are used in surgery, it should be more than safe enough for use inside your home.
If a UV light sounds like it will solve your indoor air problems, contact a trustworthy local HVAC contractor or duct cleaning specialist, and have one installed today!
defend your house from flood damage
Thursday, June 2nd, 2011chances are if you have experienced a flood in your house recently you understand the frustration, damage, and expense involved in returning your house to its pre-flood state. this is one experience you will never want to relive, and you don’t have to! after assessing the damage and replacing or rebuilding the equipment, there are several waterproofing measures you can take to ensure the protection of your basement and the valuables within it.
Carbon Monoxide in Your Home
Monday, May 30th, 2011Carbon monoxide could be leaking in your home right now, and unless you have a detector installed, you wouldn’t even know that it was happening until you were poisoned. Yet, every day your run your furnace, boiler, or hot water tank you are risking a carbon monoxide leak. To prevent something like this from happening to your family, you need to be aware of what causes this type of leak, and what you can do to protect yourself.
Furnace and Boiler Heat Exchangers
Gas fired furnaces and boilers use a heat exchanger to heat the air or water that they use to heat your home. In a furnace or boiler, combustion is created when the gas mixes with air and ignites the burners inside the unit. The burners then transfer the heat to the heat exchanger. Every heat exchanger has two sides. One side is in contact with the harmful combustion gases, and the other side is in contact with the air or water that is going to be circulated through the home. This way the combustion gases like carbon monoxide and never in contact with the air that we breathe. We are protected by the barrier created by the heat exchanger. In a furnace, there will be a draft inducer motor that will filter the toxic gases outdoors.
If there is a problem with the heat exchanger or the venting system, you could have carbon monoxide building up in the air inside your home. If a heat exchanger becomes old or rusted, it is common to find cracks in it. If the heat exchanger has a crack, the combustion gases will be allowed to seep through the barrier and into the air in the home.
The venting system in your home could also be the source of your carbon monoxide problem. Your home will either use the chimney or a direct vent to filter the bad gases outdoors. One of the biggest problems found is inadequate drafting. This is caused by the vent being too large or too small for the size of your furnace or boiler. If this happens, carbon monoxide could begin to build up inside the unit and will eventually leak out into the home.
What You Should Do
The first thing you need to do is install carbon monoxide detectors. Combustion produces many gases but carbon monoxide is the most dangerous, but is easy to detect if your home has carbon monoxide detectors. These should be placed near the furnace or boiler. You should also consider installing them near the bedrooms in your home. Most carbon monoxide poisonings happen during the night while everyone is asleep, so it is best to protect your family members where they sleep.
You should have your furnace or boiler cleaned and checked yearly, and the heat exchanger examined for leaks. You will need a certified technician for this job. Only a well trained serviceman will know how to properly clean your furnace or boiler and how to inspect a heat exchanger effectively for flaws.
Finally, you need to have the ventilation system checked. Chimneys are known to crumble or become clogged with debris over time, and this needs to be cleaned out and repaired as soon as possible. The sooner you catch a problem with the ventilation, the sooner your family will be safe to breathe the air in your home once more.
If the Alarm Goes Off
If the carbon monoxide alarm goes off there are a few things you need to do:
- Evacuate the home
- Call the fire department
- Open any windows or doors that are easily accessible
- If anyone is experiencing nausea, vomiting, fatigue, or headaches they should be looked at by a doctor as soon as possible
- Do not reenter the home until you are given the permission to do so by the fire-fighter
Even if the responder doesn’t detect CO in your home, you need to still proceed with caution. Shut down any appliances that run on gas and have them serviced as soon as possible.
How Your Furnace Heats Your Home
Sunday, May 8th, 2011Many people know little to nothing about how their furnace works. You may know what certain parts are, like the pilot light for example, but how does your furnace use that tiny flame to generate heat for your entire home? In order to gain a better understanding of how this works, you must first understand how each of the main components of the furnace work individually. Knowing how the furnace operates can help you have a better understanding of the repairs it may need when the furnace breaks down.
Main Parts and their Function
The furnace is made up of a lot of different parts that are all necessary for the unit to function properly. However, there are a few main components that are directly involved in the furnace’s creation of heat, and those are the ones you should focus on. We should leave the more technical parts to the professional HVAC contractors.
- Standing Pilot/ Electronic Ignition- Depending on the type of furnace you have, you will either have an electronic ignition or a standing pilot that functions as the unit’s pilot light. Typically, older furnaces have standing pilots, and newer more efficient furnaces have electronic ignitions. But, what is the difference between the two?
- Standing Pilot- What characterizes this type of pilot is its constant flame. A standing pilot consists of a pilot assembly and a thermocouple. The pilot assembly holds the flame that heats the thermocouple. Once the thermocouple is warmed to a certain temperature it will send a current of electricity to the gas valve. This current triggers the gas valve to open and release gas into the unit. This type of pilot requires a constant stream of gas to keep the pilot lit and is therefore inefficient.
- Electronic Ignition- An electronic ignition does not have a constant flame. This pilot will only light up when the thermostat is calling for heat. There are two types of electronic ignitions. The intermittent pilot uses an electrical spark to ignite the pilot, and the pilot will then light the burners. A hot surface ignition system uses a heating element that is similar to the filament in a light bulb, to ignite the burners.
- Flame Sensor- If you have an electronic ignition, chances are you also have a flame sensor. The flame sensor is a safety device that will detect whether or not the unit has fired up properly. If the pilot or burners do not fire up, the flame sensor will tell the control board (the electrical control box that directs furnace function) to shut down the gas valve and the burners. This will prevent any gas leaks in the event of a part failure.
- Burners- These are a plate-like surface that will ignite when the furnace calls for heat. They often glow red when they are hot. This part of the furnace is also known as the combustion chamber. Gas will mix with air here to create combustion that will heat up the burners.
- Draft Inducer Motor- If you observe the function of your furnace, you will notice a small fan-like motor that is the first component of the unit to turn on when heat is being called for. This motor has two functions. First, the inducer motor will bring in air from outside to be mixed with the gas released by the gas valve to create combustion. Its second function involves removing the harmful gases that are generated by the combustion process. The inducer motor will pull these gases through the venting system that should lead to the outdoors.
- Supply and Return Vents- These vents are parts that are associated with the duct work system in the home. Supply vents lead out of the furnace and deliver heat to each room in the home. Return vents lead into the furnace and suck air out of each room to be delivered to the furnace for reheating.
- Heat Exchanger- The heat exchanger is the part of the furnace that warms the air before it is blown into the various rooms in the home. On one side of the heat exchanger combustion is taking place. The burners transfer the heat made by the combustion through the heat exchanger. On the other side, the air that is being sucked into the furnace by the return vents is flowing across the heat exchanger to be heated. The two sides of heat exchanger create a barrier between the toxic combustion gases and the air that is circulated through the home.
- Blower motor- The blower motor is a big fan that blows the warm air created by the furnace through the duct work and into each of the rooms in your home. This is the part that creates the circulation cycle of air. If you set the fan to “auto” at the thermostat, it will only run when the thermostat calls for heat. If you set the fan to “on,” it will run continuously and circulate air even when heat isn’t being generated. It is more energy efficient and less stressful on the motor to run it on “auto” only.
When the thermostat drops below the set temperature, it will send a signal to the furnace that calls for heat. The inducer motor will kick on and begin drawing air into the combustion chamber. The pilot will light and trigger the gas valve to open. The gas valve will release gas into the combustion chamber, and it will mix with the air to create combustion. As the inducer motor vents the harmful combustion gases outside, the combustion will cause the burners to ignite. The hot burners will transfer heat to the heat exchanger, and the blower motor will kick on. As air is drawn through the heat exchanger from the return vents, it will be heated and then blown through the duct work and out the supply vents by the blower motor.
This is basically how your furnace creates and delivers heat in your home. So, the next time your unit breaks down, you will have a better understanding of what your serviceman is talking about. You will be able to protect yourself from dishonest contractors, and maybe even be able to do a little trouble shooting on your own.
central air theft on the rise!
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011air conditioning season is right around the corner, and with the new season comes new worries. air conditioners need to be cared for just like the rest of your heating, ventalation, and air conditioning system, but there is one problem that you need to be on the lookout for: a/c theft. during the warm seasons months, as well as during the off season, air conditioners are targeted by those desperate to make a quick buck. the internal components and piping attached to your cooling system are valuable to thieves, and unless you are on your toes, you could find yourself with a gutted air conditioning unit this warm seasons.
why is my a/c targeted?
air conditioning units are valuable to property owners because they provide the much needed cool inside temperatures that we rely on during the hot warm seasons months. we also invest thousands of dollars into these systems over their lifetime, but their value to thieves is much more different than their value to their owners. thieves value the copper that exists inside the air conditioning system. the pipe that leads into the house along with the coils inside the condenser are made of copper, and as the value of copper increases in the world market, the incidence of thievery increases as well.
after tearing the unit to shreds, the thief will be able to cut out any copper that is in the system. by taking it to a buyer, they make a little money at your expense. the truly sad part is that they may only get $30-$50 for your system that is worth well over $1,500. they target every building from churches to small business to individual property owner like yourself, and once the system is gone, you will have no choice but to absorb the cost of replacement.
how can i be protected?
protecting your cooling system is not an easy task. the system spends every day and night in the outdoors and the thieves have the tools necessary to cut through the pipes quickly. however, there are some buisnesses that sell protective cages to deter criminals from trying to take your unit. criminals are not going to want to waste time cutting through another obstacle when there are other unprotected air conditioners in your neighborhood. another option is to move the a/c. putting the unit on a roof or under a deck can provide a little extra protection from thieves.
one of the best things you can do for your unit and the other air conditioners on your block is keep an eye out and have your neighbors do the same. have a safe warm seasons, and keep your cooling system safe too!