Improving Your Heating Efficiency

Fall weather is upon us. Many homeowners have had to turn on their furnaces to warm their homes already. The temperatures are dropping, and will only continue to get colder in the next few months. The first time that you turn on your furnace, you may experience some odd smells or have difficulty getting it to work properly. When the furnace sits all spring and summer without use, it may require an update or repair in the fall. With the cold weather quickly approaching, now is the best time to have your furnace repair needs completed.

The funny smell that you experience after many months of non furnace use is from the accumulation of dust and debris. When the furnace is frequently used, this debris gets pushed off of the system and into the home. If the furnace is not properly cleaned during the summer months, it collects a large amount of dust and debris. The excess amount can result in a funny smell, and you may have a lot of dust being circulated throughout your home.

Cleaning regularly throughout the winter months can help with this funny smell, however, the dust and excess debris in the home can still settle within the heat vents and walls. A heating and cooling expert can provide your home with these needed cleaning tasks that will prepare your furnace for the winter months. It can also be helpful to have these cleaning services done at the end of the winter, preparing the cooling source for the upcoming warmer months.

Proper cleaning and maintenance of the heating and cooling system will also improve the efficiency of it. When a furnace or air conditioning system has to work harder, it attempts to blow more air out to either heat or cool the room. This results in higher energy bills and more energy used. Homeowners with poorly working heating and cooling systems will see an increase in their home heating costs.

Air conditioning repair services, just like furnace repair services can also make sure that you are breathing in healthy air. An air conditioner is made up of a bunch of hoses and if these hoses break, they can filter into the air that is circulated throughout the house. The circulated dust and debris can also lead to allergies and more frequent of sicknesses.

Efficiency minimum standards are always changing, but the best efficiency is higher. The lowest efficiency allowed by law for new gas furnaces is 78%, and some new models achieve 97%, near total efficiency. Considering that heating and cooling account for about 48% of the energy use in a typical U.S. home, this can drastically reduce the energy costs. There are other methods to reducing home heating costs, such as using commercial boilers.

Large businesses that need to heat many square footage of a building often use commercial boilers. Commercial boilers work a little differently than a furnace does. It is much larger, for one thing, and has the ability to heat more rooms at once, without needing a break. The commercial boilers are also effective for other types of larger buildings, including schools, hotels, and apartment buildings, where all of the compartments and rooms share the heat source. Another positive to boilers is that they tend to last longer than furnaces, sometimes double the life time. Boilers typically last 15 to 30 years, depending on their amount of usage and care.

Choosing a contractor for heating and cooling services can feel overwhelming. There are likely many HVAC contractors in your city. You can look at reviews or ask family and neighbors for recommendations. If you find one that you like, attempt to utilize them for all of your heating and cooling needs and for any construction project involving heating and cooling updates.

Both the air conditioning unit and the furnace are important and necessary parts of the home. They make the home more comfortable and protect the interior of the home from increment weather conditions. Having your HVAC unit inspected prior to the use of it for each season can be very beneficial. It can ensure that the unit lasts longer and that it is working efficiently.