Monthly Archives: September 2014

Annual Home Heating Furnace Checklist

HVAC, , , ,

We all look forward to the first hint of cool air to give us a break from the summer heat. We will be able to turn the a/c units off and fire up the furnaces and begin to go through the annual regimen of preparing for the upcoming winter. As we begin the transition from using the a/c to using the furnace, there are a few necessary steps we should consider taking. The heating and cooling systems are very important parts of our homes and need to be taken care of in order to perform properly and to run at the peak of efficient performance. Homeowners need to understand the importance of scheduling yearly inspections of their heating and cooling systems.

What an annual inspection accomplishes.

It is usually a good idea to schedule an annual inspection of your heating and cooling system during the fall season. This is a good time because the outside temperature has usually cooled enough that you do not have to use the cooling system but not enough to need to run the heating part of your system. Usual components such as filters and lines are checked to ensure proper performance. Electrical parts are visually checked for corrosion. If you have gas lines, they are checked for leaks, and all the fittings are checked as well. The burners should also be checked to ensure proper ignition and to make sure they are burning away all of the gas. It is equally important to check the carbon monoxide sensor; the vent is a very important protector against carbon monoxide and needs to be checked to see if it is venting properly.

Tune-ups will  help prevent breakdowns.

A tune-up will ensure the maximum performance of your system. There will be times during the winter when your system will run more than normal to keep your home warm during the harshest weather. You do not want to be snowed in with no way to get out and have your system break down; this will make for long cold nights and will call for emergency efforts which will cost you more.

Tune-ups will save you money.

Much like our automobiles, our heating and cooling systems perform better with annual tune-ups and help us save money on our energy bills. If our automobiles are at peak performance, they will be more efficient and so will our heating and cooling units. Heating and cooling make up about 54 percent of the average energy costs in our homes today. Tune up and save money.

Protect your family.

Damaged, broken, and poorly vented heating equipment can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. Your HVAC technician will be able to properly check your system to be sure there are no leaks and that your system vents properly. You owe it to your family to keep them safe. Check with your local HVAC technician to maintain your system properly.

           

           

 

Home Energy Loss: Closing the Envelope

Energy Efficiency, , ,

Energy loss is one of the most expensive home challenges that we have today. Unless we take a look at where we are losing most of our money when it comes to energy loss, we willhome-energy-loss not know how much it is really costing. Energy loss is like filling up a bucket with water one drop at a time. After a period of time, the bucket will fill up with water. Every little crack we have around our doors, windows, electrical outlets, and ceiling fixtures all add up to major losses when it comes to energy. Let’s look at the building envelope—what it is and how we can locate and detect energy loss within it.

Think of your home as a closed box. Now take a roof and set it on top of your box. When you set your roof on top of the box, this creates a space at the top which we call your attic. Imagine the area below your roof as a closed-in box. This is your building envelope. The objective is to keep air from escaping or entering into the box we know as our building envelope. We want to keep heated and cooled air in our box and keep outside air from moving in. We will look at the most critical places we lose energy and how to detect them. We will also look at a few easy things we can do to stop this loss.

One of the simplest ways to detect energy loss is to perform a simple test while the air exchanger or handler is running. (Run the test with your air conditioner or heater running.) When your hvac unit is running, there will be a constant flow of air throughout the house and back to your air return. You will notice this from the crack at the bottom of your bedroom doors. Feel at the bottom of the doors when they are shut to see if you can feel air coming from the room traveling to the air return in you hvac. You should have a good return throughout your house. This return keeps fresh air moving and the moisture level down in your house. This air flow is the same air flow that will bring outside air into your home through cracks in the envelope. You will need your hvac unit running during this test; you will also need a candle or incense to carry out the test. Use your candle or incense to check for cracks in your building envelope. The following are the places you need to check:

Around Exterior Doors

Because of all the opening and closing of your doors day-to-day, the weather stripping or doorstops can become extremely worn. Notice where the smoke from your candle goes. If the candle smoke is going back into your home, your air handler is bringing air in from the outside. Check your door hinges to determine whether they are tight. The chief concern here is your weather stripping. It is probably a good idea to replace or add to your weather stripping.

Around Your Windows

Check around the windows to see if you have air coming in from the outside. First check around the inside of the windows against the framing to see if air is coming in from the outside. If you have air coming in from the outside, it is a good idea to use a high quality caulking to seal around the window against your frames. If you have any cracks in your windows, you should replace the window panes. If you have insulated or double pane windows and you see that they are foggy or have moisture between the panes, they need to be replaced because they have lost their insulating value.

Around Your Electrical Outlets and Switches

This may not seem to be a likely pace for air to be entering your home, but you would be surprised. Any air entering your room through your sockets and switches is air being pulled from your attic. During the summer, we know how warm our attics become. That very warm air is being pulled into your home. You can purchase a simple kit at the hardware store that is simple to install. The kit consists of precut foam rubber that you can place over your receptacles and switches. You just simply pull the cover off  your receptacles and switches and place the foam over them, then put the covers back on. This is a great cheap and easy way to fix this problem.

Ceiling Fixtures

As with the receptacles and switches, your light fixtures and ceiling fans need to be checked. It will surprise you to learn how much air is being pulled down from your attics around your ceiling fixtures. These can be sealed in much the same manner as your wall receptacles and switches. Also try switching to more recent types of light bulbs that burn cooler. If you can feel how hot a bulb is burning, just think of the heat being pushed down by your ceiling fans.

These are just a few helpful tricks to help you cut down on the energy loss that occurs through your building envelope. Every little bit is important. The more cracks you seal, the more energy you save. You can lose as much energy through all the cracks combined as through a window or door that has been left open. Try this and you will save money on heating and cooling.