Standard Air Handlers for Your Home

If you are getting tired of your current heating and cooling systems or how expensive it is to operate them, you may want to look into an alternate form of heating and cooling through a single home unit known as an air handler. Air handlers are devices that connect directly to your duct system that ventilates air throughout your home. The air handler is also compatible with other home comfort systems like central air or home humidifiers, and can work to circulate whatever conditioned air you need throughout your home. One might think that such a system would be bulky and take up too much space, but air handlers can come in smaller sizes and can be positioned to fit where your home needs them. 

Types of Standard Air Handlers 

There are a few types of standard air handlers to choose from, depending on your budget and housing situation. The multi speed air handler is a good choice when you are looking to have quality heat throughout your house but are working with a tighter budget. If you are looking for an even higher quality air handler with more features, a variable speed unit offers a system that, unlike traditional furnaces, adjusts the speed of the fan to the heating and cooling needs of the house. This allows your home to stay more consistent at a comfortable temperature, because the fan is not alternating between pumping out hot air and doing nothing at all. Since the fans will not necessarily be running at full speed, you will experience a much quieter heating experience. There is also a vertical wall mount air handler option, which offers more versatility for the placement of your air handler. To make sure which air handler is right for your home, call one of our consultants to discuss your situation and the best options to meet your needs.

Air Handler Benefits

Many of the benefits of air handlers come in the form of the variable speed air handler, which offers a great number of home comforts that other heating systems do not. The system is often more quiet than other more traditional heating units, and you will have a more controlled home temperature that will not fluctuate like an ordinary stop and start system. The fact that an air handler is always running may make it seem inefficient, but the air handler is actually uses very little energy, since it rarely runs at top speed like furnaces do. Having your air constantly circulating through your home also means that it will be constantly running through your air filter, greatly increasing your indoor air quality. One other potential benefit is that air handlers run on electricity, so you will not have to pay as much money on rising fuel costs.

Air Handler Maintenance

Air handlers are very technical heating systems and should have regular maintenance checks, usually twice a year before and after winter.  Be sure to call and have one of our professionals come to check and clean out your air handler as part of your yearly maintenance. A clean unit will be much more efficient than a clogged, dirty one, and we can help you keep it running at top efficiency.

Importance of Regular Home Maintenance

In the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) world preventative maintenance is key to saving money on costly repairs and replacements. The small amount of money you may be spending on annual or biannual checkups is nothing compared to the costs involved when repairing or replacing worn equipment. Regular maintenance checks or the lack thereof will also affect the state of your indoor air quality and your home comfort. With so many potential problems that can be avoided, why not just take a day or two out of the year to ensure you won’t have any unexpected expenses? Just to make things easier for you, you can even call our offices and schedule regular maintenance checks, so you do not have to worry about remembering to make them yourself. 

Spring and Fall Maintenance

There are two times during the year when regular maintenance is recommended—Spring and Fall. These checks should be observed before the following season requires your heating or cooling system to be reactivated and put into constant use. Your air conditioning system should be checked in the spring when it is warming up, and your heating system should be checked in the fall before temperatures drop for Winter. During both of these times there are maintenance checks that you can do yourself, but for most of your heating and air conditioning equipment you will want a trained professional to check and clean out your systems.

Maintenance You Can Do

There are a lot of simple maintenance checks you can do to help ensure your heating and air conditioning systems are running as efficiently as possible. You can check your air filter throughout the year and change it whenever necessary. A dirty air filter can cause serious issues for the efficiency of your HVAC systems and for your indoor air quality. You can perform another simple check by listening for any odd noises in your equipment that might show a need for a professional to come look at your systems more thoroughly. You can also continually check your carbon monoxide monitors to make sure they are working, since they are your main defense against carbon monoxide build ups that can happen from faulty furnace equipment. 

Professional Maintenance Checks

Scheduling professional maintenance checks is probably the most important thing you can do to elongate the life of your heating and air conditioning systems, thus saving money down the road. Modern furnaces and air conditioning systems are complicated pieces of machinery that require training to be able to work with properly. Our professionals are trained to work with your systems and know how to take care of them without causing damage to the system or to themselves. It may seem like an annoying or even unnecessary expense, but the benefits of taking advantage of the experience and knowledge these professionals have is much greater than the small cost of a yearly visit. Our goal is to ensure that you are living in an environment that has the highest indoor air quality, so you can experience the home comfort you deserve.  You want it. We want to help you get it.

Getting Ready for Winter with a Furnace Tune Up

Halloween is a distant memory and the stores are full of holiday goodies, but is your home ready for winter? Now is the perfect time to think about getting a furnace tune up booked so any problems can be sorted out before the temperatures really begin to plunge. This is especially true if you haven't had a full furnace tune up for a while. In fact when was the last time you furnace was turned on? Most people use their furnace right way through winter and then turn it off through spring and summer and don't think to check it before turning it back on. The truth is that wear and tear can make your furnace much less efficient, and even minor problems can create hazards. Booking a fall furnace tune up will help ensure your system is working efficiently, giving you lower fuel costs and improving home comfort right through the winter.

Steps Be Included in a Fall Furnace Tune up

Different furnaces may need manufacturer required maintenance, and although they will need slightly different tune ups, all makes and models are likely to have something in common. During the tune up, the technician is likely to give your furnace a thorough inspection to ensure it is working properly and is safe for use. After this they are likely to conduct a number of different tests to help improve efficiency, and to replace parts that are either faulty or worn due to general wear and tear. Most will need the filter changes as these can become very dirty over the course of a year and can affect indoor air quality. Other inspections include looking at the air exchangers and any air cleaners, and making sure all the electrical and any gas connections are tight and leak free. Any moving parts will be lubricated, and pipes, belts and hoses will be checked for maintenance. If your furnace has any particular safety controls they will all be tested to make sure they are functioning properly. This type of maintenance can greatly extend the life of a furnace, and in addition gives valuable piece of mind during those cooler months.

Replacing Furnaces or Heat Pumps with More Efficient Models

Unfortunately, no one's furnace or heat pump will last indefinitely, especially if its regular maintenance program has been somewhat neglected. It can sometimes prove to be more cost efficient to replace the unit rather than try to continually repair it. Newer models are much more efficient and offer greater energy savings and of course lower fuel costs. However any new unit must be installed by a skilled technician to ensure it works properly and to its optimum level.

Different Furnaces and Heat Pumps to Choose from

The choice of heat pumps and furnaces on the market can be quite bewildering, so you may need to get professional advice as to the best equipment for your home. The choices range from high-efficiency gas furnaces, hybrid systems, boilers, electric furnaces, air conditioning systems, radiant heat systems, geothermal heating and cooling systems, solar heating and cooling systems and gas and oil boiler systems. Some of these systems, such as geothermal heating and cooling systems, may work more efficiently than others depending on your area.

Humidifiers for the Winter

With the onset of winter comes the season of chapped lips, dried hands, and painfully cracked skin. This is all due to the fact that winter air does not carry much moisture, but besides applying hand lotion and chap stick every few hours, there is something we can do to make our individual homes more comfortable for the next several months. Humidifiers offer a solution to the dry air we experience this time of year by dispersing moisture back into the air that is circulating throughout our homes, raising the general indoor air quality and your home comfort. If you want to purchase a humidifier for your home or just want to know more about the benefits of humidification, just call one of our representatives, and we can discuss your options.

Types of Humidifiers

Humidifiers come in three different types to meet your particular needs. On a small scale you can buy portable humidifiers that offer humidification to small rooms or spaces where you need it the most. You can also move the humidifier wherever you need it at any given time. The next step up from the portable humidifier is the console type which is larger and installed more permanently into cabinets or other permanent fixtures. These are designed to improve the indoor air quality of a single or a few rooms, but they do not have the reach to improve your entire home’s comfort level. An option like this is best picked when you only have a certain space that needs to be humidified, since you will not be able to move it around like the smaller models. The biggest option is the central humidifier which takes advantage of your home’s ventilation system to humidify your entire home with a single unit. As you can expect, the price of each unit increases as their size does, so analyzing what your home needs can help you to find the best possible value.

Reasons to Own a Humidifier

Aside from the general home comfort that a humidifier provides, especially during the winter, a humidifier provides some important health benefits. People who suffer from asthma, colds, and congestion will often see an improvement in their living conditions after installing a humidifier. The moisture helps to prevent dry throats and nasal passages, helping the body to be better equipped to fight off the common sicknesses that occur during this time of year. 

Maintaining Your Humidifier

It is very important to note how necessary it is to keep your humidifier properly maintained. A humidifier that has not been cleaned at least every three days may be prone to gather unhealthy collections of bacteria, which will decrease your indoor air quality and possibly cause a variety of health problems for the people in that home. When cleaning out your humidifier, be sure not to burn yourself on any heat sources. Consult a manual or one of our professionals before you begin the process of cleaning out any filters. Our goal is to help you improve your home comfort and indoor air quality, so do not hesitate to call with questions about your existing or future humidification systems.