November 15th, 2011
Nobody likes to come home to a cold home, let alone stay in one. Some may like it cold, but everybody likes being warm on cold winter nights. The only problem is that heaters tend to run up the utility bills, so we’re torn between saving money. Luckily, if you keep your residential heat maintained once a year, you can reap the benefits of having a central heating system without having to pay out the nose for it.
There’s a wide variety of benefits that stem from central heating services, including prolonging the life of your heating system and decreased monthly utility bills. Everybody likes saving money, especially in this rough economy, yet we all want to be warm come the cold winter nights. Luckily, that’s exactly what keeping up on your central heating services helps promote, and that’s why we’re talking about them today. While it’s highly recommended that you have your heater maintenanced once a year to keep it in good condition, the vast majority of people with them do not, perhaps because they don’t know about the benefits.
One of the best ways to go about getting the best out of your central heating system is to have it undergo regular annual maintenance, typically during the fall when the seasons are changing. Not too cold and not to warm, it’s the perfect time to make sure the heating system is up to par since most heating and air companies are slow and will be able to get to your quickly. Better to get it out of the way before it’s needed.
It’s also a good idea to have your air ducts cleaned once a year, typically along with your annual heating maintenance. This will help ensure that there is no dust or particle build up and that the air circulating around your home is clean. There was a study released a few years back that said that the air quality in the average home can be up to five time dirtier than the air outside, often times causing sicknesses like the flu to linger longer than they should and promote an overall lower level of health. An annual cleaning and maintenance can help keep your indoor air quality high – just another benefit of central heating services.
Reduced monthly utility bills is probably the most sought after benefit of residential heat services, as it is the one that directly helps keep cash in our wallets at the end of the month. A regularly maintenance central heating system runs at efficiency far longer, causing it to use as little energy as possible for as long as possible. Without maintenance, parts start to wear out and need replacement causing the whole system to become less energy efficient, needing to work longer and harder to achieve the same results.
As you can see, there are a few advantages besides saving money that comes along with keeping up with your central heating services. Increased indoor air quality helps promote good health through the cold and flu ridden months and the services and changing of parts helps keep the whole system running at efficiency for years and years. You won’t need to replace your system for at least a decade while being able to enjoy a central heating system that runs like it’s freshly installed.
Tags: Central Heating, Heating Services, Residential Heat
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November 10th, 2011
Temperatures vary throughout most of the United States, especially once you start hitting the colder winter months. Riverside, and the cities in its county lines, are no exception with its triple digit summers and shivery winter nights. It’s because of the extreme weather changes and temperature fluctuations that it’s important to keep up on the recommended heating services your central heating and air condition systems recommend.
There are a few reasons why it’s important to keep up to date on your heating and air systems recommended maintenance for basically the same reason it’s important to keep up to date on your car or trucks recommended maintenance. Over time, components tend to accumulate a good deal of gunk and other nasty things that cause component breakdown and reduces the overall performance. If you go too long without changing the oil in your car, there are going to be problems. The same holds true for your heating system.
This time of year it’s important to make sure your heater is up to par, and for that we have our Riverside heating and air maintenance services. Heaters, like their cooling counterparts, should be maintenanced about once a year to help keep everything running smoothly and efficiently. It’s preferably to have it all done before the cold weather really starts to kick in, since the colder weather is going to drive more and more people to have their heaters maintenanced and brought back up to par.
A under-maintenanced heater not only has to work harder to provide the same level of comfort, but it has to work longer as well. It can even get to the point to where your heater is running all the time, and yet it is still cold inside. Nobody wants to have to pay those bills without being able to enjoy any of it.
Aside from the obvious benefit of a more efficient heater for your home, there’s the added money saved every month from your utility bills. Typically, we all see a sharp rise in our utility bills come the colder months of the year. While there will most likely always be a rise in your expenditures, regardless of how energy efficient your system is, keeping up to date on the recommended heating services will help ensure they rise as little as possible. The same is true for the hot summer months and your central air conditioning.
Another great benefit of keeping your central heating system up to par is the added health benefits and increased indoor air quality. An under-maintenanced heating system can send years of build up dust and debris through the ventilation and spread it throughout your home. Sounds nasty, huh? Well, let me assure you, it is, and the best way to go about avoiding it is to keep not only the central heating system up to date on maintenance, but to keep the duct system clean as well.
All in all, there are a lot of different ways you can benefit from our heating and air services, specifically the heating services this time of year. The best way to find out all the different ways we can help you save on your monthly utility bills while staying warm and comfortable this winter is to give us a call.
Tags: Central Heating, Heating Services, Riverside Heating and Air
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November 2nd, 2011
One of the things we all take for granted until we don’t have it is residential heating, especially once the cold winter season begins to hit. While it may not be winter yet, Fall is definitely upon us and bringing with it colder and colder nights. Now is the perfect time for all of us to get off our collective behinds and make sure our residential heating system is up to par, helping us save a little money in the process.
Now, there are a couple different ways to keep your home heated this upcoming winter, from portable space heaters to complete central heating and air systems. Chances are that most of us have central heating, which also means we should be keeping up to date on the regular maintenance that comes along with it. Yes, it is true and we’ve said it a couple times here on our blog, but your central heating and air conditioning system requires regular maintenance and tune ups, just like your vehicle or any other piece of machinery that is used on a regular or semi-regular basis.
The maintenance itself is rather simple when compared to the repairs and processes that go along with a complete replacement of your heating furnace and typically consist of replacing worn out or damaged parts, components, as well as checking the overall energy efficiency. You see, over time various parts of your heating system begin to degrade and need replacement or cleaning. For instance, the air filters for your furnace should be cleaned about once a month. You don’t need a professional like us to do this, you can do it yourself without having to involve us. The inspecting and replacing of the warn out parts, though, should be left to us, as we’ll be able to determine what needs to be replaced or repaired and what does not.
There are other things you can do to help keep warm this upcoming winter while saving money on your monthly utility bills, but they aren’t as convenient as simply being able to tell your thermostat how warm you would like to be. You can wear layers, keep some blankets handy, and utilize the strategic placement of fans throughout the house to help circulate the warm air. No matter what you do, it all pales in comparison to simply turning the thermostat up without having to worry about the energy bills breaking through the ceiling.
The bottom line is, if you want your central heating and air conditioning system to work like new this winter, saving you loads on your monthly utility bills and allowing you to keep your indoors as warm as you’d like, than you’re in need of some professional heating services to make it all happen. Many people don’t realize that their heaters need regular maintenance, and as such, simple let them go for years without ever looking at them. You’d be surprised to find just how many people don’t even know that air filters that need to be cleaned are involved.
Tags: Central heating and air, central heating and air systems, Heating Services, Residential Heat
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October 27th, 2011
I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly been noticing the dropping temperatures over the last couple weeks, and I’ve been rather tempted to turn the heater on. Our heaters doesn’t get a lot of use through half of the year, and frankly, don’t get a lot of thought, either. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does start getting troublesome when we start to forget the central heating maintenance. Not only does the heating and air system start to work less efficiently, the indoor air quality starts to decrease too, even having the potential to be worse than the air outside.
Central heating and air conditioning systems are just like our cars, in the sense that they require regular maintenance to ensure they’re running at their best. When the maintenance is neglected, overall performance starts to go down and the level indoor air pollutants start going up. Over time, a good deal of build up accumulates in the air ducts that carry air throughout the home; including dust, debris, mold, and even germs and bacteria. The only way to clean this stuff out is to go in and clean it out. It’s probably a good idea to have a professional come out and do it for you, since the process can get rather complicated and messy if you aren’t using the correct tools.
Another great place to help increase your indoor air quality and overall central air and heating systems is to check and clean the air filters roughly once a month. The air filters do exactly what they sound like, they filter air, and as a result, they start to get clogged with the stuff that they filter out. Once they’re clogged, they stop working and cause your system to work harder to push through the same amount of air, which in turn increase your utility bills.
One of the easiest ways to help keep quality level of the air inside your home high is by opening windows throughout the house. This may seem a bit counter intuitive, since it is winter and we’re using our heaters to keep out the cold air, but the air outside is typically clean and healthy and could be better for you than the air inside your home. The E.P.A. did a study a few years back that showed the that the average home has an indoor air quality that can be upwards of five times worse than the air outside.
All in all, there are a few different ways to get the best indoor air quality in your home this winter, but the best way of all is through the use of regular central heating maintenance. Making sure your heating system is running in top shape is the best way to ensure that the air it’s pumping is clean, healthy, and best of all, running at a high energy efficiency.
Tags: central air and heating, central air and heating systems, Central heating and air, Central Heating Maintenance, indoor air pollutants, indoor air quality
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October 19th, 2011
It’s getting colder, and every the changing seasons is a sign of upcoming holidays and family gatherings, longer nights and cold mornings. The winter seasons tend to be busy for most of us, and, honestly, a little stressful as well. You can help ease that season stress with a little preventative heating maintenance, ensuring that you’ll save some money this winter on your heating bills as well as have the peace of mind that comes with a nice warm home on a cold winter day.
We’ve gone over a couple different ways to improve your homes heating power, but they’ve been scattered throughout various posts, so we decided that since we’re on the cusp of actually needing to turn on our heaters again, we would go over some of the best ways to get the most out of your heater this winter without having to break the bank every month in the process.
The best thing you can do is to ensure your furnace and/or boiler is as energy efficient as it can be, which would mean that it would have had to been manufactured sometime in the last couple years. Since not everyone can afford to replace their main heating components at this time, let’s start with what you can do around you home to optimize your current heating system. Although, as one of the most trusted names for Riverside heating and air, both county and city, we would be able to get you setup with a new furnace or boiler, ultimately saving you money in the long run.
Make sure your windows are doors are properly sealed. Gaps below doors or between the door and the door jamb can let the hot air your heater has been working so hard to heat up out into the cold winter air. Needless to say, we want all the hot air we pump into the house to stay pretty much where we put it, so sealing up any gaps in windows and doors is a great place to start.
Another great place to start is ensuring your furnace filters are clean. Like your air conditioner, your heater pumps air through your home that first goes through an air filter. Idealistically, these air filters should be cleaned every month during the cold seasons. Unfortunately, most people forget to check the air filters and some aren’t even aware that there are air filters to be changed. A dirty air filter causes the whole system to work harder to pump air through your home, increasing utility costs and wearing down on the equipment itself, ultimately decreasing the entire systems overall life cycle. Keeping your air filters clean is a good practice for both your central heating and air conditioning systems.
A great little trick I like to do every winter is switch the direction my ceiling fans in reverse. Simple thermodynamics states that warm air rises and tends to pool at the ceilings. By reversing the rotation of ceiling fans from counter clockwise to clockwise will push air down instead of pulling it up, forcing the warm air that has accumulated at the ceiling back down to where people tend to be. Running your ceiling fans in reverse can help save you as much as 10% on your monthly heating bills.
During the colder seasons the thermostat can either be our best friend or our worst enemy. Everyone likes a warm home, but dropping the temperature down by two degrees or so goes a long way in monthly utility savings. Your home doesn’t need to be warm enough to encourage it’s occupants to wear shorts. Warm and inviting, yes, but it doesn’t need to be hot and uncomfortable. Personally, I like the keep the heat at about 75 degrees.
There’s a lot you can do to help keep your home warm this winter without having to break the bank doing so. While you can have as much insulation and take as many steps to maximizing your home’s heating power, the best way to ensure that you don’t get racked by monthly utility bills this winter is to have a central heating system that runs and operates at its best. We all know that cars need regular tune ups to work properly, and the same is true for your air conditioner and central heating. Give us a call today so we can come out and give you any necessary heating maintenance to ensure you’re running at peak efficiency. If you’re furnace or boiler hasn’t been inspected or maintenanced in the last year, than it’s definitely time!
Stay warm this winter, but don’t break the bank doing it.
Tags: Central heating and air, Heating Maintenance, Riverside Heating and Air
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October 11th, 2011
There’s a lot of us out there that get cold easily, some no matter what the weather is like outside. With winter coming up in just a few short months, we’re going to be seeing more and more cold nights and foggy mornings, and we’re going to be tempted just that much more to turn on the central heating. There’re ways to heat your home and stay warm this winter without spiking the utility bills higher than the fog level, and today we’re going to go over a couple of them.
Everything starts with a foundation, and your central heating system is no different. The most effective way to keep your heating bills down this winter is to have a high efficiency furnace design in your home. Since the furnace is the heat center for the entire system, it’s important to start out with one that’s going to use as little energy as possible for the heat it generates. If you find yourself with the option to replace your older, less efficient furnace out with a more energy efficient one, our heating service technicians will be able to get everything installed and taken care of in time for the cold months.
Another great place to start saving on heating bills this winter is the thermostat. If the temperature is lowered by a degree or two you can see a drastic reduction on your heating bills, regardless of the energy efficiency rating of your furnace. The temperature doesn’t need to be up high enough for you to feel the need to wear shorts or want to turn the heat down. It’ll be winter, so wear some sweat pants and bundle up with a blanket – your wallet will thank you for it.
Another great way to save some money on your winter utility bills is to have a bit of heating maintenance performed on your system before starting to ramp it up. Getting a tune up now while it’s still relatively warm will help you save the most money this winter, as well as give you the peace of mind of knowing that your heating system will work all winter long.
The last great tipi we’ve got for you today is to install a timer or have a programmable thermostat. With the timer or programmable thermostat, you’ll be able to set times of the day for the heater to run. For instance, the heater doesn’t have to be running all night while everyone’s asleep. In the beginning, sure, but not all night. A timer set for 3 AM will turn your off, saving you money without disturbing your sleep.
All in all, there are a lot of ways to save money this winter on your utility bills, you just have to know where to look. Luckily, you have us here to help. We can because we care – it’s not just our slogan, it’s our philosophy.
Tags: Central Heating, Heating Maintenance, Heating Service
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October 4th, 2011
October is here and soon we will see small children running around in costumes looking for free candy and other delicious sweets. The holidays are here and there is no better time to get your holiday heating service check list taken care of. Think of it as Spring Cleaning, only it’s in the fall and it’s for your heating system.
We all use our heaters in the fall and winter – that’s how we get by the cold holiday season without having to wear a half dozen or so layers simply to stay warm indoors. We’ll do what we can to keep the temperature inside comfortable, but at the same time nobody wants to have their utility bills go out of control. We expect it to go up, yes, and most of us are perfectly fine with this, but did you know that you could be paying more each month on your utility bills than you have to?
Any heating company can tell you that an under-maintenanced furnace and heating system isn’t running as efficiently as it could, causing your utility bills to steadily climb upwards and the energy efficiency rate lowers. You can prevent this by keeping up to date on simple and routine maintenance once or twice a year.
Residential heat isn’t something that can just be installed and forgotten about, never expecting to have to maintenance the machinery or never having to take a look at it. Somehow, good portions of us simply assume that the system will run the way it was intended to indefinitely. A better way to look at it would be the same as your car – it needs regular maintenance every so often to help ensure it runs well for years to come. The same is true for your heating system.
Now is the best time to get somebody out to make sure your heating system is up to par. The seasons are changing and you won’t need either your heater or your air conditioner for a month or so. Why not take this slight down time for your climate control equipment to make sure they’ll run smoothly and cheaply throughout the winter? Sounds like a pretty good use of time to me.
Tags: heating company, Heating Service, Residential Heat
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September 27th, 2011
Fall’s here, and that means winter is right around the corner, bringing with it the cold months and the overwhelming urge to crank up the heater. Cranking it up all the time can get rather expensive, though, so today we’re going to go over a couple ways to help maximize your homes heating capabilities to help save on your monthly bills this winter, leaving more money in your pocket for Christmas presents.
The best way to keep your heating system is tip top shape is to stay up to date with your heating maintenance. The best way to fix a problem is to prevent it from happening in the first place, and that’s the whole philosophy behind staying up to date with your maintenance. It’s the same concept as staying up to date on your car’s oil changes and engine tune ups, it’s just a different piece of machinery.
While keeping up with the heating maintenance is a good way to prevent most issues, we know that it’s not always possible. While it’s incredibly important, there are other ways to help increase your homes heating powers, one of which is ensuring that you have adequate insulation, primarily in the attic. Heat rises, so having a poorly or under insulated attic or crawl space can mean much of the heat in your home is used to help heat the cold winter air outside. Blown attic insulation is probably going to be your best bet for increasing your attic insulation to adequate levels, as it is the easiest to have installed.
There are other ways to help increase energy efficiency and reduce energy bills that don’t require any additional materials or equipment. The easiest and most overlooked of which is shutting the air vents in rooms that are not being used or that do not need to be heated as much as others. Guest rooms, bathrooms and hallways are all examples of places with air vents that can be closed, focusing the heated air into other, more important rooms, such as the living room and bedrooms.
All in all, the best way to maximize your heater’s potential this winter is to have us come out and take a look. There are things we can clean, swap out, or fix that can mean the difference between ridiculous energy bills and expected ones. The best part is, if yours came with a heating system warranty, than it might not cost you a dime. The only way to find out, though, is to give us a call and see how we can help.
Tags: Blown attic insulation, Heating Maintenance, Heating System Warranty, reduce energy bills
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September 20th, 2011
With the 1st day of Autumn hitting us this Friday, it’s a little hard to believe that summer has already come and gone. While it might not feel like Fall just yet, rest assured that the cold months are going to be creeping up on us sooner than we think, making now the best time to schedule your HVAC maintenance service check. A little bit of preventative HVAC maintenance goes a long way.
We recommend two annual inspections of your heating and cooling system – one in the Spring for your air conditioner and the other in the Fall for your heater. The inspections themselves are done in order to ensure that the appropriate part of your overall HVAC system is up to par and ready for the demand that the upcoming season will place on it. For this Fall’s post, we’re going to focus on what a service check for your furnace means for you.
First we begin with checking the furnace’s overall energy efficiency. Most furnaces today are very energy efficient, so any unit coming up with a rating of 90 or less will most likely be in need of some repairs. Getting them taken care of early on can save a lot of money down the road, in both monthly bills and costly repairs. Next comes cleaning the soot and other byproducts out of the combustion chamber. Build up is common, so the technician will be using specially designed bushes and vacuums to clean the chamber.
After checking the burner itself, along with the tubes and various connections associated with it, we inspect and change out the air filters and, if need be, ensure that your home has clean air ducts, which is great if you want to improve indoor air quality. All winter long you would benefit from reduced dust levels, along with reduced levels of a good number of air pollutants. Combine that with high-energy efficiency and a fully operational HVAC system, and you’re looking at a calm and relaxing winter season – something we all deserve.
Tags: air conditioner, furnace maintenance, heater maintenance, heating and cooling system, HVAC system
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September 16th, 2011
Hey Everybody! Check out the Article that was posted in the Californian.
Please click the image below to see the full size, readable image.
Tags: Green Technology for air conditioning, Green Technology for heating
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