Natural gas furnaces have been around for a long time, and they’ve spent many decades at the top of the list of the most common types of heating systems in the U.S. There’s a reason for this continuing dominance: advances in technology have allowed gas furnaces to stay competitive as energy-efficient systems. Installing a gas furnace is still one of the best ways to provide warmth for a household while keeping utility bills under control.
Kool Breeze of Northwest Florida, Inc Blog: Archive for the ‘Heating’ Category
How Developing Technology Increases the Efficiency of Gas Furnaces
Monday, December 21st, 2015Why Getting Fall Heating Maintenance Done Is So Important
Wednesday, November 4th, 2015It’s already November, and that means that colder weather is not far ahead on the calendar. Of course, “colder” is a bit of a relative term here in Florida. We enjoy mild winters compared to most of the rest of the country. However, we don’t escape the chill entirely, and rainy days and clear nights can mean some uncomfortable temperatures when you will need your heating system working.
AFUE Rating and Furnace Energy Efficiency
Monday, October 26th, 2015Back in July, we wrote a post about the importance of SEER when it comes to determining how energy efficiently an air conditioning system will run. Now that it’s October and people are getting ready for cooler weather, the time has come to think about how efficiently a heating system is going to run. This is especially important in a place like Florida, where heaters don’t run as often: we want to make sure that each time a heating system turns on that it isn’t wasting large amounts of power.
Are There Other Choices for Central Heating Aside from a Furnace?
Monday, October 19th, 2015If you are considering having a residential heating system installed this fall, either for a new home or as a replacement for an aging heater, then you have more choices available to you than ever before. It’s easy to get trapped into thinking that a furnace, the most popular type of heater in the country, is the only viable option, but it’s simply not true. Furnaces are very effective at what they do, but if you’re looking for a change or you no longer want to rely on gas power, there are some excellent central heating system alternatives. We’ll look at a few of them.
Heating Question: Is It Time to Replace That Old Furnace?
Monday, October 5th, 2015If the furnace that works to keep your home warm during the short winter seasons in Navarre, FL seems more like a family heirloom than a functional piece of contemporary equipment, then it’s probably long past the time when it should have been placed into retirement and a new furnace put in its place. Unlike wine, furnaces do not get better with age. Although you may think that it’s best to simply let a furnace keep working away until it finally expires, this isn’t a wise course of action, as we discuss below.
What to Expect During Heating Maintenance
Wednesday, March 25th, 2015Heating maintenance is a regular task that you need to have done once a year in order to ensure that your home’s heater will work for years with high energy efficiency and a low number of repair troubles. Keeping up with maintenance will also help prevent surprise breakdowns at times when you need your heating system the most.
Because Florida has mild winters and only a few truly cold days, it is too easy for homeowners to forget about regular annual heating maintenance. But this is a mistake, and it’s simple to have it corrected with just a call to Kool Breeze. When you sign up for air conditioning maintenance with us (a job that’s much easier to remember) you’ll also be signing up for heating maintenance as well. You’ll have both issues taken care of with one program. Contact us today and ask about our program for AC and heating maintenance in Pensacola Beach, FL.
Here’s what you can expect to occur during a heating maintenance session (depending on your specific heating system):
- Thermostat calibration check (all heating systems)
- Inspection of the evaporator and condenser coils in the indoor and outdoor unit, plus cleaning them if necessary (heat pumps)
- Check of safety precautions, such as the load limit switch (primarily furnaces)
- Clean or replace the air filter (all forced-air heaters)
- Look for water damage behind air handler units (ductless mini splits)
- Check on refrigerant pressure and refrigerant levels, with refrigerant added if the charge is low (heat pumps)
- Cleaning the blower assembly (all forced-air systems)
- Check and adjust electrical connections (all systems, including gas furnaces)
- Clean the heat exchanger and gas burner, check for gas flow to the burner (gas furnace)
- Check motor amperage and lubricate moving parts where necessary (all systems)
- Check airflow and temperature difference (all systems)
If at any point during the various checks and adjustments the technician comes across a malfunction or impending malfunction that will require repair work, he or she will notify you of it. You can decide when to schedule the necessary work, although it is best to have any repairs done as soon as possible. After all, one of the points of maintenance is to prepare the heater for any sudden cold shift in the weather.
Call up Kool Breeze and speak to one of our staff members about signing up for our air conditioning and heating maintenance program in Pensacola Beach, FL. Our program provides extra benefits, such as priority scheduling and discounts on non-warranty parts.
Why You Need Annual Cooling and Heating Maintenance
Wednesday, March 11th, 2015The air conditioning and heating systems in your house are complex mechanical devices made of numerous precision components. Over time, like any mechanical appliance, your home’s AC and heater will start to wear down and suffer from dirt and damage that will reduce their effectiveness and eventually cause them to cease working. Although it’s impossible to stop fully the effects of time on an HVAC system, you can slow it down with the help of professional maintenance services twice a year: in the spring for your air conditioning system, and in the fall for your heating system.
To sign up for an excellent program for cooling and heating maintenance in Navarre, FL, just call our staff at Kool Breeze. We offer a program that provides you with two precision tune-ups a year that will help you get the most from your heater and air conditioner as well as save money.
The reasons maintenance is important
- Extended system life: The same way that you can’t expect a car to last for many years if it doesn’t receive regular services like oil changes, an air conditioner and heater won’t have lengthy services lives without professional maintenance. Most ACs and heaters won’t even make it to half their manufacturer’s estimated lifespan without maintenance—and needing to replace a comfort system early is the most expensive “repair” of all.
- Fewer repairs: Approximately 85% of the repairs a comfort system may require during its lifetime can be avoided through preventive maintenance. That’s a significant amount. If you keep up with routine maintenance, you will experience very few malfunctions with the system.
- Continual energy efficiency: The combination of dirt and wear and tear on a heater and air conditioner will cause a drop in energy efficiency because the system will need to work harder. Each year that a comfort system goes without maintenance means an average drop of 5% in energy efficiency—and that will quickly add up to a system that costs you much more to run than it should.
- Avoid surprise breakdowns: This is especially important for the AC, which does an immense amount of work in Florida’s hot climate. Without maintenance to help alleviate wear and tear on the system and catch early repair needs, the AC might collapse on you during the hottest day of the summer, leaving you scrambling to arrange for emergency repair work. Maintenance will see that you go into any intense weather fully prepared.
The cooling and heating maintenance in Navarre, FL from Kool Breeze provides you with extra benefits as well: priority service, a 10% discount on non-warranty parts, and more. Give us a call today to find out more about our heating service options in Navarre, FL.
How to Keep a Gas Furnace Safe
Wednesday, March 4th, 2015Gas furnaces are the most popular way to provide heat for homes. They have incredibly high heating power (greater than almost any other type of heater) and are cost-effective because natural gas is less expensive than electricity.
However, some homeowners are wary about having a natural gas furnace installed because of the possibility of carbon monoxide leaks. It’s true that gas furnaces, as with any appliance that uses natural gas, can create hazardous and explosive fumes. However, the actual danger a modern gas furnace poses to a household is minimal and often exaggerated.
Nonetheless, it’s important that you takes steps to see that your home’s gas furnace remains safe. For professional assistance, you can call on the team at Kool Breeze. We work on all kinds of furnaces in Pensacola Beach, FL, and offer excellent maintenance and repair work whenever you require it.
Tips to keep your furnace operating safely
- Regularly change the filter: The air filter in a furnace protects the interior of the heater from sustain damage and becoming dirty. To make sure the furnace suffers from as few issues as possible, you should replace/clean the filter every month during periods when the furnace runs on a regular basis.
- Schedule annual maintenance: This is one of the most important steps to take for furnace safety. Each year, preferably in the fall, have a professional technician inspect and tune-up your furnace. The technician will find any repair issues or problems with safety mechanisms and have them taken care of before they can turn into problems.
- Never try to repair the furnace on your own: It’s imperative that you do not tinker with the interior of the furnace cabinet. This is one of the ways that gas leaks can start. (In most jurisdictions, it is illegal to work on an appliance connected to a gas line unless you are a licensed professional.)
- Always call for prompt repairs: If you notice anything amiss with the furnace’s performance, don’t wait to call for technicians to fix it. Delays can lead to a furnace that operates unsafely.
- Put carbon monoxide detectors in your home: Although the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning is low, CO detectors will give you the peace of mind that there are no toxic gases in your home.
Kool Breeze offers a regular maintenance program for furnaces in Pensacola Beach, FL that will not only keep your furnace safe, it will also look after your air conditioning system. When you sign up, you’ll receive additional benefits such as a 10% discount on non-warranty parts and priority service. Call us today for more details.
Is It Too Late to Schedule Heating Maintenance?
Wednesday, February 25th, 2015Heating systems, no matter what type, should have a yearly maintenance inspection and tune-up in order to ensure that they will work at their most energy efficient and to reduce the effects of wear and tear from age that can lead to unnecessary repairs or an early replacement. The best time of the year to schedule maintenance for a heater is during the fall, a period when conditions are still warm and the heater is rarely necessary, but close enough to the seasonal change that you can feel confident that the system will go into the colder weather in the ideal condition.
To arrange for heating maintenance in Fort Walton Beach, FL that will see that your heater works at peak efficiency and with as few issues as possible, call Kool Breeze and ask about our regular maintenance program.
Because of Florida’s warm climate through much of the year, heating maintenance is something that is easy to let slip past. If you neglected to schedule heating maintenance for last fall, you might wonder if it is too late to schedule it now or if you should just wait until next fall to have the work done.
The answer to this is that it’s never too late for annual heating maintenance; it is far worse for your heating system to miss a yearly inspection and tune-up than for it to have it a few months late. Heating systems will lose efficiency each year they go without regular maintenance, with an average drop of 5%. Worse, you risk the system experiencing a large malfunction that could lead to a complete breakdown—or even the need to replace the entire system. Although Florida experiences short and mild winters, we still can have unexpectedly cold days strike through the spring, and you don’t want to get caught unprepared with a heating system that will stop working the next time you try to turn it on.
When you sign up for annual maintenance for your heater with Kool Breeze, you’ll receive other benefits as well. Our maintenance program includes a yearly tune-up for your air conditioner in the spring (very important to make it through the hot Florida summers) as well as a 10% discount on non-warranty parts and priority service that lets you skip to the front of the line whenever you call for repair work. Contact us today to find out more about our program for heating maintenance in Fort Walton Beach, FL.
Common Heat Pump Issues
Monday, February 16th, 2015Heat pumps have become very popular systems for good reasons: they are very energy efficient, they can both heat and cool your home and they have a long lifespan of 20-25 years. But even with all these positive attributes, a heat pump is still a mechanical device and it may need repair at some point. If you have a heat pump system for your home, here are some of the common problems that can develop with heat pumps:
Refrigerant Leaks
Heat pumps work by transferring heat from one location to another; they do this with the help of refrigerant. As such, your heat pump needs an exact amount of refrigerant in order to work properly. Refrigerant leaks can develop in a number of places; telltale signs of refrigerant leaks are low or no heat (or cooling) and/or icing on the coils. Only certified experts can handle refrigerant, and leaks can be tough to find, so any problems that develop with the refrigerant in your heat pump system should always be handled by an expert.
Problems with the Reversing Valve
The reason a heat pump can both heat and cool is because of a component called the reversing valve. This valve can the direction in which the refrigerant flows, allowing the heat pump to offer either heating or cooling for your home. Reversing valves are somewhat complex components; problems that can develop with reversing valves include refrigerant leaks, solenoid issues and getting stuck in a certain position.
Blower Issues
If you have a ducted heat pump system, your system has a blower that blows the cool or warm air into your home. Different kinds of problems can develop with blowers, including loose or broken fan belts, motor issues, electrical issues or problems with the blades.
It’s good for homeowners to know what some of the more common problems can be with a heat pump, but this doesn’t mean you should handle repairs on your own. Heat pumps are complex devices and should only be repaired by trained experts. Kool Breeze has been helping customers will their heating and cooling needs since 1986, so if you are experiencing any kind of issue with your heat pump in Navarre, call us today to schedule your next appointment with us.