Furnace Upkeep & Maintenance | Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc.
Did your furnace make it through Florida’s winter months? Keep your furnace in shape for next year!
1. Keep the system pipes clean. | Modern furnaces use an external intake pipe for their air supply. While more efficient, this pipe can become clogged with dust and debris.
2. Block or Close Vents. | Don’t overwork your system. Did you know that by closing vents you actually make your system work harder? It causes an imbalance in the system and forces the blower to work harder, increasing energy used. Blocking a vent with a rug or furniture can cause the similar problems.
3. Replace the filter on a regular basis. | Filters get dusty—full of pet hair and dander. It is important the change the filter as often as needed. This improved your indoor air quality and reduces the amount of energy the furnace has to put out.
4. Don’t skip annual maintenance. | Having a professional look over your system ensures that the unit is powered correctly, clean and ready to work. This annual once over can extend the life of your unit and make sure your home stays warm throughout the Winter months.
Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc. is here to make sure your furnace is in tip-top shape.
Our team is available 24/7, 365 for any HVAC emergency or sign up for our maintenance plan
and our skilled professionals will keep your system running smoothly all year long!
850.267.3538
Why is it Important to Clean Your Air Ducts?
Did you know that dust, dander and dirt can clog your air ducts compromising the air quality of your home? Poor indoor air quality can cause allergies, asthma and illness. Ensuring that your air ducts are clean and clear of the debris has the following benefits.
Improved Indoor Air Quality
The HVAC unit breathes air in and out of your home—like lungs. The HVAC system circulates air 5-7 times per day causing a build-up of contaminants and dirt. These pollutants are then filtered again through your home. Cleaning your air ducts greatly improves your home’s air quality.
Energy Savings
When your air ducts are dirty, you HVAC system has to work harder to cool your home. This uses more energy and reduces the life of your unit. When your system is clean, it doesn’t have to work as hard to keep your home cool, improving its effectiveness.
Removes Unpleasant Smells and Odors
Pets, tobacco use, food smells and more circulate through your home. When dust and dirt collect in you ducts, it absorbs these smells causing a musty scent that then circulates through your home. An in-depth duct cleaning removes all odor trapping articles resulting in a fresher smelling home.
Click HERE to learn more about this service or call 850.267.3538 to schedule a duct cleaning appointment.
Is your HVAC System on your Spring Cleaning To-Do List?
Spring is here and it is time to clean house. Between cleaning baseboards and ceiling fans, it is easy to forget about your HVAC unit, but proactively maintaining your HVAC system is imperative to the health of your home!
Prepare your system for the summer season with an overall cleaning of the air handler, grilles, fans, motors, housings and coils.
Improve the overall air quality of your home by cleaning your air ducts! Don’t miss the cracks and crevices. Cleaning your air ducts removes dust, dander, allergens and more from your home and improves air flow efficiency.
We are here to help you check these items off of your to-do list! Leave your HVAC cleaning and maintenance to Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc! Call 850.267.3538 to schedule spring cleaning for your system.
A Two Way Operation | Return-Air Problems Solved
If you are experiencing unbalanced air temperature throughout your home or business, you might have encountered a return-air problem.
A reoccurring issue seen in homes with a single return-air grille is an inefficiency in air-flow. Often resulting in return air struggling to find its way back to the indoor fan coil. Typically resulting in room-to-room pressure imbalances that can cause uneven room temperatures, unsatisfactory climate, added energy costs, and potential mildew or moisture on ceilings and in walls.
When an indoor fan coil is initiated, conditioned air is pushed through air ducts to registers in each conditioned room in a house. If the forced-air system is designed correctly, the home includes return-air ducts to relay air back to the indoor fan coil to be conditioned again, in a continued circle.
While most HVAC contractors recommend a builder install ducts and registers to deliver conditioned air to every room in a house, often the builder’s budget may not allow for additional or adequate return-air paths from each room leading back to the indoor fan coil. Return-air grilles are not commonly found in each room; instead, there’s often just a single large return-air grille in the living room or a central hallway to accommodate the entire home’s atmosphere. One system is forced to work over-time; the forced-air system must pull all of the home’s air requirements through that single grille before it can be conditioned by the indoor fan coil or cooled by the air-conditioning system.
Guidelines and Best Practices
Suggestions for possibly solving the pressurized-room issue. Elect one of the following:
- Installation of a return air grille
- A through-the-wall transfer grille connecting the bedroom and the adjacent hallway
- A crossover duct (a jumper duct) connecting a ceiling grille in the bedroom with a ceiling grille in the hallway.
The most effective of the suggested solutions tends to be the most expensive: the installation of a return grille ducted back to the furnace in every conditioned room of the house.
A more cost effective solution, through-the-wall transfer grilles, tend to allow too much noise transmission.
The final suggestion, the addition of a crossover duct connects a ceiling grille in each bedroom with a nearby ceiling grille in the hall. The cross-over duct may allow for more sound than the first option, less than the trough-the-wall transfer. To prevent unacceptable heat loss or heat gain, it’s best to limit the installation of crossover ducts to homes with insulation that follows the roof slope.
For additional information regarding how to have the most efficient air quality and temperature balance call the Comfort Experts at (850) 267-3538. Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc of Santa Rosa Beach has served Okaloosa & Walton Counties for over 32 years and we continue to ensure your home and business comfort.