Blogs from October, 2020

Furnace Repairs You May Need Before Winter

It is recommended that all homeowners know at least a few basic furnace repair tips. For example, it is vital that you make sure to have a professional inspect and repair your heating system some time from late summer to early fall. This way, you can be sure that your furnace will keep you safe and warm when the freezing winter arrives. Furthermore, you won’t have to worry about your furnace suddenly breaking down when you need it the most.

A furnace tune-up includes a careful inspection of your heating unit. This allows the tech to identify all issues and solve them before they escalate into bigger ones. Basic maintenance is especially a must when you have an older unit at home.

There are a couple of signs you can look out for when you suspect that your furnace needs repair. This article will delve into some simple troubleshooting steps you can take to ensure that your furnace is in tiptop shape. When the problem is more than you can handle, it is best to find a reputable heating repair company to help you. This article also includes a few tips to help you find the best HVAC company in your area.

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Common Signs That You Need A Furnace Repair

Your furnace’s age is undoubtedly a factor, but it is not the only reason you need repair. Relatively new systems can also suffer from neglect and damages. A few of the usual signs that your furnace needs repairs are listed below:

• Gas Leaks: Turn off your furnace the moment you smell gas permeating around it. The slightest spark can ignite a fire, so do not keep it running. Get in touch with your trusted HVAC tech immediately.
• Inefficient System: An inefficient furnace consumes more energy. Therefore, it is no longer cost-effective. You will notice a gradual or sudden increase in your energy bill when this happens. Call a professional and have your heating system inspected.
• Low Comfort Level: When the temperature around your home does not reflect the same setting as your thermostat, then you might have a faulty system. It could be due to many reasons, including worn parts, a clogged air filter, a loose belt, and a damaged fan motor.
• Uneven Cooling: Hot or cold spots around your house can be caused by clogging, worn components, and damages. An HVAC system that is in excellent working condition should cool or heat your home consistently and evenly. Get your furnace checked when it isn’t working as efficiently.

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Troubleshooting Your Furnace

Some heating system problems you might experience down the line do not need professional assistance. As a homeowner, you can conduct preventative steps and simple repairs to ensure your system operates efficiently. Here are a few of these troubleshooting tips that homeowners can perform:

• Turn On The Electrical Breaker: If your furnace isn’t working at all, check the switch and electrical panel. Someone might have switched them off, and this could be the cause of your furnace not working. Check if there are any melted, damaged, or discolored fuses as well. Replace them with new ones when needed.
• Clean Clogged Furnace Filter: The filter accumulates contaminants as time passes. This will affect its performance and your home’s indoor air quality. It can even lead to system breakdown and fire if you continue neglecting it. Therefore, check the filters regularly. Clogged filters should be cleaned or replaced.
• Replace Thermostat Batteries: The batteries in your thermostat should be replaced every so often. If there is any dust and dirt on it, use a soft brush or a clean, dry cloth to remove them.
• Relight The Pilot Light: Check the pilot light and furnace flame. Relight them if they are off. Make sure you follow the manufacturer’s manual when relighting. However, if you think there is a leak, turn the furnace off and immediately call an HVAC professional.
• Open All Vents & Registers: See to it that all registers and vents are open. Otherwise, your furnace won’t heat your home efficiently. Rearrange your furniture that might be blocking the airflow from the vents.

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Common Furnace Problems

Here are a few of the most common furnace repair problems you might encounter:

• Damaged Blower Belt: A high-pitched squeal from your furnace might indicate a damaged blower belt. This needs to be replaced to get your heating unit to work properly again.
• Damaged Heat Exchanger: A strange odor that is detected near your furnace might be because there is a leak from a cracked or damaged heat exchanger. Other signs of this issue include corrosion and soot on your heating unit.
• Short Cycling: A furnace that switches on and off continuously might have issues regarding its filter, thermostat, or vents. If simple troubleshooting does not fix the problem, get in touch with a heating expert.
• Worn-Out Bearings: If you notice a scraping noise when you turn on your furnace, it might have worn ball bearings. This needs to be replaced by an HVAC technician immediately.
• Flickering Pilot Light: Keep in mind that pilot lights are typically blue with a slight yellow tip. A flickering and yellow pilot light indicates that there is a high carbon monoxide level in the gas furnace. Call a professional to assist you as soon as possible.

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Know When To Replace Your Furnace

There are a few situations that call for a furnace replacement instead of repairs. Some of these are listed below:

• Old Age: A system that has been continuously used and is more than 15-20 years old.
• Reduced Efficiency: There is a significant increase in your heating costs despite regular maintenance and proper repairs.
• Poor Performance: Your furnace does not operate effectively like before. You might also feel hot and cold areas throughout your home.
• Numerous Repairs: If repair prices are at half or more than the cost of getting a replacement unit, buy a new heating system instead.

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Tips To Follow When Selecting A Furnace Service Company

It is great when you have a trustworthy HVAC repair company that you can contact when you have furnace problems. This gives you peace of mind knowing that your furnace is in good hands and that it can operate as it did before. It also means that you won’t experience the hassle and frustration that comes with furnace breakdown.

However, finding a reliable furnace service company is not easy. At some point, most homeowners experience something unpleasant with an HVAC company. The contractor might have shown up late or not at all. The technician might also cause more harm than good when they fail to pinpoint the furnace problem.

Therefore, we will discuss some of the steps you can take to find a reputable company in your area:

Search For An HVAC Company That Specializes In Heating Systems

Search for an HVAC company instead of a repairman. Furthermore, look for a company that specializes in heating systems. This is beneficial as you will have professionals who are trained and skilled to work on furnaces. They will have the knowledge and experience working with different brands, makes, and models. This way, they won’t have any problem checking your furnace.

Working with a company rather than a single repairman also means you get access to many other technicians. If one technician cannot find the problem, then another from the same company might solve the issue. Although a reputable company might cost you more initially than cheap furnace repairs, the peace of mind that you get knowing that your furnace is in capable hands will be worth it.

Look Into The Website & Read HVAC Company Reviews

If you want to know more about a furnace repair company, check their website. This way, you get an impression of how the company is. A professional-looking website with lots of information provides you with a good first impression. Whereas, some red flags include a site that looks old and lacks information.

Read the reviews as well. This will let you know what previous customers think of the company regarding their response time, professionalism, and knowledge, among other things. Some companies include reviews on their website. However, note that since the company owns the site, they control what gets published on it.

To read real ratings and reviews, search Google and other review sites. These sites allow past customers to write reviews without the companies controlling what gets posted. This enables you to get a glimpse of how the company truly is. Search for words like “gas furnace repair near my location” or “furnace repair near me” to find a local, trusted HVAC company.

Contact The Furnace Repair Company

Before hiring a particular company, call them first. Speaking to one of their representatives lets you know the company’s values and principles. They should be knowledgeable about their services and sound happy to help you. If the person on the other end of the call sounds uninterested and confused, it might be best to look for another company. However, if the conversation went well and you are satisfied with the answers they give you, give the company a chance.

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Contact Townsend Energy For All Of Your Furnace Repair Needs

It is essential that you have a skilled and certified technician to solve your furnace problems. This should never be a do-it-yourself project. A professional tech can understand your heating appliance and repair it correctly. Keep in mind that not all HVAC companies provide the same quality of work. Therefore, find the best company to help you.

Are you looking for an excellent furnace repair company? No worries. Give Townsend Energy a call. We’ll be happy to assist you and discuss your furnace problems with a free, in-home estimate.

Townsend Energy has highly trained and certified technicians. Our services include furnace repairs, AC maintenance, boiler installations, ductless air conditioning replacements, and more.

All the techs in our company are knowledgeable and experienced, so rest assured that we can correctly service your system. We offer the most competitive heating service costs in the area. We can also help you find the best heating system replacement that is within your budget. Book an appointment with us today for a free, no-obligation, in-home consultation.

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Simple Tips For Pet Owners To Improve Their Indoor Air Quality

Pets provide many benefits for their human companions, particularly in enhancing our overall quality of life. Both feline and canine friends offer comfort and socialization. Animals form bonds with their owners who report that this unique connection is both therapeutic and rewarding. There is, however, a disadvantage to having furry animals inside the home. Pets tend to shed fur, hair, and dander which can diminish IAQ or indoor air quality. Fortunately, there are things you can do to ensure that your air is safe and that you can maintain a healthy environment indoors. This article discusses some effective ways to improve indoor air quality, even while keeping pets at home.

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How Pets Affect Your Indoor Air Quality

Certain factors contribute to the quality of indoor air. In a home using central heating and air conditioning, the environment is typically closed. This means there is little (if at all) exchange of fresh air in place of stale air. Many homeowners also use spray cleaners that may contain harmful chemicals. If you have pets, it is likely you will notice the presence of airborne particulates such as fur, pet dander, and the like. In an enclosed space, these particulates will be circulated over and over again. Furthermore, particulates tend to cause clogging in your HVAC equipment’s air filtration system and decrease its efficiency. For homeowners who share indoor living space with their pets, it is prudent to take the necessary steps to ensure that indoor air is clean and safe to breathe.

The Impact Of Excellent Filtration On Indoor Air Quality

If you live with pets, one of the most critical things you need to do to keep indoor air safe is to ensure that you have excellent air filtration in your HVAC system. Air filters sift tiny particles from the air that your HVAC system would otherwise distribute throughout the house. This is the same air that occupants of a home breathe in. Since these are air pollutants, it is important that you keep a close eye out for filtration components so you know when to change or replace them once they become clogged. Never allow air filters to accumulate too much debris because this will affect the efficiency of your HVAC system. Plus, the filtration system will fail to trap particulates effectively.

A key concern about clogged air filters is that once this happens frequently, your HVAC system will no longer work as efficiently as it did before. If the problem is not resolved or worsens, the HVAC system will fail completely. If you have a number of pets living indoors, it is likely that your air filtration system will have to be replaced more frequently, say every 30-45 days. To be on the safe side, visually check the HVAC air filter on a monthly basis to see if a replacement is necessary.

Common Furnace FAQs

If you live in an area that experiences significantly low temperatures during winter, the best time to be checking if your furnace is working properly is now. Make sure that you analyze it very carefully. If you notice that there is a part that needs to be fixed or if you are not sure about the way it is functioning, contact a heating technician immediately so that he can carry out the necessary tune-up or repairs. The ideal time to call the technician for HVAC services would be now because any delay might result in you not being able to get the services you want when winter is at its worst.

As we fast approach winter, it is very common for a lot of people to have questions about their heating systems. One of the many questions that homeowners have is to do with choosing the perfect service provider, among others. Some homeowners would want to know which furnace will be best for their home, and the costs involved with buying a new unit. In order to get the best advice and recommendations, an expert HVAC contractor will be able to help you. They are available to answer all your questions.

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Common Furnace FAQs

Below we will answer some of the most common furnace FAQ that you might have about your heating unit.

Is Servicing My Furnace That Important?

Certainly. Annual furnace tune-ups are an essential part of maintaining the furnace. Before the manufacturer can honor a warranty, they will first ask you for any proof which shows that you have been servicing your unit. Most, if not all producers of these systems provide an instruction manual with every unit. The manual will explain to you how the unit should be maintained. If you want to prevent a situation where you end up dealing with avoidable repair costs, you have to make sure that you do exactly what the instruction manual says. The advantages of regular maintenance include efficiency, durability and the furnace will also be safe to use.

When Should I Schedule Furnace Repairs?

Ideally, servicing should be done on an annual basis. However, if the furnace develops a problem at any other point, the wisest thing to do is to call a professional as soon as possible. You want to avoid having to pay more at a later stage because the issue will have worsened. So, make sure that you call an HVAC company with a good reputation to handle any problems with your unit before the problem gets worse.

When Should The Furnace Be Replaced?

It’s is difficult to give a specific time period because furnaces come in various forms. What applies to a certain model will not apply to a different model. Having said that, the standard for many models is 15-20 years. So, if the unit is being well-maintained, it can last for over ten years. Furnaces that do not receive regular maintenance will last far less. That means, all things going well, you will not have to worry about saving for a new furnace before your current unit reaches ten years or so.