March 21, 2015
Get some useful information about the pros and cons of gas and electric furnaces. Were you happy with the performance of your heating equipment this past winter? Or did excessive noise, poor heat quality, and high energy bills leave you wishing for a new furnace for next season? If your furnace is over 15 years old or subject to frequent breakdowns, you are definitely justified in your desire. A new gas or electric furnace can bring many benefits over your old one, including: Lower energy bills More reliable heating comfort Quieter operation Fewer repair needs Peace of mind of warranty coverage So how do you decide whether you should get a new natural gas furnace of a new electric furnace? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each. Natural Gas Furnaces Pros: The biggest advantage of natural gas is fuel efficiency. Up to 90 percent of the usable energy in natural gas is successfully converted to heat in a natural gas furnace. This means you get an excellent value for your money. Natural gas is also very clean-burning, which is good for the environment. Cons: Natural gas furnaces have a relatively high initial cost, especially if you…...
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March 19, 2015
Learn how to tell if you need professional help fixing air duct leaks. How much are you spending to cool your unfinished attic or crawl space? You may hope the answer is nothing, but if you have leaks in your air ducts, you could be losing 20 to 30 percent of your cooled air to parts of your home you will never visit. Fortunately, you can locate and seal your duct leaks with help from the HVAC pros at General Heating & Air Conditioning. Signs of Leaky Air Ducts Some possible signs of a leak in your ductwork include: Uneven cooling: If some rooms feel hot no matter where you set the thermostat, the problem may be that air is not reaching those rooms due to gaps or holes in the ductwork. Dusty rooms: In addition to losing cooled air, duct leaks can also draw in hot air from your attic or crawl space. This air is likely to be dusty and as it travels into other parts of your home it will deposit this dust at faster rate. If you notice rooms become dusty after running your AC, this is likely what is happening. High energy bills: If you’ve…...
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February 28, 2015
Learn what causes leaks in air conditioner coils and what to do about them. Water dripping off the outside of your air conditioner coils is perfectly normal. But coolant leaking from the inside of the coils can be a big problem. Read on to learn more about detecting and correcting air conditioner coolant leaks. Why Do AC Coils Leak? The two main causes of leaks in air conditioner coils are manufacturing defects and old age. If you have a new system that has begun to leak, be sure to check your warranty before calling for air conditioner repair. Often, the manufacturer will cover the necessary work which may include tightening connections or re-soldering joints. If your air conditioner is older, the leak has probably developed due to a process called formicary corrosion. This process begins when condensation on top of the coils interacts with Volatile Organic Chemicals in your indoor air and creates formic acid. Eventually, the acid will create tiny holes in the copper coil walls and cause leaks. Why Should I Care? While your air conditioner will continue to cool your home even if it has small coolant leak, your energy efficiency will suffer. Some experts have found…...
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February 27, 2015
Getting routine service from a professional is the best way to keep your ac running right. Just because your air conditioner works doesn’t necessarily mean it is working its best. All too often, hidden problems can sap your system’s energy performance, boost your energy bills, and impact your home’s indoor air quality without you necessarily even being aware of it. Here are 4 common air conditioner problems that you may not even realize you have. Oversized Unit Many people assume when a system cycles on and off frequently, this must mean that it’s doing a really good job cooling their home. In fact, this overcycling is a sign that the system is too large for the home. This is a big problem because an oversized system will cause poor humidity control, uneven temperatures, increased duct leakage, and of course higher energy bills. Dirty Air Filter A dirty air filter will definitely affect your indoor air quality. You may detect unpleasant odors or notice an increased buildup of dust in your home as the filter stops being able to control dust levels in your indoor air. However, you may not realize that your dirty air filter is also causing another, more…...
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February 26, 2015
New HVAC standards help to ensure property owners enjoy the promised performance from their equipment. If you’ve ever shopped for a new air conditioner, you’ve probably encountered SEER ratings. These numbers represent the energy efficiency of the equipment over an average cooling season. The higher the rating, the better the energy efficiency. Sounds simple, right? In reality, the situation can be more complicated. Just because a new air conditioner has a certain SEER rating on the box does not guarantee that it will provide that same level of efficiency in your home. This is because numerous factors beyond the quality of the AC unit itself affect the efficiency of an air conditioning system. New HVAC standards that went into effect January 1, 2015 are attempting to provide consumers with greater peace of mind that what they “SEER” is what they get. (In other words, the SEER they see on an AC unit will be the SEER they actually experience after installation). The new standards, which as are part of a whole package of HVAC regulation updates planned by the US Department of Energy, expand an HVAC contractor’s responsibility beyond simply ensuring that outdoor AC components meet the minimum SEER standards…...
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February 23, 2015
Rely on General Heating & Air Conditioning for server room cooling solutions that address temperature, humidity, and air quality. A great deal of attention is given to keeping data centers or server rooms cool and dry. After all, cool temperatures and low humidity are essential for preventing overheating and corrosion from causing costly equipment failures. But have you considered whether your current server room cooling system is able to keep your equipment clean as well? According to the UK-based Data Centre Alliance, contamination in the server room is a serious threat. Contaminants like dust, hair, dead skin, and clothing fibers are prevalent in server rooms. When these contaminants get into server equipment they can clog the heat sinks on computer chips and potentially cause such overheating that the chips and the equipment actually fail. Attempts to clean up dust and dirt in the server room can sometimes make matters worse. For example, vigorous rubbing or polishing can kick up clouds of microscopic debris that can enter server equipment even more easily than the original dirt. Vacuuming a server room with the wrong equipment can also be a big mistake, as vacuums that are not equipped with HEPA filtration actually release contamination…...
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February 21, 2015
General Heating & Air Conditioning offers superior Carrier brand heating & cooling equipment. According to CNN Money, first-time homebuyers will finally return to the market in 2015. Experts point to rising rents combined with eased lending requirements and a growing supply of newly constructed starter homes as the impetus behind this predicted trend. However, depending on where you live there may not be much new construction going on. In this case, you will be looking at older properties for your first home purchase. There are many important differences in the way one should approach buying an older home as opposed to a brand new one. Paying more careful attention to the HVAC system is certainly one of these differences. While a new home can be expected to not only have a brand new heating and air conditioning system, it can also be expected to be properly designed to maximize the efficiency of this system. With an older home, you cannot have these expectations. How to Tell If You’ll Need a New System If any of these apply to the HVAC system in a house you’re considering buying, you should assume you will need to replace your heater and/or air conditioner…...
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February 19, 2015
Make sure your air conditioning is ready for spring with this checklist. With blizzard after blizzard dumping tons of snow on the East Coast and “Artic blasts” bringing record-breaking lows to much of the country, it may be difficult to believe that spring is right around the corner. However, here in sunny southern California you are going to need to turn on your AC sooner than you think. Get ready for that moment now by calling General Heating & Air Conditioning to schedule your annual air conditioning maintenance visit. We’ll make sure that all the key components on this air conditioning maintenance checklist get attention so you can enjoy reliable and efficient performance from your equipment throughout the cooling season. Coolant: It is important to actually check the levels of refrigerant in the system rather than just top them off automatically. Too much or too little coolant can cause problems with your air conditioner. In fact, some studies have shown that a system that is 10 percent low on coolant will cost 20 percent more to run. Filter: Clean air filters are not only essential for fresh, clean indoor air; they are also very important for energy efficiency. The dirtier…...
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January 28, 2015
Routine furnace maintenance is essential for ensuring proper operation of your heating equipment. Many property owners fall into the trap of believing that the only reason they would ever need to call an expert furnace technician is to repair a broken furnace. The problem with this assumption is you may not realize it when your furnace needs a minor repair. After all, some declines in performance can cut efficiency and cost you money without leading to any easily discernible symptoms. Fortunately, by inviting an HVAC expert to your home once a year for furnace maintenance, you can detect and correct minor problems to make sure your furnace is always working its best. Try This Test Yourself Want to see a concrete example of the sorts of subtle performance slippage we’re talking about? Try this test. Begin by using a thermometer to measure the temperature of the air exiting your heat registers in various rooms. Then, move to the middle of the room and measure the temperature there. Subtract the higher temperature at the vent from the lower temperature in the room. This number will give you the temperature rise across the furnace. Now, go back to the furnace and open…...
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January 23, 2015
Enjoy a cleaner-smelling home without resorting to artificial scents with these3 healthy options. Did you know that your favorite room fragrance may be hazardous to your health? Many room sprays, fabric fresheners, and air fresheners contain chemicals called phthalates. Preliminary research has linked these chemicals to hormonal disruption in adults as well as developmental issues in children, and they have already been banned from children’s toys. Some types of scented candles do not burn cleanly, producing soot that contains known carcinogens. And, for many people, strong artificial odors of any kind cause headaches, nausea, and discomfort similar to an allergic reaction. So why are you using artificial scents to cover up the odors in your home, when you could be using natural methods for a healthier and longer-lasting result? Here are 3 important options to consider if your home is plagued by odors. Improve Ventilation One of the most common reasons modern homes smell is that they lack adequate ventilation, so odors from pets, cooking, smoking, and life in general simply can’t escape and dissipate quickly enough. This can be fixed with relative ease with help from General Heating & Air Conditioning. We can measure your home’s airflow and install…...
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