Some Furnace Upgrades That Can Improve Home Heating

As we get into the winter season, we become much more aware of how important our furnace is to the sanctity of our home. This is the perfect time to think about furnace upgrades that can make your living situation even better. Here we'll discuss some of the most popular furnace upgrades.

Smart Thermostat

Although your thermostat isn't a part of the furnace itself, it's an integral part of your overall heating system. If you haven't already upgraded your thermostat to a smart model, now's the perfect time. Smart thermostats will give you better control over your home's heating, allowing you to set the times at which the equipment is on and off. Changes can be done remotely, which means you can warm up your home before you arrive.

Zoned HVAC System

If you really want to upgrade the way your furnace operates, then you should definitely consider installing a zoned system. A zoned HVAC system allows you to divide your home into designated "zones," each of which can be individually heated or cooled as needed. This saves a lot of energy because you're not being forced to heat up your entire home when only one or two rooms are occupied.

Solar-Powered HVAC System

The future of the world is sustainable energy. There are a few different types of green energy available to homeowners, but the most popular one, by far, is the use of solar power. Upgrading your HVAC system, which would include your furnace, will make your home much more efficient. Plus, you may be eligible for local and federal tax credits.

UV Light System

If you want to improve your indoor air quality you may want to consider installing a UV light system within your HVAC equipment. Of all the furnace upgrades you can arrange, this is great for those who are susceptible to airborne contaminants. By installing UV lights inside the system, usually at the point of the return duct, you'll be able to kill 99.9% of pollutants that may enter your air and endanger your household.

If you have any questions about furnace upgrades or you'd like to schedule service, reach out to the experts at Air Assurance today. Our team has been servicing Broken Arrow and the nearby areas since 1985.

What to Do If Your Home Furnace Is Blowing Cold Air

Few things can make life in your Broken Arrow home more frustrating and uncomfortable in the winter than a furnace that's blowing cold air. Several issues could cause your furnace to act up in this way. Keep reading to learn more about these issues with cold air and what you can do to restore normal functioning to your furnace.

Thermostat Settings

If your thermostat is set to "On" rather than "Auto," the furnace fan will run continuously, including when your furnace isn't producing heat. As a result, the system may circulate cool air between the heating cycles. Change the thermostat fan setting to "Auto" to ensure that the blower runs only during the heating cycles.

Clogged Air Filter

An air filter clogged with airborne pollutants restricts airflow and can lead to overheating and short-cycling of the furnace. If your furnace is blowing cold air and your thermostat has been set correctly, you may need to remove and clean (or replace) your filter.

The Pilot Light Has Gone Out

If your gas furnace has a pilot light and is blowing cold air, the reason could be that the pilot light has gone out. If you've set your thermostat correctly and see that there's no flame when you check the pilot light assembly, you'll need to relight the pilot flame. Furnace instruction kits usually have details on how to check and relight the pilot light.

Flame-Sensor Problems

A flame sensor that's worn out or covered in dust, dirt, and grime will make your furnace shut off because of its inability to detect the burner flame correctly. Cleaning the flame sensor may solve the issue. You may also need to have the sensor replaced.

Leaky Ductwork

Cracks and holes will allow warm air to escape and cold air to enter your ductwork and be circulated throughout your home. Duct sealing will eliminate these leaks.

Clogged Condensate Drain Lines

The latest furnace models have condensate lines to help remove excess moisture. Your furnace may not work properly if there's a blockage in the lines. It's best to have an HVAC professional clean clogged furnace-drain lines.

If your furnace is blowing cold air despite your best efforts to rectify the issue, don't hesitate to contact an HVAC professional. Don't forget that furnace maintenance will help you avoid this and many other problems. Contact Air Assurance if you need furnace installation, repair, or maintenance in the Broken Arrow area.

How Hot Is Too Hot for Your Furnace?

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Although your furnace produces hot air for your Broken Arrow home, the furnace itself shouldn't overheat. Too-hot furnaces can result in costly and significant damage. Therefore, it's crucial to understand what can cause your furnace to overheat, how to recognize an overheating furnace, and what you can do to fix the issue.

What You Should Know About Furnace Overheating

The internal temperature of your furnace can rise rapidly beyond what's needed for regular operation when there's a blockage somewhere within the system. For example, a filter clogged with dust, lint, and other debris may prevent air from flowing freely out of your furnace. The limited airflow increases the risk of the furnace overheating.

Having some of your vents closed or blocked — or something falling on your furnace and blocking it — could also cause an obstruction. When trapped hot air has nowhere to go, it places a lot of pressure on your furnace and can cause it to overheat.

Your furnace also has protection mechanisms that prevent it from overheating. These mechanisms can fail and lead to overheating.

An overheating furnace may shut down unexpectedly and give you a hard time when trying to restart it. Other signs of an overheating system include:

• Short cycling

• Burning odors from the vents

• Odd noises from the furnace, such as banging and humming

An overheating furnace prevents your house from being heated adequately. The system could also suffer a premature breakdown and require expensive repair. If overheating damages the motor, you may have to replace your furnace. Overheating could also lead to heat exchanger damage, which could allow carbon monoxide to escape into your home's air.

Solutions

Changing a dirty filter and moving curtains and furniture away from your vents could solve overheating. Besides that, the best option would be to call in an HVAC specialist.

An overheating problem doesn't disappear by itself, so you should take action quickly. Remember, you can avoid having a too-hot furnace by ensuring your system is maintained properly. Contact us at Air Assurance if you need furnace repair or maintenance in the Broken Arrow area.

What Are the Pros and Cons of HVAC Recycling an Old Unit?

While many persons recycle used cans, bottles, and paper, what about HVAC recycling? If you upgrade to a newer, more efficient air conditioner or furnace, what becomes of the old unit? A central AC or window unit, or a gas-fired home furnace, is not a small, insignificant object. It’s a considerable effort for most persons to handle and properly dispose of. So what are the facts about HVAC recycling when the time comes to do so?

Furnaces

A retired gas furnace may or may not be suitable for standard pickup by your local municipality due to its size and weight. However, some cities include objects as large and as heavy as a furnace in specially scheduled bulk-item pickups. The item will have to be moved to the proper spot for pickup — usually out at the curb on the street — then a pickup will need to be arranged with the city. In most residential installations, your HVAC contractor can haul the old furnace away for you.

Air Conditioners

Air conditioners of all sorts — central AC as well as window units — present a complication. Most municipalities will not pick up air conditioners for disposal if they still contain a refrigerant charge. Refrigerant is a toxic gas that is destructive to the environment. By federal law, refrigerant can only be removed from a disused AC by a licensed HVAC contractor. In the most common scenario during air-conditioner replacement, the qualified contractor will remove the refrigerant from the old unit safely in compliance with EPA regulations, then haul it away for proper disposal at an approved local site. 

Ancillary Items for HVAC Recycling

Other smaller items related to an air conditioner or furnace replacement are generally recyclable and may be picked up by your local municipality. Alternatively, you may opt to take them to a local recycler yourself for potential cash. These include:

• Blower motors

• AC coils

• AC compressor motors

• Copper refrigerant tubing and associated brass fittings

• Metal air ducts

For specific information and advice about HVAC recycling here in Tulsa and Wagoner counties, contact the professionals at Air Assurance.

The Truth: Radiant Heat vs. Furnace

There are many different options when it comes to heating your home. The most common is a forced-air furnace. But you can also install a radiant heating system. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Let's take a look at radiant heat vs furnace options.

Radiant Heating

With radiant heat, heating coils are installed beneath your floorboards. Heat then rises, spreading throughout the room and providing an even, comfortable layer of warmth. Not only are you warmed by the ambient heat, but also by direct contact with the heating source. There's nothing like walking on a radiant floor on cold mornings.

Radiant heating doesn't use ductwork, which eliminates the energy losses that can come from leaky or damaged ducts. Thus it uses much less energy than a forced air system, while heating a room more evenly. The drawback is, no ductwork also means no cooling in the summer. If you do get radiant heat, a dedicated duct system would still have to be installed for your A/C.

Radiant heat is also expensive to install, particularly when retrofitting an existing home, as it means tearing up the floorboards. And if you have thick carpet or area rugs on the floor, they act as insulation, and the radiant heat won't be able to spread effectively throughout your home.

Furnaces

A forced air system has its own advantages when it comes to radiant heat vs furnace. It warms your home more quickly and provides better air circulation.

The main drawback is dealing with energy loss from damaged ductwork, air leaks, poor airflow, and more. Additionally, the ductwork can circulate allergens and other contaminants through your home. The heat isn't as even, and the lower areas of your home will have trouble getting heat at all.

So ultimately, which is better? It all depends on your specific heating and cooling needs. Talk to an expert and let them help you decide which is the best option for your home.

For help solving the radiant heat vs furnace conundrum for yourself, contact us at Air Assurance. We proudly serve all of Broken Arrow's heating and cooling needs.

Decoration Storage Do's and Don't's

Most homeowners have a collection of treasured decorations that help make the holiday season more festive. You may not realize it, but there's a direct correlation between protecting your decorations while they're in storage and keeping your home and family safe from harm. Here are some decoration storage do's and don't's that can help you accomplish both:

Don't Assume That Decorations Aren't Dangerous

You might mistakenly think you only have to worry about hazards like frayed electric holiday lights or placing a tree too close to your fireplace when your decorations are in use. However, some stored decorations can add fuel to a fire or produce noxious fumes when they melt, such as:

• Boxes and egg cartons used for ornament storage

• Fabric holiday stockings and tree skirts

• Components of wreaths, garlands and artificial trees

• Holiday candles

• Plastic totes and storage containers

Don't Use the Furnace Room for Decoration Storage

If you have some extra space around your furnace, you might be tempted to use it to store your holiday decorations. The truth is, having any of the above items close to a combustion device like your furnace (or water heater) is a serious safety hazard. Other flammable and combustible items that shouldn't be stored near your furnace are fuels like gasoline, paint and paint thinners, aerosol sprays, cleaning and laundry products, wood products, paper goods, cat litter and fabric/textile materials.

Do Choose a Safe Spot for Storing Decorations

After you've carefully packed up your holiday decorations to keep them safe while in storage, here are some potential storage location where they're unlikely to cause any danger:

• The attic. A well-lit attic can be a good spot to store seasonal holiday decor, just don't include items like paraffin candles that may melt.

• Your garage. A dedicated shelving unit in the garage can make a great location for storing decorations during the off-season.

• A bedroom closet. An empty closet in a seldom-used bedroom can give you easy access to stored boxes of holiday decorations.

To learn more safe decoration storage ideas for your Broken Arrow home, contact us today at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, us at 918-217-8273.

Then vs. Now: Furnaces

Since prehistoric days, when people gathered around a fire in the dead of winter, humans have sought ways to keep warm. How have those ways evolved over the centuries? How have they led to the technologies that heat our homes today? Let's take a look at the history of furnaces.

History of Furnaces

Among the first to develop central heating were the ancient Romans. They introduced radiant floor heating by building a fire in the basement, which would heat the stone floor above it. And since hot air rises, the heat from the floor would soon spread to the rest of the house.The first heating sources used wood for fuel. This included the Franklin Stove, invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1741. Made of cast iron, it was designed to produce more heat than a regular fireplace, with less exhaust.Then in 1885, a new furnace was developed, which burned coal, which replaced wood as the standard. It produced more heat and used a system of ducts in the basement to transport that heat to the rest of the home. Then in 1919, Alice Parker invented the first modern central heating system. It replaced coal with natural gas, and distributed heat evenly throughout the home using a system of pipes.

Today's Furnaces

Today's furnace designs have come a long way since then. Top furnaces can operate with over 98% efficiency, providing more heat for less energy. Zoning systems now allow you to heat each part of the house according to its individual needs. Some can even sense whether or not a space is occupied, so you don't pay to heat empty rooms. And smart thermostats let you adjust your home's temperature from anywhere, via your mobile device.There are a variety of amazing features available on today's furnaces. When buying a new system, make a list of your home's heating needs and talk to an HVAC expert to find the furnace that's right for you.

To learn more about the history of furnaces, and tips for furnace buying, contact us at Air Assurance. We proudly serve Broken Arrow's HVAC needs.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273.

Safety Hazards of a Multi-Purpose Furnace Room

Safety should always be a top priority in every household. Unfortunately, many homeowners make simple mistakes without considering what might happen. A great example is when families create storage in mechanical room areas of the home, primarily where their furnace is located. This results in a fire just waiting to happen.

People Own More Stuff

It's getting a little ridiculous at how much "stuff" exists that you can buy these days. Many households are full of boxes with everything from Christmas ornaments and legal documents to comic books and action figures. Much of what we buy will end up in a box somewhere, which necessitates the need for more storare areas around your home. So, why not use the furnace room, right? Wrong!

The Dangers of Using a Furnace Room for Storage

When you place storage items in an area that houses a source of heat, you're asking for trouble. If the furnace isn't operating properly or your personal belongings are too close to the furnace, a fire could ignite. This is especially true if you're storing items like half-empty paint cans, cleaning supplies, or solvents. Don't laugh - we've probably all put these items in places that weren't entirely safe.

What You Can Do to Prevent a Fire

The good news is that preventing a fire in the room where your furnace is stored is rather simple. Here are some quick rules that you can follow:

• Remove any flammable materials such as storage boxes, cleaning materials, and other items discussed throughout this article.

• Equip your home with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

• Have a fire extinguisher readily accessible in the kitchen and near the furnace area.

• Hire a technician to perform an annual check of the system to keep it operating properly.

• Never block the entrance or area around the furnace in case firefighters require access.

For more advice on safe storage in mechanical room areas, or if you have any other questions related to home comfort, reach out to the experts at Air Assurance. We've been serving the HVAC needs of Broken Arrow and the surrounding areas since 1985.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273.