Air Conditioning

Spring is here, and summer is just around the corner. Is your air conditioning unit ready for the roller coaster ride of temperatures we’ll encounter this summer? It’s time you find out. As I child I remember watching an old sitcom where the star of this show would leave their bills in the mailbox. He thought if he didn’t see them physically he wouldn’t have to deal with them. However, that method always came back to haunt him. You see, just because an issue is out of sight doesn’t mean it doesn’t require attention. If you don’t deal with it, it will deal with you.

People often visit the dentist for their annual checkup/cleaning and ironically discover they have a cavity or two. Preventative maintenance to our teeth, body, home and appliances is always the best method to keep everything functioning in the best shape. Our HVAC system is a pretty big piece of equipment and requires that same attention. Within the system are key components that require proper upkeep. You know its like our teeth. Often times we don’t think about the various components to our mouth until something goes wrong. However, when we get a cavity we quickly remember that our teeth are connected to nerves. and those nerves are rooted in our gums. Well, your air conditioning unit is pretty similar. There’s the blower, the thermostat, the fan and several other parts. All of these parts play a significant role in your unit operating successfully.

Proper handling of the unit also helps. We are responsible for our A.C. unit achieving its optimum performance. Every three months we should change our air filters. I know you’re often tempted to purchase the less expensive filters, but it’s not worth it. Buy the pleated filters, they capture more debris and save you in the long run. Changing your air filter is just like brushing your teeth and flossing. This process helps keep the debris away from the blower. After you’ve done your part, contact your air conditioning company for your checkup. When they come out to survey your unit, they will update you on any worn parts, damaged coils and more. In addition to their report, they will perform your annual cleaning. Your HVAC system should be cleaned at least twice a year. The first being in the spring and the second being at the start of the fall. Why not have the assurance that you’re ready for summer’s swelling temperatures? Stay cool this summer by taking care of your air conditioning system, and it will take care of you.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=W_Cosey

What Fairfield Heat Pumps Mean For Your Home

Heat pumps are very useful inside the home. In any home that is located in parts of the globe where both winter as well as summer is experienced, this heating system is very useful and in many countries, it is even considered vital.

This type of heating system is very common in the United States of America and it is much preferred in many other countries as compared to other sources of home heating such as fossil fuel as well as electricity. But why does a Fairfield heat pump installation benefit you?

Heat Pump Benefits

The first reason why a pump installation will benefit you is because it is very efficient. Though during the process of installing it in your home, you might find it very labor intensive and very heavy on your wallet, its years of function will more than cover up all your past expenses. The pump can not only be used in the winter season, but during the warm summer days, you can allow it to function like an air condition. This way, the device is fully capable to adjust to your needs.

This aspect is very unique to the heating system as it defies all other cooling or heating system by performing both functions in one whole system. Compared to other heating models, the heating system is much harder to install but will be more efficient in its functions in the long run.

Though the other models and devices for heating are fairly easy to install, the bottom line is that it does not present an entirely different system to your home but it is instead limited to being just a single function unit. Though the heat pump takes much longer to install, it presents an entire system that can do various things. Because the heat is gathered from the earth, this device literally slashes a lot of your heating bills.

Save Money With Your Heat Pumps

The second reason is that this device helps you save money from your monthly bills. The heat pumps are actually an efficient energy saver. The device can be used to provide heating to a large area indoors and it can be even used to heat your water as well.

With the prices of petroleum slowly climbing up, and with the electricity charges sky rocketing, the use of gas burners or electric heaters can be very costly and it can weigh heavily on your monthly budget. With the help of the pump, you will no longer consume as much electricity as before and you will no longer worry about too much energy consumption and excessive amounts on the bills you pay.

If you are looking for a New Haven and Fairfield County heat pump to be installed, please call us today at (203) 335-0224 or (203) 852-7144 or complete our online request form for an in-home consultation.

The Benefits Of Having A New Haven Dehumidifier

A New Haven dehumidifier is an electronic device usually used in the workplace or in the home. It is used to reduce the humidity in the air -that is the measure of the amount of moisture in the air.

How A Dehumidifier Works

A New Haven dehumidifier works by controlling the humidity by sucking in the air in the atmosphere through a fan. Once the air is inside of the device is enters the section which contains cooled coils. At this point condensation is used by cooling the air so that it reaches its maximum threshold for holding moisture and converts into water droplets.

These water droplets then drip down the coils into a water storage area. The air is then reheated to a temperature usually controlled by a built in humidistat so that the humidity levels are kept at a desired level.

Avoid Dehumidifier Problems

In terms of water storage the dehumidifier will have a built in water reservoir and a sensor to ensure that it does not overflow – this means it switches off automatically when it reaches a certain capacity level.

Obviously, this is potentially a problem if the device is in a high humidity area and needs to be switched on all the time. However this problem can be dealt with effectively by the use of a hose to drain the water away or you can get a New Haven dehumidifier unit with a condensate pump built in that will ensure the water is regularly pumped out of the device and down a drain.

What are the benefits?

On top of the fact that a dehumidifier makes the atmosphere there are many health benefits from getting a dehumidifier for your home. The most noticeable problems that can be seen to be caused by high levels of humidity are mold and fungus forming on your walls, wallpaper peeling away, condensation forming on your windows as well as a general feeling of stuffiness in a room.

All these problems are caused by high humidity and especially in the case of the mold it can cause serious illness. Once it forms it can be difficult to get rid of, so it’s much better to be prepared and fight it before it forms! On top of this limiting the humidity in the air can help clear the air making your breathing better and fighting off any colds or coughs.

A New Haven dehumidifier can be exceptionally useful in areas of storage such as basements (which often suffer especially badly from high humidity problems) as they are often the centre of the causes of damp and leaks and so dehumidifiers for basements are very popular.

What Are The Disadvantages Or Problems?

The only problem that you could mention with New Haven dehumidifiers is that of the additional cost and it is important to balance this against the whole range of benefits you will gain from installing the unit in your home or basement. The best thing to do is get a list of the best humidifiers for your home and compare the costs and advantages of each and then choose the most suitable one

Overall it is not hard to see how dehumidifiers for home, basement and workplaces have become very common and useful in areas of high humidity and it is well worth the investment to improve your health and lifestyle.

If you are looking for indoor air quality products in New Haven and Fairfield County, please call us today at (203) 335-0224 or (203) 852-7144 or complete our online request form for an in-home consultation.

Top 4 Ways To Improve Fairfield Indoor Air Quality

The quality of the air inside your home is very important to the health of you and your family. Poor quality indoor air can result in many negative health effects, including breathing disorders, respiratory ailments and more. Improving the Fairfield indoor air quality in the home can help all of the members of the family breathe a little easier.

One of the most efficient ways to improve the quality of the air inside the home is to maintain control of any air pollution sources that could contaminate the interior air. Control methods include the elimination of harmful contaminants (such as asbestos), reducing emission levels by reducing the usage of combustion sources (such as wood burning fireplaces, gas-fueled stoves, or smoking tobacco products) within the home, and using high quality air filters near emission sources to quickly remove pollutants from the air. Controlling sources of air pollution is viewed as one of the most cost effective ways to maintain good Fairfield indoor air quality because it rarely increases energy costs.

Another method used to improve Fairfield indoor air quality is improving the ventilation of the home so that contaminated air is removed and replaced with fresh air on a routine basis. Many types of home heating and cooling systems simply recycle the air that is inside the home without adding fresh air from outside the home, allowing levels of contaminants to build up until they reach levels that can be harmful to your health. Opening windows in the home during nice weather and operating window or attic fans can improve ventilation in the home by a significant amount.

Many of the areas in the home that routinely create indoor air contaminants are equipped with exhaust portals that remove them from the room where the portal is located. For example, kitchen exhaust portals can typically be found above the stove to remove smoke and cooking odors from the kitchen before they can spread to the rest of the home. Most bathrooms are equipped with exhaust portals and fans to remove smells and other contaminants. Using these exhaust portals can also increase ventilation in the home by replacing the air removed from the home with fresh air from outdoors.

A wide variety of air conditioner filters are available on the market, ranging from inexpensive flat panel models to high performance pleated air filters. Many of the high quality varieties of these air filter models are capable of removing numerous types of contaminants and particulates from indoor air, with high MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value), indicating high particle removal effectiveness. Certain models of high quality air filters contain activated carbon to aid in the removal of gaseous pollutants from the air. Choosing a high quality air filter to filter the air in your home will improve the quality of the air inside your Fairfield home considerably and will reduce the risk of health complications arising due to the inhalation of harmful contaminants.

What You Need To Know About Your New Haven Dehumidifier

If you’re shopping for New Haven dehumidifiers, you may have seen 70 pint dehumidifiers and wondered how many pints you need to cool a basement, 3 bedrooms, 2 bedrooms and a kitchen, or even your whole house. Having the perfectly sized New Haven dehumidifier will go a long way in helping you breathe easily.

Your children and family will be better off when the basement or bedroom is comfortable, dry and clean. To get the most of your New Haven dehumidifier, you should size it properly, and run it at a setting that maximizes efficiency.

The most important attribute for making your home comfortably dry is New Haven dehumidifier sizing, measured as pints of capacity. First, you will need to calculate the BTU requirements for your home.

You may have heard that going the next size up is a good thing, but there is a limit. Going more than 1.5 or 2.0 times the actual pints requirement will cause your unit to cycle on and off, whereas proper sizing keeps air dehumidified, and saves money on energy bills by running more efficiently.

Having the perfectly sized New Haven dehumidifier will go a long way in helping you breathe easily. Your children and family will be better off when the basement or bedroom is comfortable, dry and clean. To get the most of your New Haven dehumidifier, you should size it properly, and run it at a setting that maximizes efficiency. Shut doors and windows, and make sure your insulation and weather stripping is in excellent condition to save extra on your energy bills. You can also purchase New Haven dehumidifiers with high energy efficiency ratings if you are thinking about saving money long-term for a small bump in the up front cost.

New Haven Furnace Installation – What You Should Know About It

New Haven furnace installation is never your typical do-it-yourself everyday job. Some tricks in the installation processes are better left to a professional New Haven HVAC contactor. Understanding the basics that make a furnace function inside your home is equally important.

These days, there are various furnace types available in the market. Some examples would include the natural gas type, electric, oil and propane. The furnace type that you should favor would

be determined by readily available fuel sources within your area and the costs of such fuel sources.

After you have finally decided on the type that would work best in your circumstance, you should now take the time to familiarize yourself with furnace operations. Most of today’s furnaces work the same way; they draw all the room air into ductworks positioned through air returns. These are holes covered by protective registers, and it allows room air to enter. Air return holes are normally larger than heating registers that functions to return warmed air into and throughout the room.
Following through all these and their complexities, several processes make the room air heating operations whole. All these make up New Haven furnace installation. Not only must you see to it that your furnace unit is properly fitted and installed, the ductworks that allows for air to pass through must also be fixed firm in place and installed properly. If you plan on having your old furnace systems replaced, then you should take the time and effort to examine your existing ductworks first. Even those available high-efficiency furnace systems will not perform properly and efficiently if there are some problems that plagued your existing ductworks.As room air enters the ductworks, it would then travel all the way down into the furnace. Once inside, a metal box containing the heating source will activate. With an electric furnace type, the box would contain a certain heating element to heat the air. Other types with their heating sources employ pilot lights and burners. Room air enters into the furnace, which is then heated through the box. The air automatically travels back out through the box’s other side into the ductworks and finally back into the room.

Ductworks to begin with, must be attached solidly into each of the registers, and most especially into those areas where it will split and head into other directions. You can do your part by making sure that no air will escape by feeling each area where connections are made. Metal ductworks on the other hand should be fully insulated in its entire length; this will prevent heated air from cooling off upon returning to the room.

New Haven furnace installation in homes without existing furnaces is a very big work, with the most critical and labor-intensive part going to the ductworks and registers installation. A New Haven HVAC contractor will have to plan out the ductwork layouts carefully, taking into consideration that the positions and passageways would not be obstructed by house furniture. The furnace installation’s final component would be its exhaust systems. The exhaust types that the furnace needs again depend on the fuel that you will be using. A properly defined exhaust system is vital for the overall success of you new furnace.

Furnace Tune Up Ensures a Properly Heated New Haven Home Throughout the Winter Season

A properly heated New Haven home provides its occupants a comfortable experience throughout the cold and chilly winter season. But if for some reason the heating system fails to heat up the home properly, it is sure to bring discomfort to the residents. An inefficient furnace is one of the reasons for this problem a furnace tune up before the onset of winter can dramatically improve the efficiency and performance of the HVAC system. The time to call your New Haven heating and air conditioning contractor is now!

The furnace repair should be done on a yearly basis to prevent a breakdown during winter. It is a good practice to do the furnace tune-up so that during the peak loads in winter it provides the right heating comfort. This will ensure reduced energy and maintenance cost in the long term. If the occupants feel that the interior of the home is cold, they should get their furnace checked and repaired by a professional technician or contractor.

Furnace problems can also lead to humidity issues. For health sake it is important to maintain the right humidity levels in the New Haven home. Too much humidity causes mold growth, which is a health hazard. The wooden interiors also swell and get damaged. On the other hand, too little humidity causes health problems like skin irritation due to dryness, sore throat and itchy eyes. Hence a furnace tune up is needed to keep away the health related troubles from the home.

A proper furnace repair before the winter season also ensures that the duct work is cleaned up of all the deposits, allergens, dust and other harmful particles from the system. If they are allowed to stay there, they will be circulated throughout the home and in process cause health complication like allergies, breathing problems and other pollution related complications. Thus a furnace tune-up may include duct cleaning and sealing to ensure a pollution free home that is properly heated through out the winter. Cleaning and sealing the ducts can also be a big energy saver as studies have shown an average leakage rate of 35% in residential HVAC systems.

If you are looking for a New Haven and Fairfield County furnace repair contractor, please call us today at (203) 335-0224 or (203) 852-7144 or complete our online request form for an in-home consultation.

Improve the Air Quality in Your New Haven Home

Thousands of different chemicals and proteins may be polluting the air in your New Haven home. The most common complaints for allergy sufferers involve airborne particles like pet allergens, pollen, dust, mold, etc. These common allergens range in size from 0.3 to 100 microns, and they are small enough to be inhaled, but they’re too large to be easily exhaled. HEPA air purifiers or cleaners represent the best method of removing common allergens and can be easily installed by your New Haven heating and cooling contractor.

Many other common indoor pollutants are simply household odors and gases. These pollutants include things like cooking smells, tobacco smoke, pet litter, and indoor pesticides. Such chemicals and odors can aggravate allergies and asthma.

Chemically reactive gases and VOCs are also responsible for poor indoor air quality. They are found in common household products like paints, cleaning supplies, disinfectants, and new carpets. They are especially harmful for the young, the elderly, and the chemically sensitive, and they can be hazardous to your health if they are present at high enough levels, or if your home is poorly ventilated. VOCs can cause symptoms like headaches, nausea, and throat irritation, and many VOCs are known carcinogens.

A good air purifier will rid your air of allergens, odors, chemicals, and many airborne disease-causing agents. Even if you’re not sick now, if you continue to breathe polluted air, you will experience detrimental health effects in the future. Many VOCs, for example, are known carcinogens that are likely to cause cancer after continuous exposure. When you purchase a quality air purifier, you will notice the difference. The air will smell fresher, and you will breathe better and sleep better. Your New Haven air conditioning contractor can handle your air purifier installation.

HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air. A HEPA filter removes airborne particles like pet dander, mold spores, and dust, capturing 99.97% of all particles 0.3 microns and larger. Out of every 10,000 particles that pass through the HEPA filter, only 3 can escape if the filter is certified HEPA. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recommends HEPA air purifiers because they’re highest current standard in air filtration. If you suffer from allergies, a HEPA filter is a necessary requirement for an air purifier. When looking at a HEPA filter, consider aspects like the size and quality of the filter medium.

Activated carbon removes gases, odors, and toxic chemicals. Carbon is “activated” by treating it with oxygen, which opens up millions of tiny pores, creating a surprisingly large surface area. (One pound of activated carbon can have a surface area of 60-150 acres!) Chemicals, gases, and odors stick to the carbon and are adsorbed by its huge surface area, bonding to the surface through chemical attraction. The more carbon there is, the more gases and chemicals it can adsorb. Impregnated carbon has been treated with an additional chemical, typically potassium iodide or potassium permanganate. These chemicals are known as chemisorbents, and they improve the carbon’s ability to handle VOCs and chemically reactive gases.

Electrostatic filters use some kind of electrostatic charge to attract pollutants. Electrostatic precipitators are air cleaners which charge particles as they pass over an electronic cell and trap the particles on oppositely charged collector plates. The advantage of electrostatic filters is that there are no filters to replace; the disadvantage is that the effectiveness of the air cleaner decreases very rapidly as the collector plates fill up with particles. Unless you are willing to wash them frequently, electrostatic filters may quickly become ineffective. Also, some electrostatic filters may generate unsafe levels of ozone, a powerful lung irritant. The Friedrich air purifier, previously ranked as the top air purifier by Consumer Reports, uses an extremely efficient electrostatic filter.

Another type of filter which relies on electrostatic charge is the charged media filter. Charged media filters charge particles before collecting them in a traditional filter. They can trap very small particles, since they combine a filter and a charge. They can also run more quietly and economically, since the fan does not have to work as hard to draw the particles through the filter. However, like the example above, the charged-media filters lose their efficiency pretty rapidly, and some require frequent and expensive filter changes. These types of units can emit ozone, but the better ones on the market do not. If you are going to purchase this type of air purifier, make sure that it does not emit ozone.

Ionic air cleaners operate by drawing in particles and ionizing them (giving them a negative charge). Then the particles are released into the room, where they are attracted to positively charged surfaces like walls and furniture. Since the particles are never really collected by a filter, they stick to surfaces and make your house dirty; moreover, the particles can be dislodged and re-enter the air by simple movements like walking or sitting. Most ionizing air cleaners generate ozone, which is a documented health hazard and lung irritant.

Another type of machine sold as an air cleaner is an ozone generator. Obviously, these types of machines are not recommended. The EPA has published several documents discouraging the use of ozone generators as air cleaners. Not only do they create a health hazard by emitting high levels of ozone, but they are also ineffective at cleaning the air.

Most homes contain a variety of indoor air pollutants, including airborne particulates, allergens, household chemicals, and odors. I recommend air purifiers that combine a HEPA filter with some type of activated carbon filter; this combination will remove the widest variety of indoor air pollutants.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=M._Scott_Smith

If you are looking for air cleaners in New Haven and Fairfield County, please call us today at (203) 335-0224 or (203) 852-7144 or complete our online request form for an in-home consultation.

Importance of a Bridgeport Air Conditioning Contractor

As the seasons change, so do our needs for temperature control. When it’s hot and muggy outside, it’s important to have top notch cooling indoors. Your comfort level is very important to accomplishing the tasks your day requires. That’s why it’s necessary to have a cooling system that fits your needs. A Bridgeport air conditioning contractor can help you decide what type of air conditioning is best for your family.

There are options when it comes to cooling your home. Would you prefer central air conditioning, or a less involved system such as window cooling? There are even new options today that can give you the efficiency of one system with the low cost and power of another. Contact an air conditioning contractor today to find out what will work best for you.

When your home isn’t the right temperature, you can be completely miserable. That’s why keeping your cooling system repaired and maintained is important. An HVAC specialist is needed for air conditioning repair. It is also a good idea to have an air conditioning contractor look at your system from time to time to make sure it is still functioning at its top capacity.

In addition to air conditioning, ventilation is an important aspect to be aware of. Keeping the air flowing through your home and filtering out toxins is important for your comfort and health. If you feel that your home is not getting the ventilation that it should be, make sure and get in touch with an air conditioning contractor today.