A furnace is crucial to comfort in Virginia winter, yet it is often ignored when it comes to home maintenance. Usually your furnace is in a basement, closet or other low traffic area of your home, making it easy to overlook. To avoid costly, inconvenient, and possibly dangerous emergency repairs, you should always remember your…
NATE stands for North American Technician Excellence. NATE is the nation’s largest certification organization for HVAC and refrigeration technicians. It’s important to note that almost everyone in the HVAC and refrigeration industries recognizes and supports a NATE certification, although not everyone in the industry is NATE-certified. It’s a discretionary certification, and technicians can service equipment…
The thermostat is the first thing to check if your furnace won’t turn on or is not functioning correctly. The thermostat is a heat-activated switch. It has a temperature sensor that causes the switch to open or close, which in turn completes or disrupts the electrical circuit that runs your heating and cooling system. If…
The air we breath is just as important to our health as the food we eat or the beverages we drink. Air quality is one of the most important and least thought about contributors to our health and well being. Your indoor air can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air, according…
Is your energy bill too high in the winter time? Are you looking for ways to cut costs? There are a number of simple things that you can do at home to save you money. Some of them are big projects but most are simple things that you can do in your day to day…
A new furnace is a big investment and can be a heavy cost for any homeowner in Virginia. It can be hard to make the decision replace your current furnace, every furnace will need to be replaced at some point in a home’s life. How do you know when it is time to say good…
Do some areas of your home stay warmer or colder even as you adjust the temperature? If you have a large home or a home with multiple stories and you are not using more than one thermostat you most likely have an uneven distribution of heating or cooling. A zone control system gives you control…
High indoor humidity can be hard to control. Often people use their air conditioners to remove moisture from their home since this happens as a by-product of cooling. However dehumidification is not the primary purpose of and air conditioner. An air conditioner runs off of a thermostat which only senses temperature not humidity levels. When…
A heat pump is a device that transfers heat from one place to another, from in to out or from out to in. In the winter it works like a heater, extracting heat energy from outside and transferring it inside. In the summer the process reverses and it will remove heat from your home and…