Some New Year’s Resolutions for Your Heater

January 12, 2022

With a new year almost here, it makes sense to start thinking about your New Year’s resolutions. While you may have typical resolutions, such as losing weight, paying off debt, or ending a bad habit, it’s also a good idea to make some New Year’s resolutions to help keep your home in good working order. Specifically, the pros at want to give you a few ideas of things you can do to help your heater run well throughout the long, cold winter in Colorado Springs. Save Energy With a Programmable Thermostat Saving energy is always good to have at the top of any New Year’s resolution checklist. One easy way to do that with your heater is to have install a programmable thermostat. Rather than leave your house at the same temperature all day, you can tell your HVAC system when to turn off and on, resulting in significant energy savings over the course of a season. For extra savings, you can install a smart thermostat that learns your living patterns to set itself for you automatically. Commit to Checking Your Air Filter on Time It’s a task that almost everyone has overlooked at some point or another: replacing the...

View Article

Continue Reading

How to Ensure Your Furnace Is Up to Code Standards

December 20, 2021

Whether you intend to build a new home or put in a new HVAC system, there are certain standards that are established by local governments that must be followed. These codes are to ensure the safety of all of the people and pets in your home. If you’re not sure if your furnace is up to code, here are some helpful tips to find out. Understanding Code Standards Each local area will establish a code that must be followed within its jurisdiction. While local communities can create their own unique code, most will fall back to relying on the same one, the Uniform Mechanical Code, which was established by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials. It’s crucial to note that this code is regularly updated every three years. This means that your furnace could’ve been up to code standards when it was first installed but may now be below current standards. In most places, you’ll find that your outdated furnace is grandfathered in under the standards of when it was installed. However, if you plan on doing any major renovations to your home that require permitting or if you’re replacing your existing furnace, you’ll likely need to ensure...

View Article

Continue Reading

5 Important Benefits of Duct Sealing

November 17, 2021

Ductwork isn’t something most homeowners pay much attention to. Nonetheless, the fact is that your ductwork is as essential to your home’s heating and cooling systems as your furnace or air conditioner. Leaky ducts can drastically reduce your HVAC system’s efficiency and contribute to numerous other issues. The easiest way to prevent this is to have your ductwork professionally sealed. 1. Increase Your Home Comfort Both summers and winters can be brutal if your cooling and heating systems aren’t functioning properly. Any leaks in your ductwork can lead to drastic heating or cooling loss, which could result in you sweating or freezing all season long. Duct sealing can help you to avoid this problem by ensuring that your ducts are completely free from leaks. In this way, you can ensure your home stays comfortable and that your heating and cooling systems are able to keep your house at the desired temperature regardless of how hot or cold it gets outside. 2. Lower Your Energy Costs Studies have shown that leaking ducts can decrease the efficiency of a heating and cooling system by 20% or more. All of that lost hot or cool air means that your furnace or air conditioner...

View Article

Continue Reading

Water Heater Basics For Every Homeowner

October 13, 2021

Every home needs to have a water heater to produce warm water for bathing and cleaning. As a homeowner, it is likely that you are going to have to deal with water heater repair or replacement at some point in the future. For this reason, it’s a good idea to have some basic understanding of how a water heater works and what some of the most common problems are that you are likely to run across. How Do They Work? Traditional tank water heaters are fairly easy to identify with a large cylinder with various pipes running in and out of it. This large drum becomes filled with cold water through a dip tube that is positioned at the bottom of the water heater. The heating mechanism inside of the water heater works to heat up the water inside of the tank. Most water heaters will run on either an electric heating element or a gas burner, depending on the type of fuel that you decide to use in your home. The water will be heated up to whatever temperature you specify on the thermostat of your water heater. Water heaters can typically be set between 120 and 180 degrees...

View Article

Continue Reading

Tips That You Should Know for Furnace Safety

September 16, 2021

You know that your furnace is imperative to keeping your family warm during those cold Colorado nights. While your furnace can bring your family a lot of comfort, it can also bring them a lot of danger when it’s not used properly. We’re going to share with you some safety tips that you should be aware of in regard to your home’s furnace. Have a Fire Extinguisher Close at Hand While it’s unlikely that your furnace will catch fire, it’s always a good idea to prepare for the odd scenario. Having a fire extinguisher close can help ensure that you’ll be able to react quickly if a fire does crop up. While your first instinct may be to attach your fire extinguisher next to your furnace, you ought to think twice. Give some serious consideration to its location. If your furnace is on fire, you need to have your fire extinguisher in a place that is relatively close but where you can still access it without getting burned by the flames. Store Chemicals at a Distance It’s not uncommon for people to want to store their excess chemicals in the basement. Chemicals like paint thinner can have nasty odors that...

View Article

Continue Reading

6 Myths About Summer Cooling

August 3, 2021

As summer temperatures heat up in Colorado Springs, everyone looks for ways to keep cool. Air conditioning makes your home a comfortable retreat from the heat, but at what cost? No one wants sky-high utility bills. That’s why many people look for alternative ways to keep their homes cool without overworking their AC units. The internet has numerous solutions for lowering energy usage during the summer, but not all the tips and tricks are good advice. Below are some of the top myths about summer cooling. Keep reading to learn what works and what doesn’t to keep your home cool when summer temperatures climb higher than Pike’s Peak. Myth #1 – Turning the Thermostat Way Down Cools the Home Faster Everyone has tried this method at least once. How did it work out? Most residential air conditioners don’t have variable speed air handlers to match the fan speed to the thermostat setting. Instead, they have a fan that has one speed and can’t adjust its speed to match the thermostat setting. No matter how low you set the thermostat, the fan can only go so fast. People who are in the habit of turning their thermostat way down make their...

View Article

Continue Reading

Keeping Your Home Cool During Vacation

July 27, 2021

When it’s time for vacation you may wonder if and how you should cool your home while you’re gone. Believe it or not, when the heat is on, your home is vulnerable. Keeping it at a reasonable temperature could prevent you from coming back home to a disaster. knows all about beating the heat and what to do to help you return to a home that is just how you left it. There are few factors that go into how warm or cold you should keep your home. Obviously, you want to save money while you’re away, but you should also consider the climate the things inside your home requires. Why Set Your Thermostat The biggest reason to cool your home while you’re away this summer is that days of heat and low circulation could have horrible effects. If your house slips into a state of hot humidity, it could damage your home’s surfaces, floors, and furniture. Keeping it at a reasonable temperature will help prevent bubbles and cracks from popping up in unwanted places. While you’re soaking up the sun’s rays on the beach, your house is doing the same. When you return, your system would otherwise have to...

View Article

Continue Reading

How To Keep My Home Cool Without Air Conditioning?

June 21, 2021

The summer months can get hot in the Colorado Springs, Colorado, area. And if you ever find yourself without a properly working air conditioning system, you might think that you’re completely out of luck until you can get a new one installed. But if you find that you have to do without an air conditioner for a time, know that there are still some ways that you can keep your home cooler without the air conditioning system working. Get Blackout Curtains One of the major benefits of blackout curtains is that they block out light. But they also block out the heat that the light brings in. Blackout curtains are made of a material that is good at insulating the windows, so you can enjoy a cooler home. Open the Windows at Night During the evening hours, it’s going to cool off most nights throughout the summer. This is the best time to open your windows so that you can let some of the heat that accumulated inside the house escape throughout the night. Just make sure that you close the windows back up in the morning so that you don’t have to worry about the heat infiltrating your home...

View Article

Continue Reading

Why Does My Air Conditioner Smell?

May 24, 2021

When there’s a persistent bad smell coming from your air conditioning system, it’s a serious indoor comfort problem. Ignoring the problem isn’t a possibility because dirt buildup or a dead animal in the ducts could be causing the bad smell. In some situations, it’s even dangerous to continue running your AC. Watch out for these common stinky culprits. Dirt Air conditioning systems need to be cleaned once a year to prevent problems like bad smells, excessive energy use and inadequate cooling. To have your AC cleaned, hire an AC company for maintenance. Dirt builds up on the AC’s coils and other components over time. It’s one of the most common reasons behind a stinky air conditioner. Mold and Mildew Mold and mildew are also common reasons behind an AC that smells bad. They may mix with the dirt buildup as well. You can reduce the chance of mold and mildew growing inside your AC by scheduling cooling maintenance once a year. These biological contaminants can grow on your system’s coils, drain pan, and filter. They could also be growing in the air ducts. If you have your ducts cleaned every three to five years, you reduce the chances of mold...

View Article

Continue Reading

Should I Upgrade My Thermostat?

April 12, 2021

One of the easiest and best ways to improve your HVAC system’s efficiency is to learn how to properly use your thermostat. This powerful device can do a lot to help you lower your utility bills and keep your Colorado Springs home more comfortable. Since your thermostat is so important, it makes sense to make sure it’s in good working order at all times. Sometimes, to achieve this goal, you’ll need to upgrade your thermostat. To help you understand if it’s a good time to upgrade your thermostat, here are a few pros and cons from . Pro: Nicer Appearance In the past, older thermostats could be kind of a pain. After working hard to get your home decor just right, you’d have to ruin it by installing a dated-looking thermostat. New thermostats, though, are designed to be seen, using sleek lines and neutral colors to blend in with a variety of decor styles. Plus, if you install a smart thermostat, you can customize your user interface so that the colors on the screen match the colors in your home. Pro: More Customization Options A big benefit of upgrading your thermostat is that newer thermostats provide many more customization options...

View Article

Continue Reading