Posts Tagged ‘utah heating and air’

There are a lot of things you can do in your home to keep your home warm during the winter. Winterizing your home is important because of the cold winter temperatures that happen in Utah. If you haven’t already done these, here are some tips with how to keep your home warmer and safer during the winter.

Get your furnace inspected. Contact your Utah heating professionals and ask them to inspect your furnace and clean out your ductwork. Dirty ducts or a faulty furnace could lead to high heating bills and inefficient heat in the home, so a Utah heating professional can really come in handy.

Change out your furnace filter of your Utah heating system when it is dirty. Usually filters need to be cleaned out on a month-to-month basis. Since you are going to be using it a lot during the winter you may want to save yourself trips to the store by stocking up on the filters in advance.

Do some inspecting. Look at the exterior doors and windows of your home to see if there are any leaks. You will want to check for any unsealed areas and fix the correction with weather stripping around doors and caulking around the windows.

Replace any broken or cracked glass windows. This is an easy way for hot air to escape the home and freezing cold air to enter it. If you replace the window with the windowsill be sure to prime and caulk the new wood.

You also want to be sure to watch for your Utah plumbing needs. Stop any potential plumbing catastrophes by taking preventative measures now. Drain your garden hoses, insulate your plumbing and pipes, and be sure that the heat in your home is at least 55 degrees to prevent frozen pipes.

You should also add additional insulation to your home if you live in areas of Utah that have weather that goes below 30 degrees in the winter. Good insulation keeps warm air in your home and cold air out. You can add insulation in your attic so the warm air in your home doesn’t escape through there.

Another thing to double check is your roof. Are there any worn roof tiles that might need replacing? The gutters on the roof should also be cleaned of any debris to ensure proper water removal during the winter.

Anyone who has dealt with frozen water pipes knows they aren’t fun. At the least, they are an annoyance as you can’t get the water you need for a morning shower before work.  At their worst the ice expands so much that your pipes burst and when the ice thaws, you have a huge mess all over your house.

If you live where temperatures routinely drop below freezing, you need to make sure your pipes are protected from freezing. Any pipes exposed to outdoor temperatures should be well insulated. This can include pipes above an unheated garage and even some pipes in exterior walls. Utah heating companies can help you with the right insulation for your pipes.

When insulating the pipes, make sure all areas are adequately covered. Even a small gap in the insulation can be enough to form an ice blockage. In very cold areas you may want to consider wrapping the pipes with electrical pipe heating wires to keep them from freezing. Contact a Utah heating specialist for help with this if you need it.

In the even of a power outage, if you know temperatures will be below freezing, open a tap that will allow water to slowly run through any pipes exposed to the cold. The water running through will prevent the pipes from freezing. You can also shut off the water to the house and drain the pipes by opening a faucet and leaving it open; this allows room for expansion so if the water does freeze, your pipes won’t burst.

If you will be away from home, leave your heater set to at least 55 degrees to insure your pipes won’t freeze. Keeping the garage door closed can increase its temperature by about 20 degrees. This also helps keep any adjoining rooms warmer as well.

Preventing frozen pipes is much better than having to deal with them after they are frozen, but what if in spite of all your preparations they unexpectedly freeze anyway? Never try to thaw frozen pipes using an open flame such as a torch. Besides the risk of fire, the high heat can cause the water to boil inside the pipes creating enough pressure to burst them. Also, never use boiling water to try to thaw your pipes.

You can use a hair dryer to heat the pipes and thaw the ice. We used work lights that also generate quite a bit of heat and let them shine on the frozen area. If your pipes have burst, shut off your water before thawing the pipes.

Once the water is flowing through your pipes again, if there are any leaks, it is time to fix them. If you are not familiar with fixing plumbing, you may want to call in a professional. If your frozen pipes are part of you heating system, Utah heating contractors can help with the repairs.

A great way to do this is by running your heater to see if it is working correctly. Set the thermostat to a few degrees hotter than it currently is in your home. The furnace should turn on at this point with warm air blowing out.

If the heater seems to be heating up the room well and it is running properly you can turn the thermostat back to its normal, lower temperature. If there is a problem with the heater, like no warm air coming out of it or it not turning on, this is a good indication that there are repairs that need to be done. Contact your local Utah heating service technician for help fixing the issue.

Another good thing to check is the air filter. Be sure that the filter is clean and free from dirt and debris. If it looks dirty clean it or replace it with a new one.

You can also check the heating vents. Heating vents should be clean as well. Clear out any debris, dirt, or obstacles that might be blocking the air’s path through the vents.

Many Utahans use fireplaces for heat. Before using your chimney after the summer you want to be sure that it is clear of obstacles as well. Double check that there are no animals or birds nested in there, and that the chimney is free of any blockage.

You can also test to make sure your fireplace is working properly. Start a fire and make sure the smoke goes up the chimney and doesn’t smoke up your home instead. If the smoke can’t escape the chimney there is probably something blocking it.

Checking the Utah heating systems in your home will make sure that you have heat when you need it. The weather is starting to get chillier, so start testing out the systems now to prevent emergency situations later on. Comfort and safety come hand in hand with heating your home.

A common question that seems to reach me a lot is how cold should I keep my home? When you are trying to conserve energy and gas it is important to know how cold you can keep your home. You want to be sure to factor in safety for your family, but also for the pipes in the plumbing system.

During the summertime you won’t have as hard of an issue. With your Utah air conditioning system, you can program when your Utah air conditioning unit will be activated. A thermostat helps your Utah air conditioning unit know when it should and shouldn’t be used.

If you are really trying hard not to save money, only use your Utah air conditioning unit when you need to. Just remember that too much heat is not safe for anyone. If your other cooling methods are not working to cool you down, it is a good sign that you need to cool your home down and turn on the AC.

During the winter time it can be a little harder to know how low the temperature can safely be. If you let the temperature of your home drop too much you are risking damaging it. Water in pipes will freeze, and when the frozen water expands it can damage your pipes.

Busted pipes can cause a lot of damage to your home. Water damage is one of the most destructive ways to destroy your home. It is much better for you, and your home, if you don’t let it get too cold for that to happen.

One recommendation is to keep your home at around 55 degrees. While pipes won’t technically freeze until 32 degrees, I would hesitate going any lower than 55 degrees. My reasoning? If your power does go out there will be a major problem with the pipes freezing. The higher the temperature in your home, the more time you have before your pipes will freeze.

You also need to factor in the health of those living in the home. You don’t want your home to be too cold for family members and pets. Having your home too cold can also kill off any house plants you have. If you decide to keep your home temperature that low be sure to watch your family for any signs of hypothermia.

If you like your home cold, remember to be courteous of others that drop in. They may not be as forgiving about the cold as other people are. If you have a quick way to heat up the home, such as a HVAC system or a wood fireplace, this can help when people get too cold.

1. During the summer set your thermostat to be as high as you can stand it comfortably. The less difference there is between indoor and outdoor temperatures, the less work your AC unit will have to do and the more energy you will save. When you are gone for an evening during the winter, turn the thermostat down.

2. When you are gone on vacation turn your Utah air conditioning unit off. During the winter, turn your heater’s thermostat down to around 55 degrees. This will save with your heating bill with out having to deal with frozen pipes that could burst.

3. If it is an extremely hot day, avoid going out of your way to turning the air conditioner to a cooler setting. Setting the thermostat to a setting that is lower than normal won’t cool your home any faster. It could actually cause it to have excessive cooling issues and more expense.

4. Don’t put your appliances near the Utah air conditioning thermostat. The thermostat is there to sense the temperature of the home. It can quickly pick up on the heat from your appliances, which can cause the air conditioner to work longer than it needs to.

5. During the winter months turn your thermostat down 5 to 10 degrees when you sleep. You can turn it back up again when you wake up. That will save you 5-10% on your next heating bill.

6. Turn your air conditioner off during the night when the air is cooler. Open screened windows instead and turn on your fan. If you close your windows before the morning sun starts to heat up outside you can keep your home cooler during the morning as well.

7. Use a programmable set-back thermostats to keep track of when you need your air conditioner to work. Utah air conditioning units can be set up with a thermostat that can turn on to cool down the home as soon as you get home from work and be turned off around the time you get in to bed. This can help you set back on your usage and save you money.

This only works for people who have a regular schedule. If it is absolutely necessary for you to work from 9 in the morning until 5 at night, every day, then this would be a good option for you. Otherwise you may be stuck with a thermostat that is working for hours while you are at work or away.

Saving money is a nice incentive for making smart decisions with Utah air conditioning systems. Since we all live in Utah, air conditioning is a must because of the very hot, dry summers. Here are a few suggestions on how to save some money with Utah air conditioning.

1.) Don’t leave your air conditioning turned on when you aren’t at home. Yes, your home may be hot when you first get home because it has absorbed a lot of heat while you were away. But your AC unit will quickly remedy that and your home will quickly cool off.

Some people have the mistaken belief that keeping the AC on while they are out of the home will use less energy then when they are actually in the home. This is not true. Running the AC on all the time will use much more energy than turning it on only when you get home. Running the AC when you are not home will waste energy because you are not there to reap the benefits.

2.) Close the registers in the rooms you are not using. If you don’t need to cool those rooms off, don’t pay to cool them. Have your Utah air conditioning professionals do this, however, because the pressure in the AC system could cause leaks in the ducts if too many of the registers are closed.

3.) Make sure that your HVAC system has a programmable thermostat with a built-in timer. Thermostats enable you to know exactly how hot it is in your home. Having a programmable one enables you to determine how hot the home needs to be before the air conditioning goes on, and the built-in timer allows you to set times when the air conditioning should go on and for how long.

4.) Make sure you are using the right size AC unit to cool your home. Having the wrong size AC unit will be a waste of energy. Professional Utah air conditioning companies will be able to help you determine whether you have the right size unit for your home.

5.) Clean or replace your AC filter monthly. A dirty filter will make your AC much less efficient, which makes your AC unit have to work harder, which in turn means using much more energy. There are some AC units that have permanent filters that you can clean and re-use if you like that option.

6.) Replace older AC units. Research has shown that on average today’s AC units use anywhere from 30-50% less energy than models that were made 15 years ago. If your unit is old and having issues, replacing it will be a better option than fixing it.