Basic furnace maintenance has a variety of benefits, including reducing your heating costs and preventing breakdowns. While you should leave some stuff to HVAC companies in St. Louis, MO, there are a few things that every homeowner can do to maintain their heating system. Continue reading to learn a few of the most important maintenance items:
Change the filter: The easiest part of furnace maintenance is also one of the most important! It’s crucial that you change or clean your furnace filter every month. Your filter blocks contaminants from entering the unit and prevents allergens and other junk from circulating in the air. Neglecting to swap out your filter makes your unit work harder to heat your home, thus raising your monthly energy bills. Take a few seconds to change your filter and save yourself big bucks throughout the winter.
Clean the unit: A clean and tidy furnace will run efficiently and is less likely to break down in the middle of the cold season. Though you should call a professional to do a deep clean, you can dust off the sides of the unit and clean the fan with a wet cloth. You’ll also want to make sure the area around your furnace is nice and tidy! Giving your furnace plenty of room to breathe drastically reduces the chance of a fire.
Check the pilot light: If you have a gas furnace, take a quick look at the pilot light. The flame should burn a steady blue color with a yellow tip. If the flame is yellow or orange, or if it’s flickering, call a professional right away. HVAC companies in St. Louis, MO can come out and check your pilot light to see what’s the matter.
Check for rust: As your furnace ages, its sides or top may start to rust. This isn’t good! Any rust or corrosion may be a sign of a carbon monoxide leak, and this issue needs to be addressed immediately. A professional might be able to repair a leaky unit, but it may need to be replaced with a newer model. Only an HVAC technician will know for sure.
Install carbon monoxide monitors: This one doesn’t pertain to your furnace, per se, but putting carbon monoxide detectors in your home is still a crucial part of winter preparedness. As mentioned above, malfunctioning gas furnaces may emit carbon monoxide. Since its a colorless and odorless gas—and a deadly one—the only way to detect carbon monoxide is by placing monitors throughout your home.
Call for a tune-up: All of the steps above will undoubtedly benefit your furnace, but to ensure your furnace works to the best of its ability for years to come, call a professional to inspect it and give it a tune-up. A routine maintenance call may take less than an hour to complete, but keeping up with them over time can add years to your unit’s lifespan.
Don’t choose just anyone to tune up your furnace this fall. Be sure to hire our team at Ashley Brothers Heating & Cooling to tackle the job. We’re available around the clock and offer some of the most competitive rates in the area, which is what makes us one of the top HVAC companies in St. Louis, MO. Contact us today to learn more about any of our services.
Your air conditioning system is a powerful machine, and many of us owe our comfort during the summer to this system. In order for it to continue working properly and do its job of keeping you cool, it has to be properly maintained, which means performing regular routine preventative maintenance. HVAC companies in St. Louis, MO will be able to perform routine maintenance, including cleaning. One aspect that needs to be cleaned is the coils, but how often should they be cleaned, and why? Read on to learn more about this crucial step.
Professional cleaning of AC coils
Ideally, your AC coils should be cleaned seasonally, before the heat of the summer and again at the end of the summertime before cooler weather comes in. However, this is not a job we recommend you handle yourself. HVAC companies in St. Louis, MO will have the tools and expertise necessary to clean the coils adequately without damaging any components. The coil fins in an air conditioning system are delicate and very sensitive, making them easy to damage if you use the wrong type of cleaning product or handle them too forcefully or incorrectly.
Additionally, coil cleaning can be dangerous for those who don’t know what they’re doing. To clean the coils properly, you’d have to handle dangerous chemicals and risk exposure to electric shock, which is likely if you’re not experienced in handling HVAC systems. Plus, if you handle the system wrong, you could end up needing more costly repairs.
Why coil cleaning is necessary
You may be wondering, if the job is so dangerous and risky, why is it necessary to complete it so often? Cleaning your AC coils increases the system’s efficiency and cooling power, as well as improves the air quality in your home. As the coils draw warm air from the outside in order to cool your home, they also pull in other debris, dust, pollen, bacteria and other grime from the outside air. These can build up in the system and even create a barrier, which will increase stress on the system, causing it to work harder than necessary and decreasing the efficiency of the system.
Plus, the air that flows through this buildup of grime will carry its contaminants into the air supply in your home that you regularly breathe in. It’s necessary to regularly clean out the coils so clean air can flow through easily. These delicate coils need to be handled properly and regularly in order for the system to continue to work correctly. This will ensure your HVAC system continues to function as it should, and that your energy bills are kept low and your air quality is kept high.
Ashley Brothers Heating & Cooling provides customers with an unmatched level of service, from installation to repairs, maintenance and inspections. All good HVAC companies in St. Louis, MO will recommend regular preventative maintenance, such as cleaning your coils, in order to keep your HVAC system running properly for as long as possible. We’re here to make sure your HVAC problems are prevented before they develop into larger issues. Give us a call today for an estimate.
Residential and commercial HVAC companies in St Louis, MO are moving toward something better in 2019. This year, manufacturers for the HVAC industry will be introducing products that are said to be both smarter and more efficient. On the innovation front is the push for automation and connectivity in most new HVAC products for home and commercial buildings, all while keeping federal regulations at the forefront. What HVAC industry trends should you be looking for in 2019? Here are a few:
Commercial rooftop units: The biggest manufacturers of commercial rooftop HVAC units have a goal to meet the two-step U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency requirements that went into effect last year. Step one increased the minimum efficiency by about 10 percent; step two will require an increase of about 25 to 30 percent by 2023. Higher efficiencies are likely to bring more larger, three-phase, two-speed blower motors and more variable frequency drives to units that didn’t have them before.
Intuitive residential products: In 2019, preventative maintenance needs and wants in the residential HVAC market are predicted to grow—especially where damaging leaks and malfunctions are concerned. HVACs are now a huge part of smart homes, so much so that the industry is working hard to meet demands for more intuitive systems. There’s no question about it—intelligent HVAC technologies are on the rise.
Fan efficiency rating for residential furnaces: The HVAC industry is also striving to meet fan efficiency ratings for all residential furnaces. Come July, the fan efficiency rating for furnace motors will see major changes. This aims to save energy and reduce harmful carbon pollution, meaning homeowners with furnaces that meet the requirements can expect to eventually see a reduction in their electricity bills.
Individual business trends
Social media plays a huge role in business success. A strong online presence in 2019 is said to attract people looking for automation and efficiency opportunities as it relates to their HVAC equipment and HVAC service in St Louis, MO. Here’s why:
Customers can find useful information: Convenience is important to a lot of people. Luckily, the internet makes it easy for consumers to shop around for a variety of home services, and it’s only getting easier as technology advances. For HVAC companies, this means having their sales processes and pricing posted online for immediate reference. Customers can even order products and services right off a website without having to leave the house.
Creating trust and transparency: No one wants to spend their hard-earned money on low-quality products or bad service. As 2019 moves along, many HVAC companies are doing everything they can to offer customers the transparency they deserve. They want to build trust and remove as much risk as possible for buyers. When companies utilize technology, they can communicate better with their customers. For example, they are able to show a homeowner how much energy they are saving with their new furnace compared to their old, less-efficient unit.
When you need to schedule a time for HVAC repair in St Louis, MO, look no further than Ashley Brothers Heating & Cooling. Reach out to us today to book an appointment or learn more about our services!
The fall chill is in the air, Halloween is just around the corner and the countdown to the holiday break is just starting to begin. Winter will be here before we know it—is your home ready?
If you use a ground-source heat pump in your home, then you have a few simple steps you will need to follow to make sure your home is ready for the long, cold winter. We know these steps can be a pain, but they are certainly better than having a failed heat source in the dead of winter!
From a longtime provider of HVAC repair in St. Louis, MO, here is an overview for preparing your ground-source heat pump for winter.
Open your vents
You might have closed your air vents over summer, so that your house would not become drafty with the AC running. That is fine, but now that winter is coming, it is time to open those vents up again!
If you fail to open your vents before running your ground-source heat pump, you could experience uneven heating. This means your heat source will need to work twice as hard to keep your house comfortable, and could easily become overworked.
Fortunately, this is a very easy fix: simply remember to open your vents at the end of each summer. Keep it on an annual checklist to keep yourself from forgetting this easy but important task.
Check filters and breakers
Over the summer, your heat pump has been taking in warm air, and filtering it through the heat system so that it is free of allergens, dust and dirt. That means the air filter is going to be pretty dirty by the time fall starts—and you certainly do not want all that gunk getting into your winter air supply.
A clogged filter can also cause serious problems for your heat source. Fortunately, checking a filter is quick and easy.
You will also want to check your circuit breakers before you run your ground-source heat pump for the first time of the season. Make sure they are turned on. If you try to run the heat source and the circuits trip, you probably will want to call one of the most reliable HVAC companies in St. Louis, MO for service.
Schedule maintenance
If you are not the most handy of people, then the steps outlined above might intimidate you. And even if you are fairly well versed in home maintenance, there simply is no proper substitute for quality HVAC companies in St. Louis, MO taking a look at your whole system and making sure everything is running correctly.
Winter is coming soon, and the last thing you want is to need HVAC repair in St. Louis, MO in the middle of the coldest months. This is one area where you do not want to procrastinate; schedule your HVAC maintenance appointment today!
If you do not already have a go-to HVAC service in the area, we would love to pay you a visit and take a look at your heating system. Call Ashley Brothers Heating & Cooling today for more information on rates and availability.
With the propagation of online review sites came an unfortunate, though likely inevitable, consequence: the introduction of fake reviews. Unsavory businesses across virtually every industry have taken to hiring people to create false online reviews—some businesses even use automated programs to post lots of computer-generated reviews across a wide range of platforms.
If you’re trying to identify the best HVAC companies in St. Louis, MO, these fake reviews could pose a significant problem. It can be challenging to find a trustworthy, reputable repair professional that you feel comfortable trusting. Learning how to sift through online reviews can empower you to make better HVAC maintenance and repair decisions.
When trying to find a company that you can count on to perform your HVAC repair in St. Louis, MO, here are a few tips you can keep in mind to help you determine the veracity of online reviews:
Stick to reliable sites: One of the most significant things that you can do to avoid being duped by fake reviews is sticking to well-known, reliable review sites, like Yelp and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). These sites depend on their reputation to stay in business, so they’re very proactive about removing fake reviews when identified.
Look at the review dates: If there are a lot of positive or negative reviews left on a company in short succession, it’s likely an indication that a bot was used to review the HVAC company in question. Lots of reviews left in a short period are indicative of unsavory activity.
Examine the details: When real people leave reviews, they usually provide lots of details, like the type of service they hired the company for, and the timeframe of installation, maintenance or repair. Fake reviews, on the other hand, tend to be vague, and could apply to virtually any industry or company.
Never trust reviews that praise competition: If you ever find reviews that slam the company in question while praising local competition, it’s likely an indicator that the reviews are fake. Reviewers seldom feel the need to promote another company in a negative review. If there are multiple reviews praising the same competitor, that’s a red flag.
Search the review text: If the review looks like it’s a cookie-cutter response, that’s probably because it is! Plugging the review text into your search engine of choice is a great way to determine whether or not a review has been used multiple times. Fake reviews are often recycled across companies and platforms.
Since 1999, Ashley Brothers Heating & Cooling has been one of the top HVAC companies in St. Louis, MO. We’re proud to provide each and every one of our clients with high-quality heating and cooling equipment service and maintenance that they can count on. We install, maintain and repair residential heating and cooling systems. To learn more about our extensive range of services and products, including HVAC repair in St. Louis, MO, contact one of our friendly and knowledgeable representatives today.
