It’s safe to say that most homeowners want to know everything there is to know about their house, but as you can imagine, learning all the ins and outs of your home is nearly impossible—especially when it comes to your heating and air conditioning system. Thankfully, we’re here to help answer some of your questions. This post aims to give you answers to a few of the most frequently asked questions about HVAC systems.
What size HVAC system do I need?
Size is everything when it comes to your HVAC system—too small and you won’t have heat and AC throughout your entire home, too large and you’ll be wasting money each month on your heating and cooling bill. The good news is that we can run a quick test to determine the perfect sized HVAC system for your home.
When should I have my system serviced?
Like other appliances in your home, you can’t just install an HVAC system and forget about it. If you want your system to last, you’ll need to schedule HVAC service in St. Louis, MO twice a year. Your furnace should be serviced every fall, and you need AC service each spring. Professional maintenance ensures your unit should work throughout the season and will remain as energy efficient as possible.
How often should I change my filters?
Yes, biannual professional maintenance is vital, but that’s not everything that needs to be done when it comes to your HVAC system. Be sure you change your air filters each month. Failing to do so robs your unit of its energy efficiency, leads to dirty air and can cause problems that necessitate expensive repair. Avoid all of those problems by making a habit of swapping out your filter at the beginning of each month.
How can I lower my heating and cooling bills?
Nobody wants to pay an arm and a leg to keep their home at a comfortable temperature. Luckily, there are a couple of easy things you can do to ensure you’re not wasting money each month. As we talked about above, schedule biannual HVAC service and change your filters regularly. Both of these maintenance items drastically reduce your bills without much effort required on your part. It’s also important to pay attention to the temperature you set your thermostat to, and utilize blinds or shades to control how much sunlight enters your home.
What temperature should I set my thermostat to?
It’d be nice to have your home as hot as possible on cold winter days and as cool as a cucumber during the dog days of summer, but doing that ensures that your energy bills will be sky high. Professionals say to turn your thermostat to about 75 degrees in the summer and 65 in the winter to be energy efficient and comfortable.
Whether you need to schedule HVAC service in St. Louis, MO, or you just want the answers to some of your burning questions, feel free to give Ashley Brothers Heating & Cooling a call. Our professionals offer reliable and affordable service, and we have the answers to any question you can think of.
While it is necessary for homeowners to make sure that everyone in the family stays comfortable in the home year-round, it is preferable to do so without having to shell out tons of money on energy bills. If you have been on the fence about whether or not it’s time to update your aging system with an HVAC service company in St. Louis, MO, consider just a few of the immediate benefits you could enjoy after making the change:
Lower your energy bills: Many advancements have been made with heating and cooling technology through the years, and a system that is just 10 years old could already be outdated. Newer units offer high-efficiency operation that reduces energy usage considerably, which can end up saving you hundreds of dollars every year. In fact, the savings that come with an upgrade are so substantial that your investment in a new system could begin paying for itself within a few short years of installation. Once your new system is installed, there are additional steps you can take to help reduce your energy bills even more.
Increased control: While your new HVAC system will itself be more energy efficient, you can increase your savings even more by installing and programming a new thermostat. This will allow complete control over the times of day the system runs. You can keep the thermostat right where you want it when you are home and curb your usage during the times when no one is in the house and less energy is needed.
Reducing your carbon footprint: With your air conditioning and furnace running less overall throughout the year due to improved energy efficiency and temperature control, an upgrade to your system will help the environment as well. With your system using approximately one third less fuel than an older unit, fewer greenhouse gases will be emitted, which can go a long way toward helping make the earth a safer place.
Improved longevity: Newer systems are specifically designed to be more efficient in both energy usage and operation, which bodes well for the lifespan of your unit. Older units have frequent on and off cycles, which could ultimately lead to excessive wear of the internal components and the need for frequent repairs. With improved technology and design, new systems go through these cycles far less, offering lower repair and maintenance costs over an increased lifespan.
These are just a few of the benefits that come with an upgraded HVAC system, easily making it an investment worth considering. For more information about how far a new system could go for your family and your budget, give us a call at Ashley Brothers Heating & Cooling. Having built up our extensive knowledge of installation, repairs and HVAC service in St. Louis, MO over the course of nearly two decades in business, we can assist you in making the best decision for your home. Give us a call today to schedule your consultation and get started with the process of upgrading to energy efficient HVAC!
As you make your final preparations for the approaching winter, making sure that your HVAC system is ready for the season is undoubtedly one of your top priorities. If not, you could find yourself without heat at a time when you will need it most. To avoid this fate and prevent the need for emergency HVAC service in St. Louis, MO, here is a to-do list to follow for your system this winter:
Check for proper ventilation: Double check that all of the vents and registers of your system are open. Although this might seem like a small step to take, the inefficiency and potential damage that can be caused to the heat pump, furnace and HVAC system overall when the vents are closed and the system is running can take its toll. You should also dust the vents to make sure that debris doesn’t fall into the registers and affect the flow and quality of the treated air.
Change air filters: Making sure to change your filters regularly will also help to maintain the airflow in your home, in addition to ensuring that the quality of the air is suitable for your family. Dirty air filters will force your HVAC system to work harder than it normally does, which can eventually lead to premature wear in some of the system’s key components. It is recommended that the filter is changed at the beginning of every season at the very least, with pet owners encouraged to make the change monthly.
Carbon monoxide detector: As an added measure of precaution, all homes should have carbon monoxide detectors, as this dangerous gas is both colorless and odorless. Because carbon monoxide is so difficult to detect, homeowners could be ingesting fumes unknowingly. This makes it all the more important to either purchase a detector right away or change the batteries in the one that you have to make sure it is in working condition.
Furniture arrangement: Make sure that the furniture in your home is placed so that you aren’t sitting in drafty areas, or obstructing vents. If your furniture is blocking your vents and restricting the amount of air that enters a room, you will likely be tempted to turn up the temperature without giving it much thought. Simply rearranging the furniture can help you keep the room temperate at all times, and will help you save money on your energy bills in the process.
The most important part of caring for your furnace is scheduling regular checkups with an HVAC professional, and that is where our team at Ashley Brothers Heating & Cooling can step in. For nearly 20 years we have helped homeowners in the area get ready for the winter with superior HVAC service in St. Louis, MO, and our trusted technicians are ready to help you with the routine maintenance and repairs your system needs to make it through another season. Don’t get caught in the cold this winter—give us a call to schedule your appointment today!
If you’ve been suffering frequent furnace breakdowns or have been routinely having to make expensive repairs to your unit, it’s probably time you got the equipment replaced. But before you make the final decision, there are a few things you should consider.
Here is some information from an HVAC service in St. Louis, MO to help make your furnace replacement decision a more informed one.
Know if a repair won’t do the trick
Do you really need to replace your furnace altogether? This is a significant investment, so it’s important to be absolutely sure that a full-on replacement is in your best interest. In general, it’ll be a good idea to replace your furnace if it’s more than three quarters through its life expectancy and the repairs you’d need to make would cost more than a third of the cost of replacing it.
Most of the time, there will be a label on the furnace that indicates its manufacturer and installation dates. Furnaces last an average of 15 to 20 years, and maybe another five to 10 if the furnace is a high-quality brand and it has been regularly maintained.
Calculate the efficiency potential
Most standard furnaces today are about 80 percent efficient, meaning about 20 percent of the fuel energy goes up and out through the chimney. However, there are some furnaces that are up to 98.5 percent efficient. The number you’re looking for is the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating. Having a super-efficient furnace can add $1,000 to $2,000 to the cost of the furnace, but could also result in some significant savings. Let’s say a 15 percent increase in AFUE saves you approximately $300 per year (if you’re paying about $2,000 per year to heat your home). If the added cost you pay for the furnace is $1,500, the efficiency will have paid for the extra price within five years, meaning you’ll save a significant amount of money if your furnace lasts you a total of 15 to 20 years.
Determine what you can do to lower your heating needs
If you already have a super-efficient furnace or don’t want to make that investment, you could consider adding insulation to your home. Adding insulation to your attic floor or spraying foam along the top of all foundation walls can be a good way to give your home some extra insulation. This is one of the best ways to decrease your heating needs and your reliance on your furnace, which will in turn help to extend your furnace’s lifespan.
Check your ducts
The ducts could be causing some of the inefficiency you experience with your furnace’s operation. You might have air escaping into the attic, basement or crawlspace. Improving the ducts by sealing up gaps and re-insulating them can be a good step to take, as can cleaning the ducts or other components of the HVAC system if they have a significant amount of debris.
For more information, contact Ashley Brothers Heating & Cooling to schedule HVAC service in St. Louis, MO.
Duct cleaning has become a popular service in recent years, with many providers of HVAC service in St. Louis, MO and even specialized commercial cleaning services offering it to their customers. But is the service worth investing in?
First, it’s important to know exactly what you’re getting when you get your ducts cleaned. Professional duct cleaning involves the use of specialized vacuums, blowers and brushes to clean out every part of your ducts, including intakes, supply and return ducts all throughout your home. The process involves a thorough cleaning of the registers, grilles, fans, air handler, housings, motors and coils in your HVAC system.
There are not any studies that indicate regular duct cleaning improves the air quality or reduces the dust in your home. However, there is plenty of evidence to indicate that a buildup of dust in your HVAC system makes the unit less efficient.
When to invest in duct cleaning
Duct cleaning is not always (or even usually) necessary, and the EPA even says the ducts only need to be cleaned if they or the HVAC unit are contaminated. However, there are some circumstances in which it definitely makes sense to have it done. Here are a few examples of these scenarios:
Renovation: If you recently remodeled or renovated your building, your ductwork could benefit from a cleaning, especially if your home was likely to have had asbestos or lead paint. The remodeling process is likely to have kicked up a significant amount of dust and debris that could find itself lodged inside your HVAC system.
Mold: If you discovered mold growing inside your ductwork, you should have your ducts and HVAC system cleaned, as this is one circumstance in which the air quality in your home can absolutely suffer. Mold releases spores into the air that trigger symptoms of asthma and other breathing conditions. It also can damage areas on which it grows, and cause an unpleasant, musty smell throughout your home.
Animals: By this, we don’t mean pets. If you have discovered signs of an animal infestation in your ductwork, especially if there’s any nesting happening in your ducts or HVAC system, it’s important to have those animals removed and then clean out the system, and figure out a way to prevent it from happening again.
Contaminants: If you regularly notice debris such as pet hair, dust or other contaminants being released into the room or frequently notice an unpleasant smell emanating from your ducts, then your ductwork may benefit from a good cleaning.
Illness: If someone in your family suffers from unexplained respiratory illnesses or asthmatic symptoms, you could benefit from a duct cleaning at your home.
These are just a few scenarios in which it makes sense to seek out duct cleaning services from an HVAC service in St. Louis, MO. To learn more about the various repair, maintenance and cleaning services we offer, we encourage you to contact Ashley Brothers Heating & Cooling today and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.
