Archive for March, 2012

East Windsor Heating Tip: How to Monitor Heat Flow from Furnace Registers

Monday, March 26th, 2012

Of the many kinds of heating systems, forced air furnaces are among the simplest in East Windsor and monitoring the flow of heat is as simple as checking the registers and feeling the flow.

The Basics of Hot Air

At the furnace, usually in the basement or a central location, air is heated to a temperature set by the thermostat.  Once large and dominant, over the years, technological improvements have enabled furnaces to be much smaller and fit into closets.

With a fan, the warm air is circulated through a system of ducts and distributed at registers or grates usually in the floor.  A second grate takes the cooler air back to the furnace to be heated.

East Windsor Heating Tip

Going With the Flow

The rooms in your house should always be a consistent temperature, even with the normal cycling of your forced air system. The heat produced by your furnace is distributed through your house via the ducts and it gradually warms your rooms. After the heat has dissipated, your thermostat recognizes the change in temperature and calls for your East Windsor furnace to deliver more heat.

A problem occurs when there is poor air circulation, and it leads to your system efficiency is greatly reduced. Since your rooms are not heating up as consistently, your furnace runs more often to try to keep your home at the thermostat setting. You can also have some rooms warmer than others, or rooms that experience more extreme temperature fluctuation.

Monitoring the Flow

By turning the thermostat higher, the furnace will engage and begin to force air to the registers.

Most registers have adjustable slats that can be rotated to allow more or less flow.  Checking to make sure all are fully open is the first step.  There is usually a lever or gear in obvious view.

Make sure all registers are free to allow air movement and not blocked by furniture or carpets.

After testing with your hand to see if there is adequate air flow, using an infrared or dial thermometer will more accurately identify if there are differences from register to register which could indicate a blockage of some sort in the vent or a problem with the system at the furnace.

Solutions

Furnaces should be maintained on a yearly basis by contracting with an East Windsor heating company who can regularly change the filters, inspect the internal elements and ensure proper and efficient functioning of this most important part of your home.

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Plainsboro Heating Tip: Dangers of Not Changing Your Furnace Filter on Time

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

Of the many ways to heat a home in Plainsboro, forced air systems are the simplest in function and the easiest to maintain.  They are so simple, in fact, it is easy to forget they need attention at all, but there are dangers to not changing your furnace filter on time that have a real and painful cost in efficiency and dollars.  Even health risks arise when filters have been neglected too long.

Contracting with a company like Heritage Air & Heat ensures consistent maintenance and oversight to allow home owners the comfort and relaxation you deserve in your own home.

Back to Basics

Usually in the basement or a central location, a furnace heats air to a temperature set by the thermostat.  Over the years, technological improvements have enabled furnaces to be much smaller and fit into closets instead of the large and gangly monsters of old that could fill an entire basement.

By a fan in the furnace, the warm air is circulated through filters into a system of ducts to be distributed to grates in the wall or registers on the floor.  A second grate and duct system returns cooler air back to the furnace to be reheated.

The Dangers of Not Changing the Filter

When the system is properly maintained, it is clean, efficient and produces comforting heat on demand at the touch of the thermostat or consistently throughout the day and night.

The furnace filter is designed to remove dust from air as it passes through your furnace. The longer your furnace filter is in place the dirtier it becomes. The increase of particles caught in the filter creates resistance to air flow through the filter and reduces efficiency.

To make up for the loss of flow through a dirty filter, the heat exchanger, usually a gas or oil fired flame, must work harder to produce the same amount of heat to the space.  This becomes costly financially and causes undo wear and stress on the equipment, requiring a partial or full replacement much sooner.

Additionally, operating above ideal designed conditions, cracks in the chamber may appear from the over load which can allow carbon monoxide, a toxic gas, to be released into the duct work.  This gas in large quantities in the home can cause headaches, nausea, and in extreme circumstances, even death.

Regular Maintenance

To avoid problems and excessive strain, remember to change the filters at the beginning of each new heating season.  An annual maintenance check-up and thorough cleaning by a qualified company like Heritage Air & Heat ensures a safe and comfortable season of warmth with no need to worry about the dangers of not changing filters in your Plainsboro furnace.

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Reasons Your Edison Heat Pump Can’t Maintain the Right Temperature

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

When you set your thermostat for a certain temperature, you expect that your heat pump will either heat or cool your Edison home to that temperature, right? When you want 72 degrees, you don’t expect to have the temperature stay stuck at 70 degrees while your heat pump struggles futilely.

Sometimes heat pumps have trouble maintaining the right temperature, especially in heating mode. It’s not uncommon, and it has a number of potential causes. Run through this checklist to see if it is something you can fix yourself:

  • The outdoor unit is iced up. Running a defrost cycle can usually fix this.
  • A snow drift in encroaching on the outdoor unit, making the unit too cold to work properly. Shovel it away and see if that fixes the problem.
  • The outdoor unit is not running at all. Sometimes this is simple enough to fix on your own. Read the manufacturer’s instructions to troubleshoot the problem.
  • Too much cold air is getting in the house for the heat pump to keep up. Make sure your doors and windows are closed to keep that valuable heat inside.
  • Your vents are closed. It may seem obviou, but problems like this can sometimes be attributed to user error. Make sure your vents are open to allow heat in.

This is by no means an all-inclusive list, and it covers just those causes that you could potentially fix yourself. There are many other possible culprits out there that could be more sinister and require professional service to be properly repaired.

Some of these include:

  • The compressor is not running.
  • A compressor valve or reversing valve is faulty.
  • The thermostat is malfunctioning or needs to be recalibrated.
  • The refrigerant level is low or there is a problem with the flow of the refrigerant.
  • The heat pump needs routine maintenance.

If your Edison heat pump is not working properly for several days, especially after you have tried some of the DIY solutions above, call Heritage Air & Heat right away. Your heat pump may need repairs before a bigger problem develops.

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Get a FREE furnace when you purchase a new AC system and installation

Friday, March 9th, 2012

Purchase a York 14.5 Seer LX model air conditioning system with installation from Heritage Air & Heat and we will install a York 80% latitude natural gas furnace for FREE!

This deal is only good until April 15th, so don’t delay!

When it comes to air conditioning installation, Heritage Air & Heat has the experience and credentials you’re looking for. We offer a wide variety of air conditioning systems for installation in the Central Jersey and Jersey Shore area, and our highly skilled technicians can handle all manner of jobs, from putting split systems into your new home addition to adding a central air conditioning system to a new large apartment building.

 

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West Windsor Heating Repair Question: What Does a Furnace Thermocouple Do?

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

Modern appliances are equipped with an array of safety measures to make sure that they operate safely in your West Windsor home. This includes gas furnaces, which are harmless when working correctly but can be unsafe if something goes wrong. Perhaps the most crucial safety feature of a gas furnace is the thermocouple, also called a flame sensor.

Essentially, a furnace thermocouple works as a kill switch to shut off the furnace in case the gas is not igniting, like if the pilot light is out. Here is how it works.

The thermocouple is made up of two pieces of metal which are welded together at one end, called the “hot end” because it actually sits directly in the path of the furnace flame. On the cold end, it is wired to a circuit. Under normal circumstances, when the furnace is switched on, gas flows through the line and is ignited by a pilot light, ignition spark or glow coil. The flame heats up the thermocouple, and the furnace stays on.

However, sometimes the gas may not ignite, for example if the pilot light is out or the glow coil is faulty. In these cases, if there were no thermocouple, gas would continue to flow out without being lit, creating a very dangerous, poisonous and potentially lethal situation.

What the thermocouple does is detect heat, so if the furnace is on, but the hot end of the thermocouple has not heated up, that circuit up at the cold end kills the power to the furnace so that gas cannot continue to flow out unchecked. That way, you do not have to worry about a gas leak building to dangerous levels without being aware of it.

Sometimes, the thermocouple can malfunction, causing the furnace to shut off even if the burners are working just fine. Usually that is just the result of build up on the hot end over time, which can be fixed with some sand paper or emery cloth. If you suspect a problem with your furnace’s thermocouple, give Heritage Air & Heat a call today!

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