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Clear Water Michigan

Livonia, MI

Call: (734) 502-5060
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furnace

Three Winterizing Tasks for Homeowners That Prevent Costly Repairs

November 21, 2017

Photo by Pixabay

 

 

Winter brings with it many potential hazards for homeowners, including frozen pipes, indoor allergens, heating and cooling unit failure, fire and carbon monoxide dangers. In fact, there’s a greater risk of home fires in the winter when people are using space heaters, cooking holiday feasts, and hanging electric decorations.

 

With this list of easy-to-finish maintenance tasks, you can avoid many of the expensive, inconvenient, and dangerous situations that can ruin your holidays and your home’s value.

 

Check Your Heat Tape

 

Redfin says it best in their home maintenance guide: “You can’t control the weather, but you can control the effect cold temperatures have on your pipes.” If you haven’t checked your pipes since last winter, do it today. Fall is the perfect time to get this task out of the way before the snow comes, the temperature drops, and it’s too late. If your pipe cracks in the cold temperatures, your home may see significant water damage, and as the water sits, you likely will have a major mold problem as well.

 

The best way to prevent frozen pipes is to insulate them, especially if they are exposed or subjected to low temperatures in a crawlspace or attic. Heat tape or cables can be wrapped around pipes to prevent them from freezing. Just make sure to use the appropriate external or internal product and carefully follow the installation instructions, as improperly installed equipment can serve as a fire hazard.

 

You’ll also want to remove any external garden hoses from your home and allow those pipes to drain. Otherwise, any water that remains within the pipe can freeze and cause damage.

 

If you suspect your pipes are beginning to freeze or your power goes out during the winter months, you can trickle hot water from your kitchen and bathroom faucets to prevent the lines from freezing solid. While this isn’t a long-term plan, it can buy you enough time to apply heat tape or some other form of insulation.

 

Replace Your Furnace’s Air Filters

 

It doesn’t seem like a balanced trade-off, but that $15 air filter could easily save you thousands of dollars. That’s because clogged and dirty air filters are the most common cause of furnace and central air conditioning unit malfunction and breakage.

 

Not only do air filters extend the life of your HVAC unit, they also help to keep your energy costs down. According to the Department of Energy, the average household spends somewhere around $2,200 a year on energy, but that cost could be 5 to 15 percent lower for those who regularly change their air filters. Not only do you gain savings, you’ll also be breathing better-filtered air with less indoor allergens, and your air ducts will stay cleaner as well.

 

Test Your Detectors

 

You know that smoke detectors save lives, but just how many lives are we talking about? Well, if you consider that three out of five home fire deaths involved properties without working smoke alarms, you can significantly decrease your risk just by ensuring that your smoke detectors are in working condition.

 

This same principle goes for carbon monoxide detectors as well. Carbon monoxide is an invisible and odorless gas that can be very dangerous and even fatal. Fire departments throughout the United States routinely respond to many carbon monoxide emergency calls. It’s imperative for your family’s safety that your carbon monoxide detector is working.

 

While these home maintenance tasks seem minor at first glance, it’s clear that they can have major influence over the state of your home and the cost of maintaining it. Some simple, seasonal maintenance can save you thousands of dollars and maybe even your life.

 

Note: This month’s blog was by Paul Denikin. Visit his site at http://dadknowsdiy.com/

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: CO detector, filter, furnace, heat tape, home maintenance, HVAC, insulation, pipes, smoke alarm, smoke detector, winter, winterizing

How to Get Your Heating and Cooling System to Love You

August 2, 2016

download (1)“Everyone needs love. Everyone desires love.*” But, sometimes we fail in giving it for a number of reasons.

We’re not even going to attempt to tell you how to navigate love with humans, but we can offer some suggestions for you to show some love to your HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning, if you didn’t know) system.

  • The number one act of love that EVERYONE recommends is to change your furnace filter. Here’s a handy tip to help you figure out how often this should happen: if your filter is an inch thick, change it monthly. For four-inch filters two times a year will suffice.
"What the world needs now..."

“What the world needs now…”

If someone in your house is fanatical about cleaning, so much so that they dust before the dust settles, you shouldn’t have to change your filter more than once every two years. For the rest of us…see above.

  • Your second act, during warmer months is to wash your A/C condenser coil. Watch the following short film for details. (Note: the audio isn’t the best, but the visual is easy to follow.) http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKYMTGL_9Fo

 

  • Staying outside by your condenser, the number three way to get your heating and cooling system to love you is to clear away any plants or other obstructions that might restrict airflow, clog the coil, or make it hard to access the unit for service.AC_clearance

Your yard can make excellent habitat for all kinds of creatures with the right plants, but don’t let them grow next to the A/C unit.

  • Head back inside for tip number four.

Do you have lots and lots of furniture? Are any of the pieces covering your registers? If so, you’re restricting air flow and causing your equipment to work harder than it has to, wasting energy, and inefficiently cooling or heating your home.

"Keep away, people."

“Keep away, people.”

Solution? Move the furniture off of the vents. That was easy, wasn’t it?

 

  • Tip number five is another relatively easy thing: change your humidifier pads annually. What happens if you don’t? Bacteria and mold will accumulate in the air you breathe and consequently accumulate in your lungs. That’s not a good thing at all.

It’s also advised to have your humidifier checked every two years.

 

"I'm breathing what?"

“I’m breathing what?”

A cry for help

A cry for help

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Lastly, if your energy costs have increased by 50% or more in the time since you’ve owned your heating and cooling system, it’s probably time to replace what you have. Technological advances have bettered the efficiency of many systems now. A new furnace and/or A/C will pay for save you money in the long run.

Perhaps you don’t care if your HVAC system loves you, fair enough. But for the sake of money, energy, and clean air in your home, you may want to learn to love it in the right way.

*Pope Benedict XVI

 

 

Filed Under: HVAC Tagged With: A/C, air conditioning, cleaning, cooling, filter, furnace, Heating, love, maintenance, service

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ClearWater Michigan
12351 Stark Rd
Livonia, MI 48150

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