Temperature Differential Causing Discomfort

The thermostat is in control of one of the most important systems within the home: the HVAC system. This system dictates your comfort level and allows you to choose the temperature that you find most comfortable. However, there is a setting on the thermostat that can disrupt this comfort if it is not set appropriately. The temperature differential can give the thermostat a few degrees leeway before turning your HVAC system on or off. This could allow your homes temperature to fluctuate drastically all while the thermostat continues to read the original set temperature.

Resetting the Differential

Let’s say that you are most comfortable at 70 degrees during the winter season. You set the thermostat and go about your day. Every time the furnace comes on the house gets to feel uncomfortably warm. In between cycles when the furnace is off, the home becomes uncomfortably cold. The temperature differential is probably set at three degrees. That means that the temperature can get as warm as 73 degrees and as cold as 67 degrees before the thermostat responds to the temperature. This is what is causing your discomfort. Check with your thermostat manual for instructions to change the differential and set it back to one degree. This will give you the temperature you desire and eliminate this source of discomfort.

Look at the Bigger Picture

You come home from work one day to find that the furnace is out. Having never experienced a breakdown before, you aren’t sure who to call. You may flip through the telephone book but everyone you come across will claim to offer “the best service” at the “best prices.” This isn’t a reliable way to choose a contractor, so many people turn to a trusted friend or family member for advice. They recommend someone they have used before and because you trust them, you decide to trust that company. The only problem is that your friend or relative is only one person that has had experience with that company. Sure their job may have gone well, but is that really a good indicator of the company’s track record? Maybe not.

Consumer Review Websites: What You Need to Know!

Countless homeowners find out the hard way that one person’s good experience doesn’t guarantee honest service. Luckily, there is a way to get a better picture of what a company really looks like to the consumer. Through the use of consumer review websites, homeowners have been able to find countless reviews on companies that they are considering for service. However, be careful with these sites as well. The free sites are usually easily manipulated by companies to reflect a better score than they deserve, but review sites that require users to purchase membership are much more secure.

Fall Air Quality Overhaul

With the recent weather changes and the changing colors of the trees, we have officially entered the fall allergy season. If you suffer with allergies during this season, the last thing you want to do is be cooped up inside with a bunch of irritants, but what choice do we have? We stay inside our homes because of the falling temperatures and rainy fall weather, but being locked up inside our homes should cause us to place even more importance on filtering our indoor air.

Improving Allergies

By adding a media or electronic air filter to your home HVAC system you are able to filter out contaminates like dust, pollens and mold spores along with other allergens that cause us discomfort. This therefore improves the overall air quality in the home. Additionally this filtering of the air helps to keep your heating equipment clean and functioning at peak performance. This increased level of performance reduces energy costs and could contribute to saving you money on your energy bills.

Time to Change HVAC Filters

The return of cool weather signals the beginning of a new season. As the leaves change and the nights become cooler, we all turn our thermostats from “cool” to “heat.” Doing this should be a reminder to all of us that it is time to change the air filters in our furnaces. There are many different styles and efficiency ratings on filters. They all need to be changed periodically. In general, the higher efficiency filters should be changed each time we change the operation of our furnaces and air conditioners. This is usually done during the spring and fall. On the other hand, the lesser efficient filters should be changed every 30 days.

More Important than You May Think!

The filter not only cleans the air we breathe, it also serves as protection for the furnace and the cooling coil attached to the furnace. The performance of your furnace and air conditioner is directly affected by the condition of the filter. As the filter collects more debris it becomes clogged and allows less air to pass through it into the HVAC system. This increases the run time of the furnace and air conditioner, and lowers the efficiency. This could eventually cause mechanical issues such as overheating or damage to the heat exchanger.