The Risks to DIY Heating Repair

There are reason you should hire a professional when it comes to certain things around your home. One of these being repairing your ailing furnace. While winter comes with plenty of extra expenses, such as holiday gift-giving and higher heating bills, attempts to save money through DIY repair to a problematic furnace may become more costly that investing in expert repairs provided by a trained HVAC technician. Here are some reasons to hire a pro instead of doing it yourself. (more…)

Common Air Conditioning Mistakes to Avoid

When temperatures are on the rise, you and your family rely on your central air conditioner to keep your home cool and the humidity under control. Unfortunately, if you don’t use your central air conditioner wisely, you will notice an unnecessary loss in efficiency and a potential spike in your electric bill. Here are a few common central air conditioner mistakes homeowners make that you should avoid so that you can keep your home cool and save money too. (more…)

Why Isn’t My Air Conditioner Controlling the Humidity In My Home?

Have you found yourself checking the thermostat at your home and thinking it’s got to be lying? It’s not comfortable in your home, it feels warm, yet the thermostat shows everything is how you set it to be. How so, well there is more to air conditioning than just temperature, in fact your comfort largely weighs on the humidity level of the home. When humidity is high it seems warmer than the true temperature. So why isn’t your AC controlling the humidity? That’s a good question and we have some answers. (more…)

Common HVAC Problems

When your HVAC contractor comes out for your regularly scheduled AC checkup, they will check for both maintenance issues and any repairs that may need to be made. Here are some common maintenance problems your contractor will check for.

1. Low Coolant

If your AC unit is newer, it likely doesn’t have R-22 in it. However, it still depends on a refrigerant (such as R410A) to help it cool your homes air. If the refrigerant leaks and the levels are low, your unit won’t cool as efficiently. Common signs of coolant leaks are AC that runs constantly or even a frozen up coil.

Low coolant may come from a fast leak caused from recent damage to the system, in which case you will notice a quick change in the cooling the system provides or the unit won’t work at all. But a slow leak is a much more common finding at a maintenance visit.

Slow leaks may occur for a variety of reasons. For example, it could be that a joint or seal has gotten old and deteriorated. Coolant can also
escape when household chemicals buildup on the AC coil producing formic acid, which then corrodes the metal causing small leaks. (more…)

How Often Should Salt Be Added To My Water Softener?

This is a common question we receive, especially from new homeowners and people new to soft water. There are several things that play into how often you will need to add salt so not every home is the same and not every season is the same. Ultimately it depends on the water used by your home, but here are some activities that largely factor in.

• Number of people in the home.
• Number of showers and baths a day.
• Amount of laundry cleaned on a weekly basis.

(more…)

Your Furnace and Air Conditioner Can Help With Dust

The average american home produces 40 pounds of dust a year! That’s a lot. Depending on the number of people in your home this number could be lower or higher for your home. Let’s take a look at some ways you can clean the dust in your home more efficiently and some ways you can reduce the amount floating around in your home.

1. Check your furnace filter.
2. Use a HEPA filtered vacuum.
3. Reduce textiles.
4. Don’t overlook dusting those hard to reach or see areas.
5. Clean regularly.

(more…)

Air Conditioner Replacement: How Your Furnace May Affect Your Options

Did your air conditioner die putting you in the market for a new AC? Making matters worse you probably had no warning or time to prepare for this day. So not only are you searching for a new AC, but your home is getting more uncomfortable by the minute.

Replacing an air conditioner isn’t something the average homeowner does everyday, in fact many only replace a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system once or twice in their lifetime. So it stands to reason that without doing a little homework you’re not going to know what air conditioner is right for your home. Continue reading this article as we guide you through things to consider during your AC search.

(more…)

Should An Air Conditioner and Furnace Be Serviced Every Year?

Should a furnace or air conditioner be serviced every year is a question many homeowners ask and it’s not an easy one to answer. Why? Because the right answer is really it depends. Depends on what? Various things and we’ll go through them in this post.

To start it’s very important that it is mentioned that all manufacturer’s stance on this question is yes, in fact taking care of your heating and cooling equipment with regular maintenance is a requirement to ensure a valid warranty should you have a failure while the equipment is covered. If well maintained there is little argument for the reason of the component failure and if it should be covered by said warranty. (more…)

5 Steps To Make Sure Your Air Conditioner Is Ready For Summer

It seemed like winter was never going to end this year, but believe it or not we’re in the clear. Now that Spring is officially here it won’t be long before we’ll be turning our HVAC systems from heat to cool. Here are 5 steps you should take to ensure your AC is ready to keep you cool this summer.

1. Remove Your Condenser Cover
2. Clean Out Leaves and Twigs From Your Air Conditioning Condenser
3. Spray Down the Air Conditioner
4. Give Your Air Conditioner a Test Run
5. Call A Pro

(more…)

Tips For Conserving Water at Home

March 22nd happens to be World Water Day. Considering all of us here in Lincoln, Nebraska are doing our part to conserve water since our mayor has issued water restrictions due to the damage the Platte river flooding has done to our city’s water system, it seems like a good time to provide some water saving tips. As plumbers that know a thing or two about water usage, here are the things we think can minimize the effect on your daily life, but really help reduce the amount of water used. Here’s our list: (more…)