Archive for the ‘HVAC’ Category

One of our recent blogs mentioned how important it is to keep your thermostat serviced and maintained. This is sage advice. When you are faced with a home HVAC system that needs repair, you’ll wish that you had done a better job of doing routine HVAC maintenance,  but also that you had an HVAC professional in your rolodex. 

How do I know all of this? Unfortunately, I know from personal experience.

Once long ago, back in the days when I knew next to nothing about owning a home, I found myself without heat, the furnace was toast. My house was worse than cold and damp, there were freezing temperatures outside. I had never used an HVAC professional and I found myself scrambling with how to deal with the situation. Eventually I got someone to come out and fix it, but not before I had lived without heat for close to a week and had stretched my supplies of space heaters and blankets to the max.

Last week, I found myself in a house without heat, again.  It happened on a lovely afternoon, and by lovely, I really mean a frosty, wet, terribly cold afternoon. With my poor circulation on red alert of the impending cold entering the surroundings, I was quick to call my local HVAC professional. Well, not I. I still haven’t learned from my first lesson, I don’t know any HVAC servicers in the area. However, my boyfriend who really should be credited with all the smart homeowner decisions between us, has an HVAC professional who has done all the work on the home’s furnace from day one.  He’s a smart guy, which is one of the reasons I let him hang around.

But, really, that’s besides the point, because the next day, when the HVAC man rang the doorbell and fixed a faulty wire and made the furnace produce the lovely purr of heat coming through the vents, I felt I really had finally learned my lesson. Always keep up on HVAC maintenance and always, always, have an HVAC contractor ready to call.  Not having to get out the Yellow Pages and hope and pray that someone trustworthy would be able to schedule an appointment with me on short notice was priceless.

The moral of this story? Don’t wait for problems to arise before calling on the pros. Make sure that you have professionals come and regularly maintain your home’s most important systems so you can avoid big problems and long waits for service. This advice isn’t  limited to HVAC, some other day maybe I’ll grace you with another story from long, long ago: the time I went without water for a week and I really wished I had a reliable plumber to call.

It’s cold and windy outside and I’ve been reluctant to do anything that involves leaving my nest of three blankets. So, I’ve got “staying warm” on the brain, and thinking about heat in the home, here are some things to make your life a little warmer.

Fireplaces

There are lots of options for fireplaces. There are gas ones that can turn on with the flick of a switch, or more traditional wood burning ones. Some have wood mantels, others are stone or brick. There is a fireplace to fit any home.  You can have one added, or of course, you can rework the one you’ve already got. Instead of talking about a prefectly placed mantel, I’m just going to share a lovely example of fireplace perfection, it’s like I’ve reached HVAC nirvana…

(Via Martha Stewart)

The Luxury of Warmth:

If you love being warm, then adding heating components to often cold places might interest you. I mentioned in an earlier post about a towel warming drawer,  but you can also add radiant flooring, or heated towel racks to your bathroom. Cold feet in winter would be a thing of the past by adding radiant tiles which heat the floor underneath your feet. Warming racks are less of expensive than the truly luxurious towel warming drawer, but, are a great addition to make your bathroom feel more cozy. Plus, they could be an easy DIY project on a rainy weekend.

Heating Systems:

The debate continues on electric versus gas, but there is no question having a modern HVAC system will ensure that you stay warm and save money. If you don’t have a programmable thermostat, this may be the year to consider it. You can program your heat to kick up when you’re at home and lower when you’re gone. You can save 2% on your heating bill for each degree lower you go on your thermostat, so by having it lower when you’re away, you are saving money!

Of course, the first thing I want to do when the fall chill comes along is run out and get a gorgeous new pair of boots and a snuggly winter coat, but making the inside of your home as cozy as possible will likely have a longer lasting impact than the season’s winter wardrobe.

Need more advice on all things HVAC? Check out our other HVAC resources, or, start your HVAC project with free estimates from local professionals.