Posts Tagged ‘Big Creek’

The Most Important Part of Your Home — Your Furnace:

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

Winter is coming fast, and it certainly doesn’t let us forget it! Blustery winds that chill through to your bones, iced up car windows, and snow days, this often means that the temperature outside has reached as low as 30 degrees or colder when wind chill is considered!

A large reason that we are able to live comfortably in this weather is because of a special appliance that is often tucked away in your house and not really considered on a daily basis: your furnace.

Furnaces consist of three major components: the burners, a draft inducer, and a heat exchanger. When you bump up your thermostat or it detects that the temperature of your house/building has dropped below its designated temperature, it send a signal to the furnace to ignite its burners.

After the burners are ignited, the draft inducer kicks into action, and sucks the hot gases from the burners towards the heat exchanger. A draft inducer looks similar to a cars turbocharger, and works in a similar manner also. While the hot gas is moved through the heat exchanger, the furnace also brings air from your house through the heat exchanger in order to warm it. If the draft inducer is dirty in any way, this could cause the unit from igniting or staying lit.

And there you have it! Now you understand the basics of how a furnace works. Always use a professional to carry out maintenance and repairs to keep it running at peak efficiency and safe for the whole family.

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Just Say No To Termites: A Tip From Taylorsville

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Termites can wreak massive destruction on your Taylorsville home thanks to their teeming numbers and constant feeding habits. The aggregate cost of termite damage in the United States has been estimated to be as high as a billion dollars annually. Although termites are destructive and persistent, there are steps you can take to stop them from damaging your home. Specifically, termites flourish in some very specific conditions, so below will be discussed some ways to control those in your favor.

Starve Them Out

Termites love to eat wood. To be more precise, they love any source of cellulose, which wood happens to be rich in. Once a colony finds a food source, it eats constantly, hence the large potential for damage to your home. Here are some suggestions for keeping cellulose to a minimum:

  • Use treated lumber for your home and for any other ground structures, such as decks or sheds. You can also consider resting such structures on concrete supports, instead of directly on the ground.
  • Keep stored wood away from your house, ideally in a shed. Additionally, do not bury left over wood as a means of disposal.
  • Keep your yard free of fallen limbs, dead trees, stumps or other wooden debris.
  • Do not use wood mulch on plants near your home. Instead, either move the plants further away, or check your local garden supply store for rubber mulch, which does not attract termites.

Dry Them Out

Just like other pests, termites require a source of water to live. Even with bountiful cellulose around, a termite colony cannot take hold without water. Here are some steps you can take to limit the chances that they will find a water source around your home:

  • Fix all leaks promptly, no matter how small they seem at the time.
  • Fill in any dips or depressions in your yard to prevent water from pooling.
  • Likewise, repair any cracks or holes in your driveway. These can promote termite growth by both collecting water, and improperly draining water toward your home, making the trip easier for the termites.
  • Keep the area around your home free of brush and other heavy vegetation, which can cause areas of heavy moisture, acting as a safe harbor for hungry termites.
  • Clean all gutters and other drainage lines and keep them in good repair.

These preventive measures will go a long way toward keeping your home free of destructive termites. Additionally, you should have your home checked by a professional for signs of termites annually.

For more tips on how to best maintain your home, contact your local HVAC professional.

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Sealing Your Home Can Bring Big Rewards

Monday, April 11th, 2011

You use a lot of energy – and money! – keeping your house at a comfortable temperature. But if there are holes in the “envelope” or “shell” of your home, air from the outside can get into your home and drive up your energy costs.

Sealing the envelope of your home is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve energy efficiency and comfort. Energy Star estimates that appropriate sealing can save up to 20% on heating and cooling costs.

There are three ways to seal the envelope of your home:

  • Sealing air leaks to stop drafts
  • Adding insulation
  • Installing Energy Star windows when replacing windows

Sealing leaks. It may be easy to find some of the leaks in your home, because you can feel and sometimes even see them (for example, around windows and doors). You can seal these leaks with caulk, foam, and weather stripping.

Other leaks may be hidden in attics, basements, and crawl spaces. Common leak spots include:

  • Recessed lights
  • Outdoor faucets
  • Dryer vents
  • Attic hatches
  • Around light switches and cable, phone, or power outlets
  • Chimneys and furnace flues
  • The tops of walls that lead up to attic space

To find and seal these hidden leaks, it may be advisable to hire a contractor who can use special diagnostic tools. The expense is often quickly paid back in increased comfort and reduced utility bills.

Adding insulation. There are several common types of insulation — fiberglass (in both batt and blown forms), cellulose, rigid foam board, and spray foam. Different types are appropriate for different places in your home.

The strength of insulation is measured by “R-value” – its ability to resist heat flow. The higher the R-value, the more insulating power. Different R-values are recommended for different parts of your house, depending upon where you live.

Insulating your attic may offer significant savings, and can be a good DIY project if you are handy. To see if your attic can benefit from more insulation, look across your uncovered attic floor. If your insulation is level with or below the attic floor joints, more would probably be helpful.

Remember, however, that even well-insulated attics need appropriate ventilation to prevent mold growth in the summer and ice buildup in the winter.

Installing Energy Star windows and doors. Replacing windows and doors is a big project and may not generate enough energy savings to justify the cost. However, if you are remodeling or building a new home, be sure to choose Energy Star windows and doors. Energy Star windows and doors will not only help seal and insulate your home – they will also act as a sunscreen to protect your pictures, furniture, and carpets.

After Sealing Your Home: Check Air Quality!

After any sealing or insulating project it’s very important to have a professional perform a Combustion Safety Test on your gas and oil burning appliances to ensure that they are still operating safely.

It’s rare that homeowners seal their homes too tightly – especially if it’s an older house. However, if you are concerned, you can hire a contractor to test your home’s ventilation. If your home is too tightly sealed, he or she may recommend that you install a fresh air ventilation system.

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