How a Typical Maintenance Checklist should Look Like

We dutifully keep a grocery list or a to-do list but for something that accounts for more than its fair share on our expense list, we simply leave on the back burner. Making a maintenance checklist spares your wallet and also avoids much confusion. With regular maintenance you can curb problems when small and ensure optimal performance of your HVAC system.

Here goes the checklist,

Check Thermostat Settings - The thermostat controls both the heating and cooling systems of homes with central heat and air conditioning. It detects the temperature of the room and compares it to the desired temperature setting. Set the thermostat at least 5 degrees higher or lower than your normal setting, depending on the season. Set it 5 degrees higher than normal during summer and 5 degrees lower during winter.

Inspect Electrical Connections - Measure voltage and current on motors. Faulty electrical connections can cause unsafe operation of your system and reduce the life of major components.

Lubricate Moving Parts - Oiling all moving parts can prolong the life of your HVAC system. Parts that are not lubricated may wear out faster leading to repairs. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in this regard.

Check Condensate Drain - A plugged drain can cause water damage in the house and affect indoor humidity levels in your central air conditioner, furnace and/or heat pump (when in cooling mode).

Clean Evaporator and Condenser Air Conditioning Coils - Over time the surfaces of these coils can become dirty as the air moving through the coils can contain dust, moisture and other contaminants. Clean coils save your utility bills; while, dirty coils consume more electricity.

Clean and Adjust Blower Components – Proper airflow reduces your system's efficiency up to 15 percent. So, keep a watch on the blower components always!

Check Gas (or oil) Connections, Gas Pressure, Burner Combustion and Heat Exchanger - Routine furnace maintenance and cleaning don’t require special skills. Just a few basic hand tools can do it for you. Improper gas (or oil) connections or cracked heat exchanger can make the equipment less safer and efficient.

Seal your Heating and Cooling Ducts - You would be shocked at how much heating and cooling escapes through your ductwork before it ever flows through your vents.

Clean/Replace your Air Filter Regularly - A dirty filter can increase energy costs leading to early failure. If you are using it more, check your filter every month as a dirty filter can slow down air flow wasting energy.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) detector - A furnace that is out of adjustment can leave CO in your home, this device can help protect from CO poisoning 

Over half of the energy used in your home goes to heating and cooling. So making smart decisions about your home's heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system can have a critical impact on your utility bills and your comfort. Take that first step to protect yourself, your loved ones and to secure your home.

When and why would you require a Zoning System

Different areas of the house may have different temperature requirements as do members living in the residence. What may be hot to one member may be cold to another. Heat has a tendency to rise up which leaves the main floor cool and the floor above it hot. Apart from this, windows located to the south absorb too much sun, making certain rooms unpleasantly hot, while the northerly winds make some rooms feel uncomfortably cool.

Add some of modern day’s most desired features, and the problem gets even worse. Cathedral or vaulted ceilings, large glass expanses, solariums, finished basements, lofts — they all can cause room temperatures to fluctuate dramatically. Expecting a single thermostat to control variations throughout the house is next to impossible. This is the reason why we need something that can regulate room temperature to make it more comfortable.

There's only one way to even out the problem, through system zoning.

What is system zoning?

System zoning is a simple process. It involves fixing several thermostats wired to a control panel that operates a number of dampers in the forced air cooling or heating system. The thermostats continuously read the temperature of their particular zone, then close or open the dampers inside the ductwork as per the thermostat's settings. System zoning is not only helpful for houses that have inconsistent room temperatures, but is also a good option for cooling or heating individual rooms based on the preferred temperature setting.

Why Is it Needed?

Owners will require system zoning in their houses if one or more of the conditions exist:

• There are huge, open areas like lofts or vaulted ceilings, a solarium, or an atrium
• The house has more than one floor
• There are rooms in the attic or basement
• There are rooms with extensive glass areas
• Cooling and heating temperature patterns tend to vary at different hours of the day
• A part of the house has been built on a concrete floor
• The house has wings spreading off the living area

The Benefits:

Energy efficient:

If utilized in a proper manner, system zoning can help save a lot of money on the energy bills. In fact, it is believed that system zoning can save owners approximately 30 percent on a normal cooling and heating bill. These savings can certainly add up to a heavy sum. Also, because seldom-used rooms and guest rooms don't require continuous cooling or heating, system zoning helps save on unnecessary bills by running temperature-controlled air only when it is needed.

Comfort:

Every floor or room in the house has its own temperature needs. The zoning system removes cold and hot spots from every area of the house, making it more comfortable, regardless of its type, design or size.

Most homeowners are unwilling or hesitant of using programmable thermostats because of the initial fee of installation. This is certainly an understandable concern. However, if they focus on the bigger picture, they will realize the long term financial benefits. It is also very important to get the installation done by a professional. There are several providers that offer superior air quality solutions that cater to varying budgets. The best way to find out about such providers is to search online. Most companies have websites displaying their services and products. Home owners can round off to the one that best suits their budget and needs, after getting a quote from at least four providers.

Whether you're building a new house or are updating your house to be more energy-efficient, healthy, and sustainable, using a zoning system will certainly help you achieve this goal.

Finding the right HVAC contractor

A heating, ventilating and air conditioning system is designed to suit our individual needs. However all of us take for granted the comfort provided by our central air conditioners, heat pumps or furnaces until something goes wrong and the unit needs to be serviced or replaced. When disaster strikes, you need a quality heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) contractor who is knowledgeable, experienced and competent to do the job. Choosing the right HVAC contractor is almost like choosing a life partner because careful consideration is required.

It is very easy to fall victim to unskilled, even unethical contractors trying to make a quick buck from homeowners eager to restore their cooling systems. Hiring an unqualified contractor may result in the need for expensive and unwarranted repairs to fix problems created by them.

What you need is a quality contractor who knows not only to service your equipment but to design and install the right system for you in compliance with the regulatory and local codes of proper business and workers’ compensation insurance. He must be attentive to your problem, survey the area, reliable, fast, and courteous and most importantly must be abreast with the newest technology and developments, equipment and design procedures to ensure that you get not only an efficient system but one that suits your pocket. If you find one that cares for the environment too that’s a bonus you don’t want to miss. He must also recommend a planned preventative maintenance service to maximize the life of your equipment.

Before making calls in different directions, arm yourself with all the relevant information (brand and model number of the current unit, thermostat[s] and past service history. Knowing your home’s current situation gives homeowners a great place to start. Do remember to ask the contractor for references of customers. Better still ask around your family, friends and colleagues for firsthand experience or if they know someone that recently got some HVAC work done. Check if he comes with the required licenses, certifications and is partners with obligatory associations like NATE, North American Technician Excellence, it is the nation’s largest and most prestigious technical certification organization in the heating and cooling industry. Be sure to obtain bids from a few different companies and weigh what you are receiving with each price. Once you have narrowed it down to your top 3-5 choices, set up times for an in-home estimate. Post inspection and deliberation on the alternatives get a written estimate for the job. Don’t feel shy to ask about a guarantee. It must be written and should state clearly what is guaranteed, who is responsible for the guarantee and how long the guarantee is valid. Make final payments only when all work is completed to your satisfaction and pay by check never by cash. It's always a smart idea to purchase the most energy efficient HVAC system solution you can afford, so ask our contractor to run options by you. Leverage technology - review web sites like Yelp and Google but use caution. Check reviews but ascertain its credibility first. Most manufacturers will not allow poor contractors to be displayed on their web site, so that’s a good starting point. It is helpful to know if the company has a policy to show up on time or refund money.

Remember that not all HVAC contractors are created equal! So do not be afraid to be very diligent in asking questions because choosing the right HVAC contractor can mean the difference between an installation that goes smoothly and provides years of trouble-free comfort and one that winds up costing you thousands in wasted money and aggravation.

Do-It-Yourself HVAC - Should I do it?

Putting your feet up in a newly renovated attic space in the summer sounds like a super idea, but the room is like a sauna! What can possibly be done to make the top floor as cool as the first and not cause the utility bills to skyrocket? Well for starters, you can hand pick an efficient system and make sure that ducts are well sealed which is essential to keep every room of the house cool.

Understanding what an efficient HVAC system is and its potential is where the secret lies. HVAC is an acronym that stands for Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning. It is the most distorted term in construction and often HVAC is completely misunderstood by consumers and even by seasoned industry professionals. HVAC affects the health of the indoor environment and that of its occupants; the consumption of utilities and thus monthly operating costs, the temperature and humidity of building materials and furnishings. Armed with some good HVAC knowledge for beginners and some help from professionals you can avoid that "swimming with the sharks" type of experience.

So let’s hypothetically say you can go to a Home Depot type distributor of HVAC and procure all the components for a do-it-yourself system….then what? Now you’ve become the defacto mechanical contractor on the site and have to deal with the installation, commissioning and maintenance of the system. Spare yourself the hassle both physically and on the pocket and treat yourself to some serious help. Call a professional or a contractor to do what he does best.

However there are things that you can do as a do-it-yourself maintenance. These actions when done in a timely manner will help keep your home in top condition.

• Be sure to periodically clean or replace the filters - it's probably time to clean or replace the dust and dirt catcher once in 90 days to prevent you from sneezing your way into winter mornings. A clean filter maximizes your furnace's efficiency and longevity-- and minimizes your energy bills.

• Keep outdoor units clean – The outdoor unit of your air conditioner contains the compressor, used to generate cooler air in the warm months. Leaves, grass, and other debris are either sucked into the unit or blown in. The accumulated debris can significantly reduce the efficiency of your air conditioning unit and dramatically raise your utility bills.

• Keeping it clean - A/C or heat pump condensate drains can become clogged, leading to condensate leaks, spillage, or even bacterial hazards in a building. Clogged air conditioner condensate drain lines can form another source of air conditioner or heat pump condensate leakage that can in turn lead to hidden water damage or in some locations an indoor mold, bacterial contamination, mildew, algae and other debris can collect in the condensate pan and drain line.

• Clean evaporator and condenser coils - Evaporator coils are a place that mold grows best. In addition to constant dampness, the supply side of the coil is in contact with outside air and the dirt that isn’t caught by filters. So once or twice per year be sure to give it a good scrub.

• Maintaining Your HVAC System - Routine maintenance can lower utility costs, reduce equipment-replacement costs, and keep tenants/occupants happy.

Things inevitably go wrong with heating and AC systems, and sooner or later, your system will probably require a repair. So don’t risk personal intervention, be proactive and follow preventive maintenance but when there is a problem be wise and call in the expert.

Insulation – it’s more than what meets the eye

Building insulation refers broadly to any object in a building used as insulation for any purpose. Predominantly used for building insulation it adds to the building’s comfort and energy efficiency. Thermal insulation is the second most commonly used insulation wherein materials are used to reduce the rate of heat transfer. Soundproofing, also known as acoustic insulation ensures that the intensity of sound is reduced. Electrical insulation uses material to resist the flow of electric current and magnetism while another means is insulated glass which also saves energy. In recent times fire insulation and impact insulation (e.g. for vibrations caused by industrial applications) also play a vital role. The latest entrant in insulation is Fiberglass insulation, a man-made mineral fiber constructed from a variety of materials, such as sand and recycled glass. More than 90 percent of homes in America are lined with this pink stuff thus emerging as the most popular form of insulation in the United States. As the benefits stand, there are many apprehensions about the damage fiberglass can cause over time. It is known to cause health problems like immediate skin irritation, and some researchers fear inhaling fiberglass particles could cause cancer.

Insulating our buildings is one of the most imperative parts of any construction as insulation has a big effect on the cost of energy. As we have learnt in school heat naturally flows from a warm space to a cool space, and our homes and work places suffer from this transfer. Warm air from the inside will move to the outside and make us cold in winter. In contrast hot air moves from the outside to the inside and makes it uncomfortably warm in summer.

Unless your home and workplaces were specially constructed for energy efficiency, you can possibly reduce your energy bills by adding more insulation. Several older buildings have less insulation than buildings built today, but fret not, adding insulation to a newer building can pay for itself within a few years. To determine whether you require additional insulation, estimate how much insulation you already have in your building and how it is spread out. Invest in a home energy audit or an energy assessment. It will also help identify areas of your home that are in need of air sealing. An insulation check done as a routine part of a whole-house energy assessment done by a certified home energy auditor will also come in handy. One golden rule to remember is that before you insulate, you should make sure that your home is properly air sealed.

Fortunately we have heating and air conditioning systems to fix these problems, but the more opportunities warm air gets to flow out of or into the house, the harder those systems have to work. As those systems work harder, we use more energy and pay much higher utility bills. That is why HVAC insulation services sustain comfortable temperature indoors, with their manifold options. The best suited in terms of the return on investment (ROI) is the HVAC insulation through reflective insulation made by the sandwiched model of aluminium foil and polyethylene bubbled film. Available in two different variants of single bubble insulation and double bubble insulation films, the later one gives you the better protection against the needs of HVAC insulation because of its twin layered of polyethylene bubbles that responds very slow against the unwanted temperature change.

Proper HVAC insulation system is fundamental for homes and industrial constructions for its two prong benefit, it not only saves good amount of money by reducing the energy consumption but it also helps to reduce greenhouse gases released in the atmosphere, which is the need of the hour.

Ventilation

Ventilation (the V in HVAC) is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality (i.e. to control temperature, replenish oxygen, or remove moisture, odors, smoke, heat, dust, airborne bacteria, and carbon dioxide). While heating and air-conditioning are relatively straightforward operations, the more complex processes involved in ventilation are the most important in determining the quality of our indoor air.

It is one of the most significant engineering controls available to the industrial hygienist for improving or maintaining the quality of the air in the occupational work environment. It is a means of controlling the environment with air flow. Ventilation also assists in removing unpleasant smells and excessive moisture, introduce outside air, to keep interior building air circulating and to prevent stagnation of the interior air. Ventilation is addressed in specific standards for houses, offices, general industry, shipyard employment, long shoring, and the construction industry. Currently a number of well-identified illnesses, such as Legionnaire’s disease, asthma, tuberculosis, the common cold, influenza, meningitis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis and humidifier fever, have been directly traced to specific building ventilation problems. These are called building-related illnesses and are increasingly predominant in common buildings and workplaces today. Most of these diseases are treatable but some pose grave health risks and may require prolonged recovery times, most often long after the person has left the building.

There are many types of ventilation options –

Single - Sided Ventilation: limited to zones close to the openings

Cross - Ventilation: two or more openings on opposite walls - covers a larger zone than the single-sided openings

Stack Ventilation: Buoyancy - driven gives larger flows

Windcacthers: Wind and buoyancy driven-effective in warm and temperate climates

Solar - induced Ventilation: using the sun to heat building elements to increase buoyancy – more effective in warm climates

Mechanical or forced ventilation: through an air handling unit or direct injection to a space by a fan. A local exhaust fan can enhance infiltration or natural ventilation, thus increasing the ventilation air flow rate.

Natural ventilation: the airflow is due to wind and buoyancy through cracks in the building envelope or purposely installed openings.

Mixed Mode Ventilation or Hybrid ventilation: uses both mechanical and natural ventilation processes. The mechanical and natural components may be used in conjunction with each other or separately at different times of day.

Mechanical exhausts control odors and humidity in kitchens and bathrooms. Ceiling, table, floor fans circulate air within a room for the purpose of reducing the perceived temperature because of evaporation of perspiration on the skin of the occupants. When creating an energy-efficient, airtight home/ workplace through air sealing, it's very important to consider ventilation. Unless properly ventilated, an airtight home can seal in indoor air pollutants. Opening doors, windows, and using ceiling fans are all ways to maximize natural ventilation and reduce the risk of airborne contagion. Natural ventilation requires little maintenance and is inexpensive. Ventilation also helps control moisture, which is another important consideration for a healthy, energy-efficient home.

Good ventilation is matter of great criticality, ISO 16813:2006 is one of the ISO building environment standards, applicable to new constructions and the retrofit of existing buildings.  “It considers the need to provide a healthy indoor environment for the occupants as well as the need to protect the environment for future generations and promote collaboration among the various parties involved in building environmental design for sustainability.”

If you or others at your home/office are experiencing health or comfort problems that you suspect may be caused by indoor air pollution, you can talk to other family members or colleagues to see if similar problems are being experienced by others and contact a HVAC specialist immediately.

Never be a victim of cheap HVAC services

When you entrust the job of repairing or maintaining your HVAC system to a contractor who offers low cost services, you need to think twice before handing it to him. These so called low cost deals are often underhanded practices of unscrupulous HVAC companies who employ contractors that are not professionally qualified, trained or possess the skill of undertaking repair or replacement on your heating and air conditioning systems. We all know that a great doctor is never cheap, so it goes to say that contractors who offer quality services for your HVAC units are definitely not giving you a very cheap bill.

Most homeowners have been victims of cunning marketing strategies put for by the salesmen of unreliable HVAC service companies. These companies have in fact become gimmicky and dishonest when it comes to offering their services and sales. This is especially prevalent in the residential and commercial service industry. The salesmen are employed intentionally by these HVAC companies. They do not have enough experience in the HVAC trade, but the company believes in them to generate more sales for their HVAC equipment and product line. This according to them makes up for their lack of technical expertise. There are also reports carried out that justify that these HVAC companies train their staff by conducting mock sales interactions that teaches them to hook the customer and avoid technical questions.

If you have been a victim of all these, you are not alone. There are probably thousands of homeowners across the country who have been duped by these conniving salesmen, whose only purpose is to generate profits and not worry about the customer’s requirements. These so called contractors are shrewd enough to catch you at your most vulnerable point, especially when you are in desperate need of repair or replacement of your heating/air conditioning unit.

The point we are trying to make here is that homeowners and businesses need to seriously consider what kind of a service company they bring to their front door. A reliable HVAC company cares about the customer’s requirement and takes extra precaution when it comes to selling their product or when offering any service. Only then will your HVAC unit be guaranteed to a long and efficient working life, free from unnecessary repairs. It is not difficult to find a reputable company in your area who offers quality services. All it takes is a little common sense and the willingness to communicate with the company you are planning to approach. Just as you would get a lawyer’s second opinion in a trial, you need to apply the same strategy in this case. Then you can be assured that your HVAC unit is in good hands.

The same applies to choosing the right product or equipment for your home or office. You can’t just walk into a store, select a unit and then walk out. It takes a lot more time and effort to finding the perfect heating and cooling system that is the right fit for your home and your budget. Make sure that the unit is of the right size. For this, you need to measure the total square footage area of your indoor space. Also, ask your dealer to conduct an energy analysis of the building to determine the operating cost. This process will also help in preventing uneven temperature fluctuations and air stratification indoors by installing products for that particular purpose.