Clean Energy Comfort

Salem's leading provider of heating and cooling systems

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503-304-1320

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503-982-6082

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Touring the Trane Factory in Tyler, Texas

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Recently we had the pleasure of touring the Trane factory in Tyler, Texas. We made the decision to partner up with Trane as a dealer, and touring the factory was something we wanted to do in order to become more familiar with the products, and hopefully increase our confidence in Trane. This experience definitely impressed us. At the factory in Tyler, Trane manufactures all of their outdoor units (air conditioners and heat pumps), run tests all of their products, and sets up very rigorous conditions to test the limits of Trane products.

We started the day by learning more about the history of Trane, getting an overlay of where their different products are manufactured, and seeing new products that are available. We then moved on to the actual tour. It was quickly apparent that there was a culture of pride within the company. In a factory setting, it’s not often you see so many smiling faces, and people who are seemingly enjoying their work. Walking through the Trane factory most people seemed happy to be where they were, which was good to see.

The processes that Trane uses in production definitely instilled confidence in the brand, but the most impressive part of the tour was their product testing methods. Trane’s SEET lab (Systems Extreme Environmental Test) is a giant room where they test the limits of their products. They have multiple different air conditioners and heat pumps installed in the lab at any given time. The units spend 16 weeks at a time in there, and face very rigorous conditions. The temperature in the lab ranges from -20°F to 125°F, and snow is actually created in the room during the cold conditions. During our visit, the cold weather was being simulated, and there was probably a good 6″ of snow on the ground. All of the air conditioners and heat pumps were covered in snow and ice, and they were still running like champs. The following day was scheduled to be a hot day. Testing the systems under these extreme conditions shows Trane the limits of their systems, and allows them to make adjustments as needed.

There were multiple other testing procedures that we witnessed, from checking the durability of furnace and A/C cabinets to sound testing of Trane products. We also watched their powder coating process for air conditioners and heat pumps, and got a better understanding why Trane products stay looking like new years after installation.

The tour of the Trane factory definitely gave us confidence that we are aligning with the right product. It is good to see products being manufactured in the US, and pride being taken in making the most durable heating and cooling products on the market. We are proud to be a Trane dealer.

For more info on Trane heating and cooling products, go to trane.com/residential. If you are located in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, and are interested in having a Trane comfort system installed in your home, contact us for a no cost comfort consultation.

Trane

What is a Modulating Furnace?

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A modulating furnace is the perfect gas furnace for our climate in the Willamette Valley. A modulating furnace has the ability to run at a very low heat setting, a high heat setting, or anywhere in between. By running at a lower heat setting the modulating furnace can use less gas and electricity to heat your home, and deliver a higher level of comfort. The heat setting that a modulating furnace operates at is determined by factors like outdoor temperature, and the set point of the thermostat. The colder it is outside, the more heat the furnace will need to put out to maintain the desired temperature in the home. On a more mild day, the furnace can run at a lower heat setting to achieve the desired indoor temperature. This ability to ramp up and down makes for a very comfortable home, because the furnace will not heat the home too fast under lighter operating conditions. How often do you find your furnace turning on and off? If it is happening constantly, that’s because it is putting too much heat into the home too rapidly. The set point of the thermostat is achieved before the home is able to be heated evenly. This makes for hot and cold spots in the home, causes excess wear and tear on the furnace, and costs you more money to heat your home. We also discussed the advantages of a two stage furnace in the post, What is a Two Stage Furnace?. The two stage furnace offers a lot of the same advantages as a modulating furnace, but the modulating furnace takes it to another level. It offers a greater range of operation, therefore a greater comfort level, and better energy efficiency. If you would like to learn more, feel free to Contact Us to set up a free comfort consultation.

What is a Two Stage Furnace?

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Have you heard of a two stage furnace, but are not quite sure what that is? A two stage furnace is simply a gas furnace that has two heat settings, low and high. Furnaces should be sized using a load calculation program, which takes into account the home’s efficiency (windows, insulation value, etc.), as well as cubic footage, and weather data for the area. The design temperature is generally pretty low, 23° for Salem,OR, so with the mild temperatures that we generally see in the Willamette Valley, a furnace sized at 23° will be oversized majority of the time. A two stage furnace allows us to size for those extreme temperatures, while being able to run at a lower heat setting on a more mild day. This feature not only saves you money on energy costs, but also makes for a much more comfortable home. The best two stage furnaces not only have a very high gas utilization efficiency, around 96%, but they are also equipped with variable speed fans that have an electronically communicated motor (ECM). With this feature, these furnaces qualify for a $352 state tax credit for the 2014 tax year, which is a nice bonus. Our two stage furnace of choice is a Rheem R96V. This furnace is very quiet, very efficient, and very reliable. If you would like to set up a free in home consultation to learn more about this furnace, or any others, please click here, and fill out the request form.

 

Cool Products For Your Heating and Cooling System

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Most people aren’t aware of just how many different accessory products are available for a heating and cooling system, whether it be related to safety and health, comfort, energy savings, or just ease of operation. Let’s touch on a few of these products.

Health & Safety Products

Carbon monoxide detectors are becoming more and more popular. On April 1 of 2011 in Oregon, ORS 476.725 went into effect stating that carbon monoxide detectors must be installed in any home that contains a Carbon Monoxide (CO) producing appliance, or that has an attached garage where CO may enter the home from a car running in the garage. What appliances produce CO? Pretty much any gas or oil burning appliance, a furnace, water heater, gas range, or even a wood burning fireplace. The law states that single family residences are required to have a working CO detector in, or within 15′ of any bedroom at the time of sale or rental. Unintentional CO exposure accounts for an estimated 15,000 ER visits, and approximately 500 deaths each year in the US. – Center for Disease Control. This is a very important product to help keep your family safe from this silent killer.

Duct mounted smoke detectors can be easily installed on your ductwork, and include a tube that enters the duct, and will sense smoke being pulled through the ductwork. Once smoke is sensed by the detector, it will turn your furnace off to avoid circulating the smoke throughout the entire home. You can incorporate an alarm into this setup, but the biggest benefit of this product is the avoided smoke damage that even the smallest of kitchen fires could cause if allowed to be circulated through the ductwork with the force of the furnace fan.

Ultra violet light can be installed on your heating and cooling system, and is very effective at maintaining healthy air in the home. There are many good air filtration systems available, but the downfall with most of them is their inability to kill the particles they trap, and therefore those particles may be disbursed into the duct system again. The UV light will kill mold spores and bacteria, and stop them from reproducing. Ductwork is a breeding ground for these organisms, and the UV light will keep your lungs from taking the abuse.

Energy Savings and Comfort

Now that we’re through all the boring safety stuff, we can focus on the cool gadgets that are available. The most exciting control system available right now is the Prestige HD thermostat from Honeywell. Honeywell has developed a thermostat that will open eyes, and broaden your abilities to control your heating and cooling system. This thermostat has a full color display, and when equipped with the optional wireless outdoor temperature sensor, will also display outdoor temperature and humidity. The stat incorporates an interview based programming method, and will ask you questions about your schedule for each day of the week, to determine optimum programming settings for increased comfort and energy savings. Filter change and maintenance reminders can also be easily set up, so that you don’t let that all too easy to forget, and yet so important, furnace be neglected. That is the basic operation of the stat, but the really cool part is the options available.

There is an optional Portable Comfort Control, which is a remote that you can take with you anywhere in the house, and you can not only control the system from there, but if you want, you can even have the temperature sensed from there. For example, if you are spending the day in a TV room watching movies, and you want that room to maintain 70 degrees, you simply take the remote with you, push the button to sense from the remote, and your heating and cooling system will work to achieve 70 degrees in that room.

If being able to control your system from any room in your home isn’t enough, what about being able to control it from anywhere in the world? The Internet Gateway from Honeywell plugs into your wireless router, and can wirelessly communicate between your laptop, desktop, phone, or iPad. You can control the temperature manually, set up a new program, and also monitor the system. Honeywell monitors the system as well, with no monthly fees. Sensors get installed in the ductwork that read temperature on the supply and return side of your heating and cooling system. If the difference between the two sensors increases or decreases indicating a problem with the heating and cooling system, then emails will get sent to up to 5 emails of your choice. If you have your email in the system along with the email of your heating contractor, then if there is a problem, your heating contractor can be arranging a service call, and contacting you, whereas before you would have to come home to a cold house, and probably pay after hours rates to have it fixed. The Internet Gateway can be especially useful in a vacation home. How nice would it be to bump up the heat when you or a renter are on your way to the home, and oh, if you got half way back home and it clicked with you that you forgot to turn down the thermostat, no problem. Just hop online.

These are just a few of the many products available that can be added to any heating and cooling system at anytime. If you have any questions on these or any other products of interest, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to help.