A beautiful mid-March day in Oregon is the perfect reminder of what a great place we live. The darkness and rain give way, for a brief moment, to allow us to roll down the windows, and take in the fresh air; and it gives us that glimpse we need into the great days that lie ahead. Having grown up in Oregon, I have always loved the balance of weather that we have here. By the end of winter, I am ready for sun and summer, and by the end of summer, I am actually ready for the cool relief of a rainy, foggy fall. We are very fortunate to live in such a beautiful place, and I am very thankful for it. I wanted to share this sentiment with you, and I will also take this opportunity to say that this season change is the perfect time to have us perform maintenance on your heating and cooling system. We will change your filter to get you ready for allergy season, and perform a complete and thorough cleaning on your air conditioning system to make sure it’s ready for summer. We have three maintenance packages available, so contact us to find out more. Oh, and enjoy this weather!
Should I have my heating and air conditioning system maintained?
Preventative maintenance for a heating and air conditioning system is something that is often times overlooked. Some homeowners choose not to pay any attention to their heating and cooling system until there is a problem with it, or the system is no longer functioning. These problems can be very costly to repair, and can many times necessitate replacement of the heating and/or cooling system. A simple once a year maintenance on your heating and cooling system can greatly increase the life of your heating and cooling system, as well as help to maintain the efficiency of the system over time. These factors will save you money in the long run. Now I’m not saying that if you have a maintenance done every year you’ll never have to replace your system, but I am saying that you can extend the life of the system by at least a couple of years, and the energy that is saved by the system operating at peak efficiency over it’s lifespan will more than pay for the maintenance you are having done.
I like to use cars as a parallel. The auto industry has done a great job of making people aware of the benefits of having an oil change every 3 months or 3,000 miles. If you ask most people out there, they would be able to tell you when they should have their oil changed. Conversely most people don’t know when or why they should service their heating and cooling equipment. If you look at your monthly utility cost, and realize that a heating and cooling system makes up a large portion of that, and then also factor in that a new system can rival the price of a car, it starts to make more sense as to why we should pay more attention to our heating and cooling systems.
What does a maintenance on a heating and cooling system include? The answer to this question will vary based on who you choose to do the maintenance. At Clean Energy Comfort we do a very thorough, very entailed inspection and cleaning. Aside from changing out your air filter, and vacuuming out your furnace, which is the extent of what you’ll get with some of the “$79-$99 tune ups” that you will find advertised, we will really get down to the nitty gritty. On a furnace we will inspect and clean the burners, inspect the heat exchanger and clean if necessary, pull the blower and clean the fins as well as lubricate if necessary, check circuitry, perform safety checks, and run test. With an air conditioning system we rinse and clean debris off the outdoor unit, clean the indoor coil located at the furnace, check refrigerant pressures, check circuitry, perform safety checks, and run test.
To summarize, keeping your heating and cooling equipment maintained and in good working order is very important, and you can be sure that Clean Energy Comfort will make it worth your investment.
Spring is upon us!
It’s that time of year. The temperature is gradually creeping up, and the trees are starting to bloom. With the trees and flowers blooming, allergies become a concern for a lot of people. The itchy, watery eyes, the scratchy throat, the runny noes, these symptoms can put a real damper on what should be an exciting time of year for all of us. After all, Summer is just around the corner. A good filtration system attached to your home’s heating and cooling system, such as an electronic air cleaner, or even a good pleated media filter, can help you to enjoy this time of year the way you should. You can also incorporate UV light treatment which will sterilize the bacteria floating through your duct system. The filter will catch it, while the UV light zaps it.
Having a furnace equipped with a variable speed fan is also a great way to circulate the air through the home. Variable speed, or ECM motors can run continuously at a very low speed. By running a continuous fan you can constantly filter the air, and help balance temperatures throughout the home all while saving money due to the low operating cost of the ECM motor. These motors use about 2/3 the power of a traditional blower motor.
Heat Recovery Ventilators, or HRV’s, can remove stale air from your home and exhaust it to the outside, while bringing fresh air into the home. The HRV removes heat from the air being exhausted, and mixes it with the incoming fresh air to condition it. This allows you to efficiently bring fresh air into the home, without affecting the indoor air temperature. This is also a much safer alternative than leaving windows open.
These are just a few of the ways we can increase the quality of the air you breathe inside your home. Remember also, that this is the perfect time of year to have a system maintenance done. We will get your air conditioner ready for the long Summer ahead, and make sure your furnace is ready to deliver the air throughout your home.
Have a great Spring!