Tuckers Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Poolesville’

Your Frederick HVAC System and Ventilation

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

The vent system in your home is vital to the operation of your Frederick HVAC system. Without successful ventilation, your home won’t have the necessary clean air to keep you and your family healthy. So, what does proper ventilation require and how can you ensure your home has it? Here are some quick tips.

Install the Right Parts from the Start

Proper ventilation should result in even air pressure in your home to avoid problems with gas pilot lights. It should also be as energy efficient as possible and provide clean air through proper filtration and cleaning of the air that comes in. The best way to ensure your home has the ventilation needed to stay comfortable and safe for your entire family is to check the total size of the home and then measure the concentrations of certain pollutants like dander, pollen and smoke. A Frederick air conditioning contractor can provide these services for you.

Energy Loss

Ventilation is very important, but it is also important to remember energy loss. Since ventilation obviously involves moving air in and out of your house, you lose some of conditioned air that your is produced by your furnace or air conditioner, which makes them work harder to maintain the temperature.

To solve this problem, you should think about getting an energy recovery ventilator. Energy recovery ventilators transfer heat from one environment to another, so you are able to get fresh air into your home without worrying about raising your utility bills. In the winter, it transfers the heat to from the air going out to the air going in, and in the summer it will do the opposite. Its an excellent way to get great indoor air quality without putting extra strain on your HVAC system.

Supplements to Ventilation

Proper ventilation should not only provide fresh air, but it should also ensure your home has clean air. The air outside may be fresher, but it can be filled with pollutants like pollen, dander and smoke. These should be removed before they get inside and into the lungs of your loved ones. To do this, you need a full sized air cleaning system that removes particles from the air down to 0.3 microns.

HEPA filters can do this, as will electronic air cleaners which can ionize and remove smoke and gas particles. Make sure you discuss filtration and cleaning with Tuckers Air Conditioning & Heating during your next annual maintenance visit.

Photo by SDTeamCanada: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdteamcanada/6023947808/

Tags: Air Conditioning, Cabin John, Frederick, HVAC, Kentlands, Poolesville
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Heating Repair Guide: Flame Sensor Problems

Monday, January 30th, 2012

A flame sensor is a very small and specific component of your Darnestown home’s furnace, but when it is malfunctioning, it can completely shut down the operation of your furnace. To start with, let’s summarize how a flame sensor works.

The flame sensor is a rod that sits directly in the path of one of the burners in your furnace. When the burner is on, the flame passes by the tip of the flame sensor, heating it up. If the furnace is on but the flame sensor is not hot, the furnace automatically switches off to avoid a continuous gas leak. So, the flame sensor is a safety measure.

Sometimes, though, the furnace can be operating just fine, and the burners are firing perfectly, the flame sensor still sends the signal that there is no flame and shuts down the furnace. This is obviously a problem.

Often, this is just a symptom of build-up on the flame sensor that is insulating it and preventing it from heating properly. We strongly recommend that you call a professional to repair it, here are the steps that they will follow:

Locate the flame sensor on the furnace. It is a thin metal rod that extends through a bracket and into the path of the flame as it is expelled from one of the burners.
Turn off the power to the furnace.
Loosen the bracket holding the flame sensor in place and gently withdraw it.
Using fine grit sandpaper or emery cloth, gently rub away any combustion build-up that has accumulated on the end of the flame sensor.
Making sure all the build-up has been removed, replace the flame sensor in the bracket. Turn the furnace back on to test it.

If all went well, the furnace should remain on now, until the desired heating temperature is reached. Most often, the problem is as simple as giving the flame sensor a good cleaning up. Since you are dealing with quite delicate equipment, you can understand why it is so important to call in a professional if suspect a problem with your flame sensor.

Tags: Darnestown, Frederick County, Heating Repair, Montgomery Village, Poolesville
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Heating System Ventilation 101: Basic Guidelines from

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Maintaining Proper Ventilation for Combustion Systems

Anytime you maintain, retrofit, or replace a gas heating system in your Poolesville home you also need to be concerned with air quality. Combustion air is needed by all oil and gas heating systems to support the combustion process. This air is provided in some homes by unintentional air leaks, or by air ducts that connect to the outdoors. The combustion process creates several byproducts that are potentially hazardous to human health and can cause deterioration in your home. You can protect yourself from these hazards, as well as maintain energy efficiency, by ensuring that your chimney system functions properly and that your gas heating system is properly ventilated. In some cases, installing a sealed-combustion furnace or boiler can also help.

Chimneys

Properly functioning chimney systems will carry combustion byproducts out of the home. Therefore, chimney problems put you at risk of having these byproducts, such as carbon monoxide, spill into your home.

Most older gas furnaces and boilers have naturally drafting chimneys. The combustion gases exit the home through the chimney using only their buoyancy combined with the chimney’s height. Naturally drafting chimneys often have problems exhausting the combustion gases because of chimney blockage, wind or pressures inside the home that overcome the buoyancy of the gases.

Atmospheric, open-combustion furnaces and boilers, as well as fan-assisted furnaces and boilers, should be vented into masonry chimneys, metal double-wall chimneys, or another type of manufactured chimney. Masonry chimneys should have a fireclay, masonry liner or a retrofitted metal flue liner.

Many older chimneys have deteriorated liners or no liners at all and must be relined during furnace or boiler replacement. A chimney should be relined when any of the following changes are made to the combustion heating system:

When you replace an older furnace or boiler with a newer one that has an AFUE of 80% or more. These mid-efficiency appliances have a greater risk of depositing acidic condensation droplets in chimneys, and the chimneys must be prepared to handle this corrosive threat. The new chimney liner should be sized to accommodate both the new heating appliance and the combustion water heater by the installer.

When you replace an older furnace or boiler with a new 90+ AFUE appliance or a heat pump. In this case, the heating appliance will no longer vent into the old chimney, and the combustion water heater will now vent through an oversized chimney. This oversized chimney can lead to condensation and inadequate draft. The new chimney liner should be sized for the water heater alone, or the water heater in some cases can be vented directly through the wall.

Other Ventilation Concerns

Some fan-assisted, non-condensing furnaces and boilers, installed between 1987 and 1993, may be vented horizontally through high-temperature plastic vent pipe (not PVC pipe, which is safely used in condensing furnaces). This type of venting has been recalled and should be replaced by stainless steel vent pipe. If horizontal venting was used, an additional draft-inducing fan may be needed near the vent outlet to create adequate draft. Floor furnaces may have special venting problems because their vent connector exits the furnace close to the floor and may travel 10 to 30 feet before reaching a chimney. Check to see if this type of venting or the floor furnace itself needs replacement. If you smell gases, you have a venting problem that could affect your health. Contact your local utility or Poolesville heating contractor to have this venting problem repaired immediately.

Chimneys can be expensive to repair, and may help justify installing new heating equipment that won’t use the existing chimney.

Tags: Boyds, Clarksburg, Frederick County, Heating Replacement, Poolesville, Ventilation
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How to Replace a Thermostat: Some Pointers from Ijamsville

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

There are a lot of common household tasks that do-it-yourselfers can handle beyond changing light bulbs or replacing a fuse. One of those is changing out a thermostat in your Ijamsville home. The reasons for replacing a thermostat can vary from making an upgrade to changing out a thermostat that is not working right – or at all. Whatever the reason, the task is pretty simple and require s very little time and very few tools.

Let’s set the stage.

The materials you will need are the replacement thermostat, wire connectors, electrical tape (optional), needle nose pliers, and a screwdriver.

Here are the steps:

Turn off electrical power to the existing thermostat. You can do this by flipping a breaker switch or removing a fuse from your home’s electrical panel. This would be a good time to make a note of the circuit’s location, writing the circuit number on the panel door or using a sticker.
Remove the cover from the existing unit. You should be able to locate the screws that hold it to the wall mounting plate. Remove the screws and pull the unit away from the wall and mounting plate. Be careful not to touch the electrical wires together on the thermostat.
Disconnect the wiring. Carefully remove the electrical wiring from the unit and keep the wires apart. You might want to tape the bare ends and also ensure that the wires don’t fall back through the wall. If the wires are not color coded, mark each one and which terminal they were removed from. Remove the mounting plate.
If you are using a new mounting plate, make sure it fits over the existing hole and then pull the wires through the opening of the plate. Make sure the mounting plate is secured to the wall with the proper screws.
Now match the wires to the terminals on the new thermostat. The wires are usually color-coded but if not, make sure you attach the right wires to the corresponding numbered terminals on the next thermostat. A green wire, which operates the furnace fan blower, is connected to the “G” terminal. The white wire operates the heater and attaches to the “W” terminal. The yellow wire operates the air conditioner and connects to the “Y” terminal. Use a wire nut to secure the wires and keep them apart from other wires. Ignore any other wires coming out of the wall as they are not necessary and may have been added by the original builder for other purposes.
Carefully move the wires back into the wall as you line up the new thermostat on the mounting bracket. Install the new bracket and secure the thermostat to the bracket.
Turn your power back on and check your thermostat by setting the temperature high or low, to engage the furnace or air conditioner.

This simple procedure can be done in less than 10 minutes. But if you have any doubts and want greater peace of mind, call a professional heating and cooling contractor to perform the installation.

Tags: Heating, Ijamsville, Montgomery County, Poolesville, Themostats, Thermostat Replacement, Wheaton
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How Do EER and SEER Work? A Question From Poolesville

Friday, September 9th, 2011

If you’ve looked for a new air conditioner in Poolesville recently, you probably noticed each unit comes with an EER or SEER rating. The former is for room air conditioners and the latter for central air conditioning units. In both cases, the number is a measure of how efficiently the system uses electricity. Effectively, if you buy a system with a high rating, you spend less on electricity. Of course, there are tradeoffs. The higher rated machines tend to cost much more, so as a homeowner, you’ll have to evaluate how much you can spend now and how long it will take to save money from that investment.

How EER and SEER Are Measured

These numbers are required by the government to tell you, the consumer, how many BTUs per hour the device can use for every watt of electricity drawn. The more BTUs a system can use, the better for your bill.

Let’s say you want to buy a 10,000 BTU system to cool your living room and dining room. A pretty standard number for a single room unit is 11, meaning the 10,000 BTU system would use about 900 watts per hour to run at full capacity. We figure this out by dividing the BTUs (10,000) by the watts (900).

There is a lot of math to do here, so many people simply look for a higher number within their price range. But, at what point is the upgrade really worth your extra money?

Choosing the Right Energy Efficiency Rating

The easiest way to describe this is to compare two similar devices with different EERs:

	Air Conditioner 1	Air Conditioner 2
BTUs	12,000	12,000
EER	9	11
Watts	1333	1091
Price	$300	$450

In this particular case, we can spend more for a device that is the same size but uses less electricity. The question then is whether that increased expenditure will pay off in the short term. Let’s assume each device would be operated for 10 hours per day for 30 days in a typical summer month. That’s 300 hours of operation. If the average cost per kWh in you are is $0.09, it will take 4 hours for the first air conditioner to consume 1 extra kilowatt of electricity equal to an additional $0.09. If your air conditioner runs for four months out of the year, we know that it will operate for a total of 1200 hours. That means:

[(1200 hrs x 242 watts) / (1000 watts/kw) ] x $0.09/kWh = $26

So, you save roughly $26 per year from that high efficiency unit. With a $150 price difference, you will break even after 6 years (though probably sooner if the price of electricity goes up).

If you have questions about which air conditioner is right for you, contact your local AC contractor.

Tags: Air Conditioning, Montgomery County, Poolesville, Sandy Spring, Urbana
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Control Your Comus Home’s Moisture – Humidity Is Key

Friday, August 19th, 2011

Most people don’t give a second thought to humidity until it is either much too high or uncomfortably low. And if you have a state of the art home comfort system, you’re probably comfortable inside all year long anyway. But there are several reasons to pay attention to the humidity level in your Comus home and take action if you realize that it isn’t providing the comfort level you’ve come to expect.

Many problems arise from excess or inadequate indoor humidity levels. For instance, a lack of humidity causes your skin and nasal passages to dry and crack, which is obviously pretty unpleasant. But air that’s too dry can also make the symptoms of allergies, asthma and colds worse. Anyone in your home suffering from these conditions will be much more comfortable when the right level of humidity is restored. Another great benefit is that the indoor air quality will no longer contribute to longer and more sever colds and flus in the winter.

Too much humidity is a problem too, though. It promotes the growth of mold, which is a big contributor to indoor air pollution. Mold spores are a big time allergen. The more moisture there is in your home, the more mold there’s likely to be. High indoor humidity levels also promote the growth of dust mites, another major indoor air contaminant and allergen.

Of course, you probably have a great indoor air cleaner in place to get all of those contaminants out of your home’s air supply. But if the air inside your home is too moist or too dry, it can actually make it harder for the air cleaner to remove all types of contaminants. Not only are you putting a greater strain on your body and immune system, you’re asking your air cleaners to work much harder, which can cost you money in repairs and filter replacements.

For all of these reasons, it’s important to put in a humidification system to maintain the overall quality of your indoor air. Plus, a properly humidified environment is simply more comfortable to live in. A humidifier can easily be integrated into your current home heating and cooling system, so you don’t have to worry about high installation costs or equipment compatibility. All you have to do is sit back, relax and breathe in the fresh air that your humidification system makes possible.

Tags: Cabin John, Comus, Frederick County, Humidifiers, Indoor Air Quality, Poolesville
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Inverter vs Conventional Models

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

When trying to pick out the right air conditioner for your home, you’ll probably stumble across mention of inverter technology. Air conditioners using inverter technology are quite similar to conventional air conditioners in many respects, but they have some distinct advantages under certain circumstances.

What’s the Difference?

A conventional air conditioner is set up to switch on when the indoor temperature reaches a particular level. When it comes on, it introduces cool air at a constant speed until the desired temperature is reached and then it shuts off completely. Your indoor environment remains more or less the same temperature, but you will be blasted periodically with a lot of cold air. While the air conditioner is off, the air in the room gradually warms up until the temperature gets high enough to trigger the air conditioning system to come on again.

An inverter, on the other hand, comes on powerfully at first to achieve the desired temperature, and then reduces its fan speed gradually to maintain that temperature without shutting off completely. This method of cooling maintains the desired temperature more consistently than a conventional system can. It also requires a lot of careful measurements, not only for how much cooling power is needed in your room, but for the speed at which the cool air will dissipate from that room.

Initial Installation

One big reason that more people didn’t opt for an inverter air conditioning system in the past was that the initial installation cost was often considerably higher than that of a conventional system. However, advances in the technology have made inverter air conditioners much more affordable in recent years. Digital programming, more accurate measurements and efficiency in every aspect of the field are responsible for the drop in price.

Savings over Time

While inverter air conditioning systems are still typically more expensive than their conventional counterparts when it comes to initial cost, they provide excellent savings over time that can more than make up for the difference in purchase price. This is particularly true in areas where air conditioners are not running at full blast constantly.

When they are both maxed out, a conventional air conditioner is more efficient than an inverter. But when the temperature is such that a conventional model would switch on and off all of the time, an inverter will easily outstrip it in terms of energy efficiency.

To ensure you get the right model for your home, carefully calculate the difference in installation costs, the amount of cooling your home needs and the current efficiency of your cooling system. If everything lines up perfectly, an inverter system may be right for you.

Tags: Clarksburg, Frederick County, Kentlands, Poolesville
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Can I Choose Environmentally Friendly Coolants?

Friday, July 1st, 2011

Air conditioners are indispensable in many parts of the country, but their environmental impact has long been a source of controversy. In particular, the coolants that were used in the earliest air conditioners, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have done quite a bit of damage to the Earth’s protective ozone layer.

When this affect was discovered, countries all over the world acted to have them phased out of production and use in air conditioning. While CFCs have not been produced since 1995, there are still many air conditioning units functioning today that use CFCs. As these units wear out, of course, the CFCs will gradually disappear from use altogether.

Another type of coolant that is commonly used in air conditioners is hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). These have a slightly lower environmental impact than their cousin CFCs, but they are still not ideal in terms of preserving the ozone layer and impeding the progress of global warming. HCFCs are gradually being phased out as well, and they will no longer be produced at all by 2030.

However, it is still possible to buy air conditioners that use HCFCs as a coolant, and if you can avoid this, you should. HCFCs are not nearly as environmentally friendly as some of the other options on the market, and if you are concerned about the effect that these types of chemicals can have on our environment, it is best to steer clear of air conditioners that use HCFCs.

So what coolants are considered environmentally friendly? Well, there are actually two options in this regard. The first are hydroflourocarbons (HFCs). Although they are quite similar to CFCs and HCFCs, HFCs do not contain chlorine and so do not do the type of damage that their predecessors were capable of. You can find air conditioners that use HFCs relatively easily by looking for an “ozone friendly” label on the box.

Refrigerant blends are also becoming a more and more popular environmentally friendly coolant solution for air conditioners as well. Although these types of coolants typically cost more to produce and so can drive up the cost of the air conditioners that use them, they should begin to come down in price as they are more widely adopted across the industry. Just as with HFCs, look for the “ozone friendly” label to identify air conditioners that use refrigerant blends as coolants.

Tags: Coolants, Olney, Poolesville, Potomac
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