All in Heating and Cooling

Contrary to belief, you can actually seal your air ducts without professional help.

My boyfriend who is an air conditioning technician would probably drop kick me if he knew I was saying this, but I’ve seen him seal ducts so many times that I could probably do it in my sleep.

The first thing you want to do is run the air conditioner and inspect the air ducts to find where the leaks are. To find a thermal leak you can run your hands along the duct, or you could listen for air pressure and perhaps whistling noises. Once you find the leak, hold the air duct in place and apply a sealant mask over it. It will take the sealant various times to dry, and that will depend on the type of sealant you get. Once it dries, the leak should be sealed and you shouldn’t have much problems with the air duct anymore. Maybe I am oversimplifying the process, but this is exactly what my boyfriend does whenever I see him repair air ducts. Some people think it’s weird that I accompany my boyfriend to work, but I have a really flexible job and I miss him so much that I don’t mind doing it. I’ve learned a lot about what he does too. I’m able to work in the car by using my hotspot for my computer, so we both work while we get to spend a little bit of time together. Because I have a child and we don’t live together, it can be tough to see each other outside of work sometimes.

air conditioning install

Resealing air ducts is super important to maintain the quality of your central HVAC.

If you don’t seal your ducts as needed, air can leak and condensation can be created which can damage your walls.

It’s better to be ahead of the game when it comes to your air ducts so that the issue doesn’t get worse than it needs to be. Sealing your air ducts doesn’t have to be expensive either! I think many people are under the impression that this type of repair costs a lot of money, but it’s something you could technically do on your own if you understand how the air duct system works. Lots of people seal their own air ducts and then have a technician come to do a larger seal once every couple of years. If you’ve never done it before, I’d recommend watching lots of videos and perhaps even have a professional come do it so that you can watch and learn from it. If you pay attention and take it seriously, you could seal your own air ducts and save yourself some money. I don’t always recommend doing repairs on your own though. Some work really does require professional help. People don’t go to school to learn these things for no reason. My dad went to school to become a firefighter so that he can learn to professionally put out fires. Maybe that’s not the best example, but my point is that people are trained to do things that the average person may not have the knowledge or resources to handle.

 

 

electric fireplace

My dad’s best friend is a heating technician and he gets a lot of great business where we live.

My brother thinks that being a technician isn’t a great career to opt for, but I think he does very well for himself considering heating is always in high demand here. Last time I saw him he was telling me about heated floors. I had no idea that heated floors were even a thing, and I immediately asked if it makes your feet too hot. He rolled his eyes since that was probably the hundredth time he’s ever been asked that. He said that heated floors are actually really great and efficient heating systems to have in the North because we don’t need air conditioning as much. You can’t really have two completely different heating and cooling systems coexisting in a house together like that, so hydronic heating means you can’t have a complex air conditioner. I personally don’t even like air conditioning because I think it gets too cold. However, my dad is starting to get convinced that we need a hydronic heater now. My dad and his best friend have been inseparable for years, and I really value that. My best friend and I have fights sometimes and I wonder if our friendship will ever really last. My dad’s friendship inspires me and gives me hope that we can overcome the silliest and stupidest fights. We are complete opposites and tend to butt heads a lot, but I think that we still get along really well and care for each other a lot. Deep down I know that has got to count for something.

 

 

ventilation

My best friend had heated floors installed in her home recently and she has been raving on and on about them ever since.

I don’t have heated floors so I’m not sure what is so amazing about them, but apparently it’s the best thing since sliced bread.

I’ve started doing a little bit of research on heated floors just so I can get a basic understanding of how they work, and they sound really interesting! However, I don’t love how costly it can be to repair if the hydronic heater somehow broke down. Since the piping is installed under the floors, you have to lift up the flooring to repair the heater which can be inconvenient and expensive. Not to mention that you can’t just do that on your own, so you have to hire professional heating technicians to fix something like that. I think I’ll stick with my central heater for now because at least I know that I can afford to fix it when something goes wrong. I hate having to be so frugal with my money all of the time. I have friends that invest in really cool things because they are able to afford the upkeep of them, and I wish I was at that place. I know that it will happen for me one day, but sometimes it feels like everyone is always two steps ahead of me. I’m really manifesting that a change is going to come into my life soon so that I can have all of the things that I desire. I think I deserve it!

 

air conditioner service plan

My friend has been telling me about a heating system that I have never seen before! Apparently hydronic heating systems are all the new rage and a much better alternative to central heaters for many reasons.

I asked her to explain to me how hydronic heaters work.

She said that the first step is that the system needs hot water to produce electricity, so the boiler uses a process called conduction to heat the water in the reservoir. Then, the hot water runs through a piping system that is installed underneath the floor. The hot water produces heat within the flooring itself and then the heat from the floor radiates into the room. She had hydronic heating installed in her home a few weeks ago so she let me come over so I could experience it. If you would have told me a month ago that heat from flooring could warm up a room without burning my feet, I would’ve called you crazy. However, it truly works! I’m pretty sure I’m going to look into this as an option for my home, but I don’t know if it’s too late for my house. I live in a small historic bungalow and it doesn’t seem like this system would be the best fit for it. I love my house, but because the history of it needs to be preserved, I actually have a lot of restrictions on what I can and can’t do with it. I don’t think my next house will be so historic so that I can have more freedom with it.

air conditioning

I am an environmental science professor at the local college in town and I am really passionate about my work.

I really love teaching people to be passionate about the environment too! I am currently doing research on heating systems that are commonly used in our town and comparing their environmental impact.

A lot of people use central heating systems. Central heaters are a reliable option, but they tend to waste energy if people don’t have their air ducts and filters regularly cleaned. In a survey, I found that most people don’t get their air ducts cleaned as often as they should, or regularly replace their filters. A better and more environmentally friendly heating option would be to use a hydronic heating system. Hydronic heaters can be pretty costly to install, and not every home may be compatible with them. However, if it can work in a home, I think hydronic heaters are the best options when we take the environment into account. This heating system only uses the energy it needs and doesn’t need to use air ducts and filters. The maintenance for the homeowner is relatively minimal, but they will need to get professional help whenever service needs to be done on it. I am presenting these facts about hydronic heaters at our next board meeting to see if the city council will sign off on a petition to encourage homeowners to switch to this system. I don’t know if everyone will be on board with it because it will cost a pretty penny to do, but I think it will be worth a shot.

heating provider

If you live in the North, it is highly suggested to do yourself a favor and invest in a hydronic heating system for your home.

Hydronic heating relies on the use of water to heat the flooring surfaces and radiate heat into the air of the room it is in.

The heating system is pretty complex and can be very expensive to install, but the energy savings you get from using the system are pretty significant in comparison to a central heater. It can be a bit of a pain to deal with a repair if something in your hydronic heating system breaks though. For example, if a heating pipe bursts underneath the floor, you only have a certain amount of time to get going on the repair before water damage begins to take place. I recommend having your heating technician’s number on speed dial, and also having an emergency heating company’s number on hand in case your regular person is unavailable. One time I had something break and my regular guy was out of town. I had to call an emergency company instead. It costs me an arm and a leg, but it would have cost me way more if I had put off the issue and water damage began to set in. Sometimes you have to take risks and choose the better option even if it’s not the best option. We all have to lose a little in order to gain something in return. That’s a lesson that I am learning more and more throughout my life in a variety of ways. Growth is all around us and within us.

click here

My sister and I live together and we honestly love it! Some people couldn’t stand the thought of living with their siblings, but we get along really well and love each other so much.

We are currently undergoing some renovations to the house, and that’s been a little tense.

Next on the list is replacing our furnace because it’s been in the house for way too long. The previous owners installed the furnace almost twenty-five years ago, so the furnace isn’t really working properly and makes really strange noises. We are trying to decide if we want to opt for a gas furnace or an oil furnace. I’m personally on board for an oil furnace, but my sister really wants to stick with the gas furnace since that was what was there before. I want an oil furnace because it is a better option for the environment. Gas furnaces are cheaper to maintain, but they don’t tend to last as long and I think that’s dumb considering you have to generally pay more money for them up front. Oil furnaces are also a much safer option to have in your home, and I don’t want to have to worry about our safety while we are sleeping on cold nights. I don’t know how long we will have to be in this debate before we reach a sound conclusion, but I hate the tension that it’s brought into our house. We usually have some high vibrational feeling between our walls, but it’s been thick and stale the last few days. I hope we can figure out how to find some balance between all of these renovations.

 

air purification help

My sister has always had a wild imagination.

She could entertain herself for days and days on a singular fantasy or idea that she fabricated.

It was actually quite fun to see what she would come up with sometimes. Sometimes her imagination got a little out of control though. She has basically been recovering for days because she fully convinced herself that our oil furnace down in the basement was haunted by the ghost of an evil demon. I think our oil furnace is just getting old so it’s starting to make some weird noises down in the basement, and occasionally we can hear these roars from within the walls of the home. My sister had watched a horror mystery movie the night before and when the oil furnace started to make noises, she immediately wanted to play detective and head to the basement to figure out what was going on. She tiptoed downstairs and peaked her head around the corner to see the oil furnace sitting in the corner. She waited a few seconds for the heater to kick in again and the furnace shook so abruptly that she swore she could see a shadow move right across it. She screamed at the top of her lungs and ran upstairs while yelling that the furnace was haunted. My dad had to go downstairs to investigate the situation for himself and show her that the old machine just needs to be replaced. She still believes that she saw something she shouldn’t have, and I honestly might believe her. Weird things happen in this house.
furnace/heater tune-up

My environmental study group meets twice a week to discuss hot topics about the environment.

• Last week we talked about the oil that is leaking into the ocean, and the week before that we discussed the harmful use of hairspray.

This week we are starting to talk about air conditioners and heaters. Talking about heating systems can be a little boring, but almost every household in the area we live in uses some type of heating system, so we should definitely be considering the environmental impact. We started talking about oil furnaces and the impact they have on the environment. Waste oil furnaces are actually great for the environment because you recycle your oil in an environmentally friendly way rather than secreting the oil out into the environment. Through this process you actually use the oil from the oil furnaces as a new source of energy to fuel other things. This was actually pretty shocking to me because whenever I would hear the words oil furnaces, I just immediately assumed it was something negative because oil tends to have a bad reputation. However, not a high percentage of homes in our areas use waste oil furnaces, so we are hoping to make some sort of proposal to the city council to encourage homeowners to switch their heating systems to this environmentally friendly option. I don’t really know what the process of this proposal will look like since it’s our first time we will be doing it. We feel really passionate about this topic and think it could make a big difference for both the environment and our community.

ductless heat pump