How to Test and Monitor Indoor Air Quality at Home

Whether you have asthma or simply want cleaner air, there are a few simple ways you can improve the air quality in your home. Even in the cleanest house, the air can contain allergens, mold spores, and chemicals. Unfortunately, these hazards can linger in the air and continue harming your family’s health. Luckily, there are indoor air quality (IAQ) products that can clean the air. You can purchase an IAQ test and see what the air is like in your home. If there is an issue, you can easily install a purifier to remove harmful contaminants. Why Monitoring Indoor Air Quality Is Important Throughout the world, indoor air quality is a major issue. Whether you have short-term or long-term exposure to indoor pollution, you may develop a variety of different health problems. Indoor air pollution can contribute to cognitive issues, respiratory diseases, cancer, and heart disease with long-term exposure. Your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system can typically be updated with filters that can remove harmful contaminants from the air. Through an improved HVAC system, you can achieve the following goals. Limit Mold and Bacteria Humid environments are more likely to develop mold and bacteria. These issues can lead...

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What is the Most Common HVAC System?

From window air conditioners to simple baseboard heaters, there are lots of ways to regulate the temperature in your Mesa, AZ, home. However, few are as efficient or as popular as the split-system HVAC. Supported by central ductwork, split systems have indoor air handlers and outdoor condenser and compressor units for cooling. Air conditioners are frequently paired with furnaces that supply warm air when outside temperatures plummet. Read on to learn all about your options in residential heating and cooling systems and to find the right equipment type for your household. Air Conditioning in Mesa Residents of Mesa have year-round climate control needs. Although triple-digit temperatures are the norm in summer, winter regularly brings near-freezing conditions. The region is far too hot from June through October to make do with low-efficiency window ACs, overhead ceiling fans, or standing fans alone. Residences require fixed, whole-house cooling solutions to ensure safety and overall habitability. As such, most new homes in the region are built with central ducting included. Apart from an increasingly scant selection of historic homes, most properties either have central AC or the ability to support it. Many modern houses have AC or heat pump condensers in their back or...

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AC Installation: What to Expect

In a region like Mesa, AZ, having install an AC system is an essential part of living comfortably during the hottest months. Few projects are as simple as dropping a unit into place and switching it on. Even if there was a previous installation in the house, a new one may require some adjustments to make the system work. Homeowners should expect the following when they order an AC installation. Initial Assessment Before you can even select a unit, our technician needs to know the homeowner’s needs and wants. The most basic part of the assessment is calculating the cubic footage of the house, at least the area that needs air conditioning. Using this calculation, our technician will then determine the amount of needed cooling capacity for the house. Right-sizing the AC installation is critical because an overly small unit will run for more cycles and an overly large one will inefficiently draw too much energy during each cycle. The assessment also needs to look at the supporting systems in the house to ensure that everything is ready for the desired AC setup. Our technician will compare the manufacturer’s specifications to what they know about the house. Then, we can...

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Do I Need a Heat Pump in Mesa, AZ?

If you own a home here in Mesa, AZ, there’s a good chance you’re interested in having the most efficient HVAC system possible. They can both heat and cool your home, eliminating the need for a separate furnace and air conditioner. If you’ve gone looking for one, there’s no doubt you’ve come across heat pumps. However, heat pumps are often misunderstood, and plenty of misinformation about them is circulating online. That can lead you to question whether or not a heat pump is a good HVAC solution for your Mesa home. So, here’s everything you need to know about heat pumps to make a well-informed decision on whether or not to buy one as your home’s next HVAC solution. What Is a Heat Pump? Although it may seem like heat pumps recently appeared out of nowhere, they’re far from new. Heat pumps date back to the mid-1850s and have served various buildings and homes’ heating and cooling needs since then. Of course, they didn’t gain much traction among American homeowners until the energy crisis in the 1970s made HVAC energy efficiency a priority for most people. The problem was that heat pump technology wasn’t yet sufficiently advanced to make heat...

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Gas vs. Electric Furnaces: Which is Better for Your Home?

When it comes to heating your home in Mesa, AZ, you have two main options for furnaces: gas or electric. With over half of U.S. homes using natural gas for heating, it is the most prevalent option. However, recent trends show electric HVAC systems are gaining popularity. So which is the better choice for heating your home? The purpose of this guide is to compare gas and electric furnaces across several factors to determine which one might be right for your home. We’ll look at how each system works, efficiency ratings, installation and operating costs, maintenance requirements, environmental impact, and effects on home resale. How Gas Furnaces Work The key components of a gas furnace include the burner, heat exchanger, blower motor, flue, and thermostat. The burner ignites the gas, and the heat exchanger transfers the flame’s heat without allowing combustion byproducts into the air ducts. The blower motor circulates warm air through the home’s ductwork, and the flue vents out the exhaust gases. How Electric Furnaces Work Electric furnaces operate by using electricity to heat and distribute air. The key components of an electric furnace include electric heating elements, a blower motor and fan, a thermostat, an integrated circuit...

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Troubleshooting Guide: 10 Reasons Your Furnace Blows Cold Air

Your furnace keeps your home warm and comfortable all year round, regardless of whether it’s gas or electric. When it works correctly, it provides an environment that is relatively warm and cozy. However, heating systems can and do malfunction, which creates bigger problems. In this article, we’ll discuss some common reasons your furnace might be blowing cold air and what to do about it. Your HVAC system is what heats and cools your home. It consists of many parts, and these parts determine how well the system works at any given time. If any one of these important parts fails, it can cause the whole system not to work. You will either get cold air blowing from the vents or no air at all. To fix it, you will need to understand what each part does and how to check if it’s working properly. If you have any questions or need help, contact a qualified HVAC technician. 1. Dirty Air Filter A dirty air filter can mess with your furnace big time. Air filters trap dust, dirt, pollen, and other particles from the air preventing these particles from entering the heating or cooling system and clogging the motor. When filters...

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6 Furnace Sounds That You Should Never Ignore

Fuel-combusting heaters rarely offer whisper-quiet operation. After months of sitting dormant, the furnace in your Mesa, AZ, home might start up with an audible humming sound. It may even make several banging or clanging noises as your ducting undergoes heat-related expansion and contraction. Many noises are a normal and expected part of furnace operation, especially when they’re unobtrusive and have always been around. However, if you hear metal-on-metal grinding, loud booming, or persistent screeching or rattling, you should turn your furnace off and seek help from a professional. The following are six furnace noises that homeowners should never ignore. 1. High-Pitched Shrieks If you haven’t had your furnace tuned up in a while, there’s a good chance that it has loose, worn, or missing parts. After all, these heaters are subjected to a lot of stress during the heating season. Dramatic temperature fluctuations, constantly moving parts, and fast-moving air all take their toll. When furnaces shriek during their heating cycles, it’s often an indication of: Worn or slipped fan belts Loose or damaged bearings Jammed fan blades Insufficient lubrication During the annual furnace maintenance service, professionals will lubricate all moving parts. They also inspect and replace missing and broken components...

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Top 10 Ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality This Winter

Improving your Mesa, AZ, home’s indoor air quality this winter will have a tri-fold effect: it makes the air in your home healthier to breathe, improves your overall comfort, and makes it easier for the heating system to heat your home. If you want to enjoy these benefits, use this guide on the top 10 ways to improve indoor air quality during the winter in combination with advice from a certified HVAC technician. 1. Ensure Proper Ventilation Proper ventilation is particularly important for ensuring good interior air quality. It enables the replacement of filthy, stale indoor air with clean air from outside. This aids in the diluting of indoor contaminants such as allergens, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and carbon dioxide. Proper ventilation is also important for avoiding toxic gas buildup, like radon and carbon monoxide, and even improves the safety and health of a building’s inhabitants, particularly their respiratory systems. 2. Seal All Air Leaks If your home has any cracks or crevices in its structure, the air outside will make its way into your home. This not only pollutes your home’s air but also makes it harder for your heating system to heat your home as the cold winter...

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Methods for Preparing Your HVAC System for Colder Temperatures

As the temperature outside starts to drop in the Mesa, AZ area, it’s time to prepare your HVAC system. Every homeowner wants to avoid their heating system malfunctioning when the temperatures outside are chilly. Preventive maintenance and routine service in the late summer to early fall can ensure your HVAC equipment is running efficiently and smoothly all winter long. Scheduling Routine Maintenance While there are a few maintenance tasks that you can take care of on your own (like changing out your furnace filter), you’ll want to bring in the professionals once per year for a routine service appointment. An experienced technician will inspect all the various components of your HVAC system, determining if there’s anything that needs to be cleaned, repaired or replaced. A lot of wear and tear on your HVAC system takes place from one year to the next. Very minor issues can arise, eventually leading to major problems. It’s important that a professional can spot these issues and fix them before they lead to a catastrophic breakdown that is expensive and time-consuming. Not to mention, properly maintained heating equipment tends to run more efficiently, saving you money on your monthly utility bills. You may get more...

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The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Sized AC For Your Home

Choosing the right air conditioner size for your home is important, given the high price tags for these appliances and the ongoing expenses involved to operate them. An undersized AC unit will struggle to cool your home adequately, leading to discomfort and increased energy bills, while an oversized unit can lead to inefficient operation and higher upfront costs. To strike the perfect balance, homeowners need to consider various factors when choosing the best size AC unit for their home. Understanding the Importance of Proper Sizing Before delving into the specifics, it’s important to understand why proper sizing is crucial. A properly sized AC unit ensures efficient and effective cooling while maximizing energy savings. Oversized units tend to cycle on and off more frequently, leading to “short cycling,” where the unit doesn’t run long enough to effectively remove humidity from the air. Undersized units, on the other hand, will run continuously without adequately cooling the space, leading to unnecessary wear and tear. Calculating Cooling Load One of the fundamental steps in choosing the right AC size is to calculate the cooling load of your home. Cooling load is the amount of cooling power required to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature under...

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