The post How to Beat Fall Allergies appeared first on Appel Heating & Air Conditioning.
]]>In Indiana, the most common fall allergens include weed pollen, mold, dust, and pet dander. Weed pollen in particular can wreak havoc, with one of the most common (and widespread) weed pollens being ragweed. Ragweed grows pretty much everywhere in the Midwest and its pollen is lightweight, which makes it easy to breathe in. Windy days can carry ragweed pollen for miles, making it even more difficult to get a reprieve during ragweed’s season, which runs from mid-August through October, with the pollen count peaking in September. Ragweed pollen can trigger allergy symptoms and asthma attacks, so checking your area’s daily pollen counts can help you be prepared before stepping outside.
Mold is another allergen that peaks in the fall. Since mold grows with moisture, it can appear on piles of fallen leaves that have gotten damp or on the wet soil itself. As these leaves decompose and the soil is disturbed, those mold spores then release into the air, which can cause those uncomfortable allergy symptoms to appear when breathed in.
Dust and pet dander are other common culprits of fall allergies. When turning on your heater for the first time after not using it all summer, the dust that has accumulated can stir up and move throughout your air ducts and into your rooms. Dust mites, another allergen, can be more prevalent in the fall as people spend more time at home with the windows and doors closed. The same can be said for pet dander. Because pets start spending more time indoors during the fall, their dander can start to accumulate more quickly inside your home, causing allergies to kick up.
Some ways to help keep yourself and your family feeling better during this fall allergy season are to:
The great news is that your HVAC can really help reduce the intensity of your allergy symptoms this fall. Here are a few ways to use your HVAC to your advantage:
Before you turn your furnace on for the first time this fall, prepare for the increase in dust that it will kick up by vacuuming and dusting around your air vents. Then, swap out your HVAC’s filter to a clean one and run your HVAC’s fan on circulate for a bit to help move the air through your new filter before you turn on your heater.
Regularly switching out your air filters is one of the best and easiest ways to keep the air inside your home clear of pollutants and allergens. If you have a standard 1-2” filter, we recommend swapping it out every 30 to 60 days—during allergy season, you might want to err on the more frequent side. This will help prevent dust, pollen, and dander build-up in your air ducts, keeping your air clearer and healthier to breathe all season long.
One of the best ways you can keep the air inside your home clear is by having certified technicians come and service your HVAC system. At Appel, our technicians thoroughly inspect and clean every part of your heating equipment to make sure everything is running properly and that you won’t have any lingering dust or dirt be blown throughout your home when you finally turn on the furnace.
The ideal humidity in your home is around 30–50%. If the humidity is regularly above that threshold, it could lead to mold growth, which can be irritating for those who suffer from allergies. Running your air conditioner is one way to decrease the humidity levels in your home. If there’s one room that seems particularly susceptible to higher humidity levels, you can also invest in a portable dehumidifier—if your whole home feels consistently muggy, though, you may want to consider investing in a whole-house dehumidifier.
For an extra boost during those peak pollen days, consider investing in a portable air purifier, which helps filter out the allergens from the air in one room or general area of your home. If your household’s allergy symptoms are intense enough that you need additional filtration support throughout your entire home, you can also invest in a whole-home air purifier, which connects to your HVAC system to provide air filtration for every room.
Allergies can be uncomfortable to deal with, but they don’t need to follow you inside this fall. Use these tips to keep the air inside your home fresher and freer from pollen, mold, dust, and dander, and be sure to use your HVAC system to your advantage to keep your household breathing easier. From regular maintenance service to purchasing and installing whole-home dehumidifiers or air purifiers, we’re here to help your HVAC best support you this fall—give us a call today!
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]]>The post The Importance of Air Ducts appeared first on Appel Heating & Air Conditioning.
]]>So, what exactly are your air ducts? Also referred to as your home’s “ductwork,” your air ducts are a network of tubes, typically made of sheet metal, which runs throughout your home and transports air from your heating and air conditioning equipment into every room. Your HVAC’s blower pushes newly heated or cooled air throughout distribution air ducts, which transport and release the air into each room. Simultaneously, your return ducts pull old air from each room back to your HVAC equipment, where the air gets filtered, heated or cooled, then pushed back out into your home in a continuous cycle.
There are a few different parts that make up your air ducts:
When your air ducts do their job properly, your home’s airflow is consistent and efficient, the temperature is evenly warmed or cooled across each room, and the air you breathe is free of dust, dander, and pollen. Your air ducts working as they should also keeps your entire HVAC system running smoothly, extending its overall life and making it so you can go longer before having to pay for a new heater or air conditioner.
Over time, dust and allergens can build up in your ducts and end up blocking the airflow into certain rooms. This dirt can also get into the air circulating throughout your home, which can increase the severity of household allergies or cause other respiratory issues. That’s why HVAC experts suggest getting your air ducts cleaned by professionals every 3–5 years. HVAC techs use a powerful, specialized vacuum that can remove grime from your ducts in a matter of hours. Techs will also check for any leaks in your ducts to ensure that the air is properly circulating and no air is escaping, and will also make sure that no carbon monoxide is leaking into your home.
You can also help keep your air ducts clean by regularly cleaning your air vent covers around the house. This doesn’t have to be a highly involved process, either—simply vacuum around the vent cover and then wash the cover with a little soap and water.
Most of the time, you hardly notice your air ducts. But if you’re experiencing any of the following things, it might be time to reach out to an HVAC professional:
If any of these things are happening in your home, first, make sure to replace your air filter and check that you don’t have any furniture blocking your vents. If you’ve done both of these things and are still experiencing issues, give your HVAC company a call.
Now that you know what your air ducts are and how important they are to your home’s HVAC system, you can feel confident in knowing when everything’s working properly and when something might be off. And if you want to make sure you never miss an air duct maintenance ever again, check out our Platinum Maintenance Plans. You’ll get two HVAC service visits a year, as well as discounts on repairs and diagnostic charges—and we’ll make sure to tell you when it’s time to clean out your air ducts. Give us a call to learn more or to ask us any other questions you may have about this essential part of your HVAC!
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]]>The post 6 Steps to Prep for an HVAC Maintenance Visit appeared first on Appel Heating & Air Conditioning.
]]>First things first, make sure you’re hiring an HVAC company that is reputable and provides high quality service. Spend a few minutes checking out the company online and see if you can find information on: how long they’ve been in business, whether they’re local/family-owned or owned by a private equity firm, whether their technicians are licensed, and what their ratings are on Google, Nextdoor, or Angi. Whoever you hire should be someone you trust to give you expert service and fair pricing, not just consider you as another slot on their schedule.
This might seem a bit obvious, but plan to be home when the HVAC tech arrives and for the entire duration of their visit (make sure you don’t double-book yourself with any meetings or other service appointments!). Many homes have their air conditioners, furnaces, and thermostats tucked away in places that might not be obvious or easy to get to, so HVAC technicians will rely on you to show them where all the equipment is—for your privacy, they don’t want to look around your home while you’re not there! You being home for the entire visit also means that, if questions come up, the tech can ask you right then and there, which helps any troubleshooting go a lot smoother.
Your HVAC company will also do their best to keep you updated when their technician is on their way to your home, so keep your phone on and close by to confirm, as needed. Many techs will reach out when they’re en route, and they may call or text from a number that’s different than the company’s main office line, so you might want to temporarily disable the “Silence Unknown Callers” feature on your phone. Once you hear from your HVAC technician that they’re on their way, stay home, in case they show up a little early.
As we mentioned earlier, many HVAC systems can be difficult to get to in your home. Before your HVAC tech arrives, clear a 3-foot radius around your indoor and outdoor units. If there are any components that require access to a rooftop or to another secured area outside (as can be the case with some condo or duplex buildings), make sure you can easily get to all these spaces by asking your building manager or landlord for access ahead of time.
If you have any pets, for their safety, please put them in a safe and secure area before your HVAC technician arrives. Even though a maintenance visit doesn’t typically require much heavy equipment or sharp tools, they may be necessary if unexpected fixes are needed. Plus, as some HVAC equipment is located outside of your building, techs might need to open some of the doors in your home, which can pose the risk of pets accidentally escaping. Make sure your pet stays safe and indoors by keeping them in a separate area for the duration of your HVAC maintenance visit.
Your technician may be the expert on the inner workings of your HVAC system, but you’re the expert on what its normal behavior is. During your HVAC maintenance visit, if there are any noises, smells, or sights that you’ve noticed that seem out of the ordinary, be sure to tell your technician about them. If you have any general questions on how your air conditioner or furnace works, write them down beforehand and ask your tech once they’re done checking out your equipment. At Appel, we want to leave you feeling confident about your system, so we love answering questions like when to change your filter, whether or not a smart thermostat would help you reduce your energy bills, and how long you can expect your air conditioner/furnace to last.
In addition, if you have any notes from previous HVAC maintenance visits available, that information is greatly helpful for your technician. Knowing things like what repairs you’ve had done in the past and how old your system is are especially helpful as your tech evaluates your equipment.
HVAC technicians tend to work during the months of the year when the temperatures are at their most extreme. Especially when working on air conditioning units during the summer, they may be up on your roof in the blazing heat or in your attic, where the temperatures can reach up to 150ºF. One easy gesture that goes a long way is offering your technician a glass or bottle of cold water after they’ve been working in the heat.
An HVAC maintenance visit shouldn’t be anything to stress over, especially if you follow the steps above! Here at Appel, we work to ensure you come away from your maintenance visit feeling more confident and knowledgeable about your HVAC system. We also offer Platinum Maintenance Plans that give you all the great service of our maintenance plans with the added benefits of priority service, personal scheduling, and discounts on repairs and diagnostic charges. Give us a call to learn more, or with any questions you have before or after your maintenance visit—we’re always happy to chat!
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]]>The post Do You Need a Whole-House Dehumidifier? appeared first on Appel Heating & Air Conditioning.
]]>A whole-house dehumidifier connects to your HVAC’s existing ductwork and takes the air that comes through your return vents and cools it off slightly. This causes the water vapor from the air to condense into a liquid, which the dehumidifier then collects and drains automatically. This way, the air that blows through the rest of your home is less humid, making everyone more comfortable. Still not sure if a whole-house humidifier is the right choice for your home? We’ve listed out the pros and cons below.
As a quick disclaimer, if you read our article about whether or not to get a whole-house humidifier, you’ll find that installing a whole-house dehumidifier has a lot of the same pros. In general, keeping your home at the right humidity level throughout the year can do a world of good for you and your house.
Having a whole-house dehumidifier can help prevent a range of potential health concerns by keeping the humidity in check. When the temperature is warm, the body sweats to cool down. But if the air is too humid, then sweat can’t evaporate, which prevents the body from cooling down like it wants to. As the body overworks, over time, this can lead to someone overheating and fainting or developing heat rash as sweat collects under the skin. Individuals who have a harder time breathing can struggle if it’s too humid due to narrowing airways, as well. In addition, humid air can cause mold and mildew growth and also holds allergens and pollutants more easily, all of which can cause discomfort or potential illness if breathed in over time. Getting a whole-house dehumidifier will ensure that the air throughout your entire home is clear to breathe and will help your body regulate properly in the heat.
While current air conditioning systems also work to bring humidity levels down in your home, they only do so while running, while whole-house dehumidifiers work even while your AC is on pause until the temperature heats up again. Without this tag-team effort, your air conditioner has to work harder to both cool the air and try to remove the moisture. And since the air feels warmer when it’s more humid, you might be tempted to set the thermostat a few degrees cooler, leading to higher energy bills all around. With a whole-house dehumidifier, the air in your home feels consistently cool day in and day out, giving your air conditioner a much-needed break while keeping you away from the thermostat.
Another huge perk of a whole-house dehumidifier is the fact that your home feels infinitely more comfortable. Excessive humidity can make everything feel sticky and stuffy and can also trap unpleasant odors in the air. It can even disrupt sleeping patterns by making it harder to get comfortable and stay comfortable throughout the night. By making sure the air in your home is within the optimal 30–50% humidity threshold, a whole-house dehumidifier can help make your day-to-day much more comfortable and manageable.
In addition to helping keep the humans and animals in your home happy and healthy, a whole-house dehumidifier can also keep your furniture and flooring happy. Anything made of wood tends to swell and warp in the damp air while metal tends to rust. Electronics are also particularly sensitive to moisture and can malfunction with prolonged exposure to humidity. Mold and mildew can easily grow in muggy conditions, which can be difficult to remove. Making sure that the humidity is under control in your home can help prevent potential damage throughout your home and save you from costly repairs and cleanup.
Finally, whole-house dehumidifiers tend to be a more convenient solution than using portable ones. While portable dehumidifiers only remove the moisture from a specific room or space, a whole-house system removes the moisture throughout your entire home, which makes it easier for you to set it and forget it. Whole-house dehumidifiers also drain themselves, while portable units require you to manually drain them, and don’t make background noise, while portable ones can make a constant buzzing sound. You will have to change out the filter for your whole-house dehumidifier once every few months, but this is easy enough to manage on your own, or you can have our team switch it out for you during one of our service calls.
Whole-house dehumidifiers connect to your air ducts and air conditioning system, which means that, while providing much less hassle overall, they can be significantly more expensive to buy and install than portable units. If you’re looking for a more temporary solution or something to help with one or two specific spots in your home, you might consider portable dehumidifiers instead.
While whole-house dehumidifiers don’t require as much maintenance as portable units, they do still require regular maintenance. You’ll need to clean and/or replace the filters once every few months to prevent any dust from building up and blocking the air flow. You’ll also want to have your HVAC technician check your dehumidifier at least once a year to make sure that the condensate line isn’t clogged and that everything is draining correctly. They’ll also help catch any problem spots before they become bigger (and more costly) issues and overall make sure your dehumidifier and air conditioning system is running as efficiently as possible. Our Platinum Maintenance Plans are a great option to ensure you get at least two HVAC maintenance visits a year with the added benefit that you don’t have to remember to schedule them—we’ll call you instead!
Finally, because whole-house humidifiers are connected to your air conditioning system, they’re not able to target one specific room or spot in your home. If most of your house is at the optimal 30–50% humidity, then consider using a portable dehumidifier for that one problem area (like your basement after a flood or a room after fixing a water leak) instead. These are much smaller and can easily be moved room to room or stored away if and when you no longer need them.
Hopefully you have a better sense of whether or not a whole-house dehumidifier is right for your household this summer. If you have any additional questions or want to learn more about the purchasing and installation process, just give us a call! We’re always happy to talk through your options and find the best fit for you and your home.
The post Do You Need a Whole-House Dehumidifier? appeared first on Appel Heating & Air Conditioning.
]]>The post Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Air Conditioner appeared first on Appel Heating & Air Conditioning.
]]>Sadly, your central air conditioning unit isn’t designed to last forever—most are built to last around 10-15 years. While having regular maintenance done to your AC can help prolong its life, at some point, it won’t be able to run as efficiently as it used to. If your air conditioner is older and seems to be struggling, it’s probably time to swap it out for a newer, more efficient model. Don’t feel too sad about having to switch your unit, though—these days, air conditioners with an ENERGY STAR label run so efficiently that they can help you save up to 20% on the cooling costs of your energy bill.
To find out how old your current air conditioner is, see if you can locate the brand, the year it was manufactured, and/or the serial number on the side of the unit or in the owner’s manual. You can then plug this information into Google to get a sense of how old your AC might be.
If your air conditioner uses R-22 refrigerant (or Freon), it’s a clear indication that you should get a new unit. This particular refrigerant stopped being produced back in 2020 due to its harmful impact on the Earth’s atmosphere, which makes it difficult and costly to find. Plus, there haven’t been any new AC models created that use R-22 since 2010, so if you do have an air conditioner that uses R-22, it’s over 15 years old and should be upgraded anyway. These days, new air conditioners use an eco-friendly refrigerant that will help you save both money and the environment in the long run.
In the past couple of years, how many times have you had to fix your air conditioner? A patch job every once in a while is fine, but if you’re noticing a trend of calling your HVAC company every few months for repairs, it might be time to replace your unit. As your air conditioner gets older, parts of the unit will need replacing or fixing to keep it working well enough to keep your home cool, and those repairs can start to become costly. At some point, it may actually be more cost effective for you to simply replace your AC altogether rather than continue paying for repairs that string along your aging unit.
When your air conditioner is running properly, you may hear it working, but it typically shouldn’t be much louder than a hum in the background. If you hear any grinding, rattling, clanking, or squealing, these may be sounds that indicate a larger problem, like a part that’s loose or is failing. Give an HVAC technician a call to come diagnose the problem and see whether or not the issue can be easily (and cheaply) fixed, or whether a new air conditioner would be a better solution.
Similarly, if you smell any strong odors from your AC unit, this typically means something’s off. Burning odors could indicate an electrical issue or might be your blower motor overheating, while a chemical smell could be because of a refrigerant leak, which is highly dangerous. If you smell a musty odor, you could have mold growth in your air conditioner, which can become a health hazard if left untreated. All of these smells should be addressed right away and could be signs that your unit needs to be replaced.
While your air conditioner might naturally create a little bit of condensation, if you’re seeing pools of liquid around your unit, this could be because of a dangerous refrigerant leak or could be due to a drain issue. Either way, you should get it checked out by an HVAC technician to make sure your unit is still safe to use. They will be able to let you know whether it’s a problem that’s easily fixed or whether it’s time to get a new air conditioner.
If your home is no longer cooling down as quickly or as evenly as it used to, it could mean that your air conditioner is on its last legs. Over time, AC units work less efficiently and can develop wear and tear—the blower fan can fail, the compressor can run into problems, and your air ducts can develop leaks. All of these issues can leave rooms in your house warmer than others or lead to weak airflow throughout your home. A professional can establish what the exact issues are, but if you’ve already swapped out your air filters, fixed any leaky air ducts, and made any other repairs to your air conditioner and your home is still not cooling down properly, it’s probably time to get a new AC unit.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), when you look at your monthly energy bill, your air conditioning charges can make up anywhere from 12–27% of the total. If you haven’t made any drastic changes to your thermostat settings and you regularly change your air filters, but your energy bills are still increasing, it might be time to replace your AC unit. As we mentioned earlier, the older your air conditioner gets, the harder it has to work to keep up. This means that it uses more energy to cool down your home than it used to, which increases your monthly bill. Buying a new, high-efficiency air conditioner might be expensive up front, but can help you save up to 20% of your cooling costs each month, which significantly adds up over time.
Buying a new air conditioner can make a world of difference for your home. Not only will it improve the air circulation and the overall cooling in each room of your house, but it will also help you save money on your energy bill each month. We know that this is a big decision to make, which is why our team is here to help you throughout the entire process, from purchase to installation. Just give us a call and we’ll get you started on your journey to a new air conditioner today!
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]]>The post Is a Whole-Home Air Purifier Right for You? appeared first on Appel Heating & Air Conditioning.
]]>You may be familiar with (or already own) portable air purifiers, which help filter the air in specific rooms or locations of your home, but you may not know that there’s actually a way you can filter the air in every room all at once—by installing a whole-home air purifier. These systems connect to your pre-existing HVAC and its network of ducts to give you air filtration throughout your whole house. But how do you know if a whole-home air purifier is right for you?
The main reason to get a whole-home air purifier is to improve your indoor air quality. According to the American Lung Association, the air inside our homes can actually be 2–5 times (even up to 100 times) more polluted than the air outside. In our day-to-day lives, particles like allergens, pollen, dust, dust mites, pet dander, mold spores, bacteria, and even volatile organic compounds (VOCs) tend to linger in the air. Whole-home air purifiers use powerful filters—like HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters—to trap those particles and remove them from the air, so you’re no longer breathing them in while you go about your day.
By trapping and removing these particles in the air, these filtration systems can help alleviate allergy symptoms like congestion, sneezing, runny noses, and sore throats, reduce the severity and frequency of asthma attacks, help you sleep more comfortably, and even help you improve your focus by giving you more oxygen-rich air to breathe. The list of benefits go on!
In addition to helping improve your health, whole-home air purifiers also help the lifespan of your HVAC system. When dust builds up in your home, it can also build up in your HVAC. Over time, this can cause your system to clog and run less efficiently, but by installing a whole-home air purifier, the dust in the air gets filtered out. This means that less dust gets the chance to build up in your HVAC system over time, helping it work more efficiently for longer.
Another great benefit of installing a whole-home air purifier is that they tend to be lower maintenance than portable air purifiers. In addition to using HEPA filters like whole-home air purifier systems, which should be replaced every 6–12 months, many portable air purifiers also use charcoal filters or inserts to help reduce odors in the air. These filters typically need to be replaced every 3 months and can cost anywhere from $10 to $100, depending on the type of air purifier. Whole-home air purifiers don’t rely on these additional charcoal filters, so you’ll save yourself a bit of time and money in the long-run by opting for a whole-home system instead.
In addition, portable air purifiers can be noisy, depending on the brand and their setting. Typically, the more powerful setting they’re on, the louder they are, which can be inconvenient if you want that extra filtration support. These portable purifiers also take up extra floorspace in your home and might not be the most aesthetically pleasing to look at. Because whole-home air purifiers integrate with your current HVAC system, they don’t tend to create any extra noise and also won’t be visible in your home, helping them more seamlessly integrate into your everyday life.
The biggest downside to getting a whole-home purifier is the upfront cost. While you’ll save yourself some money in the long-term by not having to purchase additional filters like with portable air purifiers, these whole-home systems can cost anywhere from $750–$2,000 to buy and install, or potentially more if you opt for a fancier or more advanced system. The good news is that you can talk to our team of experts about what all options are available and what feels like the right fit for your home and budget.
While whole-home air purifiers are great for keeping the air throughout your entire house clean, they tend to be less effective if you have a specific spot in your home where you need extra filtration support. For example, if you want to cozy up next to the fireplace, your whole-home air purifier will make sure that none of the smoke or gas particles from your fire will be circulated in the air in the rest of your home, but won’t be able to prevent you from breathing in some of those particles if you’re sitting right next to the fire. Having a portable air filter will give you that extra support, since it can be positioned right next to or in the middle of an area with poorer air quality.
There’s no need to suffer through dander, dust, and pollen this spring. Give us a call to ask us any additional questions you have about whole-home air purifiers or to learn more about the process of installing a whole-home air purifier in your home today!
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]]>The post What’s New in the World of Thermostats? appeared first on Appel Heating & Air Conditioning.
]]>Over the past few years, the advancements in thermostat technology has made it easier than ever before to not just control your home’s temperature, but to customize it according to your household’s specific needs. Here are just a few of the things thermostats today can do for your home.
One of the greatest achievements in the latest thermostat technology is the ability for you to create personalized schedules for your home’s heating and cooling—and for your thermostat to create those schedules for you, too.
Pretty much all of the latest thermostats allow you to set different schedules based on your routines, like while you’re home during the day, while you’re away, while you’re sleeping, and more. Where the wow factor comes in is the fact that many of these thermostats will learn your heating and cooling preferences over time and will automatically adjust the temperature in your home to match your natural routines.
For example, Honeywell’s X8S Smart Thermostat and Ecobee’s Smart Thermostats will switch your furnace on or off at specific times to give a room enough time to heat up or cool down before you enter. Some thermostats will also suggest new heating and cooling schedules based on your routines and have built-in AI features to make recommendations even more tailor-made to your household.
In addition, many thermostats provide energy usage reports so you can see how efficiently your heating and cooling systems are working and how you might be able to save more energy and money. Rather than putting all the onus on you to keep your home properly heated and cooled, today’s technology allows your thermostat to take it off your plate.
In addition to helping you customize your home’s heating and cooling schedule, today’s thermostats are also smart enough to adapt based on what’s going on in the world around them. Some thermostats will see what the weather conditions are in your area and will adjust the temperature in your home accordingly. So, if it’s an abnormally warm winter day, they’ll tone down the heat inside, since your home will naturally retain the heat better. Ecobee’s Smart Thermostats have sensors that monitor how humid or dry your home is and will automatically adjust your heating and cooling accordingly. Some even have movement sensors and will adjust the temperature based on whether they sense if someone is in the room or not.
So, regardless of what’s going on in your home on any given day, your thermostat will always be working to make sure that the air in each room is comfortable.
One big plus of today’s thermostat technology is that you can control the temperature in your home even when you’re not physically standing in front of the thermostat. Most have an app on your phone that you can access via Wi-Fi from pretty much anywhere. Forget to set your thermostat to “away” mode before you left on vacation? No problem—you can turn it on while you’re at the airport, or even when you reach your hotel. Some of these apps are even available on your tablet or smartwatch, so you can still access your thermostat even if your phone isn’t on hand.
In addition to having an easy-to-access app, many smart thermostats these days are also equipped with voice assistant technology, making it easy for you to change the temperature in your home with simple voice commands. While not all thermostats are set up to work with all voice assistants (e.g., Amazon’s Smart Thermostat is only equipped with Alexa), many are compatible with at least Alexa and Google Assistant. If you have other smart home devices, some smart thermostats out there, like Ecobee’s Smart Thermostats, will seamlessly integrate into the rest of your ecosystem through Google Home or Apple Home, letting you easily control your whole home through one app.
Finally, advancements in thermostat technology don’t just make it easy for you to control your home’s temperature, but make it look good, too. Gone are the days of bulky devices on your wall with difficult-to-read temperature gauges—thermostats these days have bigger screens, many of which are touch screens, as well as sleeker designs so that they’re both pleasant to look at and easier to use. Many smart thermostats feature minimal displays with large text, too, so that you can easily read the temperature information across the room, making them both a practical and stylish addition to your home.
Thermostats have evolved a lot in the last few years. Their ability to customize your heating and cooling schedules based on your preferences and real life factors, as well as their ease of use via smartphone apps and voice assistants make it easy and fun to control your home’s temperature. Want to learn more about smart thermostats, or want an expert opinion on which one to get for your home? Give our team a call and we’ll work with you to find the perfect fit!
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]]>The post Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Furnace appeared first on Appel Heating & Air Conditioning.
]]>We’re not usually ones to disparage age, but when it comes to your furnace, it’s important to know how old your current unit is. Most gas furnaces last 15–20 years, and while that doesn’t mean that you have to replace your furnace once it hits 15 years (assuming it’s still running properly), it does mean that there are many newer models out there that are much more efficient and could reduce your energy bills each month.
If you’re not sure how old your furnace is, there are a few ways you can find out. See if you can find its brand, the year it was manufactured, and/or the serial number on the side of the unit or in the owner’s manual. You can then plug this information into Google to get a sense of how old your furnace might be. Or, if you see that your furnace has a pilot light, it’s safe to assume that your furnace is around that 15–20 year mark, since modern gas furnaces no longer have pilot lights and fire electronically instead.
Another key way to tell whether it’s time to replace your furnace is to look back at how many repairs you’ve had to make recently. If you’ve only had an occasional repair here and there over the past couple of years, then chances are good your furnace still has some life left in it. But if your HVAC company is on your speed dial due to the number of issues you’ve had over the past year, it could be a sign that your furnace is on its last legs.
Most common furnace repairs can cost anywhere from under $100 to closer to $3,000 on the high end. If your repairs are starting to creep towards that $3,000 range and are happening more and more frequently—or if you’ve noticed signs of rust or cracks in or around your furnace—it’s probably time to ditch your current unit for a new one.
Your furnace may make sounds here and there as it heats up and cools down, and it might smell a little like burning dust every so often, but those are normal and not any cause for concern. If your furnace is starting to sound like the set of a haunted house with clanking, booming, or banging noises, or if it’s starting to smell like burning plastic, however, it’s time to call the professionals. They can tell you whether it’s time to swap out your old furnace for a new one. If you smell rotten eggs, this could be due to a natural gas leak, in which case you should leave your house and call the gas company immediately.
If you have the heat on and your home seems to have more dust, dander, soot, or dirt than normal building up, then chances are good your furnace isn’t able to filter the air as well as it used to. The same goes with excess levels of moisture in your home during the summer or a severe lack of moisture in your home during the winter—one of the potential causes is your furnace not being able to accurately control humidity levels anymore. Either of these can be a sign that it’s time to get a new furnace.
If your house is starting to feel more and more like living in the icy tundra, even with your furnace on and the temperature set to what should be a comfortable temperature, it could be a sign that your unit is on its way out. Furnaces have a harder time evenly distributing heat throughout your home as they age, so if yours is just blowing cold air, even after you’ve changed out your air filters and had an HVAC professional check your ducts for leaks, it could be time to replace.
As we just mentioned, as gas furnaces age, they operate less and less efficiently. This means it takes more energy than when it was brand new to heat your house to the same temperature. So, if you’ve noticed that your gas bill has been steadily increasing year after year (without any drastic weather changes to justify the higher cost), and your furnace is an older model, it could be time to swap it out.
There are a lot of benefits to buying a new furnace. These days, furnace models are incredibly energy efficient—according to the US Department of Energy, older furnaces can have an annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) rating of 56–70%, while modern, high-efficiency gas furnaces have AFUE ratings of 90–98.5%. This means that newer furnaces use less energy to heat your home and, therefore, help you spend less each month on your energy bills. New furnaces can also help improve the air circulation and filtration in your home, as well as more evenly distribute heat throughout each room, making your home healthier and more comfortable for everyone.
However, we do know that buying a new furnace can feel daunting, considering the cost and the number of furnace options out there, and that’s why our team is happy to help answer any questions you have throughout the process. Just give us a call and we’ll talk through whatever you want to know—whether it’s comparing energy efficient furnace models, getting a sense of equipment and installation costs, or just finding out how quickly we can get rid of your old furnace, we’re here to help! (And don’t forget to check our Monthly Offers page—we frequently have coupons you can use to take a bit of the sting out of purchasing new HVAC equipment.)
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]]>You may have tried portable humidifiers before, where you fill a small container with water to raise the humidity in one room of your home. A whole-house humidifier uses your house’s duct system to circulate water vapor and raise humidity levels in every room. Below, we’ve outlined the pros and cons of a whole-house humidifier to help you decide whether this solution is right for you.
Whole-house humidifiers can do a lot of good, but if your home has leaky air ducts, the humidifier won’t be able to do much to combat the dry air that’s spilling in from outside. Before you decide to purchase and install a whole-house humidifier, give us a call, and our team will come inspect your ducts for any possible leaks.
Health Benefits: Maybe the most important benefit of getting a whole-house humidifier is that it can help with many winter-related illnesses and irritations. According to ColumbiaDoctors, keeping your home’s humidity level somewhere between 30–50% can help relieve asthma symptoms and irritated sinuses, reduce persistent nose bleeds and eye redness, and even make it easier to sleep. The Mayo Clinic also says that when the air is drier, it’s easier to catch colds and the flu, so having a humidifier can help prevent those viruses from spreading and keep everyone healthier as a result.
Increased Comfort: In addition to feeling healthier, having a whole-house humidifier can also make it more comfortable to be at home. Adding moisture back into the air also adds moisture back into your skin, meaning you don’t have to keep reaching for the chapstick or lotion every few minutes. Static electricity can also be reduced by increasing the moisture in the air, which is a win for everyone with frizzy hair this time of year.
Protected Furniture: Whole-house humidifiers don’t just help us feel our best, but also helps our furniture stay its best, too. When the air loses moisture, wood can easily dry out, which can cause warping and cracking over time. Putting moisture back into the air can help make sure your wooden furniture and floors keep their shape and structure for years to come.
Good Investment: Did you know that humid air actually traps heat more than dry air? That means that you may not need to turn up your thermostat quite so much in the winter if you have a whole-house humidifier. So, even though it’ll cost you money up front to install the humidifier, it’ll most likely save you money in the long run by helping you reduce your energy bills in the winter.
Easier Maintenance than Portable Humidifiers: While you have to clean portable humidifiers every few days, you only have to change your whole-house humidifier’s filter once, maybe twice a year. This is something that can be easily done yourself, or our team can also switch it out as part of a $50 humidifier maintenance add-on to our Platinum Maintenance Plans.
Upfront Costs: Because a whole-house humidifier connects to your current air duct and HVAC systems, the cost to purchase and install one can range anywhere from $500–$4,000. Most common Aprilaire humidifiers can be installed for $1100–$1600, while steam humidifiers can cost in the range of $3000–$4000. If you feel like there’s only one or two rooms in your home where the dryness is noticeable, consider purchasing a couple of portable humidifiers instead. Most models that are designed for rooms <1,000 square feet cost under $100, making it an affordable alternative, just on a smaller scale. (A quick note about portable humidifiers: they should be used with distilled water ONLY. Using tap water is likely to plug up the filter with very fine, hard-to-see particles, which can cause your furnace to stop working properly.)
Regular Maintenance Required: While there’s not much maintenance with a whole-home humidifier, there is some that cannot be ignored—otherwise, you risk your humidifier breaking down or growing mold and mildew in your home. Changing your filter and evaporator pad at least once a year, as well as checking and cleaning the water tank on a regular basis are the main ways you can keep your humidifier (and your household) happy and healthy all winter long. As we mentioned above, we’re happy to do all of this for you as an add-on to your regular maintenance.
Risk of Mold/Mildew: You’re adding more moisture into the air with a humidifier, which is mold and mildew’s best friend. It’s important when you’re cleaning your humidifier to do so regularly and thoroughly, otherwise mold and mildew might pop up in your air ducts or other hard-to-reach, hard-to-see places around your home.
Now that you’ve read through the pros and cons, we hope you feel that you can more confidently decide whether a whole-house humidifier is the right fit for your household. Give us a call to ask us any additional questions, as well as to learn about the humidifiers carry and how to get one installed in your home!
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]]>The post Furnace Myths: Busted appeared first on Appel Heating & Air Conditioning.
]]>We hate to tell you your parents are wrong, but in this case, their well-intentioned advice is actually costing you money. Furnaces are designed to pump heated air equally throughout every room of your home, regardless of whether the vents are open or closed, so when you close off a vent completely, you’re actually trapping the air inside your ductwork. This causes your furnace to work harder and less efficiently, which can cause your energy bills to go up in the short term and can cause leaky ducts and other potentially expensive problems to repair in the long term. So make sure to leave your vents open this winter—it’s actually cheaper than the alternative.
We’ve all been there—you get home from work and the house is just a little too chilly, so you head to the thermostat. Instead of setting it to your ideal temperature, you go ahead and turn the thermostat up a few degrees higher so that the furnace will warm up your home more quickly. Common sense, right? The reality, though, is that your furnace doesn’t quite work that way. No matter how high you set your thermostat, your furnace actually pushes out hot air at the same rate—it won’t pump out hot air more quickly because you set the temp to 77 instead of 72. In fact, because your furnace warms your home at a consistent rate, setting your thermostat higher than your ideal actually just causes it to run longer. This can leave you with a higher energy bill (and not to mention leave you sweatier) than if you had simply left your thermostat alone.
So, as much as we all want to thaw from the cold as quickly as possible, give your thermostat and furnace a break from the constant temperature adjustments this winter—you won’t warm up any quicker if you don’t.
Back in the spring, you were on top of things. You deep cleaned up the house, got rid of excess clutter, and you even changed your HVAC air filter. “Checked that off this year’s to-do,” you thought. We hate to tell you this after all your great work, but changing your air filter should actually happen more often than once a year. Air filters catch all sorts of particles in the air of your home: dust, pollen, pet dander, and even mold spores. They’re a great line of defense (especially during the intense allergy season here in central Indiana), but they can only trap so much. The more particles your air filter catches, the less air can flow through the filter, so the longer your filter goes without being changed, the less efficient your furnace can run.
Eventually, using a dirty air filter can decrease the quality of the air in your home, since the filter reaches a point where it has caught all the particles it can. That’s why changing your air filter regularly—at Appel, we recommend switching one or two inch filters out every 30–60 days—is the way to go.
Perhaps the furnace myth that gets us the most riled up is that you only need to call for maintenance when something goes wrong. Definitely still call us in the case of a repair or emergency, but also, don’t wait until everything’s gone haywire to have us look at your furnace. Having an HVAC technician check your system at least twice a year ensures that your furnace runs smoothly all season long and helps you catch small problems, like a leak or a blockage, before they turn into bigger, more expensive problems. Regular HVAC maintenance also helps keep you safe. Neglected furnaces can lead to mechanical and electrical problems, raising the risk for fires—gas furnaces also have the potential to leak which, if left unchecked, can raise the carbon monoxide levels in your home.
Fortunately, HVAC technicians are trained to catch any of these potential issues during their visits, getting it off your shoulders. So don’t wait until your furnace is in dire need of repairs—schedule your furnace inspection today. And if remembering to schedule your maintenance visits feels daunting, check out our Platinum Maintenance Plans, where we call you to schedule your service.
We’ve all heard the expression, “bigger is better,” but in the case of furnaces, it really depends on the size and layout of your home. Bigger, more powerful systems can work well at times, but also have the tendency to short-cycle, or turn on and off frequently, wasting energy and increasing the wear and tear on your furnace. Square footage is one of the biggest factors in determining how big of a furnace to get, but things like number of windows, insulation, and ceiling height also play a role.
Making sure you’ve fixed any spots in your home where the heat leaks out (like drafty windows or poorly insulated rooms) is a great first step before buying a new furnace, since getting a bigger or more efficient system won’t mean anything if the heat it puts out can easily escape. Once you’ve solved your heat leakage problem, you can see if the size of your current furnace is doing a decent job of keeping you comfortable. If it is, then no need to get a bigger furnace—just look for one around the same size as you currently have.
A surefire way to know whether you need a bigger furnace is to talk to our team of experts—we can assess your needs based on your home and help you find the perfect unit.
There you have it! Five of the most common myths about furnaces, all busted. This winter, you can rest easy and stay cozy all season long knowing that you know how best to take care of your furnace. Of course, if you have any lingering questions or want to know any more common myths about your HVAC system, just give us a call!
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