Your boiler is a vital part of your household, and as heating systems go, you could do a lot worse. Boilers used steam and water pressure to heat your home, the concepts of which go back to the Roman days and which remain an efficient way of handling the heating in your Dover, DE home. Boilers benefit from their simplicity and ease of use, but like any system in your home, they suffer problems from time to time, and require a trained professional to correct. Among the most common is boiler kettling, which is created by hard water deposits in your system. It sounds like a dangerous issue, and while it isn’t, it’s still something that merits swift correction. What is boiler kettling and how does it affect your system? Read on for the answers.
What is Boiler Kettling?
January 18th, 2016Indoor Air Quality Products Make for a Healthier Home
January 11th, 2016If you or someone in your family suffers from a condition like asthma, you know how important indoor air quality can be. Winters in Dover, DE lead to dry air – enhancing the chances of an asthma attack – while spring and summer bring high humidity and increased pollen count that can be just as bad. Your home should be a haven from those kinds of irritants, and with the installation of the right indoor air quality products. We’re provided a list of several below that you may want to consider.
3 Upgrades to Your Heating System
January 4th, 2016Winter in Dover, DE is never easy, even when it gives us a break like it did around Christmastime. The better your heater is prepared for the slings and arrows Mother Nature can throw at it, the more easily you can keep your home and family safe and warm. Replacing your heater may not be in the cards this winter, especially if your existing heater is firing on all cylinders. That doesn’t mean you can’t give it a boost however. Upgrades to your heating system cost less to install and can be completed quickly by a trained professional, but can also do wonders for your monthly costs and for reducing strain on your system overall. Here are 3 potential upgrades you should consider if you want to give your furnace a boost this winter.
Don’t Call Heating Repair Until You Check First!
December 28th, 2015With winter officially here, residents of Dover, DE have been firing up their heater in anticipation of some cold days and colder nights ahead. The last thing you need is trouble with your heating systems, and when malfunctions occur, you want a reliable service to make it right as quickly as possible. But make sure that you really need repairs before you do. It can be embarrassing – not to mention expensive – calling in a service professional, only to find that the issue could be resolved with the simple flip of a switch. Here’s a few things to check with your heating system before you call in a repair service.
3 Advantages to Zone Control Systems
December 21st, 2015One of the big benefits to ductless mini split systems is their ability to divide your home into sections, each of which can have their temperature adjusted individually. Normally, this can’t happen if you have a centralized HVAC system, generating conditioned air from a single heater or air conditioner and distributing it through a system of ducts. However, a zone control system – a series of valves and shutters installed in your ductwork, each controlled with its own thermostat and activation panel – can achieve much the same thing without forcing you to get rid of your existing ducts. It can be a huge boon here in Dover, DE, especially for homes with a lot of square footage. Here are 3 specific advantages to zone control systems that you should consider.
3 Common Problems with Heat Pumps
December 14th, 2015Heat pumps – which use the principles of air conditioning to both cool your home in the summer and keep it warm in the winter – are rapidly becoming a popular alternative to more traditional forms of heating and air conditioning. Our cold Dover, DE winters used to be prohibitive towards heat pumps, since older models couldn’t handle our cold fronts, but recent advances have made them reliable no matter what the temperature. Like any system, though, they still suffer breakdowns from time to time, and when they do, you need a qualified service to fix them. Here are 3 common problems with heat pumps that you should watch out for.
Geothermal Systems May Be Just What Your Home Needs
December 7th, 2015Here in Dover, DE, we kind of get the worst of both ends on the heating and cooling spectrum, with hot, muggy summers and freezing cold winters. The solution to that dilemma may be a geothermal system, which draws upon the ambient power of the earth itself to warm and cool your home. There’s an initial up-front cost to such a system, but the long-term savings and overall efficiency often make the purchase worth it. Here’s a breakdown of how it all works: to show why geothermal systems may be just what your home needs.
Avoid High Heating Bills This Christmas
November 30th, 2015Dover, DE gets its share of snow and ice every Christmas, and with relatives coming over for the holiday season, your heater is apt to see a lot more use than it might otherwise. You never want to deal with faulty heating systems when you’re preparing a Christmas dinner or welcoming friends and family into your home, which is why now is the perfect time to cut down on those high heating bills. The steps you take today could make a big difference tomorrow, and ensure that high bills won’t put a pinch on your holiday cheer. Here’s a few tips on how to avoid high heating bills this Christmas.
Common Issues with Radiant Heating Systems
November 23rd, 2015Many homes in Dover, DE use alternative means of heating trying to escape the issues and problems associated with traditional furnaces and boilers. Radiant heating systems, which warm your home through heater coils planted beneath the floorboards, are an excellent way of doing this. They cost less to run than other types of heating and their reliability means that repair issues are rarely a problem. Sometimes issues do crop up, however, as much as we might like them not to, and you can do yourself a favor by watching closely for some of the common issues with radiant heating systems. When you spot them, shut your system down and call in a repair service immediately.
Energy Recovery Ventilators Improve Your Home’s Efficiency
November 16th, 2015With winter on the way in Dover, DE, homeowners needs to consider every option in keeping their houses as energy efficient as possible. The better your home can retain its warm air – or cool air in the summertime – the more money you save on monthly energy bills and the less strain you put your heater and air conditioner under. There’s plenty of simple steps to improve your home’s energy efficiency, but one you might not have considered is an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) placed in your attic. We’re provided a quick outline of how it all works.
Ventilation without Loss of Temperature
The central purpose of an energy recovery ventilator is to swap out the stale air in your home with fresh air from outside, without losing the warmth (or coolness) your heater or air conditioner have worked so hard to provide. This is true year ‘round, but bears especial importance in the winter, when we shut out homes up tight to retain the heat. All of that stale air can force your heater to work harder to do its job – lowering humidity to unacceptable levels and forming a breeding ground for germs and bacteria to circulate endlessly. An ERV fixes that by linking two vents – one blowing fresh air in and the other blowing stale air out – to a heat exchanger in your attic. The air doesn’t co-mingle, but the heat exchanger pulls the heat out of the outgoing air and into the ingoing air.
What You Can Expect
As a result of this exchange, your air is refreshed and yet your household temperature remains the same. Even better the load on your heating system is reduced considerably, which means it doesn’t need to run as long to retain the warm temperatures in your home. Your monthly rates go down and your system doesn’t suffer from as much of a risk of a breakdown.
Atlantic Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Inc. installs and services energy recovery ventilators.