HVAC Elgin IL – Elgin Sheet Metal – Call 847-742-3486
Is your heating and cooling system ready to keep your home comfortable all year long? Here’s a few useful maintenance tips that will keep your HVAC system functioning at peak efficiency:
-Change the HVAC filters. Forgetting to regularly change the filters can put unnecessary stress on your comfort system. This is because filters clog up over time with debris, dust and lint. (Particularly if there are pets in your household.) As filters become dirtier, your furnace must keep working harder to draw airflow through them. If that situation continues for too long, it can eventually cause a furnace to break down. Change out your filters every few months at a minimum, or monthly if you own pets.
-Test your home’s thermostat. There’s no point in waiting until it the first snowfall of the season to discover your furnace won’t start. Before the temperatures fall too far, set your thermostat a few degrees higher than the room temperature.
The heat should turn on. If it does not, that indicates you might need to schedule furnace repair by the HVAC Elgin IL experts at Elgin Sheet Metal.
-Place a cover on the air conditioner’s condenser unit. After you switch off your air conditioner for the season, cover the external condenser unit. You can simply use an appropriate size square of plywood, for example. This serves to protect it from ice and falling debris during the winter.
-Service your chimney. It’s not uncommon for potentially flammable debris and materials to build up inside chimneys. It’s a good safety practice to schedule a professional chimney cleaning once per year. Even if you do not burn wood, it’s still beneficial to inspect the chimney regularly for signs of carbon build-up, corrosion or animal activity.
-Test out your home’s carbon monoxide detectors. These serve as your defense against silent but hazardous carbon monoxide. Test them each fall and ensure they are properly placed at least 5 feet off the floor.
-Test the igniter switch. Regardless if your system has a pilot light or a new, electronic igniter, test the igniter switch annually. Follow the directions for this task in your owner’s manual.
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-Inspect the blower motor. Consult your owner’s manual to see if the blower motor requires regular cleaning and lubrication. If it does, there will be instructions on opening the cover and how to cleanse and lubricate the motor’s bearings. Typically, you will need to take off the cover and clean off the bearing caps. Next, remove the bearing caps and add some lubrication to the bearings.
-Service and clean the heat exchanger. Your furnace’s heat exchanger requires
annual cleaning as part of a preventive maintenance tune-up. A service technician first disables the furnace, then proceeds to thoroughly vacuum and dust
the heat exchanger. Also, the technician inspects for cracks or other warning signs your furnace might be at risk of leaking carbon monoxide. If it’s been a while, call Elgin Sheet Metal to schedule a furnace inspection.
-Refill the tank, change the filter and burner nozzle. (If you have an oil furnace.)
Oil burning furnaces require consistent cleaning and service just like their gas-burner counterparts. Cleaning is essential because oil doesn’t burn very efficiently, leaving residue build-up in the heat exchanger.
You depend upon your furnace for reliable warmth and comfort all winter. In order to operate at optimal effectiveness, regular maintenance is critical. Without a doubt, furnace maintenance will help you prevent sudden and highly inconvenient furnace problems.
-Clean your ductwork. Debris, pet fur, mold, mildew and dust, can accumulate inside of ventilation ducts. When that occurs, irritants distribute throughout your household through the vent system. A ductwork cleaning will keep your ducts in good shape and maintain your indoor air quality.
Elgin Sheet Metal for Professional HVAC Repair, Installation and Maintenance – Call 847-742-3486 to Schedule Service
A Look at the Main Components of an Air Conditioning System
Heating, cooling and ventilation systems are a complex arrangement of components that keeps your household comfortable. The system relies upon a furnace, air conditioner unit and ductwork. They each function to control your household’s indoor air temperature, humidity levels and air quality.
If an air conditioner break down occurs, it’s often the result of problems with one of its five main components. Some of these are relatively easy to replace, while others might require repair. A rudimentary understanding of how your air conditioner unit functions is helpful. You’ll know which components are cheaper to replace and what to anticipate when a service technician arrives to perform repairs. Knowing how your air conditioner does its job also helps you utilize it more efficiently.
-The thermostat. Your HVAC system’s thermostat is the device that regulates the temperature in your home. Simply adjust the thermostat to the temperature you want. The air conditioner will go to work cooling the interior of your house to that temperature. Contemporary thermostats are usually digital, providing the homeowner with remarkable comfort control.
A programmable digital thermostat is a smart choice if you are out of the hose a lot. It’s a great way to help conserve on the cost of heating and cooling. For the hours you’ll be out, just set the thermostat higher during the summer or lower during the winter. However, do not set the temperature lower than 55 during the winter. This unnecessarily risks freezing your system’s pipes.
A smart thermostat presents the extra feature of adjusting to your household’s activity patterns. That way it can adjust temperatures automatically to match your routine. Also, you can make adjustments to your thermostat settings remotely using your mobile device or tablet. If your routine changes, you can still arrive home to a cool and comfortable environment.
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-The compressor. This main HVAC component is found outside your house along with a condenser coil, fan and other parts. The compressor is inside the unit. It absorbs heat from refrigerant and distributes it via the condenser coils. The coils are visible on the exterior of the unit. The refrigerant circulates through the compressor, where it turns into liquid form and the heat releases outside. A fan on top of the unit assists with dispensing heat. Also, it’s necessary for keeping your unit’s compressor free of debris.
-The condenser coil. You can spot the condenser coil on the outside of your air conditioner unit. It basically is made of small metal fins. Pipes circulating refrigerant travel throughout the condenser coil after exiting the compressor and releases heat. Then, the refrigerant moves back into the home to the system’s evaporator.
To maximize the functioning of your cooling system, it’s important to keep the condenser coil clean. This ensures that air will flow sufficiently through the fins. It’s generally a good practice to clean off the condenser coil once per year.
-The evaporator. This component is usually near the furnace. The refrigerant circulates through a pipe inside the evaporator. It cools the air surrounding it and transports heat from inside your home back outside toward the condenser coil. The refrigerant in the form of gas as it moves into the evaporator. Once in the evaporator it transforms into a liquid. Next, it exits the evaporator in gas form again and moves into the compressor.
-The blower unit and air handler. These components pull air into the system. Also, they dispense warm air outdoors via the condenser coil and cooler air into the home through the duct system.
The blower unit is actually a part of the air handler, along with dampers, filters and mixing chambers. The blower unit and air handler are usually close to your furnace. One of their purposes is moving air through it, too. In the event something malfunctions wrong either of these components and you’ll no longer feel air coming from your vents.
A Look at the Basics of Central Gas Heating Systems
Fundamentally, central gas heating systems create a cycle that increases the temperature of indoor air. Here’s a look at how this happens:
-Natural gas or burning propane produces heat inside the furnace’s burner.
-The heat then moves through the furnace’s heat exchanger.
-Air from the ductwork moves across the heat exchanger, which warms the air.
-The blower then moves the warm air into the ductwork, which distributes it throughout the household.
Main Components of a Central Gas Furnace
Naturally, the main parts of a central heating system must function together to maintain a comfortable home. These essential parts include:
-Temperature control. Regulated through the furnace control board, temperature control activates the igniter switch. This initiates the heating process whenever the thermostat “calls” for heat.
-Gas Burners. When the control system or thermostat requests heating, the gas burner opens valves in order to supply gas and burn the fuel.
-Draft Induced Fan. The draft fan pulls air into what’s known as the burner assembly. Also, the air enables the burners to warm up the heat exchanger.
-Ignition switch. Gas moves across the igniter to start a flame. This flame draws through the burners and heats up the exchanger.
-Heat exchanger. This is the furnace component that adds warmth to the home’s indoor air. The gas combusts in the heat exchanger, which creates heat that’s used to warm the flowing air. The structure of the heat exchanger helps add efficiency to the function of a gas furnace.
-Blower fan. Utilizes the return vent to circulate air across the heat exchanger. That warm air then dispenses throughout the home through the ductwork. Some furnace types have a blower fan that is able to run at various speeds for better efficiency.
-Flue. A chimney or flue serves as a form of exhaust for the by-products of the combustion process that creates heat.
Categories of Gas Furnaces
Gas furnaces are made in a range of different shapes to fit within the available space in a home or business. You can also categorize furnaces as one of the following:
-Condensing furnaces. Utilizes a secondary heat exchanger that heats the air from condensed exhaust gas for better efficiencies.
-Non-condensing furnaces. Vents exhaust gas outside of the home, usually through the roof.
-Modulating gas furnace. Continually regulates the amount of fuel burning to retain the temperature settings of the thermostat. This component helps minimize changes in indoor temperatures.
Indoor Air Cleaning Systems – Elgin Sheet Metal
If you’re in the market for an indoor air cleaner and professional indoor air quality solutions, call Elgin Sheet Metal. Our expert service technicians install a selection of air cleaners that can improve air quality in your home. We can help you choose from one of the several high quality home air purifier systems we have available. If you have concerns about quality of your indoor air, don’t hesitate to call us at 847-742-3486.
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