Now is the time of year when people in the Portland, OR area start assessing their heating systems, and determining if they should replace it with a new one in the spring. Winter has been going for months now, and older furnaces can definitely feel the strain. In some unfortunate cases, you may not be able to wait until spring if a system on its last legs finally gives up the ghost. But whatever the circumstances, there’s a common fallacy that you need to be aware of: purchasing a heating system that’s too powerful for your space.
The Clean Air Act Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Portland’
Why Do I Need a Humidifier?
Monday, December 12th, 2016Winters in Portland, OR are cold and snowy, and you may be surprised to find that dry air is a persistent problem in your home. We live in a very rainy part of the world, and in the summer our problem becomes removing moisture, not retaining it. But dry air can do more than just make you uncomfortable. Luckily, there’s a long-term solution available to fix the problem for good: whole-house humidifiers.
How to Watch for Duct Breaches
Monday, November 28th, 2016Most homes in the Portland, OR area use a system of ducts to transfer air from the HVAC system to the four corners of the home. The ducts are typically hidden behind the walls, in the attic or similar out-of-the-way locales. That helps keep them protected from damage, but when damage does occur, it can be very hard to spot. Damage to your ducts can take place when animals crawl into your space, when work on other parts of the house goes awry, or sometimes when the bolts or connections between duct pieces wear out.
Do You Need a New Air Handler?
Monday, October 31st, 2016An air handler is an important part of your HVAC system, especially here in Portland, OR where both heating and air conditioning are priorities for most of the year. It’s what moves the air from the HVAC unit through the ducts in your home, providing filtration as well as fan power to ensure maximum efficiency. Most are designed to work without a problem for many years, but like any other component in your home, it will wear out eventually. When it does, you need a professional service to install a new one. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you need to know.
Need a New Heater? Consider a Heat Pump
Monday, October 3rd, 2016Fall has officially arrived in the Portland, OR area, and that means you’ll soon have need of a heating system to keep your home warm during the cold winter nights. If you have an older heater, replacing it may be a good idea, lest it break down on you in the middle of a cold front, and if your air conditioner’s warranty has expired, you may need to consider a new AC as well. Either way, it pays to make a heat pump a possible replacement from both. They provide a number of benefits over other kinds of heating and cooling, and they make a particularly good fit for homes in our part of the country.
Install UV Germicidal Lights in Your Home
Monday, September 19th, 2016With the coming of fall this week, now makes an excellent time to assess the quality of your indoor air and look for ways to improve it. Changing the filters on your HVAC system and placing weather stripping under cracks around doors and windows are good do-it-yourself steps, but if you’re looking for something more comprehensive, you might want to install UV germicidal lights in your duct system. They’re placed at the apex of your ducts and “scrub” the air clean of germs as they pass through your HVAC system. How does that work and what are the specific benefits? Read on for the answers.
How Does Dust Hurt Your AC?
Monday, August 29th, 2016Dust is a part of life here in Portland, OR, brought in whenever you open a door or window and circulating throughout your home thanks to your HVAC system. We often advocate diligently replacing the filters in your system, or buying a formal filtration system to help cut down on the dust. Nothing is more important than your family’s health, and if you have someone in your home particularly vulnerable to dust (infants, the elderly, or anyone with sensitive lungs), then it behooves you to look into the best air filter you can afford.
Geothermal Air Conditioning is Good for the Environment
Monday, August 1st, 2016You may have hear about geothermal systems in passing, and admittedly, it’s not a system for everyone. But if you have a large piece of property and can pay the installation costs, there are a huge number of benefits to be gained from the geothermal heating and cooling system. It draws upon the ambient power of the earth itself — which never changes temperature once you dig down past 10-12 feet or so. The system merely takes advantage of that fact to provide you with cheap, plentiful and environmentally friendly heating and cooling. Here’s how:
3 Things to Think About with a New Air Conditioner
Monday, July 11th, 2016If you’re thinking about getting a new air conditioner, now is the time to act. A new air conditioner can be in place very quickly, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of improved efficiency and similar features in the face of our hot Portland, OR summer. But before you can have a new unit installed, you need to make sure that it meets the needs of your home and family, that it will function as it should and that it will last as long as possible (hopefully decades) before you need to install a new one. In order to do that, you need to keep certain things in mind when making your selection. Here are 3 of them for you to think about:
How to Tell If Your Air Conditioner Needs Repair
Monday, June 13th, 2016With summer on the way in Portland, OR, your air conditioner needs to be ready to go each and every day. If a breakdown occurs, it could leave you stranded right when you need your home to be cool and comfortable. The longer you wait to call in a repair service on a particular problem, the greater the chance it will result in a serious breakdown.