If you fire up your heater on a cold winter’s day, you expect it to deliver hot air right on schedule. But if you have a forced-air furnace and the air flow is suddenly low, that hot air isn’t going to get there as fast as you might like. That may sound like a minor problem: something worth noting perhaps, but nothing compared to, say, cool air blowing out of your vents instead. In point of fact, however, low air flow often indicates a serious issue, and if you don’t take steps to address it promptly, it can cost you a lot of money. A good HVAC service here in Portland, OR, can help you, but you need to understand the severity of the issue before you can do that.
The Clean Air Act Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Portland’
Now is the Time to Schedule Repair and Maintenance Sessions
Monday, December 28th, 2015The new year is upon us, and residents of Portland, OR will join the rest of the nation in watching the ball drop in Times Square and perhaps making a New Year’s resolution or two. But the new year also makes a great time to schedule maintenance and repair sessions for the various components in your home. It’s less exciting than champagne and a kiss from your significant other, but it takes a lot of the hassle out of keeping your home in peak condition, and in the long run it could save you a great deal of money.
Common Problems with Your Geothermal Heater
Monday, December 21st, 2015“Common” is actually a misnomer when talking about geothermal systems. Part of the attraction of the system is its reliability: using coils full of liquid to pull heat from the unchanging temperatures beneath the ground (or to release heat from your home and cool the air in the summer). Here in Portland, OR, the system matches our environment quite well and with proper maintenance you shouldn’t expect many problems from your geothermal system. Having said that, no system is perfect, and issues with your heater may crop up from time to time. Here are a few of them for you to consider.
3 Thermostat Upgrades to Consider
Monday, December 14th, 2015Thermostats are eminently reliable devices. When properly installed and powered, they can last for decades without any trouble at all. But there’s a downside to such longevity: it leaves you bereft of some of the exciting advances made in the field in the years since yours was installed. If you’ve have your existing thermostat for ten years or more, you may want to consider an upgrade to a more modern model. There’s a quality company here in Portland, OR that can perform installation and repairs for you, but before you contact them, you should think about some of the upgrades available and how they may impact your life.
Common Maintenance Issues to Handle This Winter
Monday, November 30th, 2015The chilly season is here in Portland, OR, and with it comes reduced use of your air conditioner and increased use of your heater. You can do your household a favor by scheduling specific maintenance sessions for different parts of your system. Heating and air conditioning systems need maintenance at least once a year to wipe off the dust, tighten loose bolts and screws, and help them perform at their best. But they’re not the only common maintenance issues to handle this winter. Here’s a quick look at some of the others, which can involve both straight-up maintenance and the installation of new devices to help prevent further problems.
Schedule a Heating Maintenance Session Before the Holidays!
Monday, November 23rd, 2015Thanksgiving arrives this weekend, and with it comes the annual tradition of family, friends, good food and football games. If your Portland, OR home is looking to host a Thanksgiving dinner this year – or perhaps something later in the holiday season, whether it’s a formal get-together or just some friends coming over to watch the game – you might want to schedule a maintenance session for your heating system to ensure that everything is working correctly.
What Is a Maintenance Session?
A maintenance session isn’t quite the same as a repair session. Repair sessions are usually conducted to correct a specific problem that’s bedeviling your heater, such as a lack of air flow or an unexpected rattling noise. Maintenance on the other hand, is designed to look for signs of potential trouble that haven’t happened yet, as well as addressing the countless little issues that keep your system from functioning at its best. They can include (and are not limited to) the following:
Look for Short-Cycling in Your Furnace
Monday, November 16th, 2015Cool temperatures have arrived here in Portland, OR, which means that we’ll be using our heaters a lot more often these days. It behooves you to keep a close eye on yours for signs of trouble. That way, you can get it corrected before things get much colder, when you’ll need your heater even more and a breakdown could be far more catastrophic. Among the more common problems we encounter with furnace this time of year is short-cycling, where the system turns on and off rapidly multiple times, often without fully heating your home. The problem actually goes deeper than that, which is why if you spot the signs of short-cycling in your furnace, you need to get it addressed immediately.
Why Install a Humidifier?
Monday, November 9th, 2015Portland, OR is a rainy city, and that means we usually have to deal with excessive humidity instead of a lack of humidity. Many residents may question the need for a humidifier installed in their homes, especially since such a device will see little use during our hot and muggy summer months. The winter, however, can create exceptionally dry air, and if you’ve ever felt the discomfort of chapped lips or the sting of a static electricity shock, you know how true that can be. Installing a humidifier can make those problems go away, as well as helping maintain your home’s energy efficiency.
Make Your House Comfortable for the Holidays
Monday, November 2nd, 2015With Halloween past us, it’s time to look forward to the holiday season here in Portland, OR. And that means friends and family members coming over to your house for a visit. When they arrive, you want to make sure they’re s comfortable as possible, which means ensuring that your home is kept cozy against falling temperatures here in Portland, OR. Now is the perfect time to let a trained technician take care of those issues, before you need to start cooking the turkey and setting up the decorations. Here are a few suggestions on ways to make your house comfortable for the holidays.
Possible Causes of Low Heat in Your Furnace
Monday, October 26th, 2015Your furnace is going to see daily use this winter, as it will most winters in a town like Portland, OR. That makes it doubly concerning when you turn your heater on and the air isn’t warm enough, or worse: it’s not hot at all. That usually merits a visit from a repair technician, who can pinpoint the problem quickly and implement a proper solution. As a homeowner, however, it may help you to understand the possible causes of low heat in your furnace, which can stem from a number of different sources and usually requires professional expertise to resolve. Here’s a partial list of some of the more common causes to help you out.
Clogged Burners and Gas Lines
The burners are where the heating process gets started, and over time they can develop clogs and similar problems, preventing them from working as they should. In some cases, this can stem from trouble in the gas lines, where a clog or disruption is preventing the gas from getting to the burners. (This is one of the reasons why you should shut off the heater and the gas immediately upon detecting a problem: leaky gas is nothing to fool around with.) A service technician can unclog the burners, and regular maintenance session can help keep them from forming in the first place.