Duckett & Laird

Did you know that very low humidity in your winter home can make you feel colder, even when the furnace is operating properly? Low humidity can also cause problems with static electricity, reduce the life of your wood furniture and make your skin feel unusually dry and uncomfortable.

Proper ventilation is important in every home, as it filters air outside along with dust and allergens. A central heating system gets rid of humidity and odors in a room and helps circulate the air in kitchens and bathrooms.

It's best to let a professional deal with your heating system. Improper maintenance or careless treatment may result in a carbon monoxide leak, which has the potential to go undetected until it is too late.

To determine whether your basement is leaking heat from your home, you should do several things: inspect it for excess moisture, repair any leaks, and check the edges around windows for air leaks.

Forced-air heating systems are popular because of their fast heat delivery, reliability, versatility, and low installation costs. Often, the same duct system used for heating a home can also be utilized by a cooling system in the summer months.

Steam and hot-water heating systems are central systems that supply steam or hot water to radiators, convectors, or pipes that are run throughout the house-typically embedded in walls, ceilings, and/or floors.

If you have an older home with limited space and no ductwork, you should ask an HVAC professional about baseboard heaters. These give you the chance to control the temperature in individual rooms and are extremely cost-efficient.

Have you ever come home to a cold house and turned your thermostat higher than you normally would? Ratcheting up the dial doesn't heat your home more rapidly. It may cause you to waste fuel overheating your home, though.

You probably already know that having a programmable thermostat attached to your furnace can save you money. Did you know, though, that the location of your thermostat is important too? If it's placed too close to a vent or exterior door, it can provide false readings.

Have you heard of the hot water baseboard system for heating a home? This is similar to radiant heat in that this system uses hot water heated by a boiler to heat a space by a combination of radiation and convection. With this system, air is distributed by convection as air rises and is heated by the baseboard unit.

In 1925, women were taking advantage of the freedom of fashion due to the advance in central heating, and The New York Times reported that year the American Association of Woolen and Worsted Manufacturers had a "radical change in women's clothing." It negatively impacted their business.

Did you know that an oversized HVAC system can actually increase electric bills and result in insufficient home cooling? When choosing the right HVAC system for your home, it is important to pick the right HVAC system to fit your home's size and space.

Don't put your home up for sale until you have determined that your air-conditioning is in working order. Real estate agents say a home's foundation, roof and the cooling and heating systems are most important to prospective buyers.

Don't wait until your air-conditioning system is not working to look for help. By the time a problem has stopped the system completely, the repair may have become significant. Also, dealing with no air-conditioning can be brutal.

It's important to remember that your air conditioning system has a variety of parts that must work together in order to cool your home. Something as simple as forgetting to regularly replace your air filter can cause serious issues with other parts of the system.

Did you know that air conditioning accounts for more than 15 percent of the energy use of the average home (which is somewhere around 183 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year in the U.S.)? Updating your HVAC cooling system with a more efficient model is a smart investment over the long run.

Remember, when the mercury is soaring to triple digits, there's only so much a fully-functioning AC unit can do. Running ceiling fans can help keep the cool air from your unit circulating through your home's interior.

Mold, which can lead to respiratory tract illnesses and coughing in people who are otherwise healthy, can create more significant health issues for people with allergies or asthma. A study by the Institute of Medicine concluded that even healthy children can develop respiratory illness after being exposed to indoor mold.

Remember, air conditioning does much more than simply cool the air. It also lowers the overall humidity in the home and removes dust and dirt from the air. Be sure to regularly change the air filter to keep the air in your home as clear as possible.

Generally speaking, the less frequently your air conditioning system can run, the better. If you have torn ductwork that's releasing all your cooled air outside, your unit will have to work harder and longer to replace it, which could mean more frequent issues with the system.

An experienced air-conditioning contractor can do more than just repair and maintain your air-conditioning system. Let a cooling expert recommend ways to reduce your cooling costs, from things like additional insulation to cleaning your home's ductwork.

Ask your air-conditioning expert about the steps you can take to ensure the longest possible life for your cooling system. In addition to regular maintenance, many experts recommend that homeowners regularly clean the air conditioning filter.

Water cooled air conditioning systems cool water with a refrigerant. These systems provide an added degree of flexibility since they do not require the use of outside air, which means that they could potentially be installed in the basement of a home.

To make sure that the air conditioning thermostat is correctly reading the temperature inside the house, be sure to keep heat producing appliances and lights - including televisions, standing lamps and hall lights - away from the thermostat.

Did you know that today's high efficiency HVAC systems can result in a dramatic reduction in energy costs? If it's time for an HVAC upgrade, ask about high efficiency HVAC systems which may suit your home.

Have you ever heard the term, "room air distribution"? This refers to the way that air flows through a room. It's also characterized by how air in introduced to rooms and removed from spaces. This is an important factor for HVAC technicians, engineers, and system designers to consider.

When you decide to install a new HVAC system in your home, it's possible that you will qualify for a tax credit from the state or federal government. Check with your accountant or a tax expert to confirm whether the purchase qualifies for the credit.

If you want to save money on your summer air conditioning bill, start by setting your thermostat between 72°F and 78°F. By adjusting your thermostat by even only a couple of degrees, you can really cut down on your energy usage.

When your HVAC system is starting to have problems keeping your home cool, the issues isn't always with your system. When the weather is consistently hitting the triple digits, the issue may be that too much hot air is seeping into your home through poorly insulated doors and windows.

While homeowners may want to handle what they believe are minor repairs to the air-conditioning system, it's a better idea to rely on an expert to avoid turning a small issue into a major problem.

It is very important to keep the part of your air conditioner that draws air into the system uncovered. This reduces the chances of airflow obstruction and helps your unit run efficiently.

Basically, centralized air conditioning units send cool air directly through air ducts or vents located in each room. As the cold air is blown in, ambient air is pulled into the air handler unit from each room through return air ducts, thereby completing the loop.

Do you know when it makes sense to pay money to repair your cooling system as opposed to deciding when it's time to replace the system? An air-conditioning contractor has the expertise to get the most out of your old system.

Did you know that running a dehumidifier at the same time as your air conditioning will cause your AC to be less efficient? Since dehumidifiers increase the cooling load, your AC unit will have to work twice as hard to get to your desired temperature.

To reduce wear and tear on a HVAC system, be sure to follow these tips during hot spells: keep all vents clear, maintain a clean space around the outdoor unit, change air filters as needed and clean/maintain the ducts as needed.