A good night’s sleep can do wonders for your health. If you’ve been having a hard time getting your full eight hours of sleep, you might be surprised at how much a few tweaks to your HVAC system can help. In this blog, HVAC repair company Schmitt Heating & Air Conditioning shares tips on how to optimize your air conditioner for a good night’s sleep. Read more
San Francisco winters are mild and rarely extreme, making it one of the many areas where a heat pump is a viable heating and air conditioning option. Unlike other types of HVAC systems, heat pumps don’t “produce” warm or cold air. Instead, they transfer heat from one place to another. This means it can function as either a heater or a cooler, depending on the season. Read more
With the heating season in full swing, homeowners across the nation are scrambling to get their heating repair and maintenance needs taken care of right away. As you do, don’t forget to include your indoor air quality (IAQ) levels on your list of routine HVAC tasks to be done. Read more
We’ve often had calls where homeowners thought their heating and cooling systems were losing efficiency, only to find out after an inspection that the problems are due to unbalanced airflow. In this blog, heating system repair contractor Schmitt Heating & Air Conditioning shares an overview of air balancing and its importance.
There’s such a great need for heating and cooling services that there are unscrupulous people who will use this need to try to scam homeowners out of their hard-earned money. In this blog, the HVAC contractors at Schmitt share the most common HVAC scams and how you can avoid them.
Today’s homeowners are fortunate in that they have many choices on how to heat their homes. Home heating systems have come a long way from fires in caves during prehistoric times. In this blog, heating and air conditioning contractor Schmitt shares a quick look into how home heating systems have evolved.
Many of today’s home HVAC systems are equipped with humidifiers to maintain balanced relative indoor humidity. If your HVAC system has one, chances are its water panel may need to be changed. In this blog, the HVAC contractors at Schmitt Heating & Air Conditioning explain why you need to do this.
The HVAC system plays an important part in maintaining good indoor air quality in your building. After all, the “V” in HVAC does stand for ventilation. Incorrect settings or a lack of care and maintenance can lead to indoor air quality issues, resulting in uncomfortable temperatures, low humidity levels and the spread of allergens and bacteria. Read more
Every home has different heating requirements, and therefore needs a furnace that’s the appropriate size to meet them. In this blog, residential and commercial HVAC repair contractor Schmitt shares insight on the importance of furnace sizing.
Your home needs a furnace that will supply heat efficiently, consistently and in the appropriate amount, which is why choosing the right furnace size is important. An undersized furnace will redline all the time—and consume a lot of fuel in the process—just to meet minimum heating requirements. To illustrate using an extreme example, it’s like trying to heat an entire house using a portable space heater.
Oversized furnaces can also be problematic, as they provide too much heat too fast, leading to “short cycling”. In other words, the furnace turns off and on too fast, which places additional strain on it, consumes more energy and can potentially lead to premature breakdown. The right sizing applies to both heating and cooling systems, so your air conditioner needs to be properly sized as well.
Your HVAC technician will take several factors into consideration before estimating the furnace size that will fulfill your home’s heating requirements:
Your Home’s Square Footage — This includes all the rooms that require heating, including finished basements and attics. Rooms vary in size and shape, of course, all of which will be taken into account.
Heating Factor — Heating as well as cooling is relative to outdoor temperatures. There are five standard zones in the United States, all with different BTU (British thermal unit) requirements. The farther from the equator, the higher the required BTUs will be. California is located in Zone 2, with a heating factor of 30 to 35 BTUs. By contrast, some of the northernmost areas in the country, such as Minneapolis, require 50 to 60 BTUs.
Insulation — A well-insulated home won’t require as much heating. In addition to wall and attic insulation, ceilings and floors in certain rooms should be insulated, and don’t forget to caulk and seal your windows and doors as well.
To calculate your home heating requirements, multiply the square footage of your house by the heating factor. The better insulated the house is, the lower the required BTUs within the resulting range. For example, if your home’s total floor area is 2,000 square feet and is well-insulated, then it will take around 60,000 BTUs to heat your home. A furnace with a corresponding output will then be selected and installed.
Are you looking for HVAC contractors? If so, call Schmitt Heating at (415) 522-0966 or fill out our contact form. We serve customers in San Francisco.
Maintaining good indoor air quality is one of your best defenses against fall allergies, and your HVAC system plays an essential part. In this blog, heating and air conditioning contractor Schmitt takes a close look at how you can make your HVAC system your primary defense against fall allergies.
