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5 Factors That Affect the Life-Span of Your Heating System

Understanding the factors that can affect the life span of your HVAC system can help you get the most out of it. As a cooling and heating system installation expert, Schmitt recommends that homeowners research and study their HVAC systems to make smart decisions regarding the care and maintenance of their equipment. To help you with this,  we will discuss the things that can affect your HVAC system’s service life. Read more

3 Things About IAQ Every Pet Lover Should Know

Many people in San Francisco consider their pets, whether cat, dog, bird, or a more exotic species, as a part of their family. We know to feed, water, and groom our pets, but it is also crucial for pet owners to understand how having a pet can affect your home’s air quality. Pets are a fantastic way to improve both your mental and physical health, but when caring for pets, it’s wise to be mindful of the quality of your indoor air.

Many pets, especially mammalian pets, such as cats and dogs produce what is called dander. Dander is a term for very small particles of skin that fall from your pet’s skin and coat. Many people assume that pet hair is the trigger or most animal allergies, when it fact, dander is more often the culprit. To effectively keep dander and other pet debris to a minimum, we’ve offered up a few tips. The biggest issue with pet dander is making sure that it never gets out of control in the first place. Follow these simple tips to prevent pet dander buildup and improve the IAQ in your pet friendly home.

IAQ for Pet Friendly Homes

  • Bathe and/or groom your pets as recommended by your veterinarian. Clean and healthy pets will produce less dander than pets who are not groomed regularly. If not properly groomed, excess dander could form on your pet and be distributed around your home. Brush your pet regularly to remove dander and keep their coat healthy and be sure to provide them with high quality food and plenty of fresh water. This will help ensure that your pet is properly hydrated, and this will keep their skin soft and less apt to producing dander
  • Get regular maintenance on your home’s HVAC system. Not only will this keep your HVAC system running smoothly, it is also essential for maintaining excellent air quality. And, for homes with pets, maintenance is even more fundamental, since pet hair and dander can collect not only within your air filter, but also in other areas. A professionally trained technician can spot any issues, whether performing routine maintenance or beyond, before anything grows into a more serious problem.
  • Speaking of filters, be sure to clean or change your HVAC system’s air filter every month or two, or according to the manufacturer’s directions. Since air filters vary on size and function, depending on what type of filter you have, it could need changed less or more often than monthly. The simplest advice is to check your filter often and change or clean it whenever it appears dirty. If you are using a basic air filter, consider upgrading to a HEPA filter or a filter that can help capture pet dander and debris.  
  • Another way to ensure excellent air quality is to consider an air purifier for your home.  Pet dander, dust, and other debris can accumulate in your home’s ductwork and an air purifier can truly help!

Give us a call today to learn more about improving your home’s Indoor Air Quality, whether with HVAC services, UV Lamps, Humidifiers or Ventilators, we can help! Phone: (415) 522-0966

5 Tips to Lower Your Cooling Bills This Season

Don’t let the rising temperatures increase your home’s energy bills! There’s no need to budget in extra costs for your cooling bills this season, just keep these simple ideas in mind when the weather heats up. By adopting a few new habits around your home, you can save energy and money while staying extra comfy this season. Before you crank up your AC and give into inevitably high energy bills, read on for a few great ways to save this season.    Lower Your Cooling Bills This Season If you’re interested in learning more about your home’s cooling system, how to make it more efficient, or are in need of a maintenance check on your AC, call us today: (415) 522-0966

How I Can Reduce My Energy Costs In The Winter?

87833483Consumers want to be warm and comfortable during winter. Staying warm is important, especially to elderly people and those with serious medical conditions. How can they keep chills at bay but also reduce winter energy costs? Here are some tips to ensure lower utility bills.

Choose Energy Efficient Appliances

Energy Star ovens, refrigerators, freezers, and other appliances are so-named for good reason: they run more efficiently than old or cheap machines. Insulation meets or beats regulatory standards and you can tell by how hot or cold they feel to the touch when running. Consider trading old models for new ones.

Go one better and maintain appliances throughout the year. Clean them, have a certified technician check them regularly, and replace filters where appropriate. Clean the condenser coil on your refrigerator. Do not over-fill the refrigerator and freezer or leave them empty. Even if you have nothing to put in the refrigerator, load it with full jugs of water.

Set an Appliance Timer

The sound of a furnace running is almost enough to make householders feel warm in its own right. When that sound ceases, that is the signal you just lightened the financial load. Do not allow a furnace or water heater running all day. Set both of them to operate when people are inside the house and preparing to use them. Otherwise, their warmth goes to waste.

Time Yourself

Peak hours of energy use are between the hours most individuals get up and go to bed. Consider starting the dryer or dishwasher just before you settle down for the night or load up an hour earlier each morning. Not only will you pay less but there is a better chance both loads will be full, thereby ensuring more efficient use of energy.

Unplug and Play

When you unload puzzles and board games from the closet or run outside to host a hot dog roast, unplug the appliances you are not currently using. Computers, the television, microwave, and other items continue to leach power even when turned off.

More Energy Ideas

Follow us and read more about energy. Learn many more ways to run your home efficiently and affordably without suffering the winter blues.

Global HVAC Equipment Market Is Expected To Exceed $139 Billion By 2018

It should be no surprise that as populations expand and more incomes becomes available to developing nations, more and more people and companies will demand climate conditioned homes and working spaces.  For all the current economic doldrums of some nations, the global HVAC equipment market is expected to exceed $139 billion by 2018, growing at a pace of nearly nine percent per year over the next five years, according to Transparency Market Research.  This growth, which is far stronger than the rate of inflation, suggests that many factors are making cooling systems both more affordable and more practical than ever before.

Analysis Of The Global HVAC Equipment Market

Some nations, like the United States and the European Union, have particular standards about heating and cooling units with regard to power consumption and energy efficiency.  For these nations, new technological developments in green energy are allowing for the increased production of HVAC units that can cool more with less power.  As other nations adopt energy policies, new providers of HVAC equipment will be able to sell units based on these regulations without having to aggressively market their products — air conditioning, after all, is certainly a product that sells itself.  Where some nations, especially those in east Asia, once struggled for the capital needed to buy and install (and maintain) HVAC units, increases in economies as well as lowered costs of production appear poised to make cooling units as a dominant segment of what was previously a luxury-scarce economy.  

Geography And Climate

What parts of the world will be spending the most on HVAC units for the near future?  While North American and Europe will continue to shell out money for cooling during hot summer months, these markets offer less profits than do much of the developing world.  Asian economic powerhouses like China, Indonesia, and Thailand experience hotter temperatures for longer than many western nations, yet previously had little ability and infrastructure to provide for comprehensive cooling capabilities.  Today, however, larger energy grids make cooling available to all parts of these nations as greatly expanded markets allow for middle-class (and in some cases, even lower-class) families to be able to afford units.  Latin America appears poised to follow suit, as the robust economies and class movement in emerging nations like Brazil should keep HVAC production and maintenance in the black for the foreseeable future.  

Major HVAC Producers

Analysis of the future of the HVAC market identified Carrier as the leading player for the production and distribution of new heating and cooling units.  This world leader in climate control faces competition from industries, but has risen above much of their competitors to be the world’s leading provider.  All told, however, mega-corporations only account for about a third of the global market, meaning that independent climate control providers have the ability to call the shots in their own business territories.

How To Choose The Best Air Conditioning Service In San Francisco

Choosing the best air conditioning service in San Francisco can often seem very daunting, especially if you are unfamiliar with how air conditioning actually works. Like many things in life, though, the process is made much easier by taking a little time to plan and prepare.

The first step anyone should take when looking for an air conditioning contractor in San Francisco is to do some research. Check local press and the internet for companies who are advertising their services. If the company has a website, see what they are prepared to tell customers. Look for testimonials, and see whether customers appear satisfied or not.

While an HVAC contractor is unlikely to put bad reviews on their own website, interested potential customers can usually find reviews and testimonials elsewhere on the web. Local community forums may have discussion pages about tradesmen, and it can be very useful to check them out to see what people are saying. Using social media can also be illuminating. 

A HVAC contractor might well have a page on Facebook or a Twitter account. If they do, see what kind of information they are sharing. If they pose pictures of the work that they have carried out, then that can give a good indication of what they are like. Interact with them, and see what response they offer. This is a good way of seeing if you would trust them in your home.

Another important way of assessing whether a residential heating and air conditioning contractor is good is to speak to friends and neighbours. At some stage, one of them will have had work carried out, and getting an unbiased view of the work that they did can be very useful indeed. Always check about how the pricing and billing was handled, to make sure that the tradesman is honest and above board. There also needs to be some sort of accountability and guarantees built into their service terms, and getting some personal testimony from people you trust is a good way of checking this.

Finally, once you have chosen two or three engineers who can potentially carry out the work, get them to provide quotes. How the company goes about carrying out a quote is often a good way to assess how much you would trust them in your home. Select the best quote for your personally, but always remember that the cheapest is not necessarily the all-round best option.

Choosing an air conditioning engineer is no different, fundamentally, from selecting any other type of tradesman. Careful research and a measure of planning will serve you well. Try and see what several different companies can offer, and then make an informed decision, based upon your personal needs and requirements.