Serving the Communities of North Central Florida since 1998
The weather in Florida is often weird. And during the winter it becomes more unpredictable. Handling home heating in Lacrosse, FL and other parts of Northwest Florida can be tricky. You may not have to deal with bone-shaking cold in your house, but trying to manage the temperature swings of the winter can cause energy waste over the season.
We can help! Below we’ve outlined some best practices to make your heating as low-cost this winter as possible.
“Winter weather” is a relative term in North Central Florida. We won’t get hit with snowstorms or bone-chilling subzero temperatures. However, we often deal with rain and temperature swings that make it necessary for our homes to have working heating systems. November is the right time—deeper into fall—to make sure your residential heating system is able to do the job you expect from it. You don’t want to switch on your electric furnace for the first time in December only to discover you already need to schedule heating repair in Lake Butler, FL for it, after all.
Here’s what you can do to see that you have a heating system in good shape for the sometimes odd winter weather of Florida.
What’s the most common type of home heating system in the U.S.? The natural gas furnace by a wide margin. Gas furnaces produce large amounts of heat and can warm up a house faster than almost any other type of heater. The lower cost of natural gas makes them attractive as well.
Gas furnaces aren’t as common in Florida. Their heating power is often too intense for our mild winters, and the lower cost of natural gas often makes little difference when furnaces don’t run often. This makes electric furnaces a frequent alternative. For homeowners without any gas connection, electric furnaces may seem like the only central heating option. They’re not, but they’re still popular choices.
Once upon a time, the most common furnace for a house was a ghastly monstrosity known as an “octopus furnace.” It sat in the basement of the home, burned coal, and distributed heat by letting it rise through large pipes that crawled up through the house. Inefficient, unreliable, costly, dangerous.
Obviously, furnaces have come a long way since then. We don’t have old octopus furnaces around in Florida (we rarely have basements!), but the changes in furnace technology over only the last two decades are impressive. If you have an older furnace (15 years or more), we recommend looking into the new models with their superior efficiency.
The air filter for your HVAC system is a critical component for it to operate well. It isn’t there to clean your household air but to protect the interior of the cabinet from all the dust, lint, and other particles the blower fan draws in through the return air ducts.
Just as important as the job of the air filter is changing the filter regularly. The filter isn’t self-cleaning, so it has to be replaced with a new filter to prevent air blockage. Unfortunately, homeowners often forget to do this job, especially during the winter when the HVAC system won’t run as often in the mild Florida weather. But even during winter, regular filter changes are essential.
We’re advocates for ductless heating and cooling systems, also known as ductless mini split heat pumps, or just ductless mini splits. Homes that were built without ducts can enjoy excellent comfort with a ductless mini split, and new homes can be designed without having to hand over valuable space to ducts.
Ductless systems are new to many homeowners, so we receive plenty of questions about them. We’ve answered the major ones below.
One of the best ways to tell when a heating system is ready for a replacement is basic age. Each heater comes with a manufacturer’s estimated service life. Once the system is beyond that age, we advise you to think about replacing it, even if the unit still seems to function well. It doesn’t mean you should automatically replace it. But it’s time to ask yourself serious questions about the heater’s performance so you’ll know when to pull the trigger on a new system.
Since it’s now fall and you’re preparing for cooler weather, it’s the right point to address the furnace in your home. If you have a furnace that’s older than 15 years (the usual estimated service life for a gas furnace), there are a few important things for you to know.
September is coming to a close, and hurricane season along with it. As the evacuation orders lift and the weather becomes a little less aggressive, you may consider giving your AC system a short break.
The start of fall might offer your HVAC unit a little bit of relief after it has been working hard all summer. The heat and humidity that Florida is known for may not be going anywhere, but these conditions are often more bearable than a month ago.
As the temperature drops, you may not be as concerned by the idea of your HVAC system suffering a breakdown. However, this is the best time of year to pay the most attention to your AC unit.
The temperate weather that begins in fall signals the best time of year to give your system a little TLC with some HVAC maintenance.
If you’re asking this question, then you’re doing a good job of paying attention to the behavior of your home’s heating system. Detecting early indications of malfunctions in a heater is essential to ensuring you arrange for repairs to fix the problem when it’s still small and to avoid potential health hazards. Odd sounds, strange smells, high bills—all are warnings you may need professional service for your furnace in Starke, FL.
Now, about that problem you’ve noticed with the furnace turning on and off rapidly …
Winters here in North Central Florida are mostly pleasant, but we do have stretches of days when the temperature drops to the point where heating systems have to come on. Most people have heaters that use ductwork to move heat to the various rooms, such as furnaces (electric or gas) and heat pumps. Unfortunately, no matter how well your home’s heater works, you’ll run into trouble if the ductwork is leaky.
