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.
The ductwork in the modern home is often substandard, as if the original builders of the house didn’t put much thought into the placement or materials of these important air channels. We’ve seen plenty of poor ductwork in the more than two decades we’ve worked on HVAC systems. This is why
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.
Making it through winter in comfort here in North Central Florida is rarely a problem—at least when it comes to keeping warm. Low temperatures are rare, and heating systems don’t have to stretch hard to get the job done.
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.
We often remind our customers that HVAC maintenance is important around the year. It’s easy to understand why
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.
If you found your way to this blog, it’s probably because you know your house, like many houses in Florida, has poorer air quality than you would like. Homes today are often built so tightly that there is little chance for the circulation of fresh air, and even less chance in a warm climate like ours.
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.