Why Is the Furnace Turning On and Off So Frequently?

January 28th, 2019

covering-earsIf 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 …

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Black Mold and Your HVAC System

January 14th, 2019

mold-on-wallThe term black mold is one homeowners never want to hear. It’s one of the scariest possibilities for a house in a place like Florida, where the damp and often warm weather makes it easy for mold to start developing in parts of the house. Mold of any kind is unpleasant to look at and creates bad odors. Black mold, however, presents a health threat to the people in a household.

One of the most harmful places where black mold can develop is inside the ventilation system of a house. Not only is it hard to recognize because it is out of easy sight, but the harmful spores from the mold will spread all around the house when the air conditioning and heating system comes on and the blower fan pushes air to the different rooms.

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How Leaky Air Ducts Can Be Making Winter Worse

December 31st, 2018

duct-sealing-with-caulkingWinters 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.

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How a UV Air Purifier Works to Clean Your Home’s Air

December 17th, 2018

woman-with-allergiesOne of the biggest problems homes in Florida deal with is humidity creating mold and mildew. While mildew is an unpleasant-looking nuisance capable of damaging wood and drywall, mold can present a more serious hazard—toxic mold spores.

But mold spores are only one of several organic pollutants that may be circulating through the rooms of a home. Standard air filtration systems and air purifiers are often ineffective at stopping spores, microbes, bacteria, viruses, and general “icky” stuff.

If your home suffers from organic contaminants that lower the general health of the household, you’ll need a powerful, professional solution. This is where we introduce you to the UV air purifier, aka UV germicidal lights.

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Have Your Furnace Maintained Before the End of the Year

December 3rd, 2018

furnace-oldThe best way to prevent any serious issues with your furnace is to schedule routine maintenance for it. A qualified technician should thoroughly inspect the entire system to ensure that everything is working properly. With routine maintenance, your furnace will work more effectively. In addition, you will likely spend less money on furnace repair. The longer a problem with your furnace continues, the more likely it is to cause further damage. Proper maintenance allows HVAC technicians to diagnose any problems that you might be unaware of.

Here in Florida, it doesn’t get too cold, but it does get a touch chilly. By now, you have probably turned on your furnace. Before we get too far into the season, call to schedule professional maintenance services. A technician can make sure your system is up to speed.

If you notice anything that suggests an issue with the furnace, such as a strange noise or a lack of heat, don’t hesitate to call a professional for repairs. It is easy to push an issue off until next year, especially with such mild winters. However, we often forget about the problem until next winter rolls around, and we are caught in the same predicament. Remember, the sooner you schedule professional service, the less severe the problem is going to be.

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Can a Ductless System Manage the Heat?

November 19th, 2018

ductless-system-with-technicianAre you looking to make a change in your home’s air conditioning in Gainesville, FL? As we move into the cooler weather at the end of the year, it’s a good time to make changes and upgrades to an aging cooling system, or one that was struggling with the basics of a Florida summer. There’s never a bad time to improve a cooling system in Florida’s weather, since more heat could always be around the corner. But late fall and winter offer the opportunity to sneak in a new installation when there are far fewer hot days.

If a new AC is on your end-of-year shopping list, you may already have considered going ductless. Ductless mini split systems are becoming more popular for home comfort each year. You may feel uncertain, however, about making the change. Can a ductless system really keep you as cool as you need?

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Does My AC Help Control Humidity?

November 5th, 2018

flushed-man-before-fanHumidity is obviously a big issue in Florida. It can make a moderately warm day seem stiflingly hot, and a hot day pretty miserable. The reason for this is that the higher levels of moisture make it harder for the body to release heat through perspiration. More heat is trapped in the body, and this makes the temperature feel hotter. On our occasional colder days during the winter, humidity is often welcome—but it’s still not something you want inside your home, since it promotes mold and mildew growth and can cause building damage.

But what about your home’s air conditioner? It helps with the heat, of course, which it does by removing heat from inside the house and exhausting it outside. Does it also help with humidity control? It’s a tricky “yes-but-more-like-no” answer which we’ll get into below.

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HVAC Fall Planning: Maybe a Heat Pump?

October 22nd, 2018

cold-and-hot-house-symbolsPlanning for winter in Florida may sound a touch strange to people who live elsewhere, since we enjoy mild winters that sometimes feel more like a cooler extension of summer. But this is a period of heavier rains and sometimes weather that makes a heating system necessary. We don’t need extremely powerful heaters the way homes in Minnesota do, but we still need to have reliable and energy-efficient ones.

And this brings us to the heat pump as part of fall HVAC planning. A heat pump is an ideal way for you to enjoy heating and air conditioning in Newberry, FL around the year. It’s one of the best comfort options available for Florida homes.

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Check the Outdoor AC Cabinet in the Fall

October 8th, 2018

touchstone-new-ac-yorkAlthough we experience some wet and cold days during the winters in North Central Florida, we also still have hot days. Air conditioners are expected to work throughout the year around here. That means you need to make sure your home’s AC is prepared to get through each season. The biggest concern is summer, which is why we stress having professional maintenance done in the spring, right before the period when the AC will run the most.

It’s fall now, and you won’t be arranging for professional maintenance for the cooling system (unless you didn’t have it done during spring, in which case, better late than never). But we recommend you take a few steps to check on the air conditioner to make sure no problems are developing and that it’s set to handle any warm days ahead. If you do need air conditioning repair in Gainesville, FL, call us and we’ll be there to take care of it.

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Summer Winds Down: Time to Think About Your AC’s Future

September 24th, 2018

woman-surprised-glassesSummer never truly ends in Florida. We move through rainier, cooler periods, but the work of an air conditioning system in a Florida home is never fully done for the year.

But the official calendar end of the summer is a good time to take stock of a residential air conditioning system and pretend that it’s come to the end of its annual service. We encourage you to take a moment to think about your AC’s performance and age so you can make important choices about its future—such as if you need a new air conditioning system installation in Lake City, FL before the next long stretch of heat arrives.

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