Douglas Cooling & Heating Blog : Archive for December, 2017

When Do You Change Your Humidifier’s Water Panel?

Thursday, December 28th, 2017

Homeowners deal with varying humidity in their home year-round without even realizing it. Runny or stuffy noses and watery or itchy eyes are a common occurrence in homes where the humidity level is extremely low. Normally your HVAC humidifier controls the moisture in your home, but if the water panel becomes clogged, it cannot properly provide moisture to your indoor air. Contact Douglas Cooling & Heating for help with your humidifier this winter and keep dry air away from your family.

What is an HVAC Humidifier?

Your humidifier emits water vapor into your home to increase your humidity levels. During the winter, furnaces and other heating equipment dry your air out, leading to health issues, static electricity, and poor indoor air quality. Your HVAC humidifier alleviates dry skin irritations, chapped lips, nose bleeds, and snoring.

There are different types of humidifiers, such as:

Warm Mist Humidifiers:

These humidifiers produce a soothing, warm mist that is visible and you can feel it. They are utilized to treat colds or the flu. They are quiet during operation and are great for soothing a dry area in a home. The downside is they require frequent cleaning, which is difficult to do.

Cool Mist Humidifiers:

By using a filter to trap minerals and other impurities, the cool mist humidifier produces a cool invisible mist that evaporates into the air. They can be used in larger areas and are easier to clean, but they work best in warmer climates. They are noisier and require more maintenance for their filters.

Ultrasonic Humidifiers:

By using an ultrasonic frequency to vibrate a metal diaphragm in the ultrasonic humidifier, water droplets are created. The water droplets are then filtered into the air by a fan. This humidifier is quieter and easier to maintain compared to warm and cool mist humidifiers.

Whole Home Humidifiers:

This humidifier is recommended for use with your heating and cooling system. It covers a much more significant area and is easier to maintain compared to warm and cool mist humidifiers. Whole home humidifiers also offer quiet operation when in use.

Where is My Humidifier Water Panel?

Before we track down your water panel, let’s discuss what the water panel is. The humidifier water panel goes by a few different names, such as evaporator pad or humidifier/water filter, but they are all three the same thing. The water panel is considered the heart of your humidifier. It generates the humidity necessary to keep your home comfortable during the heating season. Where is my humidifier, you might be wondering? Well depending on what kind of humidifier you have, it can be a stand-alone unit, or it can be attached to your heating and cooling system.

When do You Change Your Water Panel?

Since you now know where your humidifier water panel is, you can determine if it’s time to change the panel. Manufacturers recommend you replace your water panel at least once a year. The air that is forced through the water panel carries particles, like dust, which can clog the holes in the water panel when they are mixed with water. Restricted airflow is common when your water panel is clogged. If you have hard water, you may need to replace your water panel more often than once a year.

Every humidifier is different so attempting to change the water panel yourself can be tough. Contact the professionals at Douglas Cooling & Heating to replace your whole home humidifier’s water panel quickly. When your water panel isn’t replaced properly, you and your heating and cooling system will suffer:

Increased allergies for you and your family
Mold growth inside your heating and cooling unit
Increased bacteria in your home
Expensive mechanical failures for your HVAC unit
Reduced performance of your heating and cooling system

Know when it’s time to change your humidifier water panel to keep your indoor air quality at its healthiest. Douglas Cooling & Heating offers affordable, quality humidifiers that work with your current heating and cooling system for optimum efficiency. Contact us today to find out more!

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HVAC Water Leak? Condensate Drain Pans and How They Work

Tuesday, December 26th, 2017

Have you discovered an HVAC water leak? Is there a musty odor coming from your utility room or has your energy bill spiked? Most people don’t associate condensation with winter weather, but several components in your heating equipment rely heavily on a condensate drain line. If the line or pan gets too full, clogged, or frozen, your home heating system can shut down. For help with your condensate drain, contact Douglas Cooling & Heating. As a trusted Birmingham HVAC repair company near you, we offer NATE-certified technicians who repair your system’s condensate line in no time!

What Does an HVAC Condensate Drain Pan Do?

In your heating and cooling system, the temperature and humidity from outside have to be adjusted before it can be cycled throughout your home. Whether you are heating or cooling, your HVAC system generates condensation. The condensation needs to drain. The condensation moves through the condensate drain line to the condensate drain pan. The pan then feeds the excess water outside.

Spot HVAC Condensate Drain Pan Problems

If you don’t know your furnace has a condensate drain line and pan, you may not realize problems can form inside your HVAC system and home. If you have problems with your HVAC condensate drain pan, you might notice some of these symptoms:

Water damage

When the condensate pan malfunctions, this allows the collected condensate to overflow or leak out of the pan, spilling onto the surfaces below. This causes water damage to the surrounding areas. You may notice:

Water on the floor around your HVAC equipment
Water stains on nearby walls
Water stains on ceilings (if the HVAC system is installed in your attic)

Smells inside your home

Condensate pan problems allow excess moisture to stay inside your home. As it stagnates in the drain pan, odors are common. These odors travel into your home as air circulates through the heating and cooling system. If you notice an increase of musty or moldy odors, this points to a condensate drain problem.

Any HVAC water leak has the potential to result in mold growth, which is sometimes noticeable by its smell. These odors are often heavier in the specific area affected by the HVAC water leak.

Excess condensation indoors

With more moisture in your indoor air, you are likely to notice more condensation on surfaces. In the winter, this is particularly noticeable on window panes. When humid indoor air hits these cold glass panes, condensation forms.

Higher energy bills

Without a proper exit for excess moisture, it stays in the system and in your air. Your HVAC equipment must work harder to condition air with higher moisture content and your whole home dehumidifier’s burden is increased, too. This issue is a cause of higher energy bills, as your system expends more energy to do its job.

Poor indoor air quality

Does it feel muggier in your home? Do family members experience increased allergy and asthma symptoms? With more humidity remaining in your home due to an HVAC water leak, you experience a decrease in the quality of your indoor air. This causes discomfort in many ways, from making your body feel too warm to increasing the amount of allergens in your air which causes more frequent symptoms.

Mold growth inside your home

Mold growth is a clear indicator of a moisture problem, which could be the result of an HVAC water leak. Mold grows on walls, ceilings, and other structural elements or even items inside the home that come into contact with water. Mold grows due to an HVAC water leak in a few ways:

By increasing the moisture content of the air, without proper ventilation mold is able to grow anywhere with moisture buildup.
Mold may grow around the immediate area affected by an HVAC water leak.

Causes of HVAC Water Leaks

Three of the main reasons you have problems with your HVAC condensate drain pan:

Condensate pan is misaligned

If the condensate pan isn’t perfectly lined up at the right angle, you may experience an HVAC water leak inside your home. Align the pan to stop the leak before it turns into an even bigger problem.

Condensate drain is clogged

Condensate drains that are clogged cause water to leak from the tray. Condensate drain pipes can become clogged with debris over time and cause condensate drain pans to overflow. If this happens, two things can occur. One, an HVAC water leak can occur inside your home and two, mold and mildew can begin to grow indoors. The drain can also become frozen in the winter, causing water to back up into your home.

Condensate tray is damaged

If the condensate tray is torn or cracked by wear-and-tear, water can leak out of the pan. An HVAC contractor must replace a damaged condensation tray to fix the problem completely.

Call an HVAC Company Near You for Help with an HVAC Water Leak

If you have noticed water pooling around your heating and cooling system, it’s time to call a professional for help. Aligning the condensate drain pan can be tricky if you don’t know exactly what you are doing. An HVAC contractor can realign the pan and inspect the rest of the condensate drain line.

Douglas Cooling & Heating’ technicians will inspect the line to check for freezing and will replace the pan if it’s damaged. With a preventive HVAC maintenance plan, the condensate drain and pan are checked at least twice a year. Catch problems with your condensate drain pan before they escalate, invest in a maintenance plan from Douglas Cooling & Heating. We can keep your system running longer while reducing your energy bills and improving your indoor air quality.

If you have an HVAC water leak in your home, contact a trusted HVAC company near you for help! Douglas Cooling & Heating provides service, maintenance, and installation of heating and cooling systems in and around the Birmingham area. Contact us today to get your HVAC system looked at.

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Call for Repairs if Your Electrical System is Doing This

Monday, December 25th, 2017

The most costly, and typically dangerous, disruptions in daily life are when something we totally rely on and take for granted stops working for a minute. That’s especially true of electrical systems. We all make use of electrical systems throughout our homes to power any number of appliances. If there is a problem with the electrical system itself, it can cause widespread issues throughout the rest of the house. It can even lead to serious injury through things like house fires or electrocution! Protect yourself and your home from these issues by calling for repairs if your electrical system is doing any of these things.

Tags: Birmingham, Electrical Repair
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Is Poor Indoor Air Quality Affecting Your Students at Home?

Tuesday, December 19th, 2017

Student performance in schools is significantly affected by indoor air quality at home. Typical contaminants from outside, such as power plants and vehicles, combined with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and radon, create a toxic environment indoors. For the best indoor air quality, homeowners and business owners should have their heating and cooling units maintained twice a year. Douglas Cooling & Heating offers residential and commercial HVAC maintenance plans to combat poor air quality indoors year-round.

Common Causes of Poor Air Quality Indoors

Indoor air quality affects a person’s comfort, health, and ability to work. Your air quality is affected by the temperature, humidity, ventilation and other chemicals indoors. The leading causes of poor air quality indoors are:

Poor ventilation with your heating and cooling system
Lack of ventilation to bring fresh air indoors or preventing contaminated air from filtering outside
Construction or remodeling inside
Moisture and dampness indoors due to high humidity, leaks, or flooding
Cigarette smoke from smoking indoors and residue on clothing
Pesticides and other chemicals tracked inside from clothing and shoes
Chemicals from cleaning products
Unventilated damp areas
Polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) from furniture and other interior materials
Polyurethane found in mattresses

Impact of Poor Air Quality on Students

Common side effects of poor indoor air quality on adults and children include:

Irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat
Dizziness and nausea
Dry skin and mucous membranes
Coughing and respiratory infections
Rashes and reddening of the skin

Students are more susceptible to poor air quality indoors then adults. Children breathe in more air than adults, so pollutants in homes harm them more. Children also have immune systems that are constantly developing and learning to fight different viruses, bacteria, and other contaminants, making them more susceptible to pollutants in the air.

Air filters for HVAC systems become clogged with particles when they aren’t changed on a regular basis. A clogged filter isn’t able to trap and kill pollutants or bacteria that are floating around in the air. Children who battle repeated respiratory infections and other illness, experience less sleep. Aside from continued absences, students who experience unhealthy air in their homes have more trouble focusing and retaining information. Their test-taking abilities become impaired, and their grades suffer tremendously.

Improve Indoor Air Quality

The quality of your air indoors contributes to several health risks, and in time, it affects your heating and cooling system. To reduce the risk of poor air quality in your home:

Call a NATE-certified professional at Douglas Cooling & Heating and have your air ducts inspected. Dirt, debris, and other contaminants can collect inside your air ducts. When air passes through contaminated ducts, the air becomes compromised and is cycled throughout your home. Our technicians will clean your air ducts to eliminate any pollutants and replace ductwork that is faulty or old.
Install ultraviolet lights in your ductwork to kill mildew, bacteria, viruses, and other germs. This prevents the possibility that these contaminants could accumulate in your ducts.
Replace air filters for HVAC systems on a regular basis, about once every three to four months. The air filters for HVAC systems become clogged if they aren’t changed regularly. During routine HVAC maintenance, our professionals check, clean, or replace your air filters to prevent polluted air from pumping back into your home.
Invest in a quality dehumidifier to reduce humidity levels. Removing excess humidity improves issues with mold growth and reduces the risk of respiratory infections.

Understand how poor air quality indoors affects students and their academic performance. Create healthy indoor air for your home with Douglas Cooling & Heating’ help. Contact us for HVAC maintenance and get your air healthy for the students in your home.

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Douglas Cooling & Heating is Hiring!

Monday, December 18th, 2017

Looking for a new career? Interested in doing some real good for your community? Work with us! Douglas Cooling & Heating is looking to hire driven individuals to be technicians for us. Experience is a plus, but we place a very high importance on motivation. If you are interested in getting into the field, especially if you have experience, we want to hear from you! Have a look at our careers page, and let us know you’re interested! If you’re a good fit for us, we would be happy to provide on the job training.

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Do I Need a Bigger Furnace?

Tuesday, December 12th, 2017

Before you invest in a new furnace, you need to consider how large of a furnace you need for the size of your home or business. Furnace installation of a new unit has to be sized correctly for several reasons. Other HVAC contractors offer free estimates on their systems, but with Douglas Cooling & Heating, we want go the extra mile to ensure a properly sized new furnace. We go the extra mile by coming to your home and performing load measurements to make sure you get the correctly-sized furnace you deserve!

Benefits of Proper Sizing

Furnace installation on a correctly sized system offers several benefits. You will experience consistent operation during the coldest days of the year. The furnace will work quietly without you even knowing it’s running. Controlled and even temperatures are achieved easily with a correctly sized furnace. You will save money annually on your energy bill and repairs when you have a furnace installed that meets the size and demands of your home. A furnace that fits the needs and space of your home or office will last longer, too. A furnace’s life expectancy is between 15 to 20 years, but a properly sized unit that is maintained twice a year may offer a longer life.

How to Know Your Unit is Sized Correctly

Sound: A correctly sized unit will be almost silent when running. If you hear air moving throughout the ductwork or hear the system constantly kicking on and off, the system probably hasn’t been installed correctly or is sized wrong. At the time of your consultation with a professional at Douglas Cooling & Heating, we take into account your existing ductwork. If your ductwork is too small for the new furnace, the air pushed through the ducts is highly pressured, resulting in loud noises. Small ducts can’t adequately move heated air to all the areas of your home or business. A professional will know if the unit is sized properly by the sounds the furnace makes during operation.
Cold spots: A furnace installed to fit the needs of your home or business will provide exceptional heat to every area, without leaving random cold spots in its wake. If you install a furnace that is too small for the space, it won’t be able to keep up with the demands of your home or business. You will experience areas where the heat is too low compared to other areas. Investing in a programmable thermostat will help you track the temperature in your home, especially with a zoned system. But with a furnace that is too small, it will constantly run to achieve the ideal temperature in your home or office. Keep in mind, a furnace continually running also breaks down more often, and you will pay more for repairs over time.
Less efficiency: Whether the unit is too big or too small, both cost you more energy in the long run. Furnaces that are too small and operate constantly use more energy to heat your home. An oversized furnace can heat your home rapidly, but it cycles on and off repeatedly. Continuous cycling causes your furnace to expend more energy than it needs to keep every room warm. The more energy spent to hear your home increases your monthly energy bill. An improperly sized gas furnace can raise your energy bill and also increase your fuel bill every month.

Call a Trusted HVAC Contractor

So you are ready to invest in a new furnace but aren’t sure what size furnace you need? By calling an HVAC specialist, you can have peace of mind that you are getting the correct furnace installed in your home. The NATE-certified experts at Douglas Cooling & Heating will point you in the right direction for your new furnace installation. We perform load calculations to ensure your new unit is the right size for your home.

Get the most out of your new furnace with Douglas Cooling & Heating’ NATE-certified HVAC contractors! We offer affordable products with experienced furnace installation for any home or building. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation!

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How to Make Your Home’s Electrical System Safer

Monday, December 11th, 2017

The electrical system is one of the most important parts of your home. Almost all of your other appliances rely on it to function, including your climate control systems and your water heater. A malfunctioning electrical system can cause all kinds of problems in other parts of the home. Aside from the inconvenience of possibly losing access to various functioning appliances, though, there is the added issue of safety. Electrical problems can present a serious threat to the health and safety of those in the home. You should consider taking the following steps to make your home’s electrical system as safe as possible.

Tags: Birmingham, Electrical Maintenance, GFCI Installation
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Furnace Working Harder than it Should, Here’s How to Give it a Break

Thursday, December 7th, 2017

Furnaces are used to working hard for long amounts of time, but even they need a break every once in a while. The perfect way to keep your old furnace healthy and performing at its most efficient is to have regularly scheduled maintenance to prepare for the cold weather. At Douglas Cooling & Heating, we understand how vital your furnace’s performance is to you and your family. Whether it’s furnace repair for a breakdown or a complete furnace replacement, our NATE-certified technicians are ready to tackle any furnace need.

Benefits of Preventative Maintenance:

A furnace is only as good at the attention and service it receives. A broken furnace could have been prevented if it was properly maintained over the years. Yes, age does play a factor when it comes to a broken furnace, and maintenance extends the life of your furnace. The average furnace lasts around 15 years, but with regularly scheduled maintenance, you may be able to extend the life of your old furnace to 20 years. Aside from prolonged lifespan for your furnace, maintenance offers other benefits:

Increased efficiency: Preventative maintenance on a furnace keeps your system clean. When dirt, debris, and other contaminants come into contact with your furnace, the unit will become clogged. By keeping a system clean, your furnace can function at its peak efficiency without wasting valuable energy.

Improved safety: A furnace that isn’t maintained correctly poses severe safety issues for your home and family. Maintenance on your furnace checks to make sure all the components are functioning properly, especially for gas-powered furnaces. A pilot light that isn’t bright blue could mean carbon monoxide is leaking into your home.

Fewer repairs: With old furnaces, repairs are inevitable, but with preventative maintenance, you can reduce the number of repairs that occur every year. The more your furnace breaks down, the costlier furnace repairs become. Keeping your system functioning without constant malfunctions saves you money in the long run.

What to Expect During Maintenance:

The best thing you can do for your furnace is to schedule preventative maintenance at least twice a year. The benefits outweigh the cost of repeated repairs and replacing your current furnace. During a typical maintenance call on your furnace, your technician will:

Check the control on your system for proper function and safety
Lubricate all moving components in your system
Tighten any electrical connections
Check your thermostat settings
Inspect the condensate drain
Check and change the air filter
Check all gas (or oil) connections
Check the heat exchanger, gas pressure, and burner combustion

Time for a Furnace Replacement?

If your furnace is old and experiencing constant breakdowns even with preventative maintenance, it’s a definite sign you need a new unit. A furnace replacement is an expensive investment, and more modern furnaces offer significant savings for your home and wallet. Newer models provide increased efficiency, and some meet ENERGY STAR requirements. Make sure before you purchase a new furnace you are buying from a trusted, reliable company. Douglas Cooling & Heating offers quality products with experienced NATE-certified technicians knowledgeable about any installation.

Prevent expensive furnace repairs or an unexpected broken furnace this winter by investing in a preventative maintenance plan. We offer affordable maintenance agreements to keep your furnace healthy and efficient. Contact Douglas Cooling & Heating today for more information!

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Do You Have A Family Who Likes The House At Different Temperatures?

Tuesday, December 5th, 2017

Keeping everyone in your home comfy and warm can be difficult for your heating and air system. Your HVAC system sends equal amounts of heating and cooling to every area in your home, or at least tries to. Unfortunately, not every room in your house has the same climate requirements. To keep each room precisely the temperature you want it and at specific times, a zoning system helps greatly! The benefits to your home, your savings, and your HVAC system’s efficiency are outstanding with an HVAC installation of whole home zoning.

How It Works

An HVAC system without zoning is similar to turning every light on in your home and leaving them on 24/7 even when no one is in all of the rooms. Whole home zoning allows your heating and air system to condition specific rooms and quickly control the temperature setting in each of these places. Zoning systems work to control airflow in your home through dampers that control the airflow to zones.

Programmable thermostats are used to control the climate in each region. The thermostat gives a cue to your heating and air system, opens the dampers to a specific zone, and your HVAC system releases the appropriate temperatures to that region. The other zones remain unaffected by the airflow since the dampers remain closed according to the thermostat instructions.

Zoning System Strategies

There are many different scenarios for when a home would benefit from whole home zoning. If you notice temperature swings in different rooms of your home and can’t figure out how to keep one room warmer than another, zoning systems might be the answer to your problem. If you fall into any of these home situations, zoning is a viable option for your heating and cooling needs:

If you have a home with large windows or even a sunroom, zoning will allow you to keep even temperatures despite solar heat gain.
Apartments or bonus rooms above a garage are hard to heat or cool, but zoning makes temperature control possible in these areas.
Basements or attics with a finished living space are a perfect option for whole home zoning.
Homes with high, cathedral ceilings are great options for zoning systems since heat rises and stays at the top during the winter.
Multi-story homes are difficult to cool and heat because the upstairs stays warmer when heat rises, but with zoning, you can supply even temperatures to all levels of your home.

Benefits of Zoning

With a proper HVAC installation of a whole home zoning system, you can rake in the savings on your energy bill and remain comfy in any room in your house. Dampers controlled by different thermostats in each zone supply climate control that saves you money since you aren’t wasting energy to heat or cool rooms that aren’t in use. Zoning also helps your HVAC system to stay healthy and operate longer than a system without whole home zoning. The wear and tear on your heating and air unit lessen and requires less repair work in the future. When a system is used less often, it saves you money without constant breakdowns from overuse.

Contact Douglas Cooling & Heating for HVAC installation of additional programmable thermostats to boost your savings even more. Programmable thermostats allow you to maintain your ideal temperatures in each zone by implementing a schedule. You can vary the temperature depending on the time of day, if you are home, or when you are sleeping.

It’s time to get the most out of your heating and cooling system. Call Douglas Cooling & Heating for HVAC installation of a whole home zoning system and new programmable thermostats. With our help, you can achieve the climate control you always dreamed of!

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