Taming the Weather in Toronto

Toronto has often been touted as a wonderful city to live in. Known for its warm springs and summers, friendly falls, and pleasant winters, Toronto has a vibrant lifestyle and mood that would make any family live happily ever after.

Temperature’s rising

The month of July is well into Toronto’s summer season, which ends in September. Temperatures can go as high as 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). This would be the best time to arrange an air conditioner installation by Toronto HVAC experts and make sure existing ones are operating at peak efficiency.

A Look at Ductless Air Conditioners

The installation of a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in a home often involves laying out and sizing up the duct system or ductwork. This consists of a series of tubes which help distribute heated or cooled air from the HVAC throughout the home. However, there is a way to cool a home without necessarily having to lay out the complicated ductwork, and that’s through ductless air conditioners.

Common Air Conditioning Problems During the Summer

It’s during summer when you will truly appreciate owning an air conditioner in Toronto. Unfortunately, the time you are inclined to use your air conditioner the most is also the time when the unit is likely to encounter problems. As such, here are two of the more common problems that air conditioners will encounter during the summer:

Understanding and Manipulating a Blower’s Wiring

Blowers are meant to circulate either cooling or heating loads all over the house’s ductwork. However, when the blower itself is the problem, things will warrant immediate repair or replacement options, and part of that will require looking into the motor wiring. A professional emergency furnace repair technician may help you with the problem.

Evaluating a Newly Installed Air Conditioning Unit

Many homeowners rely on professionals for the installation of their air conditioning system. This is ideal as the procedure requires skills that can only be acquired from years of training and experience. When the installation is done, there are several things the professional installer must do before finally leaving the newly installed unit to the owner’s use and care.

First, he’ll run a test cycle to find out if the installation went properly. The unit must expel sufficient cooled air without producing strange noises. If a problem arises during the test, he must fix it immediately and perform the test cycle again before proceeding to demonstration.

When the installer is sure that the system is working fine and that no issues are likely to arise anytime soon, he will then perform a demonstration for the owner. As he shows how to operate the system, the installer will also explain how each of the unit’s major parts works. This is to prevent as many problems as possible from arising due to the improper use of the system.

Lastly, the pro will educate the owner on when to have the first maintenance checkup for the AC system. He may also provide some tips on caring for the unit to prolong its functional life. The AC owner should take this chance to find out as much as he can about operating the system to minimize the need for professional repair services.

Furnace Installation: A Buyer’s Guide

Buying a new furnace is a major decision for homeowners. It’s an expensive purchase, which makes choosing the right machine important. Here are a couple of other things to know before buying a furnace for your home:

1. Check the size – The size of the furnace reflects how it will perform in heating your home. Buying an oversized one will result in the house being inordinately heated, thus wasting energy unnecessarily.

2. What fuel would it use – to heat things, there is need for the proper type of fuel for the furnace. Oil and natural gas are the basic choices. However, there are hybrid choices that switch between the two.

3. Add the maintenance costs – Don’t buy a furnace because it is the least expensive. Consider efficiency above all, products that are known to give you value for your money. The more efficient your unit is, the less you spend for maintenance costs.

Make sure to figure in installation costs, as well. A few more things have to be considered during the process. First, the location in which the unit will be installed must be dry enough to prevent rapid corrosion of the furnace, while having access to outside air. Second, check your vents and ducts; your new furnace won’t be as effective with leaky ducts. Finally, whenever you can, have an inspector check the work to make sure you’re all set and the unit is properly installed.

Knowing When to Get Your Boiler Repaired

Enjoying a hot shower anytime is one of the luxuries of modern life, a convenience possible only with an efficient water boiler in your home. However, the luxury could just as quickly turn to misery when the much-fancied modern device malfunctions. Preventing any number of causes for boiler breakdown can save you a lot of money and worries down the line. Here are a few of the warning signs to look out for, signs that tell you it’s high time to call a boiler repairman.

 

Age

Just as high-mileage cars need a visit to the mechanic, so do water boilers need to be checked by service technicians. Some parts may need upgrading or replacing. A well-maintained boiler can last a long time, but experts peg a boiler’s shelf-life at twenty years.

 

Strange Odor

If you start smelling something metallic from the direction of your boiler, it’s time to call the repairman. This smell usually means that either gas or oil is leaking out of the boiler. At worst, it may be leaking carbon monoxide, a potentially dangerous turn for occupants in the house.

 

It’s On, but Not Heating

Water is cold and doesn’t heat up even though the boiler has been turned on for some time—a definite sign something is wrong. This may be caused by sludge deposits in the tank or simple wear and tear, the machine fatigued out of being overworked. A boiler technician can resolve this.

Make Heating and Cooling Your Home Affordable

You wouldn’t feel comfortable in your own home if the temperature isn’t just right. Whether it is too hot or it is too cold, our usual response is to adjust the thermostat to the appropriate setting. Both heating and cooling can put a dent in your monthly household budget—heating bills, for instance, can wrack up to $500 in an average-sized room.

There are ways, however, where one can save on energy without having to go without the comfort of cooling in the summer, or heating in the winter. With the right changes in your personal habits, and a few home improvements, your heating and cooling bills can be slashed in half. Here’s what you can do:

• Weatherstrip your doors and windows. Weatherstripping is the act of sealing the entrances of a house against the elements. This stops rain from entering and also ensures that indoor temperature stays stabilized inside the house throughout. Heat or cold enters through cracks in windows and doors. Sealing them up helps maintain the cozy temperature you’ve set indoors.

• Update your air conditioner if it is ten years old or more. The latest models are more energy-efficient and can cool better than older products.

• Be accurate with your thermostat usage. Set it at 78 and 80 degrees during summer and raise it by 7 degrees when leaving the house. Before going to sleep, a change of 4 degrees higher is advisable for comfort. During winter, the advised setting is 68 to 70 degrees.

• Regular maintenance ensures efficiency. This works for both your air conditioners and furnace. Have a professional HVAC technician visit and look them over for problems at least once a year.

How to tell if your Thermostat is Going Bad

The thermostat is a fundamental piece of an HVAC system. On any blistering or bitter cold day, it’s never a good thing to find that your room’s thermostat is not working the way it’s supposed to. Here are a few warning signs to alert you when this crucial temperature regulator is reeling on the brink, and it may be time to call on an HVAC contractor to have a new one installed.

 

Try setting the thermostat at least five degrees higher or lower than the normal setting. Depending on the season, set it five degrees lower during the summer and five degrees higher during the winter.

 

Check if the thermostat is correctly set to “heat” or “cool” values, and confirm if the main circuit breaker for the furnace and A/C is turned on. If possible and if your own skill set permits it, turn the unit and breaker off, then check the breaker for a blown fuse. Replace accordingly. Turn everything back on again and feel out if anything’s different.

 

If nothing’s happening, remove the batteries/pull the plug, then open up the thermostat by pulling the cover up (most models come off with gentle hand prying). Check if there are any loose wires or terminal screws. Also, note if the wires are corroded. If you notice anything unusual within the circuitry, calling for professional assistance is highly recommended.

 

Tried everything and still the unit won’t budge? Then only an expert HVAC contractor can pinpoint the root cause of the problem, and only he can recommend which of the two—repair or replacement—is the better solution.

Aged Furnace: Repair or Replace?

No matter how faithfully a furnace is maintained, eventually its efficiency diminishes. Most often, homeowners are torn whether to replace their furnace, or hang on to it a bit longer, and settle for repairs. How does one know which is which?

Most HVAC experts agree that older furnaces cost more to run. Antiquated units are shown to eat up about 40 cents on a dollar for heat wasted. It consumes over 1200 kW worth of electricity annually, thereby costing an additional $100-$300 more on energy bills.

On the other hand, newer furnaces are recommended because they have been upgraded for higher efficiency. The newer units waste less than 4 cents on a dollar and consumes 25% less than an older, decades-old furnace, for instance. Compared to newer furnaces, aged ones that show signs of wear, such as leaks on their pipes or heat exchangers, can pose harmful risks of carbon monoxide poisoning. Newer models are thus safer for the family and the environment.

Remember that a furnace’s average lifespan is approximately 16 to 20 years before they eventually succumb to the effects of wear-and-tear. Once the unit reaches that age range, problems begin to become rampant so you can expect to call on your service technician more often. If the furnace is over a decade old, and repairs would cost you more than $500, a replacement is in order and will be more cost-efficient in the long run than keeping the old one. Unless you’re willing to pay for frequent repairs, you’re better off in cost and energy efficiency with an upgrade.