DIY. A great concept for trying your hand at building a coffee table or turning an ordinary jar into a colorful centerpiece for the living room. But there are a few things that really require the technical know-how of a trained professional. When something goes wrong in the home, it's tempting to try doing it yourself. Unfortunately, this approach often leads to costly damages and dangerous situations when dealing with HVAC units.
High Voltage Electricity
What you don't know will hurt you. These units are highly technical and utilize a large amount of voltage electricity. It's best to stay away from these levels of electricity without knowing what can hurt you or even kill you. Doing it yourself is not worth the risk of potentially deadly consequences.
Chemical and Refrigerants
Heating and cooling appliances utilize chemicals and refrigerants most of us are unfamiliar with. Handling these chemicals can be deadly if the proper precautions are not followed. Proper training and safety gear is essential to make sure no one is injured by or exposed to deadly chemicals used in these systems. Handling these chemicals also requires certification.
Tools of the Trade
You wouldn't try to build a table without a hammer and a saw. The same is true for HVAC repair. Specialized, professional tools are used to correctly identify and repair problems. Without these tools you run the risk of creating even more damage to the unit. Professional technicians don't just come with experience, training and knowledge, they come prepared with tools specifically made for fixing problems.
Small Fix to a Bigger Issue
What might seem like a small issue to you could really be a symptom of a much larger issue. Even more challenging is diagnosing the real problem with the symptoms masked. If there is an issue with your unit, have a technician take a look to ensure that you aren't just patching an issue that will eventually become a costly, dangerous and inconvenient problem down the road.
Irreparable Damage
Small problems can quickly become big problems. The most dangerous decision is trying to fix something you don't know how to fix. One wrong decision and your left with more damage than you started with. The more you attempt to repair, the higher the risk of damaging a unit beyond repair.
Appropriate Size For Your Home
Without the knowledge of a trained technician, it's difficult to know what your home really needs in terms of size and capacity of your HVAC unit. Making these decisions alone leads to overspending on a unit ill-fitted for your home. When considering a new unit, do your research, but consult a certified technician to help you make the right choice for your space. In the end, a brief consultation at minimum will ensure you're making the best choice for best efficiency and comfort for your needs.
The good news is that for the handy personality type, there are still plenty of things you can do to maintain and service your unit. General maintenance and cleaning are essential for an efficient and healthy system. The next time you want to do a little work on your system, take on one of these tasks.
General Cleaning , Clean and check your filters, change them when necessary and keep your unit running at tip-top shape. This can, and should, be done frequently to make sure the air in your home is clean and your unit isn't working any harder than it needs to. Clear out leaves and branches and maintain clear space around the unit.
Battery Check , If you don't already have a carbon monoxide detector, go get one. Today. If you do, go check the batteries when you get home. A detector with bad batteries is just as useless as not having one at all. Check that your detector is in good working order monthly to make sure your home and family are safe from poisonous gas.
By hiring a professional for the big stuff and doing regular maintenance checks of what you can handle, you'll have a safe and efficient HVAC unit.
Chapman Heating, Air Conditioning, and Plumbing, your source for qualified hvac repair and installation
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If you were hoping for another mild winter, we have bad news for you. Early predictions show that we can expect a lot of precipitation and very cold temperatures.
Every fall, around this time, people start speculating about winter weather and how tough the next few months are going to be. As we say goodbye to summer, we have to start thinking about snow, freezing temps and leaving 15 minutes early for work.
Even with sophisticated weather tracking technology, no one really knows for sure what the weather will do. Forecasting a week ahead is hard enough, and not always reliable. Although there's no scientific way to tell exactly what kind of a winter we have in store, it's fun to look at the trends and make some educated guesses.
Indiana Winter
One book takes these educated guesses and pulls them together into a yearly publication: The Farmers' Almanac. Stuffed with everything from predictions to puzzles, the Farmers' Almanac warns of a weary winter of snow and cold.
While last winter was a reprieve from shoveling and high fuel bills, the party is over. According to the 2017 Farmers' Almanac, winter is back! , 2017 Farmer's Almanac
This year the book calls for frigid temperatures throughout the Midwest. It might not hit until later in the season, but we're in for a frigid February.
U.S. Weather Trends
So what about the rest of the country? The almanac predicts high precipitation in the southeast, northeast and News England states and the western states will see high snowfall.
Accuracy
So how good is the Farmers' Almanac at predicting winter weather? According to the Almanac itself, it boasts a 96% success rate for predicting 2015's winter weather. These success rates are a little hard to track, mostly because the Farmers' Almanac doesn't release their methods for gathering data. If you want to learn more about how they make these predictions, you can read all about it here. Whether or not you believe it is up to you.
It might not be the best way to predict future weather, but it is a fun book with a lot of information. Full of home tips, gardening guides and astronomical calendars, the almanac is a fun tradition to kick off fall and get us all ready to drag out the shovel and snow boots.
We're just going to have to wait and see what this winter brings us. In the meantime, pick up a copy of the Farmers' Almanac and schedule your fall clean and check, just in case the almanac ends up being right.
Looking for home heating and air conditioning repair  contact Chapman Heating, Air Conditioning, and Plumbing, today
AFUE, BTU, BTUh, CAE and CFM. What do all of these assortment of letters have in common?
When unscrambled and explained, these letters represent terms and measurements for heaters and heating units. Instead of trying to unscramble this alphabet soup yourself, use our handy heating term glossary. These terms and definitions will help you select efficient units, explain where your unit might need repair or a tune-up and make some sense out of the letters and abbreviations that come with understanding your heating unit.
A - F
AFUE , Annualized Fuel Utilization Efficiency is the measure of a furnace's heating efficiency. The amount of natural gas or propane a furnace uses to heat a home versus how much is wasted is calculated to determine your AFUE.
BTU , The British Thermal Unit is the measurement of heat energy. One BTU is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree.
Carbon Monoxide , Hopefully by now this term is known and understood by all homeowners. Carbon Monoxide is an odorless, colorless, poisonous gas produced when carbon burns with insufficient air. Carbon monoxide is very dangerous; every home should have a detector. Find out more here.
CAE , Combined annual efficiency is the measure of the amount of heat produced per dollar of fuel consumed.
CFM , The cubic feet per minute measures how many cubic feet of air pass by one point in a minute. The higher the number, the more air is being moved through the ductwork.
DOE , Department of Energy. Most people are familiar with this one, but in case you didn't know, this is the federal agency responsible for standards of energy consumption.
Energy Star , This designation of the Energy Protection Agency recognizes products that meet or exceed federal guidelines for energy-efficient performance.
EPA - The United States Environmental Protection Agency protects human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress.
Flue - The flue is the structure through which heated air, or combustion air, moves before they are released from indoors to outdoors.
G - J
Heating Coil , The heating coil is the part of the system that conducts heat and creates electricity that acts as fire.
Heat Exchanger , The furnace heat exchanger is responsible for the transfer of heat from inside to the air outside the furnace. Once out, the duct system transfers the air to other rooms.
Heat Pump , A heat pump heats or cools an area by moving the heat. In the winter a heat pump draws warm air inside then circulates it through air ducts. In the summer, the heat pumps pulls warm air out of the home and releases it outside.
HEPA , High Efficiency Particulate Arrestance is a type of air filter, good for increased efficiency.
HERS , The Home Energy Rating System is an energy rating program used to measure a homes' energy quality. This rating system is typically used by homeowners, mortgage lenders and builders to measure energy losing deficiencies.
HSPF , Heating Seasonal Performance Factor is the efficiency rating for heat pumps. The higher the rating, the more efficient the pump.
IAQ , Indoor Air Quality refers to the amount of pollution in the air within a building.
K - Z
MERV Rating , Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value describes the size of the holes in the filter that allow air to pass through. High MERV means the smaller the holes in the filter and the higher the efficiency.
R-Value , The R-value is the capacity of insulating material to resist heat flow. High R-value means greater insulating power.
SEER , Seasonal Energy Efficiency Raito is the energy efficiency rating used by HVAC professionals in order to rate the efficiency of a system.
Therm , A unit of heat equal to 100,000 BTU's.
Variable Speed Motor , A system that offers two-stage operations with a range of speeds to precisely control the distribution of warm and cool air through the home.
There you have it, our glossary for heating terms. Hopefully, this helps you navigate the sea of alphabet soup that comes with energy terms and measurement acronyms. If you want to learn more about your equipment or any problems you have been experiencing, please contact our certified technicians.
Looking for local hvac services contact Chapman Heating, Air Conditioning, and Plumbing, today
