Reduce Your Gainesville Home Energy Costs 3 Ways

Through the hot summers and cool winters of Alachua County, you’re paying good money to keep your home at a comfortable temperature. But you may be paying more than you need to pay to heat or cool your home. You can reduce energy costs by making sure your home is working at peak efficiency and correcting some common mistakes that homeowners make.

Ensure Vents Aren’t Blocked

If you have furniture or drapes covering any vents, you’re not getting good circulation in your home. And since a central HVAC system relies on air circulation to moderate the temperature through your house, that means you have to turn up the thermostat to feel the effects.

Place the Thermostat Away From Heat Sources

Make sure the thermostat isn’t in a location where it gets an unusual amount of heating or cooling, such as in direct sunlight, for example, or right next to the kitchen or an air vent. If it’s detecting a temperature that isn’t representative of the rest of your house, it won’t communicate the right instructions to the HVAC system. That could lead to too much heating or cooling, or not enough.

Routinely Change the Air Filter

It may not seem important, but all the air circulating through your home actually passes through the air filter. If it becomes clogged, the air has a harder time passing through, which puts a strain on the HVAC system’s fan motor. Not only that, but the reduced air circulation means less temperature control throughout your home. The air filter should be changed about once a month for best results.

To learn more about reducing energy costs in Gainesville, Newberry, and Alachua read Bounds Heating & Air blog posts on energy-saving and check out the smart new products offered by Carrier.

4 Ways Air Filters Help With Indoor Air Quality

Air filters are your home’s first line of defense against poor indoor air quality. One unintended consequence of today’s energy-efficient home is that airtight construction methods cause airborne particulates and contaminants to accumulate to unhealthy and even toxic indoor levels. Since most people spend 65 percent of their time at home, residents today may be exposed to a daily, concentrated dosage of indoor pollution. Here are four ways various air filters clear the air at home while still supporting energy efficiency.

Standard air filters with fiberglass media and a minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) rating of less than 4 mainly remove large particles of inorganic dust and lint—the stuff you can actually see floating around. While these particulates may be irritants to some susceptible individuals, the value of these filters is chiefly limited to protecting heating and cooling equipment from wear and tear.
Pleated polyester air filters with MERV ratings from 4 to 8 capture an average of 50 percent of airborne particles in the range down to 3 microns. In addition to inert microscopic dust, this includes many toxic microorganisms such as mold spores and pollen directly associated with health issues like allergies and respiratory illnesses.
Electrostatic filtration incorporates a media consisting of fibers charged with both positive and negative static electricity. Because airborne particulates also carry an electrical charge, if properly maintained with regular cleaning electrostatic filters attract and capture particulates more effectively than standard passive filter media. Electrostatic filtration may trap up to 97 percent of particles between 3 and 10 microns, including tobacco smoke components, auto emissions, bacteria, mold spores and pet dander.
High-efficiency HEPA filters provide gold-standard filtration that meets medical criteria, removing over 90 percent of particulates down to 0.03 micron size, including bacteria and most viruses. However, because a HEPA filter also constricts airflow, residential ductwork must be modified to install the HEPA filter in a bypass loop to avoid air restriction.

For more information on choosing air filters for your home’s indoor air quality issues, contact Bounds Heating & Air.

3 Reasons a Duct Cleaning May Be Just What the Doctor Ordered

Duct cleaning is a procedure that should be considered on an “as needed” basis. Without an inspection by a qualified professional, no one can say for sure whether your ducts need to be cleaned. Large spans of residential ductwork are basically inaccessible to the average homeowner, so residents generally have little idea of the actual condition inside the ducts.

Generally speaking, if ducts appear dirty in areas you’re able to observe, such as by looking into supply or return vents with a flashlight, you may benefit from the inspection and professional cleaning procedure. When it’s truly necessary, duct cleaning can provide three valuable benefits:

Better Air Quality

The average home generates about 40 pounds of dust annually from indoor sources. Because common dust is buoyant, it typically floats in the air and is drawn into HVAC ducts multiple times per day. Static charges within the ductwork cause dust to stick to duct surfaces and a process of accumulation begins.

Ducts become a permanent reservoir of dust and dirt that continuously recirculates into the breathing air in living spaces. Where dust accumulates inside ductwork in significant amounts, physical removal by professional duct cleaning is the only way to break the cycle.

Healthier Indoor Environment

Dust and dirt aren’t the only particles that may accumulate in ducts. If ducts have been exposed to moisture from condensation, roof leaks, or other sources, they can be prime breeding grounds for toxic mold and bacteria. While not every dirty duct is hazardous to your health, mold, and bacteria can lead to respiratory issues and other symptoms for you and your family.

Improved Energy Efficiency

Dust and debris in ductwork increase air friction inside the ducts, reducing airflow. Optimum energy efficiency in any HVAC system is directly related to proper airflow. When dirty ductwork impairs airflow, the furnace or air conditioner runs extended cycles to meet thermostat settings, increasing system energy consumption and boosting monthly operating costs.

To schedule a full inspection and receive trustworthy professional advice about duct cleaning for your Newberry area home, contact Bounds Heating & Air.

How to Troubleshoot the Gas Furnace in Your Gainesville Home

As the year winds down and temperatures drop, Gainesville residents will begin to rely on their warm and comfortable home to escape the cool weather. Ineffective HVAC systems can put a crimp in home comfort, and many homeowners find troubleshooting a gas furnace to be an intimidating job. Here’s how to approach common furnace problems if they occur.

Furnace Produces No Heat

Check the thermostat first to make sure it’s correctly set. If you’ve set the thermostat back while you were out, be sure to engage the furnace again. If the thermostat is set, check the circuit box to see if a fuse has blown.

Finally, you should check the furnace itself. Ensure that the gas control valve is open and the pilot light is lit.

Furnace Cycles On and Off Rapidly

When the furnace cycles rapidly, it may be a problem with airflow. Check to see if the air filter is obstructed or clogged. Then do the same to the furnace combustion chamber’s air intake. If neither of these areas is obstructed, it may be that the blower fan or the burners themselves are dirty or need some adjustment.

Furnace Noise is Excessive

Often an indication of insufficient maintenance, a noisy furnace may mean that a component in the blower fan needs lubrication, the burners are dirty or the pilot light needs adjustment. Although furnace issues can happen to anyone, keeping up with annual HVAC maintenance will reduce the need for troubleshooting a gas furnace.

Furnace Doesn’t Produce Sufficient Heat

If the furnace isn’t heating well, check to make sure that the thermostat is set correctly and heat is being delivered through the ducts and not obstructed by a dirty air filter. Leaky ducts may also cause you to lose heat. A home energy audit can help you determine where heat is lost in your home.

To learn more about troubleshooting a gas furnace, schedule an energy audit, or call for repairs to your HVAC system, call us today at Bounds Heating & Air!

Upgrading a Thermostat: Time to Replace That Manual Model

Upgrading a thermostat may seem like something that only needs to be done when the old one goes bad. However, anybody with an old mercury-filled thermostat should upgrade regardless of its condition or age. Those manual types lose precision over time, which means your HVAC system will begin to become less efficient as the thermostat wears out. But you can improve the comfort of your home just by upgrading a thermostat to a modern programmable model.

Programmable Thermostats Are the Way to Go

Since a programmable thermostat is all electronic, it should never lose its precision. That means your HVAC system will be as efficient as possible when it’s called on to either cool or heat your home. Plus, a programmable thermostat can be set to adjust temperatures whenever you choose, giving you total control of the exact times and degrees of heating or cooling your living space.

For example, during the day when everyone is at work or school, you don’t have to keep the interior space at a comfortable temperature. Depending on the season, you can set it for 5-10 degrees lower or higher, which saves energy that would be wasted heating or cooling a space that isn’t occupied. Those savings alone can equate to between 10 and 30 percent on your energy bill, depending on the time of year. You also can program energy-saving settings for when you’re asleep or on vacation.

Easy Hook-Up

The HVAC industry uses wires that are all color-coded, making do-it-yourself upgrading to a programmable thermostat relatively simple for a DIY-er. Every programmable thermostat should have this color coding located at the connection points inside of the unit.

Using the diagram provided with each programmable unit, simply connect the color-coded wires to the connectors that are labeled with letters, like “G” for green, “Y” for yellow, “R” for red, and so on. This simplicity makes changing to a programmable thermostat an easy project for virtually any DIY-adept person.

With more than 20 years of experience providing heating and cooling in the Gainesville area, Bounds Heating and Air is here to help you. Contact us today with any questions or concerns.

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