How to Lower Your Home Heating Costs

February 5, 2023

6 Tips for Lowering Your Home Heating Costs There are many lovely things about winter, but one thing that isn’t so lovely is having to deal with expensive heating bills. Because the O’Fallon, MO weather can get quite chilly, many homeowners must have their heating systems running all day and night. Fortunately, there are measures you can take to ensure that your home stays comfortable without your heating bills going through the roof. Here, we’ll examine a few effective tips for keeping your monthly heating costs in check when winter is in full force. 1. Schedule a Professional Tune-Up At least once per year, you should have your heating system serviced by local professionals. In the greater O’Fallon area, our team at is always available to handle your heating maintenance. This service offers many benefits, but one of the most significant is improved energy efficiency for your heating system. Our expert technicians will closely inspect your heater and identify anything that could be hampering its performance. They’ll make any necessary adjustments and ensure that none of the components need to be repaired or replaced. Our team will also clean the accumulated dirt and dust from the appliance, which will allow...

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Questions to Ask Your HVAC Technician During a Furnace Tune-up

November 20, 2022

Part of caring for the health of your HVAC system involves getting a furnace tune-up from an expert technician. Generally, you know that getting a furnace tune-up is helpful for your unit, but how much do you know about the actual process? Asking the technician questions can help you learn more about the specifics of a furnace tune-up. What Is Done During a Furnace Tune-up? A thorough furnace tune-up involves multiple steps on a checklist. After all, a furnace has dozens of components that need to work together to provide warmth in your home. A dependable HVAC technician is going to name several steps in answer to this question. Some of the tasks of a typical tune-up include cleaning the blower compartment, lubricating connections, and inspecting the wiring. The completion of all of these tasks contributes to ensuring the furnace operates with efficiency. Other tasks covered during a furnace tune-up: Testing the thermostat Inspecting the air filter Testing the voltage of electrical connections Inspecting the airflow If there are issues discovered during the tune-up, your technician will alert you right away so that you can address them promptly. At of O’Fallon, our professionals have the skills to handle any scope...

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9 Tips to Help You Conserve Heat This Winter

November 10, 2022

Keeping your home warm throughout the long, cold winter continues to get more and more costly. Thanks to rising energy prices, most people are looking for anything that may help to reduce their heating costs. To make this easier, here are some simple tips that can help you to conserve heat and save money on your energy bills this winter. 1. Schedule a Heating Tune-Up The importance of regular HVAC maintenance cannot be overstated. If you don’t have your furnace maintained every year, your heating system simply won’t be as effective and will produce less heat. This means that your furnace will need to run longer to heat your home and that your energy bills will be much higher. A heating tune-up can prevent this by cleaning and inspecting your entire heating system to ensure it is functioning at full efficiency and effectiveness. In this way, your home will stay warmer, and your heating system won’t need to run as long. 2. Keep Vents Clear and Unobstructed This is another one that won’t necessarily conserve heat, but it will ensure that your heating system is working effectively. Any furniture in front of or over your vents will block the airflow...

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9 Tips to Extend the Life Expectancy of your Furnace

February 3, 2022

Your furnace is one of the most important pieces of equipment in your home. It keeps you warm all winter long, and if it breaks down, you’re in for a cold winter. That’s why it’s important to take care of your furnace and make sure that it lasts as long as possible. Here are nine tips to help you do just that. 1. Change the Filter Filters should be changed every month or so for maximum efficiency. Changing filters can help keep dust particles out, which will help with air quality and prevent wear on the motor and other internal components. However, a few key factors determine how often you should change your filters. The first consideration is size. The size of a filter impacts how often it should be replaced. For example, if you have a 4-inch filter, you may go six months without changing it. If you have a 1-inch filter though, you should change it at least once every month or two. The type of filter also makes a difference. This includes standard fiberglass, pleated, HEPA, or electrostatic. Depending on what type of filter you have, check the manufacturer’s instructions for changing it. Another factor to consider...

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Heat Pump or Furnace? Choosing Wisely for Your Home

January 18, 2022

Deciding on a new heating appliance for your household isn’t something you can rush into. You have to choose the right installation experts, select a heating unit that’s the right size, and evaluate the efficiency needs of your home. On top of all that, you also have to ensure that you’re selecting the right type of heating system for your specific situation. You may not realize this, but heat pumps and furnaces have quite a few major differences. Some of these differences are minor, such as the amount of noise each appliance makes, but some of them are far more significant. Selecting the right type of heater can have a major effect on your finances as well as your home comfort and lifestyle. Different Heating Principles The major difference between heat pumps and furnaces comes down to the method of heating they use, and this difference is the root of several other differentiators as well. As you may be aware, there are two primary types of furnaces: gas-burning and electric. Electric furnaces warm your house by constantly blowing air over a hot element. Gas-burning furnaces, on the other hand, utilize a combustion process in which they burn their fuel, which...

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Learn More About Your Furnace

January 4, 2022

If you own a house or an apartment, you need to understand how your furnace works. There are many benefits to knowing a little bit about your furnace, including having a better understanding of when something might be wrong and what might need to be fixed. You’ll also be able to get a better sense of who you should trust to work on your heating system and what you can expect when it’s time to buy a new unit. There are many parts to a furnace and the overall system that your furnace runs on. If you’re not entirely certain of what you should expect when you get a furnace or what you need to know, don’t worry because you’re not alone. Most people simply turn on their thermostats when their homes begin to get a little chilly, but you can learn pretty quickly about your heating system when you talk to us about your furnace. The Three Types of Furnaces There are three basic types of furnaces when it comes to how they’re powered. Some use natural gasoline that you pay for through the city or another energy provider. Then, there’s also a way to fuel your furnace with...

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How Do You Know What Size Furnace You Need?

December 20, 2021

Unfortunately, furnaces don’t last forever but have an expected service life of usually between 15 and 20 years. While it’s disappointing that you will have to reinvest in your furnace, at least it’s something you can plan to happen. When it is time to replace your furnace, you want to make sure you get the right size for your home. Here’s some information on why size matters and the variables to consider. Understanding Furnace Sizes The very first part of learning about furnaces is understanding how they are sized. When thinking about most HVAC systems, the size is measured in terms of BTUs, which stands for British Thermal Units. One BTU is the amount of energy required to raise one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. Commonly seen among furnaces is also the use of the term tonnes, such as 10.5 or 11.3 tonnes. This is simply another way of referring to BTUs, with one tonne equaling 12,000 BTUs. So if you need a furnace that produces 92,000 BTUs, that’ll be about 7.7 tonnes. Why Does Furnace Size Matter? A furnace that produces more BTUs produces more heat at once, which may seem advantageous. Common logic would say that...

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Top Reasons Why Your Furnace Is Blowing Cold Air

December 6, 2021

It can be frustrating when your furnace is blowing only cold air in winter. Several factors may force your heating system to generate insufficient heat. Here are some tips for troubleshooting your furnace. Problems With the Thermostat If your furnace is blowing cold air, the problem could be incorrect thermostat configurations. So start by checking the settings on your thermostat. Ensure it is on “AUTO” mode and not “ON.” Some systems can run efficiently on the “ON” mode. But for most conventional furnaces, it will only make the furnace run continuously. Your furnace will heat your home insufficiently, and critical components will deteriorate faster. You may have a defective or incompatible thermostat. As the center of heating regulation, an incompatible device may not work correctly with your HVAC system controls. But before getting a new thermostat, change the batteries on the device. Also, consider the placement of your thermostat. When the device is in direct sunlight, the heat modifies the temperature readings. Since the device assumes that the room is warm enough, the furnace will produce air that feels cold. Air Leaks in the Ductwork or Around the Building Your furnace may fail to heat your home because of air...

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Is There a Correct Temperature to Set Your Furnace This Winter?

November 3, 2021

The age-old battle over the furnace setting has divided families and roommates for decades. It’s always a continual negotiation between a temperature that feels comfortable to everyone and saving on your energy costs. There are many opinions on what the perfect temperature should be, but the question remains, is there an actual perfect temperature that will settle the question once and for all? A quick search on the Internet will reveal a plethora of answers. A temperature between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit is typically considered comfortable for most, but there are many variations on this. There is no absolute right answer, but there are a few guidelines that can help you choose the best one that’s right for you. Here are some tips to help you resolve the question in your home. Don’t Go Too Low If you think that sweaters and wool socks provide an excellent solution to the heating problem, it is still recommended that you do not go below 63. Some sources go as low as 55 as the minimum temperature for your thermostat. It takes more energy to heat a home that is too cold. Your furnace will not work any harder, and it will...

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How to Cut Down Your Winter Heating Bill

September 20, 2021

One particular part of winter that you may not be looking forward to is receiving your heating bills. Unlike summer, where air conditioning is optional, in the wintertime, you need to have heat to keep your family healthy and your home safe from harm. Fortunately, there are many different strategies you can use to help lower your energy bills this winter season. Ceiling Fans We all know that heat rises to the top of a room. Getting that heat back down toward the floor where you and your family are going to be is the key to saving energy and money. Ceiling fans are the perfect solution as they help force the hot air from the top of your room down toward the floor. All you need to do is simply change the direction of your ceiling fan blades to rotate in a clockwise direction. This is easily done by flipping the switch that’s typically on the base of the fan. Let the Sun In One extremely important free source of heat is the sun. If you’ve ever sat in a room where the sun comes directly into the window, you know that it can heat up your room very...

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