Posts Tagged ‘Mission’

The Benefits of a Well-Insulated Home in Cloverdale

Monday, February 13th, 2012

Insulation is a vitally important part of your home. While it is not something you look at or probably even think about much, the amount and quality of the insulation in your home can have a dramatic impact on many aspects of your quality of life while you are living there.

The most basic reason that insulation is important is that it keeps the cold air out in the winter and the heat out in the summer. Without proper insulation at these times of year, your house will be much less comfortable than it would if you had high quality insulation in the right places.

Going hand in hand with this, of course, is the fact that proper insulation will help you get more out of your furnace and air conditioning. By preventing outdoor conditions from affecting the temperature indoors, insulation makes it easier for your HVAC system to keep your home comfortable all year round. That means that the HVAC system uses less energy and is subjected to less wear and tear.

And because proper insulation aids in temperature control, it also helps to keep moisture problems from developing. When there is too much or too little moisture in your indoor air, it can have serious consequences, both for you and for your wood furniture and fixtures. Too little moisture will quickly dry out your skin and can make cold and allergy symptoms worse.

Dry air also can make it harder for your heating system to keep your house warm enough to be comfortable and it can take away from the ability of your indoor air cleaner to remove contaminants from your indoor air. Air that is too moist, on the other hand, will make it more likely that mold will develop in various areas of your house.

Mold needs moisture to grow, and it also often prefers dark, warm areas. For that reason, you can have a significant mold problem and not even realize is if the mold is growing in the walls or in crawlspaces beneath the floor.

Proper insulation, however, can keep excessive humidity from becoming a problem and make it easier to create a comfortable indoor environment all around. Some types of insulation can even keep many potential indoor air contaminants and allergens from getting into your home in the first place.  For more information about this service call Milani Plumbing, Drainage & Heating.

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Posted in Air Conditioning, furnace, Indoor Air Quality | Comments Off

How a Garbage Disposal Works: A Question From Mission

Friday, August 26th, 2011

Garbage disposals are becoming more and more prevalent in homes across the country, including in Mission. So the chances are pretty high that you have one in your home. Garbage disposals definitely make getting rid of food waste easier. Instead of scraping all those plates and dishes into the garbage first, you can simply flush it all down the drain, run the garbage disposal and it magically disappears.

But do you really know what is happening when you turn on that wonderful garbage disposal and where all your food is really going? The truth is that a garbage disposal is not a particularly complicated piece of equipment. There are some variations, but in general your garbage disposal has a motor attached to rotating blades which are located in a chamber below your sink that is attached to your drain.

When you put food down the garbage disposal and turn it on, these blades shred the food into small enough pieces that it can pass safely through your drain pipes and out into the sewer system. The shredded food then runs with the water back into your main drainage system and passes out of your house.

This is a pretty simple operation, but there are some things you should be aware of if you use a garbage disposal in your home. First of all, it is important to never reach into the garbage disposal when it is running. If you need to reach in, make sure the unit is switched off. It is even a good idea to shut off the power to the garbage disposal entirely so that it cannot be turned on by accident while your hand is in there.

You may notice a foul odor coming from the garbage disposal after a period of time too. This is common and easy enough to fix, but you will have to get down into the garbage disposal to get rid of the smell. The smell simply comes from residue of the food you have put down the garbage disposal and that needs to be cleaned off so the smell will go away.

Again, make sure you have the garbage disposal turned off completely before you reach in to take parts out to clean them. You can also put baking soda, vinegar or half a lemon down the garbage disposal and run it in order to combat a persistent smell or to keep one from developing.

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Ultra Violet Lighting

Friday, July 8th, 2011

With a state of the art home comfort system in place, complimented by a high tech indoor air cleaner, you may think you’re set to take on climate and contaminant related challenges to your air quality. But you’re probably missing one thing, and that’s the ability to remove living contaminants like bacteria and viruses from your indoor air.

Unlike non-living particulate indoor air contaminants, bacteria and viruses are not easily caught by indoor air filters or ionizers. They often slip through and continue to circulate again and again through your home, greatly increasing the likelihood that you and your family will get sick. They also tend to reproduce, so the longer you go without eliminating these germs, the more of them there will be.

Killing those Germs for Good

Fortunately there is a technological solution to this indoor air quality problem. The inclusion of ultra violet lights into your air purification system not only specifically targets bacteria and viruses; it helps to slow the spread of disease when someone in your home gets sick.

UV germicidal lights are extremely effective at removing all types of living contaminants from your indoor air. Unlike HEPA filters and air ionizers, UV germicidal lights don’t try to remove these contaminants by trapping them. Instead, they kill them outright, making sure that the germs can’t stick around to reproduce or work their way free of the containment system.

Installation and Maintenance

For most indoor air contaminants, you want to have someone test your air first. However, with bacteria and viruses, you can rest assured that they are always in the air around you. It often only takes a smaller number of pathogens to make someone ill.

Most UV germicidal lights are easy to integrate into your existing indoor air cleaning system. They are usually installed just past the filters so they can catch the germs without other indoor air contaminants getting in the way. And best of all, UV germicidal lights require very little attention or maintenance.

Simply put them in place and let them do their work. You should schedule a routine maintenance visit every so often to make sure that no part of your indoor air cleaning system needs to be repaired or replaced. But other than that, installing UV germicidal lights in your home allows you to relax and enjoy a completely contaminant free living environment.

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Window AC Units – When Are They Appropriate?

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

In the blazing summer months – or all year round in hot climates – nothing can match the feeling of relief you get from air conditioning. As the mercury rises, the cool, dry air churned out by that humming compressor can feel just like heaven.

While there are a few different options for cooling your home, the most convenient method for most people is a window air conditioner (A/C) unit. They are affordable, effective, and relatively easy to install. However, they are not necessarily appropriate for every situation, and it is important to consider certain factors before settling on a window A/C unit as the best choice.

Space and Capacity

First, consider the area you want to cool. If you are only looking to cool a room or two, then a window unit is a good choice. Aside from just having a window in it, the room must be of appropriate size so that a window A/C unit can keep it cool. You also want to measure the room, or at least make a good estimate, in order to choose the right size unit.

Most manufacturers stamp the packaging with an estimate of the area that the unit is able to cool. A general rule of thumb is that a 5000 BTU A/C unit can cool about 150 square feet. For large areas, consider using multiple units or getting one that is more powerful. Rooms that are usually occupied by several people at a time require a more powerful air conditioner to keep cool, as do kitchens, in order to offset oven heat.

Installation

Second, you want to make sure the window can accommodate the A/C unit safely. Adjustable installation hardware is usually included with the unit, but for windows that are unusually shaped, damaged, or otherwise cannot support the body of the unit, a window air conditioner may not be a safe choice. Proper installation is important not only for safety, but to ensure cooled air is not lost.

If the room is of an appropriate size and has a window that can accommodate one, than this type of A/C unit is a good option for keeping cool. However, if you need to cool a large area, such as a whole house or a windowless room, you should explore other options like as a portable A/C unit or central air conditioning. When deciding on a cooling solution for your home, it’s important to take all these things into account in order to choose the most appropriate option.

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What Is AFUE and Why Should I Care?

Friday, March 11th, 2011

If you’ve been shopping for a furnace, chances are you’ve noticed that each furnace has its own annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) rating. These generally range from 80% to the high 90% s and the higher the number, the more fuel efficient that particular furnace is.

But what does this number really mean and just how much should you care? Well, the AFUE rating should actually have a significant impact on your furnace purchasing decision, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll always choose the furnace with the highest efficiency rating either.

For one thing, you’ll have to recognize that not every type of furnace is capable of running at the highest efficiency levels. Oil furnaces, for instance, can’t compete with the super high efficiency gas furnaces on the market today. That’s not to say that an oil furnace might not be the best choice for you under certain circumstances, but it does mean that you should take a close look at your furnace usage before you make a decision.

If you do choose a gas furnace, you will of course have the option of getting one that can reach up to 97% or so efficiency. However, that may not always be the best choice either. If you live in a place where with very harsh, long winters and you’re going to be using your furnace heavily, then it’s definitely worth investing in a higher AFUE furnace that can save you considerable amounts on your monthly heating bills.

But if you don’t use your furnace too often as your area has more mild winters it’s probably not worth it for you to invest in such a high efficiency product. That’s because the higher the AFUE of the furnace, the more expensive it is to purchase and install. Certainly you’ll save money every month because you’ll be getting more heat out of the fuel you’re paying for. But if you don’t use your furnace all that much, the savings really won’t be that substantial.

Don’t forget that a furnace with an 80% AFUE rating is still quite energy efficient. And once you get up that high, you have to use your furnace a lot for the difference between 80% and 90% to really become apparent. So if you don’t use your furnace heavily during the winter, it will take you many, many years to make up for the higher purchase price of the 90+% AFUE models.

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Most Commonly Asked Questions about Heat Pumps

Friday, February 25th, 2011

If you’re thinking about buying a new heat pump for your home, chances are you have some questions about these types of products and how they work. In fact, because these types of home comfort systems are relatively new to a lot of people, there are a quite a few misconceptions out there about how effective and efficient they can be.

Recently we’ve gotten some good questions from our readers, so we thought we’d like to pass along the answers so that others can benefit from the information as well.

If I Buy a Heat Pump, Do I Have to Buy an Air Conditioner Too?

That heat pumps are only able to heat your home is probably one of the biggest misconceptions about this type of equipment. Heat pumps work by extracting heat from the air in one place and transferring it to another. That means that in the winter, your heat pump is able to heat your home by taking heat from the outdoor air and moving it inside.

However, in the summer, the heat pump is able to do the same thing only in reverse. When you switch on your heat pump’s cooling function, it will be able to take the heat out of your indoor air and transfer it outside. In this way, the same heat pump system can keep your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer without you needing to purchase an air conditioner or other supplemental comfort systems.

If I Choose a Heat Pump System, Will I Also Need to Install Supplemental Heat?

That depends on what the climate is like where you live and how warm you like to keep your home. In general, heat pumps can keep any home comfortable as long as the outdoor temperature is above 32°F or so. If the temperature outside drops below that, you may want to have some type of supplemental heating system just in case. However, a heat pump will still be able to provide some warmth at these lower temperatures and you may be able to keep yourself comfortable with a simple space heater or too.

Also, remember that these colder temperatures are most common at night when you would probably have turned your heat down anyway. As long as you live in a relatively moderate climate, heat pumps can do a great job of keeping your home comfortable all year long.

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