Rentmeister Total Home Service Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Heating’

How Can a Malfunctioning Thermostat Affect Your Heating Efforts?

Monday, December 18th, 2017

hand adjusting thermostatDid you choose your last thermostat, or did you inherit it with your home? Choosing a thermostat actually comes with a lot of options, and deciding on the right one can help you save a significant amount of money on your Ogden, UT heating (and cooling) costs. If you’ve ever considered upgrading your thermostat, then we are the team to call to set you in the right direction and ensure that the installation is performed correctly.

Do you know how much the poor installation of a thermostat can affect your heating system? How about a malfunctioning thermostat? If a thermostat is improperly installed, it can malfunction. This is why we recommend professional installation. Plus, installing a thermostat on your own could void the equipment warranty on the device, and a malfunctioning thermostat can end up damaging your HVAC systems by sending them the wrong signals.

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Signs You Should Replace Your Furnace This Fall

Thursday, November 5th, 2015

Winter is coming, and that means that it is time to get your heating system ready to keep your home warm on a daily basis. For some of us, though, now is the time to replace our old heating systems that just can’t deal with the strain anymore. Do you know if your home’s heater can last through another winter? Let’s examine some of the signs that you may need to replace your furnace.

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What You Need to Know About Boiler Kettling

Monday, October 12th, 2015

Heating season is here, and that means you need to start keeping an eye out for various issues that can affect your heating system. The last thing you want is for your heater to break down in the middle of a cold day, after all. With that in mind, let’s take a look at one of the most damaging boiler system problems—kettling—and what to do about it.

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Now Is the Ideal Time for Heating Maintenance

Monday, October 5th, 2015

Fall is upon us, and that means heating season is just about to start. Most people tend to view fall as a transitional season, however. A time when maybe you put on an extra layer of clothing, but don’t turn on the heater until winter really sets in. You should always do whatever is most comfortable for your home, of course. Even if you don’t start using your heater until later on in the year, though, you should get it checked much sooner. As soon as possible, in fact. Let’s take a look at why now is the best time for heating maintenance.

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Getting Your Heater Ready for Winter

Monday, September 14th, 2015

Summer is drawing to a close, and winter is on the horizon. While the fall season is typically milder in terms of weather, that doesn’t mean that you get to sit back and neglect your climate control systems. While your air conditioner is winding down its most stressful part of the year, you need to be getting your heating system ready to cope with the demands of winter. Let’s take a look at how you can make sure that your heater is up to the task of keeping you warm.

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What Is a Condensing Boiler?

Friday, November 21st, 2014

**Rentmeister Total Home Service No Longer Services Boilers Or Radiant Heating Systems, We Apologize If This Is An Inconvenience**

Boilers were the first whole-home heating systems. They are reliable and durable, and offer comfortable, energy efficient heating. These days, not only do you have a choice when it comes to fuel type for a boiler (oil, gas, propane, solid fuels), you also have a choice between condensing and non-condensing boilers. We’ll explain the difference between the two types of boilers below, but remember that for any heating repair in Salt Lake City, call the people you can count on: Rentmeister Total Home Service.

Condensing vs. Non-Condensing

Boilers work by generating heat in a combustion chamber that warms a heat exchanger; this heat exchanger warms the water in your system while also venting the gases from the combustion products. This brings us to the first difference between the systems: a non-condensing boiler has one heat exchanger while a condensing boiler has two. With a condensing boiler, instead of venting the combustion byproducts to the outside via your flue, these gases go through a secondary heat exchanger. As the hot gases cool, they turn into vapor from which the latent heat is extracted and circulated back to the primary heat exchanger. The non-usable vapor cools into water (aka, condensate), which is safely removed from your boiler by a condensate drain pipe. This water is slightly acidic, but poses no danger. At the end of the process, the exhaust of your boiler, which contains usable, latent heat energy, condenses this latent energy and capture it for use.

Why Consider a Condensing Boiler?

The main reason to consider a condensing boiler is the level of energy efficiency you can achieve. The average AFUE of a condensing boiler is over 90%, meaning that less than 10% of the fuel used to generate heat is wasted; this can be a significant savings for many homeowners. Additionally, many condensing boilers are smaller in size, which can save space.

Boilers are reliable, durable heating systems that can work with different outlets, including radiators, baseboard heaters and hydronic radiant heating. If you are interested in seeing what a condensing boiler can do for you, contact Rentmeister Total Home Service today!

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What Are My Choices for a New Heating System?

Friday, October 24th, 2014

**Rentmeister Total Home Service No Longer Services Boilers Or Radiant Heating Systems, We Apologize If This Is An Inconvenience**

Here in Salt Lake City, you need a new heating system that will be sturdy and reliable. Often, it is best to replace an older heating system with a similar type. For example, it’s probably best to replace a forced-air heating system with a new furnace or heat pump, while it’s best to replace a radiant heating system with a similar model. But if you’re considering a brand new system for your new home, here are some of your options.

  • Furnace: Furnaces are some of the most popular systems available to homeowners, in part because of the relatively low cost of installation and the efficiency of many modern units. Furnaces may generate heat with electrical current or natural gas, and connect to the ductwork in order to distribute warm air.
  • Heat Pump: Heat pumps also connect to your ductwork, but this replaces both your heating and air conditioning system. Heat pumps work just like central air conditioners in the summertime, removing heat from the air inside and releasing it outside. However, in the winter, they can actually absorb heat from the outside air in order to release it into your home.
  • Hybrid Heating System: Sometimes, it’s too cold outside for your heat pump to absorb heat efficiently or effectively. For this reason, you may choose to install a hybrid heating system, which combines two fuels, gas and electric heating, for maximum energy savings. Most of the time, your heat pump absorbs heat from the outside, but when temperatures drop too low, around 30 degrees, the gas furnace kicks in.
  • Geothermal Heat Pump: A geothermal heat pump works much like a regular air-source heat pump except that it pulls heat from the ground instead of the air. The ground remains a constant temperature year round, which makes it a reliable source for heating and cooling.
  • Radiant Heating: Finally, radiant systems are some of the most efficient systems out there. These use hot water as a source of heat in order to distribute it evenly throughout the home either via a radiator, baseboard, or with piping underneath the floorboards, for the ultimate in home comfort.

You should always discuss your options with an expert before making any long-term decisions. Professionals can help you to decide which unit is right for you and what fits into your budget. Call the professional technicians at Rentmeister Total Home Service for any questions you have about heating services in Salt Lake City.

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What Are Some Common Heating Problems Cause by Faulty Thermostats?

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014

The thermostat in your home has a greater importance to your comfort than you’ve probably realized. It serves as the control panel where you set the heater and air conditioner; but it’s also the sensor that tracks your home’s temperatures and sends instructions to the HVAC system. The thermostat not only controls activating your heater, but also when the blower motor turns on and off. When a thermostat develops faults, even small ones, it can lead to significant problems with your heating.

However, since many of these heating troubles can come from other sources, it can be difficult to tell when the thermostat is the actual cause. Whenever you encounter problems with your heater, call on a professional heating service in Bountiful, UT to investigate and diagnose the problem, and then track down the source.

Rentmeister Total Home Service is ready around the clock with emergency repairs, whether for your thermostat or anything else.

Problems a faulty thermostat can cause

  • Short cycling: This refers to when a heater shuts down prematurely without completing the regular heating cycle. Repeated short-cycling causes extreme wear and tear on a heating system and rapid aging, leading to repairs and possibly an early replacement. If a thermostat becomes miscalibrated and senses incorrect temperatures, it can start to force the heater to short-cycle.
  • Blower won’t stop running: Thermostats use separate wires to turn the blower motor of a heating system on and off. If the thermostat loses a connection in one of the wires, it will cause the blower motor to turn on and keep running unless you disconnect the whole system from the power. This wastes energy and will rapidly cause the motors to wear down.
  • Heater will not turn on: Another set of wires on a thermostat sends the signals to turn the heater on and off. A frayed or damaged wire will cause the heater to refuse to turn on at all. This is one of the most confusing of all problems a thermostat can trigger, since a heater that won’t come on might seem like a full system breakdown, when it only needs a small repair to the thermostat to repair it.

Sometimes, you’ll encounter heating problems from an incorrectly thermostat or a mistake in programming. You should always check the thermostat first when your heater begins to behave oddly, just in case the issue comes from a simple user error. Otherwise, call for professionals: if the problem is in the thermostat, the repair work requires experienced technicians to fix it.

You may wish to consider upgrading your thermostat when it develops faults to a more accurate model with better features. (There are now models you can control from a smart phone.) Ask your technician about your options.

Whatever problems you encounter with your heater, you can trust to Rentmeister Total Home Service for quality heating service in Bountiful, UT.

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Causes of Low Air Flow in Your Heating System

Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

One of the easiest ways to tell that something has started to go amiss with your home’s forced-air heating system (furnace, heat pump) is a drop in the airflow coming from the vents. This will correspond with a reduction in the warmth in your home, and will cause cold spots to appear in rooms. This requires that call a professional repair service to come to your home to diagnose and remedy the problem.

There are a number of different reasons for airflow reduction, which is why this job requires trained technicians to investigate it. We’ll go over some of the more common reasons that your heater might lose its regular airflow. Call up Rentmeister Total Home Service for the help you need restoring your heating in Salt Lake City, UT: we’re ready to assist you 24/7.

Why your heating system may have low airflow

  • Ductwork leaks: The ductwork that transports the air from the heat pump or furnace air handler must maintain a seal along its length so the air pressure doesn’t drop. If breaks occur at connectors or if corrosion creates holes in the ductwork sealing, the pressure will drop and the airflow coming from your vents will drop as well. This requires duct sealers to fix (duct tape won’t work!) before your ducts develop serious contamination through the leaks.
  • Thickly clogged air filter: The air filter in a furnace or heat pump is set on the return air vent and prevent the air circulating through your home from transporting dust, dirt, hair, dander, and other contaminants into the heater’s cabinet. This filter needs to be changed once a month during the height of heating season or else it will become so clogged with trapped debris it will choke off the airflow. You will probably need to have a technician do a check on your heater as well to make sure dust hasn’t infiltrated and damaged the heater’s components.
  • Malfunctioning air handler: The air handler is the component of any forced-air system (and this includes air conditioners as well) that contains the blower and blower motor (as well as dampers and, in the case of heat pumps, refrigerant coils) that distribute the conditioned air into the ductwork. If the air handler starts to wear down and its motor malfunctions, it will cause airflow to decrease. Usually an air handler can be fixed, although sometimes the unit need replacement—which can often be done without having to replace the furnace or heat pump as well.

Call for professionals

Make sure you have a skilled and experienced Salt Lake City, UT heating contractor handling repairs for your heating system when airflow drops. Rentmeister Total Home Service has served people’s home (as well as many businesses) since 1953, so make us your first call for repairs.

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3 Things You Should Know About Radiant Heat

Tuesday, December 10th, 2013

**Rentmeister Total Home Service No Longer Services Boilers Or Radiant Heating Systems, We Apologize If This Is An Inconvenience**

Radiant heating is an innovative system of warming your home. It entails running electric coils or tubes full of liquid through your floorboards, then heating objects (and people) in the room by warming them directly through contact. It costs more to install than traditional heating systems, but is usually much more efficient. Here in Salt Lake City, heating through radiant systems makes a lot of sense, but it can be difficult to sell homeowners on a concept they may not be familiar with (and whose installation usually involves a fair amount of upheaval). Here a 3 things you should know about radiant heat.

  • It’s efficient. Have you ever walked into a spot of sunlight shining in from a window and immediately felt warmer? Or felt the heat of a light bulb when you place it near your hand? That’s radiant heating: the energy transferred directly into the surrounding environment by the source itself. That means it doesn’t waste much energy getting where it needs to go, unlike forced air heating, which has to blow its heat through the air and loses a lot in transit.
  • It’s safe. The notion of warming your body through the floor sounds actively painful. Like hopping across hot sand at the beach. But because radiant heating spreads its energy across the whole floor, it doesn’t need high temperatures to warm the room. You can walk barefoot across a radiant heating system and still feel quite comfortable: warm rather than hot.
  • It’s cheap. While the initial cost of setting it up is usually higher than that of a furnace, and can involve some work, the benefits in terms of your bottom line are quite strong. It simply costs less to run than traditional heating systems and the comparative lack of moving parts means that repairs tend to be less frequent as well. All of that can save a great deal of money. Over the long haul.

For other things you should know about radiant heat, as well as scheduling an appointment to see if a system is right for you, contact the Salt Lake City heating specialists at Rentmeister Total Home Service. We know the ins and outs of Salt Lake City heating, so give us a call today!

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