Barron Heating AC Electrical & Plumbing

Aeroseal Featured on PBS’s Hometime with Dean Johnson

January 18th, 2016

This last weekend, Aeroseal duct sealing was featured on national television (again).

Check out this clip from Hometime for a great explanation of how the procedure works and how you could see improvements to indoor air quality, dust, consistent comfort and heating expenses.

I encourage everyone to ask your local heating and cooling contractor if they can provide this service. If they can’t, then make sure to find out who can!

Don’t let anyone tell you that hand sealing the duct system is “just as good” as sealing them from the inside.

If you are in BARRON HEATING’s service area, check out this page for more great information and how you can take advantage of this innovative opportunity: http://www.barronheating.com/aeroseal/

What is in your home dust?

January 6th, 2016

Have you ever noticed all of the “icky” debris from your vacuum when you empty the canister or change the bag?

Have you ever broken your vacuum cleaner bag as you were disposing it or looked at canister of debris before dumping it? This should provide an accurate picture of what type of air the typical homeowner is breathing in their homes.

Every home’s duct work leaks! Every time your furnace runs more things are sucked into your duct work. Things like dust, pet hair, cooking grease, cigarette smoke, and other debris that will stay in your duct work – until they eventually break down and are released back into the air stream for you and your family to breathe.

“Most homeowners simply have no idea of how much dust, dirt, and debris the duct system harbors, according to Brendan Reid, Founder of Comfort Institute and Senior Success Coach . Since the air ducts are out of sight they are often out of mind”. As a reminder, about 50 percent of household dust is from dead skins cells which we constantly are shedding.

Sealing your ductwork not only improves indoor air quality by reducing dust and allergens, but can make you more comfortable in your home by reducing hot and cold spots, rooms, and floors in your house. We suggest using the Aeroseal process, but other forms of duct sealing can be effective.

A few recommendations for breathing healthier air in your home are sealing your duct work before you purchase a new heating and cooling system, clean your duct work every 3-5 years, and have a good air filter that you change according to manufacturer’s recommendations. This combination will help reduce household dust and keep the system running efficiently.

Which is the BEST HVAC brand?

December 23rd, 2015

Government and utility consumer protection authorities unanimously agree that your satisfaction depends much more on picking the right contractor than a particular equipment brand.

One question we are asked time and time again is “What brand of furnace or air conditioner should I buy?”

Once a homeowner becomes more informed about the secrets of the HVAC industry, they always realize that the brand question is almost irrelevant.

Regardless of brand, today’s equipment is very well made. Modern air conditioners and furnaces are similar to modern televisions. It’s almost impossible to buy a bad TV nowadays. All the major brands make really excellent products that rarely break down. Like a TV, modern heating and cooling equipment is also very well made and dependable.

Unfortunately, the comparison stops there. When you buy a TV you can take it home, unpack it and plug it in. While a TV works right out of the box, a central air conditioner, heat pump or furnace must be very carefully selected and installed in order to work as the manufacturer intended. It can’t be just plugged in. Unfortunately for consumers, the installing contractor is the weak link in the chain.

A replacement HVAC system is NOT a plug-in appliance. It is much more like a home renovation project – which depends much more on the contractor than on the renovation materials used.

Government and utility consumer protection authorities unanimously agree that your satisfaction depends much more on picking the right contractor than a particular equipment brand. Energy Star says a good contractor:

Will ask lots of questions about how the old system performed, and what you are hoping the new system will do.
Will measure and inspect your home and recommend the right size system for your home.
Will inspect or test your existing air duct system, explain the possible impact your old ducts will have on your new equipment, and provide upgrade options.
Will explain multiple options for equipment efficiency, comfort and noise reduction features, warranty – and brand.
Will install and commission your new system properly to best industry practices.

Buying a new heating and cooling system is a big investment – both upfront and long term due to utility and repair costs. Invest the time to become an informed consumer. Focus on the contractor and their business practices, not on the equipment brand or brands they happen to prefer and recommend.

If you are in the market for a new system, give us a call. We’d be happy to come out and chat about your needs, and explain how we follow the best industry practices so that you are 100% satisfied!

Got Dust? You can do something about it.

December 9th, 2015

Don’t let the dust bunny be an issue during the holidays.

With the holiday season in full swing, it’s time to start preparing the house for guests. Finding dust in your home is no fun, and no matter how much you clean it always seems to come back.

Dust is made up of all kinds of particles including plant pollen, dead skin cells, pet dander, insulation and fibers from clothing and paper. When it accumulates, it’s annoying and can wreak havoc on asthma and allergy sufferers. To make matters worse, with dust come dust mites. Grossed out yet?

While it’s impossible to completely rid your home of dust, here are some easy tips for keeping it at bay.

Clean Smart.

Using feather dusters will push the dust around and cause it to settle somewhere else. Use a damp cloth or microfiber or electrostatic cloth to capture dust. Always start cleaning a room from the top and work your way down. Change your bedding once a week and de-clutter. Don’t forget to shake out dirt and dust from your area rugs and pillows. Sweep and vacuum a few times a week to keep dust build up minimal.

Use Doormats.

Dirt and dust can be carried through the front, back or garage doors on the soles of your shoes or feet. Using heavy duty doormats will help cut down on the dirt and dust tracked into your home.

Change Your Filter.

A dirty filter will not only reduce the quality of the air in your home, they also lose their ability to to trap dust. Clean them regularly to maintain a healthy airflow. We recommend changing your filter once a month.

Set an Appointment with Your HVAC Contractor.

It’s important to have humidity levels between 40% – 50% to reduce static. Static attracts dust and makes in harder to remove. A Comfort Adviser will check the humidity levels in your home to ensure a healthy, comfortable and static free environment. It’s also very important to have your ducts tested and inspected for leaks. A Comfort Adviser will be able to identify sources like duct leaks which allows dirt, insulation particles and dust to circulate in your duct system and make way into your home. The decision to have your ducts sealed or cleaned may be the solution to minimizing dust in your home.

It’s important to remember that no matter what you do, you will still end up having some dust in your home. It is our goal to help you minimize the dust in your home. Have a trained Comfort Adviser do a thorough inspection of your ducts and living environment.

Do you know your home? Really?

December 2nd, 2015

A little bit of useful knowledge can go a long way for homeowners.

The average suburban family home has become a much more complicated and sophisticate system than ever before! Long gone are the days of wood-burning stoves and cracking a window open to feel the cool summer breeze. Today’s home commonly has forced-air ductwork, higher efficiency HVAC systems, geothermal systems, and electronic control systems. Many of these systems are new to contractors so it is no wonder that the average U.S. homeowner does not understand how to keep their home performing well. Homeowners must rely on a hired expert – but choosing the right one and one you can trust can be a tricky path.

So, how can homeowners protect themselves? Get to know your home! There are three basic categories of knowledge every owner should have about their home:

Required knowledge
Useful knowledge
Advanced knowledge

Required knowledge

What kinds of things fall into the category of required knowledge? We recommend the following:

Water source: where does your home’s water come from (municipal water, well water, spring water)?
Waste water: where does your home’s waste water go (septic tank, municipal sewer pipe)?
Water main location: where is the water main for the home?
What type of water heater does your home have?
What type of appliance heats your home and where is it located?
What type of fuel is used to heat your home?
Does your home have an emergency on/off switch for the heating system and where is it located?
What is the location of your home’s fire extinguisher?
Does your home have air conditioning and where is it located?
Does your home have a thermostat control and where is it located?
Where are the locations for the main electrical panel and circuit breakers?

Useful knowledge

What kinds of things are useful and good to know about your home? We recommend the following:

What type of roofing is on your home’s roof?
What type of plumbing supply pipes are used in your home (copper, PVC)?
How is your home insulated (attic, roof, walls, how much, what type)?
Are your windows single-glazed, double-glazed or triple-glazed?
Does your home have removable storm windows?
Does your home have a mechanical ventilation system, if so, what type?

Gathering answers to these questions will better prepare you for work that might be performed in your home and will help prevent you from being swindled by crooked contractors.

Advanced knowledge

If homeowners take a little extra time to learn a few building science principles and consider their home as a “whole system” it will be easier to select the appropriate contractor to perform repairs, maintenance or conduct testing on your home. Some of the things that would fall into this category include:

Why does infiltration and exfiltration matter?
Where are air leaks most often located?
How air movement can undermine the performance of fluffy insulation.
How can positive and/or negative pressure affect your home?
What kinds of conditions can lead to condensation within your home?
What are the most cost-effective energy retrofit measures?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of different types of heating fuel?

We are not suggesting that homeowners become home performance experts, but by getting to know your home a little better you can protect yourself and save money in the long run by choosing a contractor with knowledge and confidence in home performance service work. By gathering some basic knowledge about your home, you can work with your contractor to decide how to make your home the best total system it can be for you and for your family.

Less Dust and Cleaner Indoor Air

November 18th, 2015

Do you feel like as soon as you finish dusting…the dust seems to come right back?

A good deal of the dust in our homes comes from internal sources such as skin flakes, fabric fibers and pets. However, new research has found that in many homes a significant amount of the dust actually originates from outside the living space. The hot or cold outside air that leaks in through gaps and cracks often brings a lot of dust along with it. The air from outside always contains airborne particles such as mold spores, pollen, soot, tire rubber and agricultural dust. Think how dirty patio furniture can get after just a few days without rain.

However, that outside air leaking in around windows and doors is only a small part of the problem. Windows and doors usually represent less than 20% of a home’s air leaks.The air coming in there is often relatively clean in comparison to where the other 80% comes from. Building scientists have recently discovered that in the typical home, most of the incoming air first passes through dirty areas such as the attic, attached garage, outside walls, crawlspace, basement, or even from underground.

This incoming air is often contaminated with visible dust particles such as insulation fibers, pollen and mold spores. It may also contain invisible pollutants like carbon monoxide, automobile exhaust, carcinogenic radon gas, rodent allergens, pesticides and volatile organic chemicals. These can negatively affect your family’s health and safety. For more info, check out this video from Comfort Institute:

It’s a common complaint. Just a few days after a thorough house cleaning, that unsightly dust is back, settling on every surface in your house. Dust can also contribute to respiratory allergy suffering. What’s the answer?

Contact your home performance trained contractor and ask for an Infiltro meter blower door test to pinpoint where the bad air leaks are. This involves installing a computerized machine with a powerful fan in your front doorway, to temporarily pressure test your house. An air leak detector and infrared camera are then used to find the air leaks. Many are leaks you can repair as weekend projects. Others such as leaks in your air ducts, or through recessed can lights are better left to professionals.

Finding and fixing the leaks that let in bad air will make your home healthier and less dusty. Your home will also be more comfortable and have more controllable indoor humidity levels. Fixing these air leaks will even pay for itself through lower heating and cooling bills. In fact, duct leakage alone has been found to waste 20% to 40% of most system’s heating or air conditioning.

Does Your HVAC System Suffer From High Blood Pressure?

November 4th, 2015

Your furnace, heat pump or air conditioner is the heart of your comfort system.

It’s often said that your furnace, heat pump or air conditioner is the heart of your comfort system. Following the analogy further, your air ducts are its veins & arteries.

And just like high blood pressure is bad for your heart, high “duct static pressure” is bad for your heating and cooling system, your comfort – and your wallet.

When you go to the doctor for a check-up, common practice is for the doctor or nurse to measure your blood pressure. Our service technicians now have the instruments and training to do the same for your ducts when we do the seasonal tune-up, or a home and duct performance assessment.

We’ve been doing this for a while now, and the results are often eye-opening. The heating and cooling equivalent to 80 over 120 is “half an inch” of water column pressure for most systems. When we test the duct pressure, we now routinely find pressures significantly higher than this –often over double!

Why does this matter?

Higher Utility Bills: High pressures in the ducts leads to lower airflow. Lower airflow means lower efficiency. Lower efficiency means higher monthly utility bills.

Comfort: Lower airflow leads to poor distribution of conditioned air throughout the home, contributing to hot and cold spots, or the system not keeping up on the hottest or coldest days.

Noise: High static pressure is often a clue as to why a system is excessively noisy – the same repairs to reduce static pressure usually decrease noise as well.

Repairs: Low airflow causes furnaces to overheat internally, and air conditioners and heat pumps to not function smoothly. Many common expensive repairs – or premature total failure – are directly attributable to low airflow.

The good news is that identifying high static pressure allows us to prescribe the right medicine to make your system and your home happier! Each system is different – but most common airflow improvements are fairly simple and economical. And best of all, they pay for themselves through more efficient operation and lower utility bills.

Next time your HVAC contractor visits your home, ask your technician to take the time to check your ducts static pressure and explain the results. If you are having any comfort, dust or high utility bill issues, give a home performance trained contractor a call and they’ll explain your options for home & duct performance assessments.

3 Tips For Cleaner Indoor Air

October 21st, 2015

Could your family be breathing unhealthy indoor air?

The Environmental Protection Agency says most of us spend over 90% of the time indoors, and that the indoor air is usually over 10 times more polluted than outdoor air. Respiratory problems such as allergies and asthma plague many families.Their suffering is often made worse by the air in their home. While many issues like poisonous carbon monoxide gas are undetectable with our senses, some homes have mysterious black stains, lingering musty odors, or visible mold. Unsightly excessive dust on the furniture is another common concern. In many homes it seems to reappear just a few days after house cleaning.

Here are some proven ways to reduce dust and help your family breathe easier:

Have A Central High-Efficiency Air Filter Installed: Typical throwaway furnace filters do not even adequately protect your equipment from getting fouled up, let alone protect you from the smallest invisible respirable particles. But be careful with retail store “high efficiency” one inch thick filters – we routinely get service calls after people put them in as they quickly get plugged. This chokes the airflow, which greatly reduces comfort and can even damage your equipment. Ask us about new options for installing a new high efficiency – high capacity air cleaner at the equipment. The best are pleated media filters, typically four to six inches thick, that only need to be changed once a year and don’t restrict your airflow. Note however that even the best filter can’t totally eliminate visible dust in the home, simply because visible dust is heavy and often settles on furniture before it gets to the filter.Test For Contaminated Air Infiltration: Where is that dust coming from? Are you breathing good air or bad air? Fresh air coming in through window and door leaks is usually less than 20% of a home’s incoming air. Building scientists have recently discovered that in the typical home, over half the incoming air first passes through the contaminated attached garage, crawlspace, basement or attic.

Air pollutants such as pollen and mold spores, carbon monoxide, automobile exhaust, crystallized rodent urine proteins, radon gas, crawlspace moisture, insulation fibers and volatile organic chemicals can contaminate this incoming air, and negatively affect your family’s health and safety. An Infiltrometer blower door test pinpoints where the bad air leaks are, and provides guidance on how to fix them. Many can be easily repaired by homeowners as weekend projects. Others such as duct leaks are better left to professionals. Finding and fixing the leaks that let in bad air will make your home healthier, less humid in the summer, less dusty, more comfortable, and even pay for itself through lower heating, cooling and repair bills.

When there are duct leaks it’s important to “Seal Your ductwork” to prevent the contaminants including dust, allergens, and pollutants from entering the air stream in the first place. Aeroseal patented technology is the most effective technique available for sealing ducts. If Aeroseal duct sealing isn’t an option, then hand sealing with mastic is better than not sealing at all. In addition to the indoor air quality benefits, duct sealing can save you up to 30% on your energy bills, while increasing your comfort level by reducing temperature differences between floors and hard to heat or cool rooms.

Repair Leaky Recessed Can Lights: One of the worst common leaks are recessed can lights. They inadvertently connect your living space to your attic – which is often the unhealthiest space in a home. Luckily most of these lights can be upgraded to LED inserts at a reasonable cost. During the Infiltrometer test, ask us to inspect your recessed can lights to see if they are an upgrade opportunity. They quickly pay for themselves through lower electric bills, and the savings on heating and cooling.

You don’t have to put up with unhealthy indoor air. Give your home performance trained HVAC contractor a call! You now have lots of options. They will be happy to chat about these and many other new ways you can help your family breathe easier.

Your HVAC and Home Performance Glossary

October 14th, 2015

“How am I supposed to know what to do?!”

Step one is to find a trained and reliable contractor.
Step two is to get educated.
We’ve made this tool to help you on your journey to a healthier, comfortable and more efficient home.

Air Conditioning

Air Conditioning is a refrigerant based system consisting of an indoor coil at the furnace and an outdoor unit. Much like a kitchen refrigerator- the heat is transferred from inside to outside. A fan distributes the cooled air (heat removed).

AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency)

AFUE is the rated efficiency of a combustion furnace. For example, a 95% AFUE model loses 5% of its produced heat up the chimney. In other words, $1 of fuel combusted in an 80% AFUE model loses $0.20 before it even enters the ducts.

Condensate (Condensation)

Heat pumps, air conditioners and modern furnaces produce condensation and the removal of this collected water is always considered in system design.

Cold Air Return

The “cold air return” is the sucking or intake side of a duct system. This duct pulls air from the home and feeds it to the furnace to be reheated for distribution. Leaks in the return air duct are very important to seal as they allow material to be pulled in from wherever they lead (insulation from attics, dust from crawlspaces, etc.). Unducted wall cavities are not acceptable for cold air returns in the modern HVAC world as they are known to reduce efficiency and cause health safety issues.

COP (Coefficient of Performance)

This is an efficiency rating system that compares the output of heat to the consumption of electricity. An electric baseboard or electric furnace (aka resistance heat source) has a COP of 1.0- for every unit of electricity that goes in, you get one unit of heat energy out. A heat pump may have a COP of 3.0- for every unit of electricity that goes in, you get three units of heat energy out.

$1 of heat with a baseboard heater = $3 of heat with a Heat Pump (3.0 COP)

Ducted Filtration and Furnace Filters

Filters located on either the furnace or grille end of the intake duct protect the furnace components from the build-up of airborne particles. More advanced filtration systems can be effective at cleaning the air in a home, but only if the duct and house leakage has been addressed. Filters are rated on the “MERV” scale based on how small of particles they are able to remove from the air stream.

**The Supply Duct Filters available at hardware stores are not recommended. They will negatively affect efficiency and air quality, as well as damage equipment.

Duct Sealing

According to extensive nationwide studies, duct leakage is a leading cause of wasted energy, poor indoor air quality, excessive dust, and comfort complaints. A study by the U.S. Department of Energy study found that the typical duct system loses between 25% and 40% of its paid-for heat! Leaks are repaired with either hand applied material or a more comprehensive internal seal using an aerosol dispersed polymer (www.AeroSeal.com).

Duct Sizing

Proper duct sizing is of absolute importance in effectively delivering conditioned air to the home. Improper duct sizing can lower the efficiency of the system, limit distribution (effecting comfort), and cause unnecessary ware on equipment.

Electric Resistance Heat

Think “toaster”. Baseboard heaters, wall heaters and electric furnaces are all forms of electric resistance heat technology and produce heat by passing electricity through a material that causes “resistance”, heats up and then radiates that heat either into an air stream or directly into a room. This is a very inefficient form of heating by modern standards and is going the way of the dodo as a primary heating source in most situations.

Fan Motors

There are two types of fan motors in the world of furnaces:
ECM (Electronically Commutated Motor)- These are variable speed motors that can ramp up and down depending on the call from the thermostat or furnace.
PSC (Permanent Split Capacitor)- These are single speed motors that are on or off.

Heat Pump (Ductless Mini Split)

Ductless Heat Pumps are the world’s most popular heating system. For most standard application they are the most efficient and cost effective to install. For this reason, utility companies offer significant incentives to upgrade. This is a zonal heating system that operates on a refrigerant technology (see “Heat Pump” below). They do not utilize a duct system to distribute conditioned air.

Heat Pump (Forced Air)

Heat Pumps are really just an air conditioner that can go in reverse. In addition to the cooling process, these have the ability take the heat from the outdoor air and transfer it to the inside of your home. When the heat bearing refrigerant enters the “coil” at the furnace, the heat is picked up in the air stream and distributed into home. This technology is significantly more efficient at creating heat than propane or electric resistance and even more efficient than natural gas.

Home Performance (a.k.a. Building Science)

Home Performance refers to the understanding that the whole house is a system and each component affects all others. For example: leaks in the ductwork will worsen indoor air quality, raise utility bills, cause drafts, shorten the lifespan of the furnace and negatively affect health; air leaks to the attic through recessed lighting will do all the same things; both together will affect those things but even more so. Because of these relationships, understanding your home’s performance through diagnostic testing is recommended by the US Department of Energy, Energy Star, and Consumer Reports before making any investment in heating, cooling, energy efficiency, or home health upgrades.

HSPF (Heating Season Performance Factor)

HSPF is the standard rating system for Heat Pumps. This is a rating given by regulatory agencies to compare the efficiency at which the heat pump operates.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

“Indoor air quality” refers to the potential impact of your home’s air on occupant health and comfort. IAQ is judged on the presence of humidity, dust, radon gas, mold, fiberglass particulate, carbon monoxide and many other conditions. IAQ should be considered a high priority as it will affect both the long and short term health of occupants. Poor IAQ can exacerbate or cause: asthma, sinus infections, chronic respiratory ailments, eczema, fatigue, headaches, and many other issues.

Refrigerant

Refrigerant is the substance used in air conditioning and heat pump systems to transfer heat between the interior and exterior of the home. The refrigerant is transported in copper tubing between the indoor and outdoor coils. When the refrigerant is pressurized it absorbs heat from the air around it.

Registers (aka Grilles)

Registers, grilles, diffusers, and grates are all basically the same thing. In the industry they are commonly referred to as “grilles” or “diffusers.”

SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio)

SEER is the standard rating system for air conditioners. This is a rating given by regulatory agencies to compare the efficiency at which the air conditioner operates.

Static Pressure

Static pressure is the outward pressure of a substance against its container. In this industry we are concerned most often with the static pressure of the air in the duct system. Good static pressure allows for even distribution throughout the home, efficient removal of heat from the furnace’s heat exchanger or refrigerant coil, and less noise [LR1] from the air ejecting from the grille. Bad static pressure can exacerbate leakage, damage heating equipment, and significantly lower efficiency.

Supply Air

“Supply air” ducting is the delivery system for conditioned air- warm or cool. Supply air ducts should always be well sealed as any air that is lost out these pressurized ducts is lost to the outside, even when it is in a wall or floor cavity.

How to solve HOT and COLD rooms…

October 7th, 2015

Have you ever wondered why some rooms are not as comfortable as others, and sometimes an entire floor can be uncomfortable? This can be very frustrating however, the good news is it can be fixed. There are many reasons why this happens, but the most common issue is air flow. When an HVAC system is installed there are a lot of assumptions made and very few checks and balances to ensure the system is working properly.

The first step is to find an HVAC contractor who is trained, understands how air flow works in the home and is able to measure and test. The easiest repair is simply what is called air balancing. Dampers should have been installed when the house was built, but unfortunately many homes are lacking them. If your home is missing dampers, they can and will need to be added.

Your contractor will provide what is called a room by room load calculation to determine how much air flow is required to the rooms. He or she can then do simple steps to ensure the proper amount of air flow is being directed to each room.

The most important part of testing is to ensure your duct system is in good working order. It must be sized properly and free of any duct leakage. Both these problems can rob a home of the precious air that is needed to be comfortable. Duct systems can be repaired and sealed to make sure the right amount of airflow is being distributed throughout the house. In some cases it is necessary to replace the entire duct system to guarantee proper sizing, insulation and no duct leaks. A good duct system is key to making your home more comfortable and providing your family with the clean healthy air.

And there is another benefit. Unlike any other repair you do in your home, fixing your ducts can actually help pay you back. A good duct system will use less energy and save on monthly utility costs.