It is time to start preparing your home for the winter months, and that means giving consideration to your heating situation. If you are in the market for a new home heating system, then consider installing a boiler system this fall. Forced air systems are more popular than boilers, but boiler systems actually have quite a few advantages to recommend them. Let’s take a look at how boiler systems operate, and the benefits associated with them.
Sound Heating and Air Conditioning Inc. Blog: Archive for the ‘Heating’ Category
The Advantages of Installing a Boiler This Fall
Monday, October 12th, 2015Options for a New Heating System This Fall
Monday, October 5th, 2015Summer is over, and winter is on the horizon. That means it is time to start thinking about how you are going to keep your home warm during the heating season. If you are one of the many homeowners looking for a new home heating system, there are a wide variety of options available to you. Let’s take a look at some of the more popular home heating options, and the advantages they offer.
Is It Too Soon for Heating Maintenance?
Monday, September 14th, 2015We are moving into the fall season, and that means that soon air conditioning is going to be switched out for heating. A lot of homeowners haven’t turned on their heating systems for months, and they may be worried if their heaters are going to be able to cope with another winter. If you are one of those people who is worried about the upcoming heating season, read on for some of the benefits of early heating maintenance.
Advantages You Can Garner from Hydronic Radiant Heating
Monday, April 6th, 2015Radiant heating is not something that is often considered when homeowners are in the market for a new heating system. This is usually because the house is already set up to accommodate a forced-air heating system. The temptation to make the process easier by sticking with a similar type of heating system to the last one is also a factor. However, radiant hydronic heating actually has quite a bit to recommend it. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages that you can garner from installing a hydronic radiant heating system in your home.
Energy Efficiency
Hydronic radiant heating is a boiler-based system that heats the house by distributing hot water through it. The water flows through a network of pipes installed in the walls or subfloors of each room. As the water flows through the pipes, it transmits heat through them and into the room. This style of heating is much more energy efficient than forced-air systems. For one thing, water is a much better thermal conductor than air is. It heats up faster, and retains that heat for longer. For another, forced-air systems have to deal with duct leaks.
The US Department of Energy has estimated that the average forced air system loses as much as 20-30% of its output to duct leaks. A radiant heating system doesn’t use ducts, which allows it to deliver much more of its heat to the intended destination.
Comfort
When warm air is pumped into a room, it will immediately rise to the ceiling and then lower as it cools. This not only makes it take longer for a room to warm up, but creates an uneven heating effect. Hot and cold spots are quite common in rooms heated by forced-air systems. Radiant heating warms a room much more evenly, with most of the heat staying near the floor where it is of greater benefit to the occupants.
If you’d like to know more about the benefits of hydronic radiant heating, call Sound Heating. We provide heating services throughout Tacoma, WA.
Why is there Ice on My Heat Pump?
Wednesday, March 11th, 2015Finding ice on the outside of your heat pump is not uncommon, especially in cold environments. Most people tend to assume that this indicates a problem with the heat pump. This isn’t necessarily true, though there is a way to tell whether you need to call for heating repair for this. First, let’s take a look at why ice forms on a heat pump in the first place. Then, we’ll tell you how to identify if you need to call a professional or not.
The Cause of Heat Pump Ice
A heat pump works by evaporating refrigerant to absorb thermal energy from the surrounding outside air. It then sends that thermal energy inside to heat the home. There are two effects to evaporating refrigerant in this way. First, the temperature in the surrounding area drops as the thermal energy is siphoned out of the air. Second, condensation begins to form on the heat pump coil and the surrounding casing. The combination of those two effects causes ice to form on the heat pump.
When is Ice on My Heat Pump a Problem?
So, the question remains about when ice on the heat pump is a problem. Well, if left unchecked, the ice will continue to build up until it completely encases the heat pump. This is a problem because it cuts off the supply of thermal energy from the surrounding air, essentially preventing the heat pump from heating the home. Now, the heat pump is designed to address this problem by using a defrost cycle. Basically, the heat pump will periodically reverse the refrigerant flow in the system to melt the ice off the outside unit.
The problem you should be aware of is that the defrost cycle can sometimes malfunction. If this happens, there is nothing to prevent the ice from eventually covering the entire heat pump. So, the best way to tell if you should call a professional for this is to note the amount of ice on the pump. If there’s only a little ice, there’s no reason to worry. If there is a large amount of ice, or the ice is slowly growing over time, you should call a technician to check your defrost cycle.
If your heat pump needs repairs, call Sound Heating. We provide quality heating repair services in Tacoma, WA.
Energy Saving Tips for the Winter
Monday, January 5th, 2015If you’re looking for ways to save some energy as the new year begins and the heating season is in full swing, there are a few ways to do so without shutting off your heating system altogether. Sometimes, all a heating system really needs is a brief tune-up. Other times, you’ll need to install a new part, like a thermostat. And while it may be the case that you need a new heating system entirely, there are many affordable options to choose from with efficiency ratings that will far exceed your existing unit’s level of efficiency.
Here are a few of the ways you can upgrade your heating system for maximum savings.
- Set the thermostat to an energy-efficient temperature. A programmable thermostat allows you the ability to decide the temperature you expect your heating system to reach at different times of the day. Try setting the heater to kick in only when the temperature drops below 68 degrees. When you’re away or asleep, you can set your thermostat ten degrees lower, and program it to begin to heat up again 30 minutes before you wake up or arrive home. If you don’t have a programmable thermostat, consider having a technician install one.
- Schedule heating maintenance every year. Another way to make sure you continue to save energy every year is by scheduling maintenance. As the heating system goes on, parts of your heater are bound to become a bit worn down. And when your heating system goes unused throughout the cooling season, pieces will get dirty and parts may even loosen or fall into a state of disrepair. It’s a good idea to schedule regular maintenance with a heating professional in order to prevent any sudden repair needs and keep your unit in top shape and at peak efficiency.
- Consider a new heating system. No homeowner wants to hear the bad news about their home heating system, but the fact is that any unit will lose its ability to heat a home efficiently over time. Sometimes, a new heating system is your best option. But new heaters are designed to be far more efficient than those built decades ago thanks to new government standards and advancements in technology.
Call Sound Heating to learn more about maximizing the efficiency of your heating. To schedule heating service in Tacoma, call us today!
Ground Source vs. Air Source: Which Kind of Heat Pump Is Better?
Friday, December 19th, 2014Heat pumps are becoming more common, and that has caused a huge jump in demand for accurate information and advice on their selection and operations. The question “which kind of heat pump is better?” has become quite common, and it’s not hard to see why. Homeowners are always careful to make sure that they get the best fit for their needs and their home. They don’t want to invest hundreds or thousands of dollars in a system that isn’t going to take good care of them. With that in mind, let’s attempt to answer this question.
Air Source Heat Pumps
The core of this question has to do with where the heat pump gets the thermal energy that it uses to heat the home. First, though, let’s discuss how heat pumps work. A heat pump is not a combustion-based system, like a furnace or a boiler. Those systems create heat by burning some kind of fuel. Instead, a heat pump draws heat from one area and deposits it in another.
Air source heat pumps do this by using two different units, an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. The outdoor unit is installed outside the house, while the indoor unit is installed inside. When the heat is turned on, the outdoor unit will siphon thermal energy from the surrounding air and send it inside to heat the house.
Like all heat pumps, an air source heat pump is very energy efficient in most cases and will save money on heating bills. However, in climates that routinely reach sub-zero temperatures there isn’t enough thermal energy to make an air source heat pump worth it.
Ground Source
Ground source, or geothermal, heat pumps draw their heat from the ground instead of the air. They do this by relying on an underground pipe loop filled with refrigerant. When the heater turns on, it cycles this refrigerant through the main unit and siphons heat from it instead of the air. This solves the problem with air source heat pumps because the temperature underground remains fairly constant, regardless of the weather outside. Thus, they always have a renewable heat source to draw on. Unfortunately, they also require more space to install the loop.
If you’d like to know more, call Sound Heating. We provide heating services throughout Tacoma.
Options for Hydronic Heating Systems
Friday, December 12th, 2014People have kept themselves warm with hot water for a millennia, but it wasn’t until about a 100 years ago that use of hot water was harnessed to heat entire homes. What are we talking about? Hydronic heating systems: systems that use hot water, or its byproduct, steam, to heat your home. Lots of innovations have happened over the last century in the heating industry, giving homeowners lots of choices when it comes to home heating.
If you’ve decided that hot water is the way you’d like to heat your home, you have a few choices for outlets:
Radiators
Radiators have been the staple outlet for hydronic systems since boilers were first produced. Radiators are still great for providing heat, and these days you can choose from a wide variety of styles to fit just about any home. Conventional radiators are the types with “ribs” – tubes that carry the hot water or steam through the radiator and release the heat. Radiators heat effectively and do so gently. Air bubbles can develop in radiator so it’s important to release the air once a year to ensure air lock doesn’t occur.
Baseboard Heating
Baseboard heating works similarly to radiators, but the configuration of the outlet itself is different from a standing radiator. As the name suggests, baseboard heaters are placed on the floor and are part of the baseboard of the room it’s placed in. The piping has fins attached so that when the hot water or steam flows through the pipe, the fins can radiate heat along with the pipe, similar to the ribs of a conventional radiator. The piping and fins are covered, and there are many types of baseboard covers available to complement your décor.
Radiant Heating
Hot water or steam can also be used in radiant heating. With radiant heating, flexible PEX tubing is installed onto subflooring and the hot water or steam flows through, heating the floor above it. Radiant panels for walls and ceilings can also be hydronic, but electricity is preferred. As with radiators and baseboard heating, circulating pumps push the water through the system.
Hydronic systems offer a gentle, comfortable heat for your home. If you think a hydronic heating system is a fit for your home, call Sound Heating today and schedule your heating installation in Tacoma with one of our HVAC experts!
Types of Gas Furnace Safety Mechanisms
Friday, December 5th, 2014Because a furnace is usually hooked up to the gas line, some homeowners may worry about the safety of their home and family. Unfortunately, gas furnaces are sometimes unfairly written off as unsafe since they deal with combustion gases that could be hazardous. In reality, today’s furnaces are actually incredibly safe and contain key features that help to protect your home. These features should always work properly so long as the unit is properly installed and continuously maintained.
Be sure to call a technician whenever you suspect that a component of your furnace is not working, like the Tacoma heating experts at Sound Heating, or for routine maintenance and inspection every year. For now, take a look at some of these key furnace safety features, so you can rest easy knowing your furnace won’t cause you any harm throughout the night.
- Furnace Limit Switch: The furnace fan limit switch, at its most basic function, is a part that tells the fan when to turn on and off. This keeps your fan from continuously blowing after your home has reached the desired temperature. But it is also an important safety mechanism on any furnace that keeps the furnace plenum from overheating so that there is no damage to the unit and so that flames cannot escape.
- Thermocouple: The thermocouple is a feature that protects the combustion chamber from filling up with unburned gases. If the standing pilot light were to go out, the chamber could fill up with these gases which would lead to an explosion in some cases. The thermocouple is a simple component that senses when the pilot light is off and closes the gas valve.
- Flame Sensor: In today’s furnaces, the thermocouple is actually no longer necessary for most modern units. Older furnaces required a standing pilot, while most of today’s units use hot surface ignition or an intermittent pilot instead of requiring the pilot to remain on. For these furnaces, a mercury sensor performs a similar job to the thermocouple.
If you’re worried about the safety of your furnace or need a professional to troubleshoot strange sounds or other indications that a furnace is in a state of disrepair, you should talk to the professionals at Sound Heating. We offer repairs, maintenance, and installation for heating systems in Tacoma and the surrounding area.
How Does a New Thermostat Help with Heating?
Friday, November 28th, 2014Although the thermostat is a physically small component of the heating system in a home, it is one of the most important. When a thermostat begins to malfunction, it can have a huge effect on how well your home is heated; and if the thermostat stops working entirely, you won’t have the ability to turn the heater on or off.
However, you can have a perfectly working thermostat but still suffer from inferior heating because the thermostat is out-of-date and in need of an upgrade. If you still have an older manual thermostat or a standard digital thermostat without programmable features, you should call Sound Heating today and talk to our heating experts about updating your heating system with new controls. We install and service a variety of thermostats to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of heating in Tacoma, WA and the surrounding areas.
Ways That a New Thermostat Will Mean Better Heating
- Improved precision: If you are still using a manual thermostat with sliders and dials, you are missing out on precision temperature settings. Digital thermostats are much more accurate, which will help you with comfort as well as energy savings.
- Programmability and energy savings: Most digital thermostats today come with programming. These programs vary from simple (one setting for the morning, one for the evening) to complex (settings for each day of the week) so you can choose the right kind for your budget. Programmable thermostats allow you to enjoy comfort without wasting energy: if you want the house warmed up before you come home each evening, but you don’t want to drain energy running the heater all day, you can program the thermostat to turn the heating system on a half hour before the time you plan to return.
- Zone control: To fully update your thermostat, have multiple thermostats installed as part of a new zone control system. Zone control uses dampers inside the ductwork to control the flow of heat to different parts of the house. A network of wireless thermostats manipulates each of the dampers. You can turn heating on and off from a central thermostat, or change the temperature in individual rooms using the local thermostats. Thanks to wireless technology, it is easier than ever to set up a zone control system for a home.
Because there is a large variety of thermostats available, you need trained professionals to help you choose the one that will do the job you need for your home. Call Sound Heating today: we offer many different thermostat models and brands, and our professional installers will see that you receive top quality service that will benefit your heating.