When running your furnace in the winter, it pays to take note of anything that seems out of the ordinary. You may notice that your system turns on, then turns off again a few minutes later, only to kick in as the air in your Georgetown, TX home cools and turns off again the same way. The process is known as short-cycling, and it can be devastating to your system.
The fan motor and other components in your furnace use far more energy starting up and shutting down than they do simply running. Short cycling forces your system to spend far more energy than it should—raising your monthly bills accordingly—and the added stress means that you run a higher risk of a breakdown or similar problem. In some cases, short cycling is also indicative of a deeper problem, which will need to be addressed before it causes your furnace to shut down.
Possible causes of short cycling can include the following:
- Blocked airflow. Dirty filters, crimps in the ducts and other issues can lower the flow of air in the system, which often results in short cycling. In some cases, replacing a dirty filter will solve the issue, though, in others, the situation will require a professional’s attention.
- Oversized. Furnaces that are too powerful for the space they heat will often create short cycling problems. Unfortunately, the only solution is to replace it with a more appropriately sized model.
- Overheating. An overheating component may cause the system to shut down before it burns out, only to turn on again once the component cools. The situation usually needs to be resolved by fixing or replacing the faulty component.
If you’re experiencing short cycling in your furnace, call Intelligent Air Services today!
Posted in Heating
We’re in for a cold winter here in Austin, TX, and if your heating system goes down without warning, you need to get it fixed quickly. Unfortunately, not every breakdown takes place in the middle of the day when you can easily call and schedule repairs. And if your heater stops in the dead of night or over the weekend, an emergency heating repair call may be necessary. But when should you make an emergency call and when can the problem be resolved with a regular heating repair session? A few guidelines are presented below.
Safety First
If there’s a question, always err on the side of caution. Winter can be dangerous around here without proper heating, and even if your home stays relatively warm, you don’t want anyone in your family catching a cold while you wait for repair service.
Length of Waiting Time
A few hours can be handled much more readily than a few days in some cases. If the heater runs into trouble with just a few hours to go until regular business hours, you might want to wait until then. But if it’s going to be more than half a day, an emergency repair may be called for.
Containing the Problem
The moment you detect a problem with your heating system, you should shut it down. Most of the time, this will stop the problem dead in its tracks. In the event it can’t—if, say refrigerant is leaking from a heat pump and time is of the essence—then you may need to make an emergency call. Otherwise, shutting off power to the heater should give you the time to assess your options.
The pros at Intelligent Air Services are standing by to make heating repairs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Give us a call today and let us get your heater going again!
When your furnace shuts down, it can be a source of panic. Winters are cold here in Round Rock, TX, and even a day without proper heating can be devastating. Most homeowners are quick to call in a repair service when their gas furnace won’t turn on, and in many cases, that swiftness is justified. But sometimes, the causes of the shutdown are simple and can be resolved without having to call for a technician. You should always troubleshoot your furnace and determine that this isn’t the case before turning to the professionals. How? Here are a few quick steps.
- Start with the thermostat, which can easily be adjusted by another family member or suffer similar hiccups. It may be that the heat has been set higher than you expect, which is why it doesn’t turn on.
- Check the breaker box. An electrical surge outside of the system may have triggered it, in which case resetting the switch will solve the problem. If the breaker switch gets triggered again, the issue may lie in the heater itself, in which case you need a technician.
- Open the vents and change the filter if it’s dirty. Both can lead to hot air building up in your system, which will cause interior components to overheat and usually triggers an automatic shut-down for safety’s sake. Check to make sure that your vents are open (you should never lose more than 20% of them at any time), and change your filter if it’s dirty or needs it (you can buy replacement filters at any home improvement center). If that doesn’t correct the problem, it’s time for a repair service to look at it.
If troubleshooting the problem doesn’t work, shut your heater down—even if it isn’t running regardless—and call in the pros at Intelligent Air Services to help.
Posted in Heating
Most homes in the Georgetown, TX area use centralized furnaces and air conditioners, which rely on a series of ducts to carry the conditioned air through the home. They’re normally located in crawlspaces or other hidden locations, which helps keep them safe from damage.
Even so, leaks and even breaches can occasionally spring up, especially in older systems that have been in use for a while. Leaks are problematic because they force your heater to work harder in order to do the job: raising both your monthly costs and the wear and tear on the system itself. But how can you spot the leaks if they’re located in hidden spots? There are a few telltale signs that can help you out.
- Warm spots on the walls or floor, where the hot air leaking out of the system is blowing. (If the leak occurs in the summer when the air conditioner is running, it will be a cold spot.)
- Odd noises, like whistles or hums, coming from the spot where the breach is located. That’s air escaping out of the system. The noise will usually start and stop in sync with your heater.
- Low airflow, caused by the air slipping out of the leak or breach.
- Cooler air than expected, created when unconditioned air gets pulled into the system through the leak or breach.
- Higher bills, reflecting the loss of efficiency which the leak or breach is creating.
If the issue isn’t addressed, the strain on the system will increase, and could eventually result in a much more serious breakdown somewhere along the line. The good news is that a trained technician can pinpoint the source of the leak or breach and conduct proper repairs.
If you think your ducts are leaking, shut off the system and call the professionals at Intelligent Air Services today
Posted in Heating
Winters are fairly mild here in Manor, TX, and many households may have fired up their heating systems only recently after a long summer. You may be caught off-guard by a strange smell wafting through the system when you turn it on. In most cases, that’s cause for concern, and the sooner you call in a professional service to get on the issue, the better off you’ll be. Only a trained technician can diagnose and treat the issue in question, but the nature of the smell can sometimes give you an idea of where the technician should look.
Most furnaces contain electrical components fed by wires. An electrical smell usually means that one of them has encountered trouble, and has possibly burned out. The smell may also come from burning rubber that forms seals and the like. If you detect this smell and the heater keeps shutting off unexpectedly, you likely have an overheating component somewhere in the system.
Dust can coat the inside of the furnace when it sits unused for many months, and you may smell it when you turn the system on for the first time. In most cases, this will diminish as you run the heater. If it doesn’t, you may need to change the air filter, or possibly schedule maintenance to get rid of a particularly high build-up of dust.
The smell of rotten eggs is put into gas that feeds most forced-air furnaces in order for humans to detect it (it is normally odorless). If you detect the smell of rotten eggs, turn your heating system off immediately and get everyone (including pets) out of the home and into the fresh air.
For heating repairs of all varieties in homes throughout the area, the friendly pros at Intelligent Air Services can’t be beaten!
If you live in Manor, TX or the surrounding area, you’ve likely been running your heater for at least a few weeks now. Fall weather can get cold—and it’s only going to get colder as winter begins in earnest in a couple of weeks. If you own an older furnace, now might be an excellent time to evaluate it and decide if you need a new one installed. Furnaces and other types of heating are designed to last a long time, and with maintenance conducted once or twice a year, you can extend its lifespan well beyond its warranty. But sooner or later, time catches up with every appliance, and when it does, you need to get a new one installed quickly.
That point can be tough to spot, however. As long as the furnace is still running, people tend to let it keep going, no matter what it might cost them. The problem with that approach, however, is that it often leaves you flat-footed when a breakdown occurs—often just when you need the furnace the most—and forces you to scramble to get it replaced, often throwing your routine into a tizzy.
The solution? Examine your heating system now for signs that it needs to be replaced. Keep a careful eye on its age, its efficiency, and its ability to function, and evaluate whether it can hold on for another winter or not. If it can’t, you have time to schedule a replacement according to your timetable, not the breakdowns. It also means that you can enjoy the benefits of a new heating system all winter long, instead of having to limp along with the old one.
So how can you tell if your heating system needs replacing? Only the homeowner can make that final decision, but here are a few tips to help you along.
- Age. Age can vary greatly in this case, and with proper servicing, your heater should last well beyond its warranty expiration date. That date is a good litmus test to determine whether you should start thinking about replacing the heater, however. And if a heater with an expired warranty is showing any of the other signs of needed replacement, the combination is probably enough to justify action.
- Inefficiency. All heaters come with an efficiency rating: AFUE, which stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. The higher the rating, the more efficient the furnace, though as time goes on that rating will creep down from its listed value. The best way to spot this is to compare your monthly heating bills to those from previous years. If the monthly costs are creeping up past the point where your budget can comfortably tolerate it, you might want to think about a replacement.
- Repairs. Older systems will need more repairs than new ones, and the repairs tend to be more expensive as essential components slowly wear out. If you’ve had more than three repair calls in the last six months—or you are only facing one, but it’s more expensive than you’d like, you should consider a replacement.
If you need a new heating system, contact the pros at Intelligent Air Services today to discuss your options!
Winter is on its way here in Round Rock, TX, and chances are you’ve already used your heating system a number of times this year. If you haven’t scheduled one already now is an excellent time to set up maintenance for your system from a trained technician. Maintenance isn’t quite the same thing as a repair call. Repairs are designed to address a single specific problem such as a faulty fan motor or a damaged burner. Maintenance, on the other hand, is designed to treat a lot of little problems that wouldn’t merit a service call on their own: clogs in the burners, loose bolts, dirty filters, and the like. It’s also designed to look for any larger issues that may be coming down the road: letting you schedule repairs before they force your system to shut down.
You may not see the advantages in regular maintenance, but it can make a huge difference in the functioning of your HVAC system, especially if you apply them once or twice a year over the system’s lifetime. Those benefits can include the following:
- Improved performance. Loose bolts, clogged filters and the like can reduce your system’s efficiency, bumping up your monthly bills and adding to the stress and strain on other components. Maintenance will improve your system’s efficiency and if applied over time, can even extend the lifetime of your heater.
- Early jumps on repairs. The longer a large problem lingers, the more the damage will spread and the greater the cost of repairs. Regular maintenance lets you catch the issue early, allowing you to schedule repairs at your leisure and ensuring that they don’t cost any more than is absolutely necessary. That comes on top of preventing an unexpected breakdown, keeping you from scrambling to fix a problem you didn’t see coming.
Call Intelligent Air Services today for quality heater maintenance.
Posted in Heating
Fall is officially here in Georgetown, TX, and winter will be here before you know it. When the cold arrives, your furnace is going to be your best friend: providing a safe and comfortable environment for you and your family. The worst thing that could happen is to experience an unexpected breakdown in your heating system right when temperatures hit rock bottom. Even if you don’t suffer such an issue, an inefficient furnace is going to cost you a great deal in higher monthly bills.
The solution to this is a service call from a trained technician. Service calls aren’t the same as repairs, which are intended to address a specific issue. Instead, they are intended to deal with a lot of smaller issues that wouldn’t merit a repair call on their own: things like loose bolts and clogged burners, which rob your system of efficiency. In addition, the technician can look for larger issues that might still be small, and set up a more focused repair session if that turns out to be the case.
The benefits of this are twofold:
- Your furnace will run more efficiently during the winter months, which not only eases the strain on the system but helps you keep your home warm while lowering your monthly bills. When applied over time, it can even help extend the overall life of your furnace.
- If any repairs are needed, the servicing lets you catch them before the damage gets too extensive: allowing you not only to fix the problem before a breakdown occurs but likely to save you money since the corrections won’t cost as much if you get to them sooner rather than later.
If you haven’t scheduled service for your furnace yet in 2016, now is the right time to do so. Call Intelligent Air Service today for more!
Austin, TX features comparatively mild winters, and most homes in the area use forced-air furnaces to keep their homes warm. It’s a simple and effective system: using burners and a heat exchanger to warm the air, then blowing it through the ducts in your home with a fan. But what happens when the fan stops blowing air, or if the airflow exists, but is severely reduced? The short answer is it spells trouble that you need to have addressed quickly.
What Causes Low Air Flow?
Low airflow can be caused by a number of factors, and a trained technician is required to treat them. But they usually boil down to one of two common sources:
- Something is restricting the flow of air, such as a blockage in the vents or a clogged air filter. In some cases, it can also be caused by a breach in your ducts.
- Something is interfering with the power source pushing the air. That usually means the fan belt, fan motor, or a problem with the fan blades themselves.
Why Is It a Problem?
The most immediate issue with low airflow is that it takes the furnace far longer than it should to warm your home: raising your monthly rates and increasing the chances of a breakdown as strain is added to other components in the system. That strain can also be increased by the excess hot air which sits in the system as the airflow slows down. It can damage key components in the system, and while modern models come equipped with automatic shut-off features to contain the damage, you still need to get the issue fixed before the heater will work again.
Contact the friendly professionals at Intelligent Air Services to perform repairs on your heating system and get your airflow back up to speed!
The weather takes a turn for the chilly every October here in Georgetown, TX, in anticipation of the cold winter months to come. Chances are you’ve already put your home’s heating system to use, especially during our increasing low temperatures at night. If you have an older heater or one that struggled through last winter, now is the time to check for heating problems to see if you need repairs. Specifics vary and you should never attempt to diagnose a problem yourself. But by checking for general signs, you should be able to determine if a problem exists. Such signs can include anything that you don’t normally associate with your heating system’s normal functioning. More specifically, look for the following.
- Lowered Heating Levels: If the air emerging from your furnace vents isn’t as warm as you expect, there could be a problem with the burners or some similar issue. Breaches in the ducts can also create lowered heating levels.
- Lowered Air Flow: If the fan motor is suffering problems or the fan itself is misaligned or damaged, the hot air won’t flow through your ducts as it should. That means your system will need to work harder to do its job, raising both your monthly bills and the risk of a more serious breakdown.
- Spikes in Your Bills: Speaking of bills, if yours shoot up unexpectedly, especially if you haven’t used your heater any more often than normal, it may be due to some faulty component inside the system.
- Strange Noises: Odd noises such as clangs, moans, or hums can be the easiest way to determine if something is wrong. In most cases, the noises will stop when you turn off the heater.
The moment you detect any problem with your heating system, shut off the power and call the pros at Intelligent Air Services to take a look!
Posted in Heating