Donald P. Dick Air Conditioning Blog: Archive for January, 2014

When Dust Invades Your Home

Thursday, January 30th, 2014

Ordinary house dust is anything but ordinary, consisting of infinite combinations of particulate from within your Fresno area home and around the globe. While the production and accumulation of dust is inevitable, there are several steps you can take to reign it in and gain control.

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Signs Your Ductwork Is Too Old to Do the Job

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

Signs Your Ductwork Is Too Old to Do the JobIs your ductwork beginning to show its age? That often happens much sooner than homeowners expect, since price often takes priority over quality in builders’ minds when it comes to air ducts. Since a deteriorating air duct system can reduce your home’s energy efficiency, it will increase your energy bills, and can cost you in terms of home comfort and indoor air quality as well. So how do you know whether your ductwork needs replacement?

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Mold and Mildew Growth: A Real Indoor Air Quality Issue for Homeowners

Thursday, January 23rd, 2014

Maintaining good air quality in your home is crucial to protecting your family’s health. Among the common threats to the clean air in your home are mold and mildew. These organisms may be lurking in your home in places unseen, and endangering your family’s health, but you can take a few simple steps to protect yourself from this threat.

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Redirecting Your Home’s Air by Closing Vents May Not Be the Best Solution

Tuesday, January 21st, 2014

Redirecting Your Home's Air by Closing Vents May Not Be the Best SolutionThere are a lot of suggestions for saving household energy these days, especially as utility costs increase. Some of these work better than others do for your Fresno area home. One common suggestion is to close off registers in unused parts of your home. This used to be true, but with modern HVAC systems, it can actually create more problems, and end up making your utility bills go up instead of down.

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Determine Where Your Home Is Wasteful With a Professional Energy Audit

Thursday, January 16th, 2014

A home energy evaluation, also known as an energy audit, is an excellent way for Fresno area homeowners to determine the effectiveness of their home energy system and uncover where energy is being wasted. This audit evaluates how well your HVAC system performs, the effectiveness of the building’s thermal envelope, and which improvements should be made to better your system.

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Before Replacing That Old Water Heater, Consider Going Tankless

Tuesday, January 14th, 2014

Before Replacing That Old Water Heater, Consider Going TanklessIf the storage-tank water heater in your Fresno area home is 10 years or older, it’s probably getting near the end of its useful service life. This is especially true if your conventional storage-tank heater has received minimal preventative maintenance, or if your water supply is full of minerals. While looking at suitable replacement units, or as a first-time installation in a new house, you may want to consider a tankless water heater. Although upfront cost for a tankless water heater is greater than for a conventional storage-tank type, the benefits, including reduced energy use, will last the lifetime of the unit. This should more than make up for the initial price difference.

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Sufficient Insulation Works As A Virtual Coat for Your Area Home

Thursday, January 9th, 2014

The best heating and cooling system your hard-earned money can buy for your Fresno area home will be of little use if your home is poorly insulated. Insulation is a one-time investment that pays great dividends year after year in fuel savings, conserved resources, and increased comfort for you and your family. Let’s review the basics, from top to bottom, starting with vocabulary:

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Load Calculations: The First Step in an HVAC Upgrade for Area Homes

Tuesday, January 7th, 2014

If your Fresno area home is ready for an HVAC upgrade, hire a contractor who uses proper, industry-standard load calculations. An improperly sized furnace will cost you thousands more over the course of its lifetime in terms of elevated utility and repair bills. The wrong furnace can also cost you in terms of whole-home comfort and compromised indoor air quality.

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With the Energy Star Logo Comes Peace of Mind in Terms of Energy Efficiency

Thursday, January 2nd, 2014

With the Energy Star Logo Comes Peace of Mind in Terms of Energy EfficiencyWhenever you spot an Energy Star label on a product, you can be confident of its quality and energy efficiency. And you likely see the label in a lot of places, from the computer you’re working on right now, to the TV across the room, to the water heater in the basement, and including the furnace, A/C, windows and even insulation.

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