Barron Heating AC Electrical & Plumbing Blog: Archive for the ‘Clean Home’ Category

4 Steps to Reduce Spring Allergens in Your Home

Thursday, March 16th, 2017

It’s not called “allergy season” for nothing.

Spring is finally in the air! And with the arrival of birds, blue sky and warmer weather  comes pesky allergens that can aggravate you and your family and negatively impact health. Keep the pollen, dust mites, and pet dander at bay by regularly maintaining your HVAC system. The better it runs, the happier and healthier your home will be.

Change Your Filters

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: pay attention to your filters! Check your filters every month, and replace every 3 months or so depending on wear. You want to make sure your unit is working efficiently to keep particles and allergens out of your family’s space, especially when any members are particularly susceptible (like asthma sufferers).

Check for Mold

Mold is an unfriendly guest no matter where you find it. It can be especially irritating when it takes up in your HVAC system, worsening allergies and overall health. If you see mold or notice a musty smell coming from your vents, it may be time to schedule a duct cleaning.

Seal it up

To prevent excess pollen and other particulates from making their way inside your home, one DIY approach is to weatherstrip, caulk or spray foam around windows, doors, and other problem areas. Taking these measures can help your air conditioner or heating system run to its fullest efficiency (and save you money).

Call in a Professional

After you’ve made the rounds yourself, it’s never a bad idea to get a full system checkup from a trained professional. Much like your family’s health, your HVAC system is an investment; it needs to be treated with care and attention to be at its best.

Don’t wait until your whole family is sneezing and miserable, contact Barron Heating & Air Conditioning to schedule a maintenance appointment today!

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Got Dust? The spots you might be missing…

Tuesday, May 24th, 2016

If you’re like most homeowners – dusting is not one of your favorite chores (are any chores fun?). We all like to give it the old “college try” and hit our tabletops, television, and maybe even our picture frames on a weekly basis. But, take a minute right now — look up at your return grilles then look down at your supply grilles. Yuck, right? Don’t feel bad – lots of people have the same dusty, grimy register covers in their homes. So why is this forgotten area of your housekeeping so important?

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10 Ways to Ensure Good Home Air Quality

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016
From the healthy home air experts at ASHRAE.org
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Aeroseal Featured on PBS’s Hometime with Dean Johnson

Monday, 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/

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Less Dust and Cleaner Indoor Air

Wednesday, 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.

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Home Performance Financing 101

Friday, February 6th, 2015

Is all this talk about Energy Upgrades and Home Performance getting you down because you’d love to make improvements to your home, but lack the finances to make it happen?

Believe it or not, we were in  the same boat (even though we both work in the industry). We were aware of the enormous benefits of a weatherized, insulated, and efficiently heated home for years before we finally pulled the trigger. I always just assumed we couldn’t afford it! I was completely in the dark about just how many financing options were available. That’s our home in the photo above, being tested for all things Home Performance related. That very home is now fully sealed/weatherized/efficiently heated/ventilated/basically every upgrade we could think of, for just under $100/month with the financing we received!

What types of financing are available and how to begin?

There are 4 basic types of financing for Energy/Home Performance/Heating upgrades.

  1. Energy Upgrade-Specific Financing: This is probably your best bet if you qualify, and it is the route we went for financing. Check out Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union’s ENERGY SMART loans. PSCCU is a co-op bank geared toward local, environmental, and energy-savings solutions. And, they have fantastic rates! Must be in WA State to work with them, but check with your local financial institutions to see if your state has a similar program.
  2. A traditional Home Improvement Loan. This will likely be a little more expensive, but still a great option, and usually a better rate than a personal loan. Check with your current bank for their home improvement financing options.
  3. Personal Loan. Again, check with the bank you already do business with. A lot of times, you’ll get your best rate there, because they know you and want to keep your business. Personal loans tend to be a little more costly than other types of loans.
  4. Larger HVAC and Home Performance companies oftentimes have banks they work with, and you can receive significant deals, discounts, and lower rates by going through them. If you live in our area (Whatcom, Skagit, Island, San Juan, and Snohomish counties), check out Barron’s financing. We make available a 7.5% 10 year loan through a local bank, and a 6 mo. same-as-cash deal (if you qualify) through a nation-wide bank. Check with your local HVAC company to see if they have similar programs.
  5. Your local Human Services Organization (Bonus option!), though this is less about financing and more about low-income options. Some folks can receive free or very low-cost Home Performance/Weatherization work through the Human Services organization in their area. Our local agency is the Opportunity Council.

What’s Your Return On Investment (ROI)?

Here’s the nitty-gritty. If you’re ready to make the leap with financing, you’re probably asking just how long will it take to break even (between what you’re paying each month and what you’re saving in energy bills)? The basic formula goes like this:

Total cost of the project (divided by) your estimated annual savings = ROI

For simplicity’s sake, let’s say your project costs $10,000 and that allows you to save $1,000 per year in energy bills. Your ROI will occur in 10 years.

Where does one get these numbers? Your HVAC or Home Performance expert can give them to you.

What About Rebates?

The three main rebate programs for energy upgrades and home performance in our area are through Puget Sound Energy (PSE), Cascade Natural Gas (CNG), and the Community Energy Challenge (CEC). Here are direct links to the Applications for Homeowners: PSE Rebates , CNG Rebates, and CEC Information.

Beyond Finances:

Although finances are of primary importance for most people, there ARE other significant benefits to consider beyond the money saved.

  1. Peace of Mind: A new heating/cooling system and weatherization can set your mind at ease; allowing your family to relax without having to worry about shut-downs and repair costs.
  2. Health & Safety: There is ample evidence that people’s HVAC equipment and home are making them sick. An out-of-date, improperly-installed, or inefficient system can be very unhealthy, causing or contributing to myriad health-issues and diseases. And safety issues, such as carbon-monoxide leaks can be an immediate danger.
  3. Comfort: Most people want to create a warm, cozy, comfortable space for their friends and family. This is an undeniable benefit of investing in your home!

If this article has piqued your interest, I hope you will take a minute to contact your bank or HVAC contractor to get the ball rolling! You might be surprised by how affordable it is to create a cozy, efficient, healthy space!

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Annual Furnace Service (Part I of our Annual Maintenance Series!)

Wednesday, December 31st, 2014

Most of us are pinching pennies after the holidays. This means that home maintenance services that aren’t absolutely necessary often get pushed to the back burner. I’ve heard many folks (myself included!) wonder things like “Is annual maintenance really necessary for my furnace,” or “couldn’t I do that myself and save some money?”

These are great questions! Let’s demystify annual HVAC maintenance by going over: 1. Why an annual service might be important 2. Whether or not all HVAC maintenance is performed equally 3. What, exactly, your service tech (or, what a good one, anyway) should be accomplishing during their visit, and 4. Could annual maintenance be a DIY project?

Is annual maintenance important for your furnace or heating system?

The short answer is yes. But let’s not leave it at that.

Houses are like cars in many ways (except if you’re lucky, you don’t spend nearly as much time in your car as you do your home). So, why is it that most people agree regular car maintenance is critical, whereas it still seems up for debate that your home also needs scheduled care from a professional? Like a car, home heating systems are composed of many intricate parts that all have to work together to deliver healthy, warm, efficient, and cost-effective heat. And, like an inspection and oil change for your car, a regular inspection and maintenance for your furnace can undoubtedly extend the life of your heating system, and the overall health of your home.

Most people know what happens to a car without the routine recommended maintenance. But what happens to your home without an annual furnace maintenance?

A neglected furnace or heating system could result in:

  1. Utility bills going up. No one wants to spend more money on monthly heat bills than they need to. No one. A high heat bill is one major indicator that your furnace needs attention.
  2. Your furnace could need replacing sooner. ALL furnace manufacturers recommend a yearly service. Having to buy a new furnace could mean prematurely shelling out thousands of dollars to keep your family comfortable. If you can extend the life of your current system with under $150 per year, you probably should.
  3. A furnace that hasn’t been properly cleaned can overheat, become clogged, start a fire, release carbon monoxide into your home (cracked heat exchanger), or simply make your furnace shut off. I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer a yearly maintenance to breathing carbon monoxide, yikes!
  4. Illnesses and allergies can be (and often are) caused or exacerbated by faulty or dirty heating systems. This is the air your family breathes, after all.

Are all Annual Maintenance calls performed equally?

Will these items listed above be addressed when you schedule a service call? Unfortunately, the answer is maybe. The service you receive can vary drastically depending on who you call and what you pay. One company can give your furnace or boiler a clean bill of health; whereas another company could come in a week later and find that a multitude of things were not properly taken care of.

There seems to be no industry standard for what is included in an annual maintenance appointment. Many companies offer a “basic tune-up,” a “comprehensive maintenance,” or something by a different name or somewhere in between.  Your best bet is to ask the technician what they will be doing exactly. He or she should be able to quickly give a complete list of items they’ll be cleaning or checking; it should look something like the list below.

What exactly needs to be done annually?

This checklist is the minimum of what should be performed at a comprehensive service appointment. A good HVAC company will also take note of the home performance implications that arise. Technicians who are trained to identify home performance issues will recognize things like duct leakage, house leakage, excessive dust in the home or ducts, rodent issues, and other problems that won’t necessarily be resolved by routine furnace maintenance. Finding and addressing these home performance gaps will lead to a much more efficient, healthy, and warm home.

Basic Annual Furnace Maintenance:

  1. Test temperature rise through furnace
  2. Test all furnace safety controls for proper operation
  3. Test thermostat for proper operation
  4. Test and adjust furnace gas pressure if applicable
  5. Check furnace electrical connections and wiring condition
  6. Test furnace sequence of operation
  7. Clean furnace blower compartment
  8. Check and clean furnace burner compartment
  9. Check furnace blower wheel
  10. Check and clean furnace burners if applicable
  11. Inspect venting for rust and/or corrosion
  12. Check and clean flame sensor and pilot assembly if applicable
  13. Lubricate all moving parts if applicable
  14. Replace furnace filter
  15. For all fossil-fuel burning equipment: Carbon Monoxide Detection test performed in living area

Could the homeowner do all of this herself?

The homeowner could in fact do all of these things, but only if they know how to perform all or most of the items on the list above. I for one, don’t know anyone who isn’t an HVAC professional who can adequately execute all of these checks and cleanings. A heating professional should be able to complete and explain to you everything on the list above; which is what makes them worth the 100 to 150 bucks it costs to do it right!

Hopefully this post has helped to take some of the complexity and mystery out of the annual furnace maintenance. Keeping your annual appointment is all about preventative measures. Following recommended maintenance will likely keep you warm and healthy longer, and keep unexpected furnace shut-downs at bay!

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The Right Ventillation Keeps the Home (and you!) Healthy

Thursday, October 16th, 2014

A Heat Recovery Ventilator efficiently sends fresh, healthy air into a tightly sealed home, while removing stale air that can cause a slew of health problems. And it does all this while capturing the heat of the discharged air and warming the fresh clean air at the same time. This article from 360Chestnut accurately describes the importance of this device and how ventilation is crucial in the overall health of a home.

Energy Efficient buildings are not making you ill, it’s bad ventilation

There has been coverage in the press recently about how Energy Efficient buildings may be making us ill. Is ‘sick building syndrome‘ is rampant in energy efficient buildings? Here at 360Chestnut we are as passionate about healthy homes as we are about energy efficiency. We would like to inform you, our readers, about what you may have been hearing on the news.

Mold growth and dampness in buildings are indeed major concerns, but this is nothing new in the building industry and it is certainly not isolated to ‘energy efficient’ buildings. Let’s start by what can cause mold in any building; warm, moist air, from people showering, cooking or just occupying a room, coming in contact with a cooler surface.

The warm, moist air condenses, the dampness soaks into your porous surfaces (such as your drywall), and creates a condition where mold will grow. Regardless of whether this happens in a poorly insulated building or a highly energy efficient building there will typically be one factor in common, poor ventilation. In a building with poor insulation the chances that this warm air will hit a cold surface is considerably higher though, so chances of mold growth are higher (insulation is very important)…. Continue reading

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Where’s the Dust Buster?

Tuesday, January 21st, 2014

It’s hard to get too worked up about dust. Yes, it’s a nuisance, but it’s hardly one that causes us much anxiety — and our language itself suggests as much. We call those clumps of the stuff under the bed dust bunnies after all, not, say, dust vermin.

But there’s a higher ick factor to dust than you might think. And there’s a science to how it gets around — a science that David Layton and Paloma Beamer, professors of environmental policy at the University of Arizona, are exploring.

Layton and Beamer, whose latest study has been accepted for fall publication in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, knew a lot about their subject even before they set to work. Historically, everyone from chemists to homemakers has tried to figure out just what dust is made of, and the Arizona researchers drew their preliminary data mostly from two studies of household dust conducted in the Netherlands and the U.S. The American survey in particular was a big one, covering six Midwestern states. Layton and Beamer also included a localized study in Sacramento, Calif., that focused particularly on lead contamination. What all those surveys showed was decidedly unappetizing.

The specific dust mix in any household differs according to climate, age of the house and the number of people who live in it — not to mention the occupants’ cooking, cleaning and smoking habits. But nearly everywhere, dust consists of some combination of shed bits of human skin, animal fur, decomposing insects, food debris, lint and organic fibers from clothes, bedding and other fabrics, tracked-in soil, soot, particulate matter from smoking and cooking, and, disturbingly, lead, arsenic and even DDT.

“There are more [components],” Beamer says. “Dust is a hodgepodge of all sorts of things. It would probably be impossible to make a list of all the possible items.”

But dust’s ingredient label is not the whole story, since all of those flecks and bits behave differently and present different levels of health risk. To investigate those factors more closely, Layton and Beamer developed a computer algorithm that looked at the size, source and toxicity of dust particles as well as how easily they enter the house, if they ever exit and, if so, by what route. That information, by extension, can provide at least a rough sense of the dust load in your own home.

As a general rule, the majority of household dust — about 60% — comes from outside, through windows, doors, vents and, significantly, on the soles of your shoes. Smaller dust particles — from 28 to 49 microns, or thousandths of a millimeter — tend to stay on your shoes. The rest is shaken off inside. A higher share of the dust that floats in the air gets deposited, but again, there’s a lot that determines how much any one home will get.

“Here in Arizona,” says Beamer, “where we leave our windows open most of the year and have an arid climate, we would probably have a higher ratio.” Industrial centers or sooty cities have plenty of dust too, though for different reasons.

There’s not much to fret about in simple particles of dirt or organic materials such as pollen (though they can trigger allergies), but lead, arsenic and DDT can be a more serious matter. About one-third of the arsenic in the atmosphere comes from natural sources — volcanoes principally. The rest comes from mining, smelting, burning fossil fuels and other industrial processes. Even in relatively low concentrations, arsenic is not without risk, especially to small children who play on the floor and routinely transfer things from their hands to their mouths. The same is true for lead, which comes less from wall paint — the source most people would expect — than from auto exhaust, smelting and soil deposits. “Lead loading on floors is a key determinant of blood-lead levels in children,” Layton and Beamer wrote in their paper.

The fact that DDT is still in house dust is a surprise to most people, since the pesticide was banned in the U.S. in 1972. But a house is a little like a living organism: once it absorbs a contaminant, it may never purge it completely. “Dust in our homes,” says Beamer, “especially deep dust in our carpets and furniture, is a conglomerate of substances over the life of the home and can provide a historical record of chemicals that have entered it.”

The mess that originates within the home is a lot easier to measure and control. The more people who live there, the more skin that’s going to be shed, the more pets, the more animal fur. And, as Mom always warned, the more you walk around the house while eating, the more food debris you’ll drop on the floor — which also attracts more insects that will die, decompose and add their own special zest to your dust. Cooking smoke and tobacco smoke, which are the most obvious contributors when they’re being produced, actually make only a small contribution to what winds up on floors and surfaces. The tiny size of the particles makes them likelier to rise and adhere to other surfaces or simply remain in the air than to settle.

It goes without saying that your home will never be dust-free, but there are ways to reduce your own dust loading — and it’s important that you try. Dust mites, which feed on shed skin, produce allergens that are known triggers for people suffering from asthma. Same goes for cockroach dust, especially in cities. No one needs much convincing about the wisdom of getting rid of arsenic, and the good news is that about 80% of it can be removed simply by cleaning floor dust regularly.

None of this means that dust poses a clear and present danger or that you need to take any extraordinary measures. Just clean regularly, don’t smoke, eat at the table — and try not to freak out. Dust bunnies are still only bunnies; you may just want fewer of them.

content courtesy of Time.com

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Which is the Right Furnace Filter?

Friday, November 15th, 2013

We should start this post by explaining that within the three main categories of filters, there are many variations on features and installation restrictions. This is meant to be a basic overview to get you started to asking the first right questions before making your final decision.

Media Filters (Paper Filters, Pleated Filters, Washable Filters, Disposable Filters)-

  • Media filters are the first and most basic line of defense when it comes to air filtration. These are a no frills, low efficiency technology that takes care of the basic needs of removing the largest particles before they are deposited in the furnace or back into your home.
  • Most basic media filters range between effectively removing 2-15% of the largest particles from the air stream.
  • Media filters offer no “kill” solution for germs, bacteria, mold or viruses.
  • Media filters are usually disposable and should be replaced every three to four months in the average home.However, there are reusable media filters that can be washed. These filters are most often less effective than the disposable type.

Electronic Air Cleaners

  • Electronic Air Cleaners, or EACs, are the most common upgrade from the standard media filter.
  • EACs are powered and use electrostatic fields to attract particles to the surface of the main filter cartridges.EACs are equipped with washable prefilters that, along with the electrostatic cartridges, need to be cleaned every 3-6 months.
  • EACs are generally rated to effectively remove 75-85% of the largest particles from the air.
  • EACs are not considered to have a “kill” capability.

Air Purifiers

  • Air Purifiers are considered the most effective at cleaning the air stream in your ducts.
  • Air Purifiers will utilize a variety of technologies, layered within the unit, to remove and hold 90-99.9% of the particles in the air. Technologies may include: UV, media filtration, electrostatic, electric sterilization, among others.
  • Some Air Purifiers offer a “kill” capability that can effectively destroy viruses, bacteria, mold and germs.
  • Air Purifiers require an annual maintenance by a professional. Some require annual maintenance kits costing between $100 and $200.

When choosing the right filtration equipment for your system, I suggest first considering how you have experienced the air in your home and what value you place on improving its quality. If you or anyone else in the home have suffered from respiratory ailments, allergies or chronic sinus irritations, you may want to consider that improving your filtration may relieve some of the symptoms or lessen their severity.

If you really have never been concerned with dust or indoor air quality, the basic media filter will do the trick for simply protecting your heating equipment. Whatever filtration type you have installed, be sure to check and change or clean it regularly, at least every 3 to 4 months. A dirty filter can seriously effect your heating system’s ability to operate efficiently and distribute conditioned air around the home.

A last consideration regarding your filtration choice is that your home may be experiencing air contaminant infiltration from a source that will not be addressed by your duct filter. You may need to look into other features of the structure to find the most valuable opportunities for upgrading indoor air quality. These issues are only discovered through a Home and Duct Performance Test (a service offered by Barron Heating and AC).

Good luck and don’t forget to ASK AN EXPERT if you have any further questions.

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