Shavitz Heating and Air Conditioning Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Lincolnwood’

How Are Your Ducts Doing?

Monday, July 31st, 2017

how-ducts-doingThis is probably not something you give a whole lot of consideration to, but your ductwork is actually a very vital part of your HVAC system. After all, your air ducts are the only way that the conditioned air from your central air conditioner—or forced air heater—will ever reach your living space.

The best way to ensure that your air conditioner is prepared for all the work it will go through during the summer is by scheduling maintenance. Preventive maintenance allows our professional technicians to do a thorough inspection, cleaning, and adjustment of any components that need it. But if your ducts are in bad shape, we can’t ensure that your AC will perform as efficiently as it should for the rest of the summer season.

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What You Need to Know About the Refrigerant Phase Out

Monday, May 22nd, 2017

refrigerant-phase-outThere are a few misconceptions homeowners have when it comes to air conditioning maintenance. One of these myths is that their refrigerant needs to be refilled (recharged) during each tune-up. The fact of the matter is, if your refrigerant needs to be refilled it means that you have a leak in need of repairs.

Another important refrigerant fact to know, if your air conditioner is an older unit using R-22 refrigerant, is that this is about to be fully phased out. The reason for this phase out is due to the harmful effects that R-22 has on the environment. If your air conditioner is old enough to be affected by this phase-out, then you are likely due for a system replacement anyhow. We’re happy to help you with this as well as any other professional Lincolnwood, IL air conditioning services.

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Is Your Home Prepped for Spring?

Monday, March 13th, 2017

home-prepped-for-springWith rainy weather and chilly temperatures still ahead of us for a while, you probably aren’t thinking too much about your indoor air quality. However, soon enough spring will be here—and with spring comes allergens that threaten your health and the health of your family.

According to WebMD, your Lincolnwood, IL indoor air quality could actually be worse than the quality of the air outdoors. Throughout the year—but particularly in spring—you and your family are exposed to airborne allergens including dust, pollen, dander, mold spores, and even bacteria—all of which can negatively affect even the healthiest people in your household.

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Why Your Home Has Cold Spots, and Other Common Furnace Problems

Monday, January 9th, 2017

If you’ve found that your heating system is failing to work as it should, it can be very disconcerting, especially considering the time of the year that it is. Fortunately, you needn’t do much else than give our service professionals a call, so we can restore your heater to the effectiveness and efficiency it should be providing you while heating your home. In the meantime, we’ve shared below some of the most common reasons your furnace may be experiencing troubling symptoms.

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Why Should You Never Skip Commercial Boiler Maintenance?

Monday, December 5th, 2016

If you own a commercial building or run a business in the Chicagoland area, then there is no need to tell you just how important it is that you have an effectively and efficiently working heating system. Many commercial settings in the area use boilers, as they are an extremely beneficial choice given our potentially severe winters.

However, if your commercial building’s boiler is not kept in good shape, it can present safety hazards. The number one way to ensure that your boiler is in fact in good working order is to schedule regular maintenance. Heating system maintenance is best performed right before periods of heavy use—so for folks in our area that means right now is the best time!

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Is Your Air Handler in Good Shape?

Monday, October 31st, 2016

It’s almost time to begin using your heating system on a regular basis. Many homeowners throughout Illinois use a forced-air system such as a furnace, which is charged with the job of warming your home effectively and efficiently. The only way a furnace can do this is if it’s properly taken care of—and this includes each and every one of its components.

One of these components is the air handler, which is responsible for the movement of air throughout your ductwork. Air handlers vary from heating system to heating system. For example, a heat pump’s air handler will function differently than that of a furnace. However, no matter what type of heating system you have, our team can handle any troubles that come its way. But what can cause trouble for your air handler?

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How Custom Ductwork Makes a Difference

Thursday, February 5th, 2015

When your forced-air heating and air conditioning system runs into trouble, you may be surprised to learn that the actually heating and AC unit might not be at fault. Sometimes, when a furnace or air conditioning system struggles to perform as it should, or if you notice hot or cold spots around the house, it’s actually due to a problem with the ducts. Ductwork is quite prone to leaks and cracks or unwelcome heat transfer, all of which is often due to faulty installation.

Unfortunately, a large number of ducts suffer from problems because the ducts were never set up properly in the first place. If heat can easily move into or out of the ducts, or if air is not well-contained, your heating and AC system may run into any number of issues. For example, air from your home blows over a cool coil in order to condition your home. The warm air keeps this coil from freezing, so without enough airflow, a frozen coil may drip water into your unit and cause serious component damage.

When heating or cool air cannot make it to your home because of leaks or due to an ineffective duct design, then the system has to work much harder than it should, which means parts wear down well before their time. Many times, your technician will simply repair the damage without attempting to figure out whether the ducts could be at fault.

If you decide it’s time for new ductwork in order to eliminate frequent heating and AC problems, custom ductwork design makes all the difference. A true ductwork professional will do the very best to make sure that no leaks or cracks are present and that they are unlikely to appear in a short time. These technicians will thoroughly inspect your existing ductwork before deciding whether sealing, repair, or replacement is best.

During installation, the technician must make several decisions to make sure the ducts are in an efficient location. They usually try to place ducts in a conditioned space so that heat cannot easily transfer out in the winter or enter the ducts in the summer. They’ll use the right fittings, connectors, and sealants, and try to form the ducts with as few twists and turns as possible for the most efficient pathway for delivery.

At Shavitz Heating and Air Conditioning, we’ve been around for a long time, so we’ve seen how poorly-designed ductwork can affect a home. Call us today and schedule an appointment with us for quality custom ductwork service in Lincolnwood, IL.

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How Heat Pumps Work as Both Air Conditioners and Heaters

Wednesday, November 19th, 2014

Heat pumps offer a number of terrific advantages for home comfort: they are efficient, rely entirely on a readily available energy source, hook up to pre-existing ductwork, and score high in home safety. But the number one advantage, and the reason most homeowners who choose heat pumps became interested in them in the first place, is that they work as both heaters and air conditioners. Heat pumps manage this feat through a single process; they are not a separate heater and AC system packaged within a single cabinet. In this post, we will provide you with a simple breakdown on how heat pumps manage their useful dual-function.

If you think that heat pump installation in Lincolnwood, IL is your best option, contact Shavitz Heating and Air Conditioning today to schedule a service appointment. We have been in business almost as long as mechanical air conditioning of any kind has existed.

Heat Pump Operation Basics

At its core, a heat pump is almost identical to a standard central air conditioning system. Like an AC, a heat pump has an indoor and outdoor unit. The outdoor unit contains a compressor that places a chemical blend of refrigerant (sometimes known by the trademarked name “Freon”) under high pressure in order to cause the refrigerant to circulate through the system. The refrigerant absorbs heat from one set of coils, and then releases the heat through a second set of coils. The movement of heat from one place to another is what allows the system to alter temperatures inside a building.

With a standard air conditioner, the refrigerant only travels in one direction: it moves from the compressor to the outdoor coil, where it releases heat. Cooled down, the refrigerant then moves to the indoor coil, where it absorbs heat and lowers the indoor temperature for the blower fan to send the air through the ventilation system and into the rooms. The refrigerant then returns to the compressor to renew the cycle.

A heat pump does this same process when in cooling mode. However, thanks to the presence of a component called the reversing valve, it can switch the direction of refrigerant flow. The refrigerant moves from the compressor to the indoor coil first, where it releases its heat and warms up the air for distribution. It then travels to the outdoor coil and absorbs heat before re-entering the compressor. This is heating mode, and it only requires a single change on the thermostat to switch from cooling mode to heating mode.

Call Us for Heat Pump Installation

For quality heat pump installation in Lincolnwood, IL, you must have the service of professionals. Few heating and cooling contractors in Chicagoland have more experience and training for this job than Shavitz Heating and Air Conditioning. Let us determine if a heat pump is right for your home, and then size the unit and install it so that your household receive years of quality comfort.

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The Importance of Sizing in Boiler Installation

Wednesday, October 29th, 2014

Although the technology of home heating has advanced a great deal from the early days of coal-burning furnaces, a few things have never changed. For example, a boiler is still an excellent method to keep your home warm during even the harshest winter. In fact, boilers have never offered more advantages than they do today, since they help prevent a decline in indoor air quality because they use the clean power of radiant heating and do not require ductwork. A gas-powered boiler installation is an excellent investment in your family’s comfort through the winter, and any other chilly time of the year.

Boilers have a number of special considerations when it comes to installation, so you must leave the work to trained professionals. Shavitz Heating and Air Conditioning has kept Chicagoland toasty warm since 1904, so we’ve done more professional boiler installation jobs than almost any other company you might hire. Put your trust in that kind of generational experience when you need boiler installation in Lincolnwood, IL and other parts of Chicagoland.

Sizing a Boiler

One of the reasons that professional boiler installation is essential is sizing. A boiler needs to be the right size to provide the amount of heat to your home necessary for your comfort. Boilers come in many sizes, from units that heat up a one-bedroom home to units designed to warm an entire building. Determining what size boiler will work for your home is more than a question of the how much space the boiler must heat. Professionals need to weigh a number of factors to measure how well your home traps heat and how much heat the people and appliances inside generate. The installers determine all this through a complex heat load calculation that combines all the relevant factors. After completing a heat load calculation, the professionals will know how powerful a boiler your home needs.

You might think that it’s safer to simply err on the side of a boiler that more powerful than necessary. It’s easy to understand why a boiler that’s too small is a problem—you won’t receive sufficient heat—but what’s wrong with one that’s too large? The truth is that an oversized boiler will be incredibly inefficient and waste large amounts of money to operate, all to deliver you a level of heating that’s uncomfortable. You do not want to guess when it comes to boiler sizing: there’s a right size for your home, delivering comfort and energy-savings, and it requires heating professionals to find it.

Sizing boilers has long been part of our job at Shavitz Heating and Air Conditioning. Call us today if you are ready for a boiler installation in Lincolnwood, IL this fall to prepare for winter. We will see you receive the best heating system possible.

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How is Furnace Efficiency Rated?

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

When you’re in the market for a new heating system, you want to make sure you get the best unit for your home and individual needs. For many, this means choosing a system that is not too costly to install. If this is your main criteria, you may be able to find many relatively inexpensive furnaces on the market. However, this should not be your only consideration when deciding on a new unit for furnace installation.

Here in Lincolnwood, IL, furnace efficiency should definitely be a factor in selecting a new furnace, as a more efficient system may help you save hundreds of dollars a year. Many people who have owned furnaces in the past may not realize that today’s systems are far more efficient than they once were. Advancements in technology have allowed manufacturers to create furnaces with very little heat loss provided you have a well-maintained duct system.

The U.S. government mandates that every furnace sold in the country is required to display vital information about the efficiency of the unit. Furnace efficiency is measured with the AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency). This is represented by a percentage which lets you know how much heat enters your home compared to the amount of energy it takes to run the unit.

This may be easier to understand by looking at some examples. All gas furnaces sold in the United States today must have an AFUE of 80% or higher. This is a step up from much older systems, which may sometimes have an AFUE closer to 50%. However, a furnace with an AFUE of 80% will still not be the most efficient system available. What this number means is that your unit uses 80% of the energy it consumes to heat your home, while the rest of the energy escapes elsewhere. And this number doesn’t even account for other sources of heat loss such as leaky ducts.

To find the most efficient furnaces, look for ones that carry the distinguished ENERGY STAR label. These meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s high standards for efficiency, and gas furnaces with this seal boast an AFUE of 90% or greater. For more information about efficiency and furnace installation service in Lincolnwood, IL, speak to one of our trained heating technicians at Shavitz Heating and Air Conditioning. Contact us today to schedule service.

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