DuAll Heating & Cooling Blog : Archive for the ‘Heating’ Category

How Furnace Maintenance Can Prevent Furnace Repair

Friday, March 7th, 2014

Regular maintenance for a furnace is an essential part of taking care of your home’s heating. Unless your furnace receives an annual visit from a heating maintenance specialist, it will be prone to malfunctions and breakdowns, ultimately leading to poor performance, power drain, and a shorter service life. Regular maintenance will help prevent many unnecessary repairs.

Here are some of the ways that maintenance will reduce your needs for furnace repair in Romeoville, IL. To sign up for a great maintenance program today, call DuAll Heating & Cooling.

Ways Maintenance Will Prevent Furnace Problems That Need Repairs

  • Removing dirt from the burner: One of the key steps of maintenance on a furnace is cleaning it. And there’s no place more important to keep clean on a gas furnace than the burner where the gas jets ignite. If grime begins to coat the burner, the restriction of oxygen will make it difficult, even impossible, for the jets to turn on and create heat. Maintenance will take care of cleaning the burner unit at each visit to stop build-up.
  • Checking electrical problems: Electric furnaces need to have their wiring and circuitry checked to make sure the heating elements don’t fail during regular operation. Electrical checks are important for modern gas furnaces as well, since they use electronic ignition and electric safety devices.
  • Replacing cracked heat exchangers: If the heat exchangers in a gas furnace develop cracks due to corrosion, it can lead to dangerous situations where carbon monoxide leaks can enter the cabinet or your home. Maintenance technicians will catch heat exchangers that have cracked or are on the verge of cracking and replace them.
  • Testing airflow for air handler problems: During a maintenance check, a technician will measure the airflow from the vents to see that the air handler is working correctly. If it isn’t, the technician will see what issue needs to be addressed, such as replacing blower motors.

Make Sure You Have Maintenance

If you are looking to start a maintenance program to keep away furnace and other heating repairs in Romeoville, IL, or if you want to find a new one, contact DuAll Heating & Cooling. Our Maintenance Savings Plan not only brings you the tune-ups you need, but it also gives you a 10% discount on parts and labor, priority service, and a satisfaction guarantee. Let us help you keep your furnace running without repairs for many years to come.

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How to Tell if You Need an Emergency Heating Repair

Wednesday, February 19th, 2014

Nobody ever wants to make an emergency call, no matter what the emergency is. But it’s necessary to have emergency services available to us for the important part of our lives. In Illinois, having your heater working during the winter is crucial for your comfort and your safety—so you need to have a repair service that can deliver 24/7 assistance. Call DuAll Heating & Cooling when you need service fast, any time of the day or night.

Here are a couple of warning signs to heed that tell you it’s time for emergency heating repair in Naperville, IL.

Warning Signs You Need Emergency Repairs

  • The heater will not come on: This is the big one—a possible full breakdown. Although it seems obvious that you should call for repairs when this happens, people sometimes wait to call for help because they think the issue is temporary and the heater will kick back on soon. But, even if the heater does come back on at some point, any failure indicates there is a serious flaw in the operation that will lead to more breakdowns and very inefficient, energy-draining operation.
  • The heater starts making loud, unexpected noises: You should always call for repairs when your heater makes noises that you don’t expect. But when these noises are particularly loud—such grating, grinding, and screeching—there is something amiss in the heater that needs remedy as soon as possible. Shut the heater down and call for repairs.
  • Acrid smells come from the vents: If you have a forced-air system in your home, smells from the vents are major warnings of repair needs. If you smell an acrid scent, like burning, it could indicate failing motors inside the heater’s cabinet, and you need repairs before the heater breaks down entirely.
  • Your carbon monoxide detectors go off: If you have a gas-powered heater in your home, we recommend that you have CO detectors put in your house as well to warn you of an increase of carbon monoxide (which is colorless and odorless). Should these detectors go off, leave you house and call for professionals.

Make Sure You Have a Contractor With Emergency Service

Not all heating repair contractors offer 24-hour emergency service. Since heaters rarely break down at convenient times, you’ll need a contractor ready to rush to your aid when you require with heating repair in Naperville, IL. DuAll Heating & Cooling has technicians standing by for your emergency needs, whatever they may be. We can also provide you with maintenance and installation for all types of home heaters.

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Problems Caused by a Poor Furnace Installation

Wednesday, February 5th, 2014

When it comes to saving money on home heating, you have many options: thermostat upgrades, window caulking, improved insulation, replacing an aging heater. One option you shouldn’t choose to save money: hiring amateurs to install your furnace. (Or install any heating system, but we’ll stay with furnaces for this post since they are the most common in homes.)

We can’t emphasize enough how important it is that you only hire licensed professionals to handle furnace installation in Naperville, IL. If you have a gas furnace, local codes may even prohibit anyone but a licensed contractor from installing it. But beyond legality, the reason you want experts on the job is that poor furnace installation can lead to numerous problems, some of them dangerous.

Our staff at DuAll Heating & Cooling wants you to have the best furnace installation possible, and we strive to deliver top quality with each job. Call us today to schedule a service appointment.

Here’s What Could Go Wrong Because of a Bad Furnace Installation

  • Gas leak hazards: This is the #1 reason you don’t want amateurs putting in a gas furnace. If they make poor connections between the furnace and the gas main, it can lead to leaking of carbon monoxide. CO is colorless, odorless, toxic, and combustible… you want it kept inside the pipes where it belongs. Professionals take special precautions and run tests to make sure your furnace doesn’t have CO leaks.
  • Electrical wiring problems: If you have an electrical furnace, you won’t have the worries about carbon monoxide—but you can run into serious issues with faulty wiring unless you have professionals on the job. A poor wiring job can lead to a furnace that constantly trips circuit breakers, drains power, and may even become a fire hazard.
  • Faulty ductwork connections: A furnace needs to be hooked up to ducts so there is a complete seal between the furnace at the ventilation shafts. If this job is done poorly, it will cause a loss of air pressure throughout the ductwork, and a subsequent loss of heating power.
  • General inefficiency: Even if the amateur installers avoided creating major problems, the furnace will likely have numerous smaller issues that will lead to it running inefficiently and draining power. This is why amateur installation won’t save you money: you’ll end up paying more in energy bills (and probably repair bills).

Start out right with your new furnace: have professionals with years of experience as well as the proper licensing and insurance do the job. Already too late? Make sure to give us a call to learn mroe about your furnace repair options. Our technicians can remedy an issue before it becomes a long-term problem. For furnace installations and other heating services in Naperville, IL, call the experts at DuAll Heating & Cooling, where we take pride in our professional service.

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3 Causes of Ductless Heating System Repairs

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

Ductless heating systems are energy efficient and allow you to tailor the temperature in individual areas of the home as you see fit, and even turn off the heat in parts of the house you aren’t using. Ductless heating systems are very efficient, but they break down just like any other heating system, and when they do, you need to be ready to correct the problem.

Here are 3 causes of ductless heating system repairs:

  • Broken fan. The fan is responsible in each indoor unit is what distributes the heat in your home. If it encounters problems, then the air flow will be severely restricted, and possibly halted entirely. Fan problems can stem from bent or broken blades, from a faulty fan motor, from a frayed fan belt, or from electrical problems with the system’s wiring.
  • Low refrigerant. Your ductless heating system is a heat pump, and it relies on cycled refrigerant to condition your air. When the refrigerant leaks out, the heating and cooling process is severely restricted, and may even halt the process entirely. You can spot leaky refrigerant by the formation of ice on the evaporator coils (the outside coils if you’re using the heating cycle).
  • Leaking water. Ductless heating systems can sometimes produce condensate, which gathers in a pan and is removed from the system via a drain line. If the drain becomes clogged or the drain pan is misaligned, you’re bound to get leaky water from the system. This can damage other parts of the unit, as well as creating a hazard around the heating system.

The good news is that, because ductless systems are modular, you’re probably not looking at a problem that affects the whole house. Once you spot the causes of ductless heating system repairs, call on the experts at DuAll Heating and Cooling to help. We can handle heating repair in Plainfield, IL and throughout the surrounding areas, and we’ll get your ductless system up and running again. Give us a call today!

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How to Choose the Perfect Furnace for Your Home

Friday, December 20th, 2013

Furnace installation’s in Naperville are no laughing matter. Our winters are uniformly cold, and without reliable heating, your home is apt to turn into an icebox very quickly. A good furnace starts with the initial installation, which needs to be performed by professional technicians with a track record of reliable service. Beyond that, it’s a question of picking the furnace that is best suited to your conditions. Here’s how to choose the perfect furnace for your home.

It starts with size, and by that we mean the furnace’s power capacity rather than its physical size. Generally speaking, a furnace needs to generate about 50 BTUs (British Thermal Units) of energy for every square foot of your home. That number can be modified depending on how much insulation you have as well as factors such as a lot of sunlight exposure. Sizing is vital to an effective furnace. If it’s too small, it won’t heat your home, and if it’s too large, it will cycle on and off too quickly throughout the day, costing you energy in the process.

Once you have the size nailed down, it’s time to look at efficiency. Furnaces measure their efficiency as a percentage, known as the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating. The higher the rating, the greater percentage of the furnace’s generated energy actually goes into heating, instead of being lost to waste and inefficiency. The higher the rating, the more the furnace will save you money. (You can cheat by looking for furnaces with the EnergyStar label, denoting a furnace with an AFUE of 95% or higher.)

Finally, you should examine your furnace’s capacity for upgrades and extra features. For example, some systems allow for the use of zone control systems, which divide your home into individual sections which you can warm separately.

For help on how to choose the perfect furnace for your home, the experts at DuAll Heating & Cooling are ready to help. We work throughout south Chicago suburbs like Naperville, furnace installation is a snap for us, and we won’t rest until you are completely satisfied with our work. Call us to make an appointment today!

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What Happens During a Boiler Installation?

Sunday, December 15th, 2013

Boilers are fantastic choices for home heating: they have long service lives, run quietly, provide even heating without using ducts, and offer excellent energy savings. For a winter in Illinois, a boiler will more than serve your comfort needs.

Our customers who have scheduled a boiler installation in Plainfield, IL often ask us what installation entails. They are usually concerned about how long it will take, and what other details they should be prepared for. We’ll go over what you can expect to happen during the installation. Make sure that when you have your boiler installed that you rely on experts to handle the task.

DuAll Heating & Cooling will only send NATE-certified technicians to take care of this work, so you know you will receive a quality installation.

Boiler installation: the basics

Boiler installation usually takes less than a day. There’s no hard and fast rule about this: it depends on how long it takes to remove your former heating system and then hook up the boiler. If you are replacing an older boiler, the work should go smoothly and be finished before you know it.

Removing your previous heating system is usually the most arduous part of boiler installation. Once it’s done, the installation will move at a brisk (but never hurried) pace. If you hired the installers early in the process of choosing a boiler—which you should absolutely do—then they will already have the proper-sized boiler tank ready to install. The installers will fix the new boiler tank in place and then hook it up to the pipes that go to the baseboard heaters and/or radiators throughout your house. They will take care of any pipe reconfiguring needed to accommodate the new system so there will be no issues with water circulation.

The installers will connect the new boiler to your gas line (if you are having a natural gas boiler installed); they will take particular care with this part, since it involves your safety. They will test the gas pressure and make certain there are no leaks. They will then use a combustion analyzer to set up the burners. For other types of boilers, they will make sure the power is properly connected so the boiler performs to your expectations. The installers won’t leave your home until they have ascertained that your new boiler is working effectively, safely, and within local codes.

Hopefully now you can see why you need a boiler professionally installed

The process sounds complicated… and it is. That’s why you should only hire experienced professionals, like those at DuAll Heating & Cooling, to take care of your boiler installation in Plainfield, IL. We have worked at installing boilers for years, and we can make your installation fast and with as few problems as possible.

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What Could Possibly Go Wrong with My Furnace?

Friday, November 22nd, 2013

Today’s manufacturers of furnaces design them to meet stringent performance and safety standards. Compared to the furnaces of only 20 years ago, contemporary models have increased service lifespans and excellent energy efficiency.

However, no machine can work perfectly, so the electric or gas furnace in your home can still suffer from malfunctions and breakdowns that will require you call up a skilled technician. For excellent furnace repair in Naperville, IL, you’ll need the assistance of NATE-certified technicians like those on staff at DuAll Heating & Cooling.

Here are a few problems you may encounter with your furnace.

With proper maintenance and prompt repairs, you should have no difficulty overcoming these.

  • Broken blower motor fan belt: All furnaces use forced air sent through ducts to provide warmth. This requires powerful motors attached to fans. If the fan belt develops cracks and starts to loosen, it not only threatens the performance of the fan, it will damage other components in the cabinet. A loud clacking sound from the inside of the cabinet can indicate the need to replace the fan belt.
  • Failed heating elements: Electric-powered furnaces contain an array of heating elements that contain electric coils that heat up when current passes through them. The more heat the thermostat requests, the more elements turn off. An individual heating element can fail (losing its connection, burning out), which will mean a reduction in heating power. The element will need replacement.
  • Pilot light won’t come on: For gas-powered furnaces, a pilot light is the common way to light the burners in the combustion chamber. The pilot light can go out because of a strong draft, in which case it’s usually a simple task to re-light it. However, it may also go out because of loss of pressure in the gas line or from a dirt build-up along the burner, in which case you’ll need the assistance of HVAC specialists to fix the problem. Electric furnaces and some gas furnaces use an electric igniter instead of a pilot light, and these can also malfunction.
  • Cracks in the heat exchangers: The heat exchangers in a gas furnace transfer the high temperature combustion gas into the air. If cracks develop along the exchanger because of long use without maintenance, it can lead to a lead of toxic exhaust gasses—a serious health concern. If you notice black build-up on the furnaces internal components, rust, or an abnormal pilot light flame, shut off the gas to the furnace and contact a technician immediately.

Keep in mind that with regular maintenance—a yearly visit from an HVAC specialists to tune-up and clean your furnace—you should rarely run into any of the issues above. If you sign up for the Maintenance Savings Plan with DuAll Heating & Cooling, you’ll receive regular care, plus discounts on parts and any furnace repair work in Naperville, IL you need.

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Why Does My Home’s Air Get Dry in the Winter?

Friday, November 15th, 2013

It’s a common complaint in the wintertime: your heater delivers plenty of warmth for your home, only to render your air bone dry. Winter air starts out dry to begin with, a condition that’s only exacerbated by the warm air of a heater or furnace.  Humidity levels play a huge role in the comfort of your home, and here in Plainfield, heating systems can sometimes contribute to the problem if you’re not heads up about it. “Why does my home’s air get dry in the winter?” The answer is a little complex, but can help you understand why your home doesn’t feel as comfortable as it should.

When we talk about humidity, we’re usually talking about relative humidity, which should be between 30% and 60% for your home to be comfortable. This becomes more important in the winter because cold air doesn’t hold water as well as hot air does. Warm air expands, which gives it a greater capacity to hold water, while cold air contracts (this is why condensation appears on a cold drink in the summertime; the warm air just outside the glass is being cooled, forcing out the moisture which condenses on the colder surface.) That means when warm air passes over water, it tends to pull it out, drying the air.

You can see how your furnace might contribute to this issue: cycling warm air through your home and pulling moisture out of it. Excessively dry air can cause all kinds of health problems, exacerbating allergies and leading to irritation in the nose and throat. You can remedy this in part by taking a shower, heating up water in a pan or using a portable humidifier. The best long-term solution, however, is to install a whole-house humidifier in your heating system, It will allow you to continue to heat your house while still keeping humidity levels in check.

For more extensive answers to the question “why does my home’s air get dry in the winter?” or to handle other issues regarding Plainfield heating, call upon the pros at DuAll Heating & Cooling. Trained experts are on hand to answer all your questions, so contact us today!

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Heating Problems Caused by a Lack of Maintenance

Thursday, November 7th, 2013

During an Illinois winter, you can expect the heater in your home to do a large amount of work keeping you comfortable. All machines require some level of maintenance to make sure they do not wear down early and break, and this is especially true for heating systems that stay on through most of a cold winter season. Unless you schedule regular maintenance for your heater—annually, at least—you can expect to have numerous headaches from faulty parts and poor performance.

Enrolling in a maintenance program, like the one we offer at DuAll Heating & Cooling, is an investment in your future comfort and a way to save money from costly repairs. Here are some repair issues you might encounter if you let your heating go without regular maintenance.

Remember that even the best maintained heater can still experience an occasional malfunction, so if you require repairs for your heating system in Plainfield, IL, give us a call at DuAll Heating & Cooling and we can take care of it.

3 heating problems lack of maintenance can cause

Reduced air flow: If you have a furnace, you will know that it’s working when you feel warm air wafting from the vents. But if your heater goes without tune-ups and inspections, it can lead to broken blower motors and clogged air filters, and this will cause a reduction in the flow of air and a much colder home.

Overheating boiler: This is a common trouble for boilers that haven’t received regular flushing of their system—an important part of annual maintenance. System flushing removes sediment that can build up in the tank and cause overheating. An overheating boiler will threaten to cause leaking throughout the pipes connected to the water tank.

Full break down: This is the nightmare situation, and the best reason for getting regular maintenance. A combination of stress on moving parts, dirt and dust infiltration, and electrical trouble—all of which a technician could detect and remedy during an inspection—will eventually lead to the heater shutting down during the coldest day of the year (when it has to strain the most). Because HVAC companies must respond to numerous emergency calls on days like this, it can be difficult to get repairs done in timely fashion—and that means some very uncomfortable hours ahead.

Take advantage of the time left before the heavy winter weather arrives to have your annual maintenance done on your heater. DuAll Heating & Cooling has a Maintenance Saving Plan with discounts on parts and labor. Enroll now to get dependable heating for your home.

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When Should I Consider Installing A New Furnace?

Thursday, October 24th, 2013

In towns like Plainfield, a furnace installation means comfort and reliability during our lengthy Chicagoland winters. Sooner or later, every old furnace needs replacing, no matter how well it may perform or how long. Installing a new one is not a light undertaking, but it offers numerous advantages, and there comes a time when those advantages easily outweigh the initial cost of a set-up. “When should I install a new furnace?” you ask. The answers vary by homeowner, but it boils down to a question of money saved.

Older furnaces tend to be less efficient furnaces. Parts wear out, components need to be replaced, and even the most well-maintained unit will start to lose heating potential to waste and inefficiency. You can spot signs of trouble if your heating bill increases significantly, even though you’re not using your furnace any more than you normally do. A more formal measurement comes with the unit’s AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency) rating, which is normally higher in newer units than older ones. (The EnergyStar sticker is given to gas furnaces of AFUE 95% or higher and oil furnaces of AFUE 85% or higher, making it a handy guide to finding a more efficient furnace.)

You might also decide to install a new furnace if repairs on the old one rise higher than you’re willing to tolerate. Every furnace needs repairs sooner or later, but if the frequency of repairs and/or their escalating costs keep climbing, it may be more worthwhile to install a new unit. New units tend to be protected by warranties, and with regular maintenance and upkeep will last quite a long time. Moreover, the energy saved from month to month will help offset the cost of installation, as will the improved resale value your home could enjoy from the addition of a new furnace.

If you’ve answered the question “when should I consider installing a new furnace?” call on the experts at DuAll Heating & Cooling to help. We handle Plainfield furnace installation of all varieties, and our staff operates throughout the southern Chicagland area.

Call us today to set up an appointment

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