DuAll Heating & Cooling Blog : Posts Tagged ‘Plainfield’

Schedule Maintenance for Your Plainfield Rooftop Unit Today

Monday, September 29th, 2014

Rooftop units are the perfect commercial HVAC units for both the heating and cooling season. But when you need repairs for your light commercial rooftop unit, it can be a pain, taking up a lot of your time and disrupting the flow of your business day. The best way to prevent repairs from taking up too much time in your day is by scheduling maintenance twice a year. This is to ensure that your unit is at peak performance throughout the heating and cooling season, and it can even help prevent repair needs and save you a lot of money this year.

The Maintenance Process

Your rooftop unit is meant to last a long time, but, because its location on the roof leaves it fairly exposed to the elements, you may run into a few problems over time. Below, we detail a few of the most important steps of maintenance and how they help improve performance, efficiency, and the comfort of everyone in the building.

Cleaning: One of the most important steps of maintenance is a thorough cleaning of the various components of your HVAC unit. This is because as parts become dirty, your unit simply is not in top shape. A dirty condenser coil, for example, cannot give off heat effectively, resulting in inefficient cooling. A clogged filter can make the fans work harder, taking far longer to heat or cool your property.
Adjustment: Parts of your rooftop unit may become bent or otherwise fall out of place over time. Technicians will look for common problems including loose parts and bent fan blades which simply require a minor adjustment to keep running as they should.
Inspection: Perhaps the most important part of professional maintenance is a full system inspection. Many HVAC repair needs go unnoticed for long periods of time because they are too small to have an obvious effect on your building, which is why you need a contractor to tell you when your unit is in need of repairs. Damaged parts wear down your system quickly, resulting in further repairs and, possibly, early replacement.

For maintenance or repairs on light commercial rooftop units in Plainfield, call the expert team at DuAll Heating & Cooling today!

Tags: Plainfield, Rooftop Units
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Late Season Repairs for Air Conditioning in Plainfield

Wednesday, August 13th, 2014

Odds are, you’ve been running your air conditioner in Plainfield full-time for the last 2-3 months. That’s a lot of work for your air conditioner, and you may see some problems develop as a result of use. It’s normal for air conditioning problems to crop up during peak usage periods, and any signs of developing issues shouldn’t be ignored. Calling for a technician sooner rather than later is always advisable, and DuAll Heating & Cooling is here 24/7 to help you with your air conditioning in Plainfield.

Common Late Season Problems

As with any mechanical device, multiple things can go wrong with your air conditioner, but toward the end of summer, we see certain repairs more frequently than others:

Refrigerant leaks

Refrigerant is a chemical in your air conditioning system that helps with the transfer of heat. It circulates constantly, changing from liquid to gas and back again, releasing heat as it goes. Refrigerant is not consumed by your system, so low refrigerant usually means there is a leak. Your AC is built to function with a specific level of refrigerant, so if that level is altered in any way, it affects how your air conditioner operates. Refrigerant leaks can develop for a number of reasons, but the bottom line is that they need to be repaired, and repaired by a professional.

Worn Components

Normal wear-and-tear can wear out small components like fan belts and wiring, and loosen bolts to motor mounts and fan blades. These small issues can be easily resolved with a repair appointment, but, if left unchecked, they can cause bigger, more expensive problems.

Dirty Coils

There are two sets of coils in your air conditioner: the condenser coils and the evaporator coils. During normal use, these coils can become coated with dust and dirt; if allowed to build, this coating can become a layer that acts as insulation which inhibits the heat release process of the coils. Eventually, this imbalance will affect how your system operates. Cleaning dirty coils before they become an issue can help stave off repairs that could develop in the future from excessive dirt and dust.

Don’t Wait to Make Summer-End Repairs

Repairs do not get better with time, and in fact, may very well become worse, especially if they sit through a cold winter. Get ahead of your summer-end repairs today by contacting DuAll Heating & Cooling. Give us a call today to schedule your next AC repair.

Tags: Air Conditioning, Plainfield
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When Are Air Cleaners Right for My Home?

Wednesday, July 9th, 2014

Deciding to install a whole-home air cleaner is a decision each homeowner has to make for him/herself. The best way to determine if an air cleaner is right for your home is to review the benefits of what an air cleaner can do for you and your property. DuAll Heating & Cooling has installed many air cleaners for Plainfield customers to great satisfaction; to see if a whole-home air cleaner is right for you, we’ll outline some information below to help you assess this.

What Is an Air Cleaner?

The term “air cleaner” is a generalized term for both air filters and air purifiers. Both clean your air, but each do it a little differently, and there are different types. The important item to note is that either one cleans your air far better than the filter that comes with your air conditioner. Why? The standard filter of your AC is there to filter the large particles of dust and dirt from your air conditioning system, not improve your air quality. Due to the wide weave of the standard filter’s fiberglass, this filter simply isn’t made to capture the small particulates of pollen, bacteria, viruses, etc., that a whole-home air cleaner is made to do. If cleaning your indoor air of these smaller kinds of particulates is what you need, it may be time to consider installing a whole-home air cleaner.

Types of Air Cleaners

There are several types of air cleaners available for whole-home use:

Mechanical Air Filters

Air filters have tight weaves of fiber acting as fine sieves that filter out particles as your air circulates. This filter uses the fan from your system to draw the air through the filter in order to purify it. The impurities remain on the filter, leaving pure air to continue on through your air conditioner. The finer the sieve is, the smaller the particles it can trap in the filter. These kinds of air cleaners can filter out such particulates as pollen, dust mites, mold, mildew and pet dander, just to name a few. The types of air filters available are:

Pleated – can remove up to 35-40% of particles
HEPA – can remove up to 99.97% of particles

Air Purifiers

There are 3 commonly-used types of air purifiers used:

Electrostatic – filters up to 90% of particles
Electronic – filters up to 95% of particles
UV lights – kills over 99% of particles

Both electrostatic and electronic air filters (also known as precipitators) use ionization to capture particles. Both of these purifiers electronically charge the pollutants in the air, such as allergens, but an electronic purifier will capture these particles on oppositely-charged plates. An electrostatic filter will also charge particles, but does not have a collection plate; rather, the charged particles will attach to other oppositely-charged particles, and collect on surfaces in your home.

UV germicidal lights destroy biological contaminants such as bacteria and viruses by emitting UV-C light. This light destroys the DNA of the biological particle, disabling it from reproducing.

Is An Air Cleaner Right for You? Ask a Professional

An air cleaner in your air conditioning in Plainfield can help any allergy sufferers in your home, those with respiratory issues such as asthma and COPD, and help with overall indoor comfort.

To find out if a whole-home air cleaner is a good fit for your property, call DuAll Heating & Cooling today and schedule an appointment with one of our professionals.

Tags: Air Cleaners, Plainfield
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3 Reasons to Replace Your Thermostat

Friday, June 20th, 2014

Here’s a fact that many people don’t know about their heating and cooling systems: a good thermostat can make or break them. That small control unit on the wall is a lot more important than you realize. If you have a thermostat that doesn’t allow you to take full advantage of your HVAC system’s capabilities, or if it is malfunctioning, then you should look into having a replacement put in.

At DuAll Heating & Cooling, we handle many types of repairs for thermostats. But many times we recommend that customers leave the repairs behind and instead choose thermostat replacement in Plainsfield, IL. We offer a wide range of thermostat types from which to choose, so make us your first choice when it’s time to get rid of your old thermostat.

Here are 3 reasons to replace your current thermostat:

1. It is an old manual model

Does your thermostat have sliders and dials on it that came with your house? Then you are missing out on saving energy and achieving a higher level of comfort. Although manual thermostats can adequately perform their job of turning an air conditioner or heater on and off and raising and lowering the temperature settings, they cannot do so very precisely, averaging a 2–5°F margin of error, and that’s enough to make a significant difference in how much power the system uses and how comfortable you’ll feel. With a digital programmable model, you’ll have an enormous improvement in control and new ways to save energy.

2. You want wireless capability

Thermostats that connect wirelessly to the HVAC system are a new development that allows for a thermostat to be more freely positioned in a house. You won’t need to run new wires to fit it, and if you use a zone control system, it’s much easier to connect the multiple thermostats to each other. Many wireless thermostats come with remote control capabilities that give you a new level of convenience: adjust the temperature from across the room without getting up from the couch.

3. The thermostat was installed in the wrong place

One of the dangers of amateur installation of an HVAC system is the incorrect placement of the thermostat. If a thermostat is put in a location where it will pick up false readings (“ghost readings”) because of direct sunlight or drafts, or if it was positioned too far from the center of the house and therefore likely to read outlier temperatures, it will cause the heating and cooling system to behave erratically and wastefully. Have the thermostat replaced—and let a professional put the new unit in the right location.

A thermostat that is malfunctioning should always be replaced, but even one that is working fine needs an upgrade if it meets the above criteria. Never underestimate the power of a thermostat, or the benefits you can receive from a technologically advanced one.

DuAll Heating & Cooling is happy to assist you with your thermostat replacement in Plainsfield, IL so that the new unit goes in correctly and works as it should. Only trust this work to experienced professionals.

Tags: Plainfield, Thermostat Replacement
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What to Expect with Duct Cleaning

Friday, May 9th, 2014

*DuAll Heating & Cooling no longer offers duct cleaning services. Take a look at our other indoor air quality services to find the best solution for your needs.

With the amount of contamination that can enter a house’s ductwork over the space of only a year, duct cleaning is a necessary step for protecting your home’s indoor air quality and keeping your HVAC system working efficiently. However, people often neglect to schedule regular professional duct cleaning because they imagine that it is a disruptive hassle.

We’d like to show you what you can expect from duct cleaning in Plainfield, IL when you call DuAll Heating & Cooling. As you’ll see, professional duct cleaning isn’t an arduous process thanks to the Roto Brush System that our skilled technicians use. There’s no reason to put off this important task any longer, so call our duct cleaning professionals today.

The duct cleaning process

Duct cleaning with the Roto Brush usually requires only a few hours of work and will not interfere much with your daily routines since the equipment necessary is small and creates only minor lewvels of noise.

After arriving at your house, the duct cleaning technicians will use special video cameras fed into the ducts to examine what areas have the heaviest dust, dirt, and other contamination. After this, the actual cleaning process starts.

The technicians will first remove the registers from your vents and wash them to make sure they do not contribute to lowering indoor air quality. Then they will send the Roto Brush into the ducts through the vents. A soft spinning brush on the long hose moves down into ductwork and agitates the pollutants along the interior of the duct without damaging the lining. The brush can fit into all sizes of ducts while still providing the same level of safe cleaning, and it can reach around corners and down through the ventilation network to reach all areas.

As the spinning brush action loosens dirt, dust, dander, smoke residue, and other pollutants from the duct interiors, a powerful vacuum attached to the Roto Brush suctions up the loose debris and runs it through a HEPA filter to catch even the smallest particles.

Once the Roto Brush stage is finished, the technicians will treat the ducts with an anti-microbial that is environmentally safe and commonly used in hospitals. This will eliminate the last of the contaminants and leave no residue behind in your ducts.

Not all duct cleaning is equal

The above process is not the only way that professionals can clean your ducts; there are more intrusive methods that involve cutting holes into an HVAC system to reach into the ducts and using enormous power vacuums. But at DuAll Heating & Cooling, we’re proud to use the Roto Brush System to provide you with safe, fast, and effective duct cleaning in Plainfield, IL.

Call DuAll Heating & Cooling today for improved air and a more efficient HVAC system through our professional duct cleaning service.

Tags: Duct Cleaning, Plainfield
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Don’t Put Off Air Conditioner Repair Until the Summer

Tuesday, April 15th, 2014

Procrastinating is the art of delaying doing something until the point where you must do it out of desperation. That’s not something you want to happen with your air conditioner! Although it’s tempting during the cool spring days to put away thoughts of repairs for your air conditioner—especially if the repair need seems minor, like an odd noise, and it isn’t noticeably lowering the AC’s performance—you should always move on scheduling air conditioning repair in Plainfield, IL as soon as you know there’s a malfunction.

Fortunately, it’s easy to have repairs taken care of, fast and accurately: call DuAll Heating & Cooling today and talk to our air conditioning specialists. We have emergency repairs available as well.

Beware the spring heat shocks

Here’s one reason that repairs are important before summer: spring can pull out some surprisingly hot streaks, and if your air conditioner is skirting around a major malfunction, this is the moment when it will topple over the edge and break down. The closer we move to summer, the more you’ll need your AC at a moment’s notice. Be prepared!

Avoid wasting money on a poorly operating cooling system

An air conditioner may seem to run fine with a malfunction, but it’s likely working harder to overcome that fault to provide you with the same level of comfort. And overworking means higher power bills. As long as your AC runs with repairs that should be taken care of, it will cost more to run.

Take advantage of the slower spring season

Summer is one of the busiest times of the year for HVAC technicians: they have to answer numerous emergency calls when overtaxed air conditioners start failing. You’ll have a more difficult time scheduling a convenient appointment for repairs if you wait until the crunch time.

Breakdowns are the worst

Even if your malfunctioning air conditioning system makes it to summer without failing, the chances of a breakdown will increase tremendously when the summer heat starts. Breakdowns will not only leave you stranded in the heat until repairs arrive (remember, it’s a busy season for repair technicians!), but they are also costly to fix—and you may even need to have the broken air conditioner replaced.

An air conditioner repair doesn’t need to be a major hassle. A company like DuAll Heating & Cooling, with trained and experienced repair technicians, can solve most repairs fast and with little inconvenience to you. Call us right now for air conditioning repair in Plainfield, IL and make sure your AC is ready for anything.

Tags: Air Conditioning Repair, Plainfield
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Problems Caused by a Faulty Boiler Pump

Friday, March 21st, 2014

One of the great advantages boilers have as heating systems is longevity. A well-manufactured boiler with regular maintenance can outlast most other heating systems available on the market.

What’s the secret to how well they age? It’s not much of a trick: boilers contain few mechanical parts that will wear down with use. This means reduced repairs as well.

But boilers do have some mechanical parts that require attention. One of them is the circulator pump. We’ll look at problems you can encounter if you have a bad pump on your boiler. Call up a professional for boiler repairs in Plainfield, IL whenever you have troubles from your boiler’s circulator pump. Our technicians at DuAll Heating & Cooling are ready to help whenever you need us.

Circulator Pump Malfunctions

Essentially, the circulator pump on a boiler performs the same job a blower fan does in a furnace: it sends whatever the system heated up through the distribution channels, in this case heated water sent through pipes to baseboard heaters or radiators. The pump uses an impeller motor to pull hot water from the tank and draw in cold water. It isn’t a powerful motor—it doesn’t blast water out, just move it enough to circulate through the pipes.

Water will still circulate through the boiler’s system via convection should the pump break… but it will be very weak. This will result in a drop in heating power, and when you notice it you should immediately call for repairs. (As with any motorized system, never attempt to fix the problem on your own unless you have the proper training. Remember, it might not be the pump at fault; professionals will track down what’s wrong.)

Another problem you can have with a faulty pump—one you won’t notice from its heating power—is energy waste. The pump uses electricity to run its motor, and if it begins to malfunction it will start draining inordinate amounts of power to keep up. If your electricity bills start to suddenly rise, listen for any strange sounds the pump makes when it comes on that might indicate it is at fault.

We should group “noise” here as well, since a bad circulator pump will create a level of noise that you don’t expect from the otherwise quiet operation of a boiler. If grinding and shrieking noises start to affect your boiler, you probably have a pump impeller motor problem.

Call for Professional Boiler Repairs

The pump on a boiler is the component that is most likely to develop trouble because of the amount of mechanical work it performs. You need to have repairs done on it quickly when it malfunctions or it will require a full replacement. Make certain to have regular maintenance done on the boiler so its pump remains properly lubricated and corrosion-free.

DuAll Heating & Cooling has years of experience working on boiler and other heating system services Plainfield, IL, and we offer a quality maintenance savings plan to keep your boiler in good shape all year. Contact us today and schedule your next service appointment to get started.

Tags: Boiler Repair, Plainfield
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Why Should I Flush Out My Water Heater?

Friday, February 28th, 2014

Running hot water is one of the greatest home conveniences ever invented (after indoor plumbing, of course, which was the first step toward running hot water). But your supply of cleansing hot water depends on the steady operation of your home’s hot water heater, and like any mechanical system, it can sometimes develop faults or even shut down.

Flushing the tank of a hot water heater is an important step in maintaining the system and keeping it healthy so you always have hot water ready for you. Flushing is done to remove sediment that can begin to develop at the bottom of the heater’s tank. This task can be done as part of annual routine maintenance, or performed when a specific problem has started to threaten the water heater’s operation.

Whether you need flushing for maintenance or water heater repair in Plainfield, IL, you should have professionals take care of this job. Contact DuAll Heating & Cooling for water heater flushing or any other problems with your system.

Why Flushing The Water Heater is Beneficial

Sediment build-up inside a water heater tank can cause a number of problems that will lead to repair needs—or even a full replacement. The sediment will often prevent the drain valve from working, and this will cause the system to run inefficiently, draining power while providing substandard heat.

The sediment that develops in your tank often comes from impurities inside the water, such as the minerals found in hard water. When these minerals begin to gather inside the tank, they can cause the water to become discolored and promote the development of rust inside the tank. Flushing will not only eliminate short-term problems with sediment, but it will help prolong the system’s life.

As the sediment level increases, the available volume for the water in the tank will decrease. When this happens, the tank will start to overheat and increase the water pressure throughout the system, a frequent cause of leaks.

Take Care of All Your Water Heater’s Needs

Flushing out a water heater is only one of the ways to help your system have a longer service life with fewer repairs. Our staff at DuAll Heating & Cooling has the training, equipment, and experience to perform any of the work you need to repair a malfunctioning water heater. We also offer regular maintenance, one of the best ways to keep away the need for water heater repair in Plainfield, IL. Call us today and trust our NATE-certified technicians to handle the job.

Tags: Plainfield, Water Heater Repair
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Water Heater Problems Caused by Hard Water

Friday, January 31st, 2014

Hard water. You’ve probably heard the term before, but may not have known its exact definition. Basically, hard water is water with a high mineral content. The most common minerals found in hard water are calcite, gypsum (which both contain calcium), and dolomite (a magnesium mineral). Hard water does not pose any serious health risks to drink; but it does pose serious health risks to your plumbing and any appliance hooked to it, like your water heater.

Your water heater in Plainfield, IL, can suffer damage from hard water that can require repairs or perhaps even a replacement. We’ll look at some of the problems hard water can cause. When you encounter malfunctions with your water heater—no matter the cause—call DuAll Heating & Cooling right away. We have emergency services available for when those hot water failures come at the worst time.

Hard Water and Your Water Heater

When hard water is raised to a high temperature, as occurs inside the tank of a water heater, it releases its minerals, which then develop along surfaces as limescale. Hard water entering a water heater’s tank will soon start to lay down a layer of limescale along the tank’s interior. Limescale works as an insulator, and this means it will unbalance the heat levels inside the tank, restricting heat from escaping and leading to overheating. An overheated tank will begin to spring leaks and may even rupture.

Another place where hard water can cause trouble for a water heater is when it causes a build-up of calcites on the surface of the heat exchanger of a gas-powered unit. These calcites will block the movement of heat from the combustion gas to the water in the tank, which will severely limit the ability to warm up the water, leading to a loss of hot water around the house.

Finally, the calcite deposits will start to develop inside the pipes leading from the hot water heater (indeed, it will affect pipes of all kinds around the house). The more the calcite deposits grow, the higher the pressure inside the pipes as the available room shrinks. This will lead to leaking at pipe connections that will continue to grow worse unless the issue is addressed.

Make Sure Your Water Heater is Regularly Maintained

There are a number of ways to deal with hard water, but here we are specifically concerned with the damage done to your water heater. Regular water heater maintenance is the best way to discover if calcite deposits or limescale are causing damage to your heater, and technicians can eliminate the problem by removing the build-up, or if necessary, replacing the heat exchanger. Technicians will also take care of leaks before they cause damage.

At DuAll Heating & Cooling, we’ll make it our priority to provide you with the best water heater service in the Plainfield area.

Tags: Plainfield, Water Heater, Water Heater Repair
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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!

Tags: Ductless Heating, Plainfield
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