Why is it important to have regular maintenance on my home comfort system?

You wouldn’t own a car and never change the oil; or replace tires or brakes would you? Well, in the same way, it is essential to have regular precision tune-ups and safety inspections done on your home comfort system. Regular maintenance of your equipment will provide you with the following benefits:

• Increased dependability
• Provide maximum efficiency which lowers energy costs
• Prolongs the life-span of the equipment
• Maintains safe and healthy operation
• Can help to protect the environment
• Find potential problems and fix them right away which will help drastically reduce the chance of break-downs which usually happens at night or on weekends when repair rates are higher.

Spring and Summer Energy Savings and Cooling Efficiency Tips

• Have your air conditioning system tuned-up for the season. This will help ensure your A/C will run at peak efficiency. Operating at peak efficiency will save money because the system doesn’t have to work as hard to do its job.
• Replace your furnace or air handler filters on a regular basis. Lack of regular filter changes and maintenance is the leading cause of system breakdowns and costly repair bills.
• If you disconnected the power to your central air conditioning system in the winter, wait 24-hours after turning power back on to the system to run it. Your compressor needs that time to warm-up
• Keep the thermostat constant. Continuously adjusting the thermostat can be very inefficient. You can, however, raise the thermostat 2-3 degrees during the day while you’re away to save money. For every degree you raise the setting, you can expect to cut energy consumption by up to 3.5%
• Flip the fan switch on your thermostat into the “fan on” mode when cooling the house. This process will ensure that air is always being stirred to prevent hot and cold pockets from forming.
• Fully open 2nd floor registers and restrict 1st floor registers to 5O%.  This will help even out the temperatures from the first to the second floor of the home.
• Install awnings or plant trees that will shade southern facing windows. This keeps the hottest rays of the sun from shining directly into the house.
• Replace older windows with more efficient low-E glass. These windows help reduce the effect of the suns warming rays. Also, keep storm windows closed. The above 3 tips will reduce the heat load gain on your home which means your air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard to keep the home at a comfortable temperature. This saves money and extends the life of the system.
• Install and attic fan to help ventilate some of the hot air out of the attic. Attics can reach temperatures of 140-150 degrees and this build of warm air can make the upstairs of a home warmer than it needs to be. This makes the air conditioner work harder to do its job. It costs you more to cool your home and the life of the system can be decreased.

How do I know if there is carbon monoxide in my home?

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in country. Odorless, tasteless and invisible – carbon monoxide is a silent killer. The safe way to know if carbon monoxide is present is to install carbon monoxide alarms on every level of your home, particularly around sleeping areas.

Effective February 22, 2010, Amanda’s Law (NYS Code) requires that ALL NEW AND EXISTING residential dwellings that have fuel-burning appliances in the dwelling or attached garage have carbon monoxide alarms installed.

Carbon monoxide alarms must be UL (Underwriters Laboratories) listed and be installed according to manufacturer’s instructions. These alarms should be replaced every five years. The carbon monoxide sensor inside the alarm unit can wear out over time and newer models will benefit from improved technology and upgrades

Gold Seal Protection also includes:

• Service fees covered 100%
• Most parts covered 100%
• Labor on most repairs covered 100%
• 25% discount on non-covered repairs
• No overtime charges