DeHart Plumbing, Heating, and Air Inc. Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Modesto’

“Why Is My Furnace Blowing Cold Air?”

Monday, March 1st, 2021
woman-wearing-parka-and-sipping-from-mug-on-couch

With cooler temperatures lingering a bit longer this year, the last thing you need in your home is a malfunctioning furnace. So if yours is all of the sudden blowing out cold air, this is of course a big problem.

There are a number of reasons that this might be happening. We’ll dive into that below, so keep reading! But please do not try to diagnose or fix your furnace yourself. You could wind up with more problems rather than less and a pretty big headache. Instead, call our professionals if you suspect any of the following issues, or if nothing you do will resolve the cold air coming out of your room vents.

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Signs That Your Tank Water Heater Needs Repair

Monday, February 15th, 2021
technician-working-on-water-heater-tank

It doesn’t matter what season it is or what the temperature is outside—there is one heating system in your home that you will always need to work flawlessly. The water heater! We can see how this system would be easy to take for granted. It’s easy to just rely on the fact that we’ll always have hot water coming from the taps whenever we need it in our homes.

But when you think about the amount of strain that your water heater undergoes—after all it works 365 days a year—you can probably understand that you can’t expect the system to work 100% free from problems forever. There will come a point that you might need to have your water heater professionally repaired. It helps to know what the warning signs are so you know when to give our team a call! Read on to learn what they are.

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How Can an UV Air Purifier Help My Home?

Monday, February 8th, 2021
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We offer several types of air purifier in Modesto, CA to help our customers improve the quality of their indoor air. Many purifiers target chemicals, smoke, molecule odors, and the insidiously common volatile organic compounds. We can help homeowners determine what pollutants are moving through their HVAC system and install the air purification system that will remove them, often up to 99%.

When it comes to dealing with the many biological pollutants that can roam through the rooms of a home, a house may need a special dedication purifier: a UV air purifier a.k.a. UV germicidal lights. These biological hazards include toxic mold spores, viruses, germs, bacteria, and many other microbes. You probably don’t need us to tell you these are undesirables—but you may need an explanation for how a UV air purifier can help you win the fight against them. 

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What’s Going On When a Heat Pump Won’t Heat

Monday, February 1st, 2021
woman-huddled-on-couch-in-hat-and-blanket

Temperatures may not get as chilly here as they do in the Midwest or Northeast, but if the last couple of weeks have been any indication, it does get cold. This means that furnaces and heat pump systems have been turning on for the first time in months recently. If you have a heat pump in your home, then it gets a lot of use… but you most recently used it in cooling mode, right? All it takes to switch it to heating mode is a quick adjustment on your thermostat.

But what if you adjust your thermostat to get heat from your heat pump, and nothing happens? Perhaps you’re still getting cooled air from the vents, or maybe the air feels like it is still room temperature. This is a clear indication that something is wrong. The problem might be something simple, or it could be more complex. Read on as we uncover what could be going on when your heat pump won’t heat.

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How Often Do I Need to Schedule Duct Cleaning?

Monday, January 25th, 2021
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The ducts in your house are hidden from sight, so you won’t have a good idea about how much dust, dander, lint, and other debris builds up inside them over the years. To give you an idea, a six-person home circulates on average 40 lbs. of dust through the ventilation system annually. Plenty of that will stay on the duct walls, and the more that collects, the more dust it will catch. This eventually leads to ductwork with so much build-up that it affects the energy efficiency of the HVAC system and adds to the amount of debris and allergens blown out into the air.

Professional duct cleaning will restore the ducts to near-pristine condition and help significantly to improve the HVAC system. But how often does your home need this service?

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“Is My HVAC Air Filter Protecting My Indoor Air Quality?”

Monday, January 18th, 2021
woman-leaning-back-on-couch-looking-comfortable-in-her-home

The short answer to this is, “No.”

It’s not that the standard HVAC air filter hurts your indoor air quality. In fact, it does help a little. However, it’s not doing much to protect your indoor air quality, because that is not its purpose.

The air filter that comes standard with your HVAC system is actually in place to protect the system itself. It’s placed on the intake side, where your HVAC system draws in air. This prevents the system from sucking in dirt, dust, and other debris that can build up on its components and do the system harm. While it’s a very important component, it won’t do a whole lot to protect or help your indoor air quality in a significant way.

What will, then? A whole-house air purification system.

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“What Happened to My Water Pressure?”

Monday, January 4th, 2021
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Let’s say you’ve hopped in the shower on a cold winter morning only to realize that even though it’s warm, the water coming out of the showerhead doesn’t seem to be coming out at the same force that it used to. It could just be the showerhead, right? Limescale can certainly clog things up. That may be the case, but what if your faucets aren’t that powerful either? Well, then it appears you have a drop in water pressure.

If you ever have any questions about your plumbing system or why your water pressure dropped, you can always call us. In fact, you should call us in case you can’t find out what the issue is on your own. This isn’t a problem you want to ignore since it could mean you had a pipe rupture or a major blockage somewhere in your plumbing system. Read on to learn about some steps to take if you find yourself in this predicament.

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Signs That It’s Time for a Plumbing Fix

Monday, December 21st, 2020
water-bursting-through-crack-in-pipe

Plumbing system problems can often be difficult to spot, especially without the right professional equipment and know-how about comprehensive pipe systems. Most of these pipes, after all, are hidden from view, and the problems that crop up are usually pretty subtle when they start.

For this reason, we recommend that our customers schedule preventive plumbing maintenance at least once annually. However, it’s also important to familiarize yourself with the warning signs that you do need a plumbing fix, even if you’re due for maintenance. The faster you detect a plumbing issue, the faster you can get it fixed, after all. So, what are these signs?

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Is It Time for a New Heater?

Monday, December 7th, 2020
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Are you about to enter winter with uncertainty about what kind of shape your heating system is in? We know that it’s sometimes hard to make the decision about when it’s time to replace an aging heater. Committing to a purchase like this and spending the kind of money it takes is no small thing.

You want to be sure that you don’t replace your heater before you actually need to. After all, wouldn’t it be a waste of money to make an upgrade otherwise?

Well, honestly, today’s heaters are even more efficient and powerful than systems made even just less than a decade ago. We’ve provided some signs below that it may, in fact, be time for you to consider a new heater.

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How the Right Thermostat Makes a Difference for Winter Efficiency

Monday, November 30th, 2020
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What type of thermostat do you have to control the climate in your home? If you have a basic dial thermostat or one that uses manual sliders, that might seem like all that’s necessary. What’s wrong with going with something simple as long as it works? 

But the truth is that older thermostats can mean lower energy efficiency in your house, and we can use the coming winter as an example. There are many great options for new thermostats in Modesto, CA if you want to make the change to climate controls that help you cut down on energy expenditures in winter without missing out on comfort.

The Efficiency of the Modern Thermostat

Today’s thermostats can be extremely advanced: Wi-Fi “smart” thermostats take care of the work of keeping a home comfortable without much input from the homeowner. They can also be controlled from almost anywhere through their Wi-Fi connection: from a tablet, a computer, a smartphone. This makes them extremely convenient. But how do they make for better winter efficiency?

The EPA has made studies of the improvement in energy savings for homes that switch from manual to programmable thermostats. They found that on average a home reduces its energy usage over a season by 5–15%. Just going digital improves the precision of the thermostat, but programmability allows a homeowner to adjust temperatures automatically, even when they aren’t home, and to automate lowering the temperature at night when there’s less need for heat. Factor out basic human error with settings, and the improvement is significant. You can program the thermostat for 68°F during the day when you’re home and have it lowered to 60°F at night, or program it to come on a half hour before you get home. 

Now consider using an advanced smart thermostat. This type of climate control learns from your programming and your house so it can create its own changing program that matches your needs while maximizing energy efficiency. Smart thermostats even provide you with reports so you can see how much you’re saving. You’ll also add life to your heating system because there will be less strain on it.

There are also the environmental benefits of using improved thermostat technology. This is something we take seriously at Greenhart, because we want to help our customers save energy and also live greener. Thermostats reduce energy consumption, which helps the environment. They also do not contain any mercury like old thermostats, which is toxic to add into landfills.

Making the Upgrade

Something we want to caution you about: only professionals can install an advanced thermostat for an HVAC system. You cannot purchase one online and then attempt to install it, and you can’t have a professional install one you purchased yourself. The new thermostat must match the HVAC system. The advanced algorithms in the thermostat may damage older HVAC systems. Leave the job of selecting the new thermostat to the professionals so that you’ll have the ideal match between the controls and your heating. Our team is glad to help you find the best new climate controls so you can save money this winter and in every season. 

Look to Greenhart in Modesto, CA, for energy-saving options for your house. Live Green, Save Green!

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