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Upgrading or replacing your HVAC system is a necessary but often scary endeavour for homeowners — they’re excited about the idea of better heating, cooling, and energy efficiency,
but not looking forward to the expense of the system and labor. And so they hold off, or try to break the replacement into smaller stages.
We totally appreciate the investment a new system can be, but replacing your entire system when its time is actually the more affordable option. It also happens to be better for your home,
schedule, and comfort.
Why?
1. You’ll get a full, compatible, efficient system you can count on. Replacing pieces of your HVAC system piecemeal means you are only focusing on the component in question. You may use different service providers for each, or look at different brands. In this search for the best price, you may inadvertently purchase components that eventually do not work together, and end up having to purchase items yet again. When you replace everything at once, your service tech will suggest and install components that are not only compatible, but together create the best system available for your home’s size and needs.
2. You’ll have one warranty for everything. In the unfortunate event that something in your system breaks you have the peace of mind that your system’s warranty will cover it. If you have purchased your condenser and furnace separately, they will be on different plans with different dates, and possibly different coverage. If the issue in question impacts pieces across the board, you may need to deal with two warranties with different criteria, or end up paying for items out of pocket.
3. You’ll save money. You know how you get a deal on applesauce or paper towels when you buy in bulk? Volume discounts apply to most items, including HVAC systems. Service providers like Madsen will be able to give you a better price when you are investing in a larger number of parts. You will almost certainly pay less when you replace a full system at once than the AC and heating sections separately.
4. You’ll be able to opt for higher energy efficiency. New AC models with higher SEER ratings are a great investment, as are modern furnaces with a higher annual fuel utilization efficiency AFUE). However these new units often require the other pieces of the HVAC system to be of a certain size or quality to work properly.
This all said, if either your air conditioner unit or your furnace is working perfectly and it’s just the other component that needs replacing, there’s no need to tear everything out. Furnaces can
often last up to 30 years, and air conditioning components 10-15.
Discuss your needs with your Madsen service tech and determine the right replacement path for you and your home. Contact us today for a free inspection and assessment.
When you’re looking to do your weekly home cleaning, dusting and vacuuming are almost certainly on your list. These two common chores do help improve the look of your home — but do they truly remove the dust and debris you think they do?
Maybe not. Both dusting and vacuuming work by moving the dust, pollen, skin particles, and other items coating your furniture and floors — and when they are moved, they may not always land where you want them to. It’s inevitable that some of this pesky dirt will not only be left behind, but be disbursed through the air, which means it’s breathed in or resettles on the surfaces you just spent precious time cleaning.
The result? A continual cycle of dust that not only is frustrating, but can also exacerbate allergies.
But if cleaning actually makes your home feel less clean, what can you do?
The answer lies in a simple trick using something your home already has – a thermostat. As you begin your dusting or vacuuming, switch the system’s fan from “auto” to “on”. As the fan kicks in, any particles that are let loose into the air will be pulled by the fan into your venting, where they’ll be contained by your system’s filter.
Leave the fan on for about five minutes after you’ve finished your chores, then remember to turn it back to “auto”; running the fan constantly will run up your energy bill.
Happy cleaning!
The ozone layer and general outdoor air quality concerns have been making headlines for years, but have you ever thought of the population filling the air within your own home?
We often think of our home as a retreat, but your safe space may be causing you or your family members harm. That’s because air pollution – indoor or outdoor – can seriously impact a person’s health, increasing your chance of chronic lung problems, asthma, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
But just as you clean your furniture and floors, you can do things to clean the air within your home. Here’s some ways to get started.
Be more thoughtful with your household products
Some of the most common household cleaners can actually be very irritating to the human airways — think bleach and hydrochloric acid. Read ingredient lists of your cleaners and if they
include items you’d rather not have at home, switch to more natural-based cleaners or even simple items like lemon juice, vinegar, and hot water.
Remove other items from you home that can cause lung issues
Items with strong perfumes (scented candles or body lotions, for example) can exacerbate asthma, as can the fumes from many paints, glues, and inks. If you don’t truly need them, remove them.
Opt for tile or hardwoods over carpeting
Carpets love to hold onto dust, dander, pollen and other indoor pollutants, and even regular vacuuming cannot remove all of the danger. If you have a family member with sensitive lungs,
remove old carpeting and replace with more hypoallergenic laminate, tile, or hardwood.
Invest in a HEPA filter
Don’t settle for a cheaper air purifier — many models simple move the dust around and can actually make air quality worse. A high efficiency particulate arresting (HEPA) filter is the best way to really clean your air.
Use a dehumidifier
Pollen and mold spores love moist places, so encourage them to go elsewhere with a dehumidifier which removes excess moisture from the air.
Get your HVAC system cleaned regularly
Remove excess dust, pollen, mold spores, and other pollutants from the vents that supply air to your home on a daily basis. While you can easily clean the vent covers, call your Madsen tech for an annual full cleaning that gets deep within the system and provides the cleanest air possible.
Your thermostat has been set to and is reading a steady 70 degrees. Your family room, however, feels a little on the cooler side, while your bedroom upstairs is stuffy and much warmer.
Frustrating? Of course. But not unusual. Your HVAC thermostat can only read and adjust to the temperature of the air directly around it, and various factors can lessen or increase the amount
of cooled air reaching the rest of your home. If the discrepancies are not allowing your space to be comfortable, try making some of these changes to even out the temperature of your home.
- Keep vents clear of furniture, debris, and other items. Even a small side table can block the flow of cooled air into the room. With all vents open and clear you’ll experience better air flow and more consistent temperatures.
- Have your vents cleaned. In addition to removing dust, mold, pollen, and other allergens from your air, a good cleaning could remove blockages that are preventing the full supply of cool air to reach a certain room or vent.
- Check for leaks in ducting. While you have an HVAC tech cleaning your ducts, have them look for cracks and holes in your ducts. Even a small gap can result in the loss of precious cool air.
- Close off unwanted vents. Have a room that you barely use, or that you don’t mind keeping slightly warmer? Block off the vent and allow the cool air to redirect to spaces
that need it more. You can replace your vents with solid covers for a permanent solution, or purchase magnetic vent blockers for temporary or seasonal fixes. - Keep your HVAC fan set to “on”. Most people have their thermostat fan function set to “auto,” assuming the system will know best. However the auto setting simply times the
fan to run at the same time as your air conditioner, which means it shuts off as soon as the temperature set has been reached. When you switch to “on” the fan will continue to run and push that new cool air through your home, helping continue to lower the temperature in chronically warmer spaces. - Insulate your attic. A poorly insulated attic can suck your cooled air away from living spaces. Make sure you have the proper amount of quality insulation to ensure you aren’t spending money to cool unnecessary space.
- Upgrade to zoning. For the ultimate in even cooling, talk to a Madsen tech about putting in a zoned HVAC system. With zoning your second floor or other designated space is monitored with its own thermostat and cooled by its own outdoor condenser, allowing you to set different floors or rooms to different temperatures or give your warmer second floor the extra dose of cool air it needs.
A kitchen remodel is an exciting project, but it’s also a big, time-consuming, and often pricy one as well. Which is why ample thought and planning are a must before you begin demo day. While you may be focused on the door fronts, sparkly backsplash, or that new 12-burner pro range, there are big decisions you also need to make that don’t involve shopping. As you work with your designer or contractor, make sure you know the answers to these questions and that your family’s needs are reflected in the resulting layout and design.
How do you use the room daily?
If we are being honest, no one only uses their kitchen just for cooking. Kitchens are the heart of the home and as such they are also conversations pits, homework spaces, pseudo offices, mud rooms, and storage facilities. Carefully watch how every person in your family uses the kitchen over the course of a week, and how the new design could potentially make that activity easier. You may suddenly want a desk-height counter space, or more open shelving, or a command center for papers, calendars, and bags. Also consider how people are entering the kitchen to use it. Would a larger opening to the living room make for better family time? Would a new door to the garage make grocery unloading easier? Now is the time to consider that daily flow and the optimal traffic pattern of the finishing product.
Where will you place appliances?
While keeping your appliances in their current locations is the easiest and most affordable plan of attack, this is the one time you have to consider their homes and design the best work space possible. In kitchens we often hear of the “work triangle” — the space created between the stove, refrigerator, and sink. If these spaces are too close together they created a cramped space, but if they are on far-flung walls of the room cooking a meal becomes an aerobic workout. The rule of thumb is each item should be between 12 and 26 feet away from the other two. Ideally, you should also ensure that no major traffic thoroughfares cut through this triangle, to allow for easy cooking without interruption How do you eat in your kitchen? Are you a grab-and-go family that would better be served by an island that does double-duty as a quick dining space? Or do you want a full kitchen table within the room? Or maybe you want both! Make sure you have the space as you work on the layout. For a counter to serve as a dining area, you’ll need room for stools and an overhang of about 12 inches to comfortably accommodate someone’s knees. For a kitchen table, measure your current or planned table, then add 2½ to 3 feet to both the width and length to get the ideal space allotment for chairs and adequate circulation.
Once it looks good on paper, will it work well in daily use?
Some of the best laid out plans fail once they are implemented because everyday use was not considered. Look at that final plan hard before you give the official okay. Could you open various appliances and cabinets and have no fear of doors hitting one another? Could you stand at a counter chopping an onion and there be plenty of space for a gaggle of teens to run behind you? Do you have enough counter space for dirty dishes, a drying rack, meal prep, small appliances, and the various items that family members may leave around? Will you be able to easily reach the correct cabinets and drawers to unload the dishwasher quickly? Is there enough clearance between your countertops and upper cabinets to fit the items you intend to store there? Will your cooktop or kitchen table be attacked by sunglare at any point in the day? Go over every detail so that one minor flaw doesn’t end up ruining your entire remodel.