Heating Installation
The reason you are suffering from sticker shock on the installed price is simple. Heating installation is hard work, it is dirty, it requires a variety of great skills and a boatload of specialized tools. You couldn't have picked a more ... [... more]
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Pilot Light
DEAR DELONYA: The first thing you should know is that not all furnaces have a pilot light. A traditional standing pilot light that sports a continuous blue flame wastes natural resources. Because of this, consumers look for and manufacturers ... [... more]
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Electronic Programmable Thermostat
Your heat pump is operating constantly below 40F because you are very close to the balance point of a heat pump. Just below 40F, a heat pump is extracting every last ounce of heat that it can get from the outdoor air. It runs constantly to get ... [... more]
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Electronic Digital Thermostat
This happens because the temperature drop of an object over time is not a linear function. As the temperature of an object starts to get closer to the temperature of its surroundings the drop in temperature slows considerably. You can demonstrate ... [... more]
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Heating Consulting
DEAR TIM: I need a new flow-through humidifier installed on my furnace. I got several bids and they were all within $30 with the average of $580.00. I went online and discovered the humidifier can be purchased for $165.00. It seems outrageous to ... [... more]
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Water In Heating Ducts
Anyone who suffers from subsurface water that is invading any part of a house can stop it in almost all cases by capturing the water outdoors and then redirecting this water to the lowest part of the lot. Think of how gutters work on the roof of ... [... more]
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Duct Noise
Craftsmen who know that metal ducts and PVC plumbing lines move can do various things to make sure that movement happens with little or no noise. The trick is to isolate as much as possible the pipes from actually touching any wood framing. For ... [... more]
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Heating Design
DEAR ANNE: Yes, and there was a full solar eclipse last week as well. Jeeesh! The phoney answers and excuses some builders offer up to cover mistakes seem to be as plentiful as grains of sand on a beach. The following wager may surprise you: Do ... [... more]
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Wood Pellet Stoves
Add up the total cost of natural gas for October through and including April. These are the normal months when you heat your home. The peak heating months are typically December, January and February, but I'll bet your furnace operates to some ... [... more]
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Programmable Thermostats Save
Programmable thermostats have come a long way. The first generation ones were simply sophisticated timers that turned the heating and cooling system on and off at specific times. This worked fine if you were really good as guessing how well your ... [... more]
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Programmable Thermostat Sources
It has been my personal experience that Honeywell makes a superb thermostat. I have put this brand in all of my jobs for 20 years and have never had a malfunction. I have this brand in my own home. In fact, I recently upgraded my 15 year old ... [... more]
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Suggested Thermostat Settings
When you purchase a programmable thermostat, it will come with instructions and possibly a booklet of suggested settings for the four different periods of time. Most of the thermostats come from the factory with pre-programmed settings. Beware, ... [... more]
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