Purl's Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Blog: Archive for the ‘Heating’ Category

Why Pilots Lights Have Gone “Out of Fashion”

Monday, November 27th, 2023

Once upon a time, when people discussed gas furnaces, they often talked about the pilot light. This flame burned through the winter in the furnace, ready to ignite the burners as soon as gas started to flow to them. Sometimes the pilot light would go out and need relighting—and this was often Troubleshooting Step #1 on lists of what to do if a gas furnace stopped working.

But now the question people are asking isn’t “how to light a gas furnace in Fresno, CA” so much as wondering what happened to the pilot light. Some models may still use them, but not many. The pilot light has gone out of fashion, and for some good reasons.

Tags: Fresno, Gas Furnaces
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Sealed Combustion Furnace: What Makes It Different From a Standard Furnace?

Monday, October 16th, 2023

How much do you know about the operation of your furnace? You may understand the basics of how a gas furnace runs: gas burners ignite, hot combustion gas collects inside the heat exchanger, the heat from the exchanger walls transfers to the air, and a blower pushes the air into the ventilation system. But there are some differences between furnace construction that can make a significant difference, such as whether your furnace is a sealed combustion furnace.

If you’ve never heard of the term sealed combustion furnace, we’re glad to explain to you what it is and why it’s different—and often superior—to a standard furnace. If you’re interested in sealed combustion heaters in Fresno as a choice for your home, we can assist you.

Tags: Fresno, Gas Furnaces, Heating System Replacement
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Is Electronic Ignition Only for Electric Furnaces?

Monday, September 18th, 2023

You may have heard about furnaces switching to something called electronic ignition. If you have a gas furnace, you might think this doesn’t apply to you—after all, wouldn’t electronic ignition only apply to electric furnaces?

The keyword you might be overlooking is ignition, which means igniting something. Electronic furnaces do not use any type of combustion or burning to work. Instead, they allow electric voltage to flow through a series of heating elements, which then warm up through electrical resistance. The only furnaces that use electronic ignition are the ones that burn natural gas (or less common options like propane or oil).

If you’re curious about how this works and how to light a gas furnace with electronic ignition, we’ll explain below. We’ll also look at why electronic ignition is a beneficial change from standing pilot lights.

Tags: Electric Furnaces, Fresno, Gas Furnaces
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The Biggest Benefits of Arranging for Regular Furnace Maintenance in Fall

Monday, September 4th, 2023

We can expect high temperatures throughout September here in the Central Valley, so it may seem strange that we’d recommend you start to consider service for your furnace. However, the best time to take care of regular maintenance for a furnace is in the fall, preferably at a time when you don’t yet need the furnace.

An annual furnace inspection and tune-up is as mandatory as mandatory as HVAC jobs get. We don’t want you to overlook it, and you can make arranging for maintenance easy as a member of our Ultimate Service Agreement. Below we’ll go over the best benefits of having your furnace given the full maintenance treatment this fall.

Tags: Fresno, Furnace Maintenance, Heating Maintenance
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Debunking Common Furnace Myths

Monday, February 20th, 2023

The furnace has been the most common type of home heating system for many decades. As with anything that’s been around that long, a number of myths have gathered around the furnace that many people still believe. Although the internet allows for rapid debunking of many of these misconceptions, it also allows for the misconceptions to continue to spread.

We want you to know the truth about your furnace so you can get the most out of it and enjoy safe comfort every year. You can trust our team for professional furnace service in Clovis, CA or elsewhere in the Central Valley whenever you need it.

Tags: Clovis, Furnace, Heating System Repair
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Are You Considering a High-Efficiency Furnace for 2023?

Monday, January 23rd, 2023

This may be the winter when you realize that your current gas furnace is approaching the end of its service life. You’re seeing higher gas bills when you run it, and the idea of paying a high cost to repair it the next time it breaks isn’t appealing. These are all good reasons to invest in a heating replacement in Fresno, CA during the coming spring. (Or even right now if your heater simply fails on you.) But is this the year to invest in a high-efficiency furnace? These heating systems cost more than mid-efficiency gas furnaces, but there are many reasons to give them serious consideration.

Tags: Fresno, Heating System Replacement
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What Does a Furnace Limit Switch Do?

Monday, November 28th, 2022

Gas furnaces work on a basic principle: lit gas flames heat air that is blown through the furnace and into the rooms through ductwork. But gas furnaces are complex devices that have several safety features and mechanisms that allow them to work correctly and without creating hazards.

One of the key components for the operation of a furnace is the furnace limit switch. You don’t need to know all the details about this part, but understanding the basics will help you know more about how your furnace works—and why it sometimes doesn’t work.

Tags: Fresno, Gas Furnaces, Heating System Maintenance
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Why Won’t My Gas Furnace Turn On?

Monday, October 17th, 2022

This isn’t a situation you want to run into when the outdoor temperatures drop. A gas furnace not heating can happen for multiple reasons, some simple and easy to correct with troubleshooting, others that require calling professionals like ours to handle repairs.

We’re going to look at some of the common causes for a furnace that won’t turn on and provide heat to a home. Although we’ll point out situations where you can remedy the issue on your own, we want to stress that any actual repair must have a licensed expert. Tinkering with a gas furnace on your own can be extremely hazardous. When you have any doubts about your gas furnace, please reach out to us rather than attempt to solve it yourself.

Tags: Fresno, Gas Furnaces, Heating System Repair
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Understanding SEER, AFUE, and Other Efficiency Ratings for HVAC Systems

Monday, March 7th, 2022

Spring is approaching, and this is a time of year when many homeowners start to consider what upgrades or replacements they might need for their heating and air conditioning systems. You may have just gone through a winter with a furnace that was underperforming because of its age. Or you might know that your current air conditioning system isn’t up to handling another summer in the Central Valley.

You’ve come to the right people when it comes to great AC and heating in Fresno, CA. Our team can guide you through the process of replacing an older system if that’s the best choice for your house. One tricky part of getting a new HVAC system for homeowners is understanding the different efficiency ratings and what they mean. We’ll run down the three major ones you’ll need to know for heating and air conditioning.

AFUE

This is a rating used for furnaces. It stands for annual fuel utilization efficiency, and it’s expressed as a percentage. The percentage tells you how well a furnace converts its energy supply into heat. A gas furnace with 90% AFUE will turn 90% of the natural gas it burns into heat for the home, and the remaining 10% will escape the furnace as exhaust.

As of 2013, the minimum requirement for a furnace to receive the ENERGY STAR label from the Department of Energy is 80% AFUE. Many furnaces will score higher than this. High-efficiency condensing furnaces can have AFUE ratings in the high 90s, but they cost more to install. All electric furnaces have AFUE of 100%, but that’s because they don’t lose heat to exhaust. Electric furnaces will still cost more to run on average than gas furnaces because electricity is a more expensive energy source.

SEER

SEER (seasonal energy efficiency rating) is used for air conditioning systems and heat pumps when in cooling mode. It’s the ratio of the amount of heat a unit removes from the air in BTUs to the amount of electricity consumed in watt-hours, as measured over a full season of cooling. (There’s another rating, EER, which is done with only a single test.) The higher the SEER rating, the more efficient the unit. The current ENERGY STAR requirement for air conditioners and heat pumps is SEER of 14.5 or higher. High-efficiency units, such as variable flow refrigerant air conditioners, can have SEER in the 20s.

HSPF

This is a rating specific to heat pumps. Heat pumps work in two modes, heating and cooling, and have different ratings for those modes: SEER for cooling and HSPF for heating. HSPF stands for heating seasonal performance factor and is the ratio of the amount of heat brought into a house in BTUs to the amount of electricity consumed in watt-hours, measured over a full season of heating. HSPF is always lower than SEER for a unit, as heat pumps are less efficient in heating mode. The ENERGY STAR minimum for HSPF is 8.5.

The efficiency of any new system you have installed is important, but it isn’t the only factor. You’ll want the help of our professionals to find the ideal unit to provide comfort to your house as well as energy savings.

Call Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning when you’re interested in a new HVAC system installation. Uncompromised Quality & Customer Service Since 1952.

Tags: Air Conditioning Installation, Fresno, Heating System Installation
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Can I Save Money on Comfort by Closing Room Vents?

Monday, February 21st, 2022

Many room vents connected to a home’s ventilation system have shutters on them to alter the direction air enters a space. These shutters can also be pushed to close the vent, leading people to believe that they can shut off heating or cooling to a room this way and save money. If the vent doesn’t have shutters, they may try putting an object in front of it to block it and achieve the same effect.

We’ll explain below why doing this doesn’t work, and why it creates problems for your HVAC system. But don’t despair—we’ll have some suggestions at the end for how you can better control home heating and cooling to increase energy efficiency.

Tags: Fresno, Zone Control Systems
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