Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning was a proud sponsor of the Davidson Motorsports Racing Team at this year’s Battle of Primm Race on February 22-23 in Primm, NV. Beans Davidson was the man behind the wheel of the 1820 car. Our fabrication technicians had done the custom sheet metal racing skins for the car and got everything prepped and ready for paint and decals. We couldn’t wait to see those cars hit the tracks in the desert!
Modern gas furnaces use an ignition system to start up, a more complicated but safer way than the old-fashioned use of matches. When your thermostat sends the signal to the furnace cabinet that it’s time to burn the natural gas that will generate heat, the ignition system lights up the burners.
There are a number of different ignition systems you’ll find in furnaces today. Older ones have pilot lights, while newer ones use electronic igniters such as intermittent pilot lights or hot-surface igniters. We’ll look over these three in this post.
If you need repairs on your furnace or any other heating system in Fresno, call on the company that’s helped the Central Valley stay both hot and cool since 1952: Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning.
Speaking of maintenance… your furnace needs to have an inspection and tune-up once a year from an HVAC professional. With the Ultimate Service Agreement from Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning, you’ll have two seasonal tune-ups each year (one for your heating, the other for your AC) as well as other benefits.
Treat your Fresno, CA heating system well: call Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning for repairs and maintenance.
Your duct system is attached to a centralized HVAC system and acts to move conditioned air throughout your home. Braches can sometimes develop in the ducts along the fitting of different sections, which can prove very costly to your system. Here in Madera, duct cleaning services can seal duct breaches for you, restoring your system to its optimum efficiency. But how beneficial is that?
Here’s why duct sealing helps protect your heating system:
Theoretically, the duct system should be completely self-contained in order to keep the conditioned air at its current temperature. When a breach occurs, one of two things will happen: outside air will get in or inside air will get out. In both cases, it will affect the conditioned air: making it warmer or cooler than you want it to be. That forces the HVAC unit to work harder to make up the difference, creating greater strain on the system and forcing your heater or air conditioner to spend more energy to do the same job.
Furthermore, a breach can also result in dust and debris getting into the system. Because of the nature of ducts, that dust will quickly spread to every corner of your home. That will lower the quality of the air and may exacerbate allergies in sensitive family members. In the worst cases, it might even create blockages in the ducts, reducing the flow of air.
Sealing the ducts can correct those issues. A trained professional will examine the ducts and either reconnect it or use a high-end patch to ensure that the leak is sealed. That maintains the integrity of the conditioned air and ensures that your HVAC unit doesn’t have to work any harder than necessary to get you the comfortable home that you need. It also keeps the quality of your indoor air high, reducing the risk of allergic attack and keeping your household cleaner. For more on why duct sealing helps protect your heating system, or to schedule a duct cleaning in Madera, contact the experts at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning. We’ll make sure the problem is fixed the first time, every time!
Beans Davidson in the car, Luis Barriga & John Deniz Fabrication Technicians
John Deniz, Luis Barriga and car owner Kurt Davidson working on the car
Let the flag drop and the dust fly! The Davidson Motorsports team is very close to being ready for the upcoming Battle of Primm Race on February 22 & 23rd in Primm, Nevada.
Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning is proud to be a sponsor the Davidson Motorsports Racing Team. Our Fabrication technicians just completed the custom sheet metal racing skins for the 1820 car. The car is now prepped and ready for paint and stickers. Beans Davidson will be behind the wheel of the 1820 in the upcoming desert race.
Davidson Motorsports will be fielding 3 cars at the Battle of Primm. We will post updates on the progress of the cars and the Battle of Primm 2014!
Zone control systems divide your home into different sections, and allow you to control the individual temperature in each other. So if you’re cooking in the kitchen and have the stove turned up, you can set the heat lower there than in the living room, where someone else might be reading or playing video games. Some zone control systems are a part of a ductless mini split system, which uses multiple units spread across your home. Others establish a series of valves and seals in an existing duct system, which can then be adjust via a control panel to open or seal different sections of ducts. Either way, they still experience their share of breakdowns and repair needs. Here in Madera, heating installation services can usually perform repairs on them. But what kinds of repair issues are involved with zone control systems?
Frankly, it depends on the kind of zone control. For valves inserts in an existing system, the problems usually arise when they become misaligned or some issue appear with the controls that open and close them. As a result, you won’t be able to turn the heat on or off in a given section, which render the whole purpose of the system obsolete. A technician will likely need to access your ductwork and find out what the problem is.
With ductless mini split systems, the problem could stem from any number of causes. If your air flow it low, you may be experiencing a problem with the fan motor or a clog in the vents. Lower heat or cooling capacity could mean a leak in the refrigerant levels, while a build-up of dust or dirt could cause an overall lowering of efficiency (leading to higher energy bills).
Regardless of what kinds of repair issues are involved with zone control systems, you need the right kind of technician to perform the operation. Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning offers heating installation and repair services in Madera, and our trained experts won’t rest until you are completely satisfied. Pick up the phone and give us a call today.
It’s hard to imagine Valentine’s Day without the traditional greeting cards, whether accompanying a gift of flowers and candy, or sent between children in a school room. For commercial greeting card companies, February 14th is as important to them as the December holidays, Easter, and Mother’s Day.
Valentine’s Day as a celebration of romantic love predates printed greeting cards by a few centuries. In fact, the reason that sending romantic greeting cards became popular was because of the most un-romantic thing you can imagine: a reduction in postage rates.
In 1765, Parliament authorized the creation of “Penny Posts” that used a uniform rate of one old penny per letter throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Printers took advantage of the ease with which people could send letters to each other on Valentine’s Day by crafting cards with love poems on them. Many of these verses were collected in 1797 in the book The Young Man’s Valentine Writer, which was a resource for the lover with a romantic soul but not the most confident poetry style.
By the mid-19th-century, the Valentine’s Day greeting card was flourishing across England. Although people still followed a tradition of creating handmade Valentine’s Day cards from lace, ribbons, and flowers, commercially produced cards now overtook them. In 1835, the English post office mailed 60,000 valentines. As production expenses dropped, the English card manufacturers branched out creatively with humorous and sometimes vulgar cards… many of which we would find startlingly familiar in the 21st century. One of the common jokes on these cards was to design them to look like marriage certificates or court summons.
Across the Atlantic, the United States was slower to embrace the popular British custom. It wasn’t until 1847 that a U.S. printer mass-produced greeting cards for Valentine’s Day. Only two years later, American journalists noted how rapidly people in the country had embraced the tradition, turning into a fad that has never died down. The woman who printed the first U.S. Valentine’s Day card, Esther Howland, is today recognized by the Greeting Card Association with the annual “Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary.”
The greeting card industry certainly has reason to thank Ms. Howland. Her idea of going into business printing romantic greeting cards, which came to her after she received a traditional English valentine when she was 19 years old, now sells 190 million cards in the U.S. every year. That number doesn’t include the smaller exchange cards used in elementary school classrooms, which would swell the number to 1 billion. (Who receives the most Valentine’s Day cards each year? Teachers!)
Whether you send out Valentine’s Day cards—handmade, store-bought, digital—or not, we at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning hope you have a happy February 14th.
Here in Fresno, heating installation services offer a wide variety of heating options, which can prove quite bewildering if you haven’t had to deal with heating systems a lot. Consider, for example, the question of packaged HVAC vs. split systems: “which is right for me?” you may ask. You can’t answer that until you know what each system entails and what the potential benefits and drawbacks are. We’ve provided a brief breakdown below.
Packaged HVAC systems are those that combine a heater and an air conditioner into one single unit. They’re usually placed outside the home, either next to an outside wall or in some cases on the roof. (Businesses often prefer rooftop units because it saves space, and homes can adopt similar principles should they wish.) They usually use a system of ducts running throughout your home (typically in unobtrusive places such as the attic or crawlspaces), which blows hot or cool air into various rooms and passageways to gradually warm the air. That allows the unit to function as efficiently as possible, and gives you a single set of controls with which to run it all.
A split system, on the other hand, uses components both inside and outside your home. A furnace on the inside component heats the home in the winter, while an external compressor provides cool air in the summer time. Like package HVAC systems, they use a series of ducts to distribute the air. Because the components are split up in this way, they’re less space efficient than packaged units and require more room. They also cost more to install, since the process requires more finesse and delicacy to properly assemble. On the other hand, once assembled, they tend to be more energy efficient than packaged units, and require less power to do their jobs.
When contemplating packaged HVAC vs. split systems, which one is right for you depends on the specifics of your circumstances. The Fresno heating installation services technicians at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning can help you make the right choice, then install your new unit with efficiency and care. Pick up the phone and give us a call today!
Replacing the air filters regularly in your home or business is a must. A clogged air filter can cause trouble with your HVAC system. It can cause additional stress to your heating and cooling equipment that can lead to costly breakdowns or even equipment failure. This can lower the indoor air quality of the air you breathe. The air filters need to be changed on a regular basis or it can block and restrict air flow through your ductwork and HVAC system.
Cooling
Your AC system is designed to remove heat from your home or business. The fan pulls the warm air and passes it over evaporative coils. The fan pushes the newly generated cool air through the ductwork system to cool your home or business. When the filter is clogged it reduces the airflow into the system and can cause many problems. It can reduce the cooling capacity and in turn reduce the comfort level. It can even cause the coils to ice up and the system to struggle and make noises. During the hot summers in Fresno CA, you want to make sure your equipment is working to capacity. Poor operation can reduce the efficiency and lifespan of your equipment not to mention your comfort level.
Heating
Operating your heater with a clogged filter can be very dangerous. A clogged filter does not allow enough cold air to pass over the heat exchanger and can cause the heat exchanger to crack. When a heat exchanger cracks it can be dangerous. It can leak carbon monoxide into your home or business.
Just like your car, your home’s heating and air conditioning system needs regular maintenance and service to keep it running properly. Check your operation manual for the suggested filter changing requirements. The best way to extend the life of your equipment is to have your HVAC system serviced, cleaned and inspected on a regular basis by a licensed professional. During routine service your technician will replace the air filters and clean the components of your HVAC Air Filter. At Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning our service technicians can service your HVAC system, change your filters and help you maintain efficient operations.
Here in Fresno, heating is definitely a season concern, though it’s not quite the all-consuming necessity that it is in colder places back east. We get our share of chilly nights, but overall the weather here in the Central Valley is very mild. That could leave some homeowners to look into ways to minimize their heating bill in any way they can, using it only during those cold nights when they really need it. A zone control system could be the answer, and luckily, installing zone controls in an existing system is easier than it sounds.
Zone controls basically divide the home into sections, with a separate control for each one. That allows you to shift the temperature up and down individual rooms: to have one temperature in a bedroom which might be particularly chilly, while having a completely different temperature in the kitchen were you may be cooking over a hot stove. You can even turn off the heat in areas of the house you aren’t using.
Often, zone controls can be installed most easily when installing a new heating system, and often involves individual units placed around your home, each with their own controls. That renders an existing duct system inert, however, and may be more than many homeowners want to take on. Luckily, you can install controls in an existing duct system. Specifically, the technician places a series of dampers and valves at strategic points in your duct system, then set up controls that allow you to open and close them at will. That achieves the same effect as a ductless system while still making full use of your existing furnace.
Having said that, you still need the right service if you want to properly install zone controls in an existing system. Luckily, the Fresno heating specialists at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning are on the job. We have plenty of experience with adding zone controls to your existing ducts, and will go through all of the steps with you before performing the task. Call us today to set up an appointment. We’d be happy to discuss your options with you!
A heat pump combines the functions of a heater and an air conditioner into a single unit. It consists of two components – one indoor, one outdoor – that need to function together in order to effectively warm your home in the winter and cool it in the summer. Heat pumps make a lot of sense in towns with warm winters like ours. Here in Fresno, heating repair services can install them with efficiency and care. You should always count on a professional to install a new heat pump – it’s not a job for do-it-yourselfers – but it helps if you know what’s entailed in the process. Here are the steps to installing a new heat pump.
In Fresno, heating repair services that care about quality will always follow the steps to installing a new heat pump. That way, the customer gets a reliable system from the get-go and doesn’t need to worry about hassles or problems cropping up. The Fresno heating repair experts at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning can install a new heat pump for you, and are dedicated to your complete satisfaction with the process. Call us today to set up an appointment.
