Why Won’t My Gas Furnace Turn On?

October 17th, 2022
inside-a-gas-furnace

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.

Continue Reading

Signs You Need New Rain Gutters

October 3rd, 2022
heavy-rain

The rainy season will soon start, so this is a good time to ask this important question: Are your rain gutters in good shape to handle the downpours, or do you need to install new ones?

People often forget the major importance of rain gutters. They’re responsible for collecting rainwater off the roof and removing it so it doesn’t cause erosion and staining to the building material or the sides of the home. The gutters route the water through downspouts to the storm drains, preventing water from pooling over the property and causing damage or creating flooding in the house. If your rain gutters are starting to decay and come loose, or they’re leaking extensively, you’ll want new gutters installed before the fall rains arrive.

Continue Reading

Hot Dog Dinner at Madera Fair 2022

August 22nd, 2022

Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning along with Randy and Sheryl Berry are hosting the Annual Hot Dog dinner on Tuesday Sept 6th  from 5–7pm at the Madera Fair. We will be hosting dinner for all the 4H and FFA Exhibitors and their families for the Madera District Fair. The 4H and FFA kids arrive a few days before the Fair to prepare their livestock animals for show and sale.

This is an annual tradition in Madera that everyone at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning looks forward to attending.  We cook over 400 hotdog dinners complete with drinks, chips, and all the fixings. It is a great way for us to get out in the community and support our local hardworking kids and the agricultural community. If you are out at the Fair, stop by and say hello! We are looking forward to a great time at the Madera Fair supporting our youth!

Continue Reading

When Should I Schedule Duct Cleaning?

August 8th, 2022
duct-cleaning-brush

We’re glad you’re asking this question, because far too many homeowners forget that duct cleaning is an important routine service. Air ducts are hidden from sight in a house, making it easy for people to forget them or realize that they may need occasional service like duct testing and duct cleaning.

We offer duct cleaning in Fresno, CA and have many years of experience handling this service. We can help you determine when it’s best to call us to schedule this job, whether as a routine maintenance service or because you’ve got extremely dirty ductwork.

Continue Reading

The Benefits of Ductless Mini Split Systems

July 11th, 2022
ductless-system-sending-out-snowflakes

Ductless mini split systems are a type of comfort system for homes that work through a series of wall-mounted air handlers. Think of one of these systems as similar to a standard split system air conditioner, except the condenser doesn’t connect to a single indoor blower and evaporator hooked to ductwork. Instead, it connects to a series of separate mini-air handlers/evaporators placed throughout the rooms.

We offer installation of ductless heating and ductless air conditioning Fresno, CA. These systems aren’t ideal for all homes, but their benefits make them attractive options if you’re planning on making upgrades or changes to your HVAC system or if you live in an older home lacking ductwork. 

Here are a few of the best benefits of ductless mini splits…

Continue Reading

Why Does My AC Smell Strange?

April 18th, 2022
woman-with-sinus-troubles

An air conditioning system is not supposed to have any noticeable odor as it runs. The air from the vents should have the neutral smell of the rest of the house. If you start to detect any smell from the air vents you’ve never noticed before, such as a dirty laundry stink, rotten eggs, or an acrid burning, it’s something to pay attention to.

You may need to call our technicians for air conditioning system repair in Fresno, CA after you notice any of these odors. A few may have simple causes, but in many situations, these odors warn of a bigger problem with an AC. We’ll look into these strange air conditioning system smells and what they may mean.

Continue Reading

Time to Prep for the Heat With AC Maintenance

March 21st, 2022
air-conditioner-unit-being-repaired

We’re experiencing extremely hot days in the Central Valley—days with true summer heat, and spring has only just started. You may have had to turn on your AC for the first time in several months to battle the heat. But your air conditioning system is going to need extra help to handle the continuing heat we’ll face through the middle of the year: professional air conditioning maintenance.

We always stress with our customers the importance of having their air conditioning systems professionally inspected and tuned up annually, preferably in spring to beat out the hot weather. The weather is already turning hot, so the time to call us to schedule your regular air conditioning maintenance in Fresno, CA is now. 

Continue Reading

Understanding SEER, AFUE, and Other Efficiency Ratings for HVAC Systems

March 7th, 2022
energy-start-label

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.

Continue Reading

Can I Save Money on Comfort by Closing Room Vents?

February 21st, 2022
vent-register

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.

Continue Reading

Is It Too Late to Have Heater Maintenance?

February 7th, 2022
dont-forget-post-it

We’re now well into the winter, although recently we’ve experienced a warm weather stretch. Still, you’ve almost certainly had your furnace or other heating system running—and we hope that during the fall you remembered to call us for heating system maintenance in Fresno, CA. Routine maintenance is still the best way to prevent repair problems, drops in heater efficiency, early system replacements, and safety worries. 

However, if you didn’t remember to have maintenance before the winter started (we understand that life gets busy!), please don’t think that you missed a window of opportunity and it’s just too late to have it done now. But it isn’t! There’s no such thing as an expiration date for heating maintenance—the only requirement is that it gets done annually. Call us to sign up for our Ultimate Service Agreement and we’ll see you get on the schedule for a maintenance inspection and tune-up. 

Continue Reading