Trusted Saskatoon Furnace & Duct Cleaners Bridge City Duct Cleaning provides both residential duct cleaning and commercial duct cleaning and furnace maintenance services. Their team is professionally trained, qualified, bonded, and factory furnace and duct cleaning technicians. In their latest article, they talk about the number of air vents needed in our homes. The question often comes up: why clean your ducts in winter?
Getting through a Saskatchewan winter can be tough due to the extreme weather. While playing in the snow and enjoying the winter scenery are nice, escaping within our homes to find warmth is essential. Your home’s duct system is there not only there to keep you warm, but also for your home. If not running efficiently, a number of issues can occur.
1. Save You Money
With the extreme cold that Saskatoon winters bring, it’s inevitable that your duct system is going to be working overtime to heat your home. Naturally, your ducts will collect debris which will block airflow. This obstruction will put more strain on your duct system resulting in inefficiency as well as increased utility bills. Getting rid of the extra debris in your ducts will allow the system to run more efficiently, saving you money.
2. Improve Your Air Quality
Cold weather forces you to turn your heat on. With your heat on you’re unable to open your windows to get fresh air running through your home. If your windows open and your heat is turned on, you risk the chance of heat escaping and your utility bills climbing. With a lack of fresh air, the air within your home gets recycled through your duct system. Keep in mind that your duct system collects particles and debris over time, and if you haven’t had them cleaned since the summer, there could be lots of pollutants and other allergens being recycled throughout your home. Having your ducts cleaned in the winter will clear them of any leftover debris from the fall and summer, leaving you with clean air.
3. Keeps Your Home Safe
An inefficient duct system can pose a risk at any time. This risk is increased during the Saskatchewan winter months. Without having your ducts cleaned a build-up of particles can lead to serious consequences. One of those particles, lint, commonly found in furniture within your home, can settle into your duct system. Unfortunately, lint is a very flammable material. With constant heat being pumped through your duct system, this can increase the potential of overheating, resulting in the lint igniting. This fire will spread quickly throughout your home and can be detrimental. Be sure to have your ducts cleaned in the winter to prevent such a disaster from happening.
Trusted Saskatoon Furnace & Duct Cleaners Bridge City Duct Cleaning provides both residential duct cleaning and commercial duct cleaning and furnace maintenance services. Their team is professionally trained, qualified, bonded, and factory furnace and duct cleaning technicians. In their latest article, they talk about the number of air vents needed in our homes. The question often comes up for older homes, how do you know if your ductwork needs to be replaced? That is the question this article answers.
The ductwork helps keeps your home cool in Saskatoon’s warm summer months and warm during our frosty winters. It channels airflow from HVAC into the locations of your home when you need it most. So what are the signs to watch for:
1. Uneven Temperatures
One of the key things to look for when something in your ductwork starts going bad is unusual temperature fluctuation. What does this mean? If you find the temperature in one room of your Saskatoon home is consistently colder than normal or overheating then you might have tears in your ductwork causing an improper flow of air.
2. Low Air Flow
Is too little air flowing through your central HVAC system? How do you know if this is the case? Bridge City Duct Cleaning professionals can perform a blower test to see if enough air is flowing through your system. A blower test forces air into your ducts to measure how much air is transferring out, noting any issues and will be able to recommend a repair or just a good cleaning.
3. Dusty Home
Do you find that the air in your home smells like something is burning when your furnace ignites? Dirt and dust can enter the main system inside your home when your ductwork has an issue. When there is a problem with your ducts, your system may not be able to filter out allergy-causing particles. Cleaning or repairing the ductwork in your home leaves you with less chance of getting a cold or flu. Viruses can spread easily due to the particles flowing up through your central HVAC system and into your lungs. You will also find that removing debris from your ductwork will help eliminate dirt and dust so your home stays a lot cleaner.
4. Loud Ductwork
Do you hear rattling and loud noises coming from your furnace vents? You may need to have your ductwork checked. Sometimes it is because your kids have hidden their hotrod cars in the register, other times it is because your ducts are clogged up from years of dust and debris. Instead of dealing with this noise constantly, get your ductwork cleaned, serviced or repaired. Your ductwork should be doing its job quietly in the background, keeping a constant flow of air throughout your home.
Trusted Saskatoon Furnace & Duct Cleaners Bridge City Duct Cleaning provides both residential duct cleaning and commercial duct cleaning and furnace maintenance services. Their team is professionally trained, qualified, bonded, and factory furnace and duct cleaning technicians. In their latest article, they discuss how often your air ducts need to be cleaned.
Did you know a single duct cleaning service removes about five or six pounds of dust? So this begs the question, how often do your air ducts need to be cleaned? We know that over time contaminants like dust, lint and debris can build up in your air ducts and dryer vents, which affects your home’s indoor air quality, but how often they should be cleaned depends on each homeowner, and who you ask. Some recommend it should be done yearly as part of your home maintenance list. It is agreed that the following situations are specific times when it should be done.
- When you move into a new home
- After building a new home
- After completing a home remodel project
- If you have pets in the home that shed
- If smokers live in the household
- If you fry a lot of food in your home
What parts are included in an air duct cleaning?
- Supply and return air ducts
- Grilles
- Diffusers
- Heat exchangers
- Heating and cooling coils
- Drip pans
- Fan motor and housing
- Unit housing
A thorough air duct cleaning should remove all visible and hidden dirt and other debris from the air ducts and the connected HVAC. Otherwise, the dirt in the air duct system will quickly build up again from the dust and debris left behind on other parts of the HVAC system.
Generally, it is recommended that you should have your air ducts cleaned every 3 to 5 years under normal household conditions.
Now that you know how often your air ducts need to be cleaned, connect with Bridge City Duct Cleaning to get a quote online.
At Razor Heating & Air Conditioning, the primary focus is to provide Saskatoon and surrounding area customers with quality work, prompt service, and innovative real-world solutions to everyday mechanical and home comfort issues. Whether it be an upgrade or repair to your current home or mechanical needs of a new home, Razor Heating and Air are the people to turn to for all your Air Conditioning, Heating and Indoor Air Quality needs. Their real-world, on-the-job trained employees have the industry experience and know-how to look past the rough edges of renovation or construction. The professionals at Razor strive to bring you quality products and services with a budget-minded solution. Razor Heating & Air Conditioning is a TRUSTED SASKATOON AIR CONDITIONING & FURNACE EXPERT!
Why Your Air Conditioner Is Not Cooling
An A/C unit that’s not cooling your home is a big problem. After all, that’s its one job.
When you’re A/C doesn’t perform as it should, it’s frustrating, time-consuming, and very hot.
There are several reasons your air conditioner may be failing to perform. The experts at Razor Heating and Air Conditioning are going to walk through each one – and how best to fix it.
1. Your Thermostat Isn’t Cooperating
Your first stop is your thermostat. You should make sure that your thermostat is not only set to ‘ON’ but that it is set to ‘COOL’. Test that it’s working by setting the thermostat several degrees cooler than the stated temperature. You want to feel that chill!
If you can hear the air conditioner running, but minutes later still don’t feel any cool air coming through the vents, there could be something wrong with your thermostat and its electrical wiring. Fixing that problem is best left to a professional. You should also make sure all your windows and doors are sealed shut, and your supply and return vents are open and unblocked. It’s little things like this that are easy to forget about but super easy to fix.
2. A Breaker Has Been Tripped
This tip is only for those homeowners whose air conditioners are not running at all. Your A/C runs on electricity. No electricity going to your air conditioner means no cool air making your home a summer paradise. It’s time to travel to the location of your breaker panel and do a check. The breakers for your air conditioner should be clearly labeled. Flip them off and on again, and see if this makes a difference.
3. Your Air Filter Is Clogged
Just because your air filter is located in your furnace’s blower doesn’t mean it isn’t used by your air conditioner. Your furnace’s air handler is what pushes the cooled air through the filter, through your ductwork, and into your home.
Therefore, if your air filter becomes clogged with dirt and debris, it’ll act a lot like a cork in a bottle: little to nothing is getting past it. Razor Heating and Air Conditioning recommend checking your filter once a month and changing it at least every 3 months – more often if you have hairy pets, allergies, or a lot of people living in your home. Air filters can be found at local hardware and home stores. Make sure you replace your current filter with one that is the same size.
4. Your Outdoor Unit is Coated in Dirt and Debris
Sensing a theme here? Dirt is no friend to an air conditioner. Your air conditioner condenser is located outside your home and left exposed to the elements when in use. After a while, all that wind and rain is bound to blow some dirt and debris into it. If there’s too much dirt, your condenser can’t perform the heat exchange process efficiently. There are things you can do to help with this particular problem.
For example, tidying up the landscaping around your condenser will help keep branches, bushes, and other vegetation from adding to the debris buildup. Razor Heating and Air Conditioning recommend keeping about 46 centimeters of space clear on all sides of your condenser. You should also wash your condenser regularly with water and soap. Gently wipe away dirt from the condenser fins, being very careful that they don’t break. In the offseason, make sure your condenser has a cover and it is secured tightly.
5. Houston, We Have a Mechanical Problem
While annual maintenance is an excellent way to reduce your risk of mechanical breakdowns, they can still happen. Whether it’s a broken fan motor or compressor, a mechanical problem could be the reason your A/C is not cooling properly. If you suspect a mechanical problem, you should call Trusted Saskatoon Air Conditioning Experts at Razor Heating and Air right away.
6. The Refrigerant in Your Air Conditioner is Leaking
Air conditioners use continuously circulating refrigerant to cool air. Normally the level of refrigerant never changes and your air conditioner is perfectly fine. If you spring a leak, that refrigerant level drops – and so does the amount of cool air you get. Refrigerant leaks can be identified by ice buildup, hissing noises, or a noticeable decrease in cooling efficiency. If you think you have a refrigerant leak, turn off your air conditioner and call us right away. This is a problem that should only be handled by experienced professionals.
7. Your AC Wasn’t Properly Installed
Unfortunately, this is seen all the time with both air conditioners and furnaces. An improperly installed air conditioner just won’t provide the cool air you need in an efficient manner. This is something you’ll notice after you get a new air conditioner. They can provide you with a second opinion, and do what they can to fix any potential problems. The size of your air conditioner is also incredibly important. If it’s too big or too small, you won’t be able to efficiently cool your home. Before you buy an air conditioner, meet with a qualified home specialist who can perform an evaluation and make recommendations.
8. Your Air Conditioner is Over the Hill
There comes a day when even the best air conditioner in the world just gets to be too old. Generally, after 15 years, you want to start paying close attention to how your air conditioner performs. If it gets to a point where you’re spending hundreds of dollars a year to keep it going, or you’re A/C is not cooling your home at all, it’s time for a replacement. The experts at Razor can perform an in-home consultation and walk you through the latest models, making recommendations for your home and your needs.
Get Help from the Professionals at Razor Heating and A/C
Trusted Saskatoon's Heating and Cooling Experts, Razor Heating and A/C are there to help you with all your Heating, Air Conditioning, and Indoor Air Quality Needs. Contact Razor today!
Trusted Saskatoon Furnace & Duct Cleaners Bridge City Duct Cleaning provides both residential duct cleaning and commercial duct cleaning and furnace maintenance services. Their team is professionally trained, qualified, bonded, and factory furnace and duct cleaning technicians. In their latest article, they are tips to improve the air quality in your home.
How safe is the air inside your home? After a long Saskatchewan winter, it is necessary to ensure your home has good quality indoor air. As the weather gets warmer, help avoid pesky allergies and sicknesses and optimize the air quality in your home with these helpful tips:
- Change Your AC Filter – It has been working hard to cycle air and filter out pollutants!
- Check/Clean Other Filters – Don’t forget about the other appliances in your home such as furnaces and dryer vents.
- Check Your Air Ducts – Over time, dust, dander, and even mold can accumulate. Hire a professional to ensure your ducts are circulating clean, fresh, air.
- Regularly Groom Pets – Our furry friends leave behind hairs, dander, and allergens.
- Clean Your Carpets – Rugs and carpets trap dust and allergens and need to be cleaned regularly.
- Indoor Plants Help Freshen The Air – Not only do plants enhance home decor, but they also act as natural filters to improve indoor air quality.
- Control Humidity In Your Home – A dehumidifier will reduce the amount of moisture in the air and help keep mold and mildew at bay.
These helpful tips will improve the air quality in your home. Follow these tips year-round to ensure the indoor air quality in your home remains at its best.
Let the professional team of experts at
Bridge City Duct Cleaning take care of your spring duct cleaning to help optimize the air quality in your home!