The Trusted Saskatoon team is thrilled to brag about our newest partner Trusted Saskatoon partner. Breathe Better Indoor Air Quality Specialists as Trusted Saskatoon Furnace, Duct, and Vent Cleaners!

David Dram has been involved in the furnace and duct cleaning industry since 2014 and he is passionate about what he does, especially the benefits he brings to the health and wellness of his customers. After gaining knowledge and expertise with a few other companies and learning both the good and bad of the industry, he recognized it was time to go out on his own. He wanted to do things differently, with his own vision and purpose, and a goal to provide unparalleled service and professionalism. 

We all know there’s always "a guy or gal that can do it cheaper," but we all know when you compromise on price, you generally compromise on quality. So David wanted to change that perception and offer honest and friendly service, great quality work, all at a fair price for Saskatoon consumers.

Breathe Better Indoor Air Quality is truly a family-owned and operated business, as David’s wife Becca is the other co-founder, and she works extremely hard behind the scenes looking after the paperwork, accounting, invoicing, reviews, and social media. On top of running a growing and successful business, they have four wonderful children, ages 8, 6, 3, and 6 months, so things are extremely busy around the Dram household! 

David is also the Commanding Officer of the #300 Fisher Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron, located in Biggar, and has been involved as a CAF officer for 10 years, taking command last October. Although David was born in Flin Flon, Saskatoon has been his home since childhood and he strives every day to make a difference with indoor air quality and personal health for residents and businesses of Saskatoon and the surrounding area.

We are so fortunate to have David and Becca raising their family and growing their business in Saskatoon, and we are happy about their decision to join our Trusted Saskatoon community. Now our team will do what WE are most passionate about… Promoting and spreading the word about this locally owned family business and sharing the news about the honesty, integrity, and long-term approach to business they are committed to! You can definitely trust them for your residential or commercial projects, from furnace, duct, and vent cleaning, they clean old homes, businesses and new builds, they are the professionals to call in an emergency or just because it’s time to thoroughly clean your home. 

When we were speaking to some of Breathe Better’s customers, as part of our Unique Trusted verification process, we continually heard the same positive comments about David, and the feedback was nothing short of excellent. Read some of the real personal testimonials from recent customers below.  

"Indoor Air Quality Specialists Helping You To Breathe Better!"

JOB Heating & Air Conditioning Saskatoon is eager to provide the best possible customer experience. Their aim is to be a professional resource for our clients before, during, and after the sale! Their team takes pride in service knowledge of modern equipment and training. They are recognized by peers, as  JOB offers sales, service, training & installations for residential, and commercial Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing systems in Saskatoon and area. In their latest article, they discuss what causes cracked furnace heat exchangers and why they are a problem.

Cracked Furnace Heat Exchangers: What Causes Them and Why They Are A Problem

The heat exchanger is the part of your furnace that is responsible for generating hot air. To create heat, your furnace burns natural gas. When gas is burned, exhaust byproducts travel through the heat exchanger. As the exhaust passes through the furnace’s exhaust outlet, metal is heated. Simultaneously, this hot metal heats the air. From there, your furnace system distributes hot air to your home through your air ducts.  

In order to function properly, the heat exchanger must remain sealed. That is why cracks are detrimental.

What Causes A Cracked Heat Exchanger?

The air inside your furnace and heat exchanger gets extremely hot. As a result, this extreme heat causes the metal inside the heat exchanger to expand and contract. Though well-maintained heat exchangers are built to tolerate this heat, eventually this stress causes cracks.

If your heat exchanger is several years old, stress cracks are common. However, if your heat exchanger is under 10 years old, there are other causes of cracking. Causes of premature heat exchanger cracking include limited airflow, and your furnace being too large for your home.

Limited Airflow

Limited airflow to your gas furnace is the result of blocked registers. If registers in the home are blocked, pressure builds up inside the furnace which causes cracks. It is important to note that a clogged furnace filter or obstructed air ducts are also causes of heat exchanger cracks.

Is Your Furnace Too Large For Your Home? 

If your furnace is too large for your home, this is an issue because it may ‘short cycle’, meaning it turns on and off frequently. Therefore, your heat exchanger expands and contracts more, resulting in overuse of your furnace system and premature cracks.

Why Cracked Heat Exchangers Are A Problem

If they are not dealt with, cracked furnace heat exchangers can pose a serious safety risk. If you notice a strange smell coming from your furnace or signs of rust along the exterior, this may indicate that there is a problem.

Carbon Monoxide Leak

Because heat exchangers contain carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrous oxide, a crack in your heat exchanger means these harmful gases could escape into the air ducts of your home. A carbon monoxide leak can result in illness and even death. 

Flame-Out or Fire

Another risk of a cracked furnace heat exchanger is a flame-out or fire. When gas and air combust in the heat exchanger, the gas builds up. This build-up of gas often reaches a high enough volume to be explosive. As the gas becomes explosive, it will force flames and air pressure out of any hole it can find, such as a crack in the heat exchanger. 

Unfortunately, unless your carbon monoxide detector beeps or you notice rust, you may be unaware your heat exchanger is cracked. In order to know for sure, an inspection by a professional technician is required. If you suspect your furnace heat exchanger is cracked, it is important to contact a technician immediately so it can be replaced in a timely manner.

These are just a few causes of cracked furnace heat exchangers and why they are a problem. Be sure to schedule your routine furnace maintenance to ensure your furnace is safe to operate this winter. If you need any assistance with your furnace or home heating equipment, do not hesitate to contact our team at JOB Heating & Air Conditioning.

JOB Heating & Air Conditioning are Trusted Saskatoon furnace experts. They show up on time, deliver on budget, and leave the work area cleaner than when they arrived! They take pride in their work in this city and surrounding area, so nothing means more to us than testimonials from their clients as their preferred plumber in Saskatoon.

‘Your Comfort is Our Concern!’

JOB Heating & Air Conditioning Are Trusted Saskatoon Furnace Pros 

Why clean the ducts of your brand new home?

Some people say, ‘No Way! It’s new, why would I clean something NEW? I wouldn’t clean a new car or a new garment, why would I clean a new house?!’

And while it might seem counter-intuitive, in this short article we’ll be talking about why it’s beneficial for you to do just that! Before you set foot in your new home, dust and debris will already be gathering in those ducts! For the price you’ve just paid for your new home, isn’t it worth just a little bit more to invest in clean air for your family to breathe better?

It’s a New House… But Just How ‘New’ Is it?

It’s true, you probably wouldn’t take that new car to the car wash right away, or take your new suit straight to the dry cleaners. But new homes are different. A lot goes on during the home construction process, both in front of our eyes as well as behind the scenes. Before the ductwork even makes it to your home site, it may have sat for months or even years in a warehouse. That right there makes it prone to dust. Once it’s brought into the construction site, the ductwork is installed – and then it sits again, possibly several weeks or even months.  This time, however, it’s not only dust that’s accumulating. Construction is taking place in and around the house.  Dirt and dust are getting kicked up into the air. And, with new home construction happening at breakneck pace, not all construction trades are as careful with their job site as they ought to be. Just what kind of things can get into ductwork during construction?  

'Indoor Air Quality Specialists Helping You To Breathe Better.'

JOB Heating & Air Conditioning’s wonderful staff will be more than happy to provide you with an estimate for any home comfort improvement that you have in mind. They also offer training classes at your personal site for maintenance and they also offer home heating tune-ups. JOB are Trusted Saskatoon Furnace experts and they can also help you with all your Saskatoon plumbing needs! 

Winter Safety Tips For Your Home From JOB Heating & Air 

What does that do and why does it matter?

I was recently in two Saskatoon residences with gas inspections to investigate the source of carbon monoxide in the homes. Thank heavens both homeowners had carbon monoxide detectors,  that in my opinion, saved their lives. Both days I went home and checked my CO detector.

When was the last time that you checked your CO Detector?

Go do it now then come back and finish reading…
So how this works is usually the fire department or Sask Energy get a call,  then they visit the home with their carbon monoxide meters to assess the level and then, if reading show and issue they red tag the furnace unit and shut off the gas. The Red Tag program provides a consistent means for gas utilities, propane distributors, gas contractors or others deemed appropriate by the chief gas inspector to report unresolved gas-related deficiencies or identify reoccurring design flaws. The issuing of red tags is only done by a licensed gasfitter.

What to do when you have a red tag.

The homeowner should then call us to come to correct the problem. We will go through the furnace and water heater with a fine-tooth comb to attempt to find the source of the carbon monoxide.

Sometimes it is a crack in a heat exchanger, however, sometimes the furnace and water heater are working exactly as they should. It is then incumbent upon us to investigate why the carbon monoxide is present in the home. In these locations we often find that the homes are drawn into negative pressure, what that means is that the homes are exhausting more air than fresh air coming into the home. As you may remember from science class,  areas of high pressure always go to areas of low pressure. So what happens is the high pressure outside finds a way into the area of low pressure (inside the home) through any possible route. If the doors and windows are closed then the only other hole in the home is the chimney. Air begins to flow down the chimney to replace the air that’s being exhausted out of the home. So why is that an issue? This becomes a problem when the furnace or water heater begins to fire and there is no draft up the chimney. This then results in the products of combustion (carbon monoxide) being vented into the home.

What can homeowners do to prevent this from happening? 

There are items in your home to prevent this from happening. In most cases, the insulated vent that runs from the outside of your home into the furnace room brings what we call combustion air. The combustion air helps to regulate the pressure of your home preventing your home from getting into a negative air pressure situation. This is also the air that is used when the furnace or water heater are firing up and sometimes this air supply can become blocked. On occasion, we have found that homeowners will purposely block the intake because they don’t like the cold air coming in.

I need to stress how important this is and that by blocking this you are putting yourself and your family at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. So please don’t block this or if you have, open it up immediately.

Another more common problem is that the air intakes themselves become blocked. These intakes appear from the outside like exhaust vents but when you bend over and look up inside them they are in fact air intakes with a screen that needs to be clear of all debris. A good rule of thumb is to walk around the perimeter of your home and look for these vent/intake hoods. Look up inside them and clean them up. This is a simple 10-minute job and this will help to protect you from carbon monoxide poisoning. 

Do your intakes look like this? 

• Go outside today walk around your home and clean these intakes.
• Check your carbon monoxide detectors
• Check your smoke alarms. 

These 2 devices save lives every day you just don’t hear about it. If you don’t have a smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector buy them and put them in your home today. I promise you they save lives.

Then have us come out and do a furnace tune-up. We test the furnace and ensure it is functioning as it should be, in addition, we clean the parts of the furnace that you cannot.  

Contact Jeff and team at JOB Heating today. Jeff Bolton. Owner- JOB Heating and Air Conditioning

JOB products and services include:

• Furnaces

• Boilers

• Air Conditioners

• Water Heaters

• Gas Lines

• Garage Heaters 

JOB Heating & Air Conditioning  Trusted Saskatoon Furnace, Boiler and Air Conditioning Experts

JOB. Heating & Air Conditioning  are Trusted Saskatoon Plumbers 

When Is It Time To Clean Your Ducts?

Over time, ducts become littered with foreign objects such as dust, mould, dead insects, dust mites, and animal hair. Unfortunately, people often overlook cleaning their ducts, which can lead to problems. 

Consequences Of Dirty Ducts

1. Dirt and dust restrict the heating and cooling capability of ducts, which results in increased run time requiring more fuel and energy, therefore costing you more!
2. Airflow is restricted, which means the system can’t effectively circulate properly warmed or cooled air throughout your home. Again, this means that more energy will be used.
3. As your HVAC system needs to operate longer, it increases its wear and tear. This means you’ll need to replace it sooner, which would be a lot more expensive than just getting it cleaned.
4. All the dirt and dust that is left in the ducts can become a breeding ground for bacteria, mites and other unwanted pests, which can be detrimental to your health and exacerbate allergies.
5. The dirt and dust spread much quicker around your home with dirty ducts, no matter how much you clean! The contaminants flow from room to room covering anything in their paths, such as beds, tables, phones, and children’s toys. 

How To Determine If Your Ducts Need Cleaning

You can attempt a visual inspection of the air ducts to help determine whether they need cleaning. However, you must be able to physically access ALL the areas of your HVAC system in order to do this properly. That is why we recommend you getting the professionals in to inspect the system, as with our high-resolution video inspection cameras, we can have a thorough look to determine whether your ducts need cleaning.
 

Determine The Type & Amount Of Debris Inside Your Ducts

It is inevitable that at some point ducts will get clogged with various types of debris and pollutants. This can consist of pollen, rodent and insect faeces, dust, dust mites, and lint. All of these MUST be removed to ensure the proper functionality of your ducts.
If you find mould growing inside or outside the surface of the ducts, a thorough moisture issue investigation needs to be quickly carried out to prevent any further complications. It is essential that you do not try to tackle mould in or out of the system yourself, but instead, let the professionals do it on your behalf.

Clean The Duct Yourself Or Not

If dust, debris, pollens or moulds have accumulated to the point where they are clogging air ducts, collecting on dampers, joints and screws, then it is most certainly time to get those ducts PROFESSIONALLY cleaned. If you fail to do so the airflow will get restricted, affecting its efficiency in the long run and potentially causing premature failure of the whole system.

'Indoor Air Quality Specialists Helping You To Breathe Better.'