How To Keep My Home Cool Without Air Conditioning?

If you don’t have air conditioning in your home, it’s challenging to keep it cool. While there are obvious steps to take, such as closing blinds during the day, there are other tactics you can use to keep your home comfortable. Vent Your Attic Attics get incredibly hot during the summer, which impacts the temperature inside your home. Install fans in the attic vents to help reduce heat. There are smart attic fans that automatically increase speed during the hottest days of the summer. Turn On Bathroom Fans The fans in your bathrooms pull in interior air and blow it outside. You can use this to your advantage on hot days to remove warm air from your home. Unplug Electronics Modern electronics are on all the time. Even when you’re not using them, they’re in standby mode and producing heat. Unplug things like phone chargers, Blu-Ray players and toasters. You can make this easier by using power strips to turn off several things at once. Install Outdoor Shade You can use plants, trees and awnings to keep your home cool. These help shade your home from the sun. These can reduce the temperature inside your home by as much as...

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What Size Air Conditioner Do I Need for My Home?

Finding the right air conditioner for your home requires some research. You want one large enough to cool your house without breaking the bank and small enough for efficiency. An air conditioner that is too large will cost you more and use more energy than needed. Eureka summers may be mild, but when the humidity is high air conditioners also act as dehumidifiers. A unit that’s too large won’t be as effective in dehumidifying your home. Installing an air conditioner that is too small won’t cool your home effectively and will run constantly trying to keep up. The constant use puts unnecessary wear on the unit and hurts your wallet with a large energy bill. Factors When Choosing an Air Conditioner It’s essential to calculate the size of each room based on the amount of BTUs needed to cool it. Ideally, a room will need 25 BTUs per square foot to cool efficiently. In simplest terms, this means a 10-foot-by-10-foot room, which is 100 square feet, will need 2,500 BTUs. This can be a complicated calculation, and it’s often best to work with a professional that can factor in your home’s layout and other considerations. The size of your home...

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Who Invented Air Conditioning?

Air conditioning is the innovation that led to warmer parts of the nation becoming as populated as they are today. Before air conditioning, few people wanted to live where temperatures can regularly reach well beyond 100 degrees Fahrenheit. But who invented air conditioning? Willis Carrier Willis Carrier is the inventor of air conditioning. He was born in 1876 in Angola, New York. He graduated in 1900 from Cornell University with an engineering degree. In 1902, the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithography & Publishing Company of Buffalo had an air quality problem that needed to be fixed. In response, Willis Carrier designed the world’s first air conditioning system. Carrier’s Air Conditioning System Willis Carrier designed his air conditioning system with four basic functions. These were to control the temperature, control humidity, circulate and ventilate air and improve indoor air quality. It took him until 1906 to refine and test his invention. In 1911, Willis Carrier shared his paper on air conditioning. The paper was called Rational Psychometric Formulae. He introduced his paper at the American Society of Mechanical Engineer’s annual meeting. The paper explained dew-point temperature, absolute humidity and relative humidity. Carrier Engineering Corporation In 1915, Willis Carrier pooled his money with seven other...

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How to Drain a Hot Water Heater

It’s important to drain your water heater once or twice a year. By doing so, you’ll remove harmful sediment that forms on the bottom. Sediment reduces the efficiency of your water heater and makes it fail faster. Pressure-Relief Valve The first thing to do is check the pressure-relief valve. Turn your water heater off and close the valve on the cold-water supply line. Place a bucket under the pressure-relief valve and open it. Listen for air, and then see if any water comes. If either of these things happens, the valve works correctly and doesn’t need to be replaced. Run a Drain Line Attach a garden hose to the drain valve and place the other end outside. Open the valve, and then open the hot water tap in your kitchen sink. Let the tank drain completely before moving on to the next step. Flush the Tank With Water You need to flush the tank with water so that all the sediment is removed. Turn the water on for a few seconds at a time. This will stir up the sediment so that it goes into the drain valve. Repeat this step until the water coming out of your water tank...

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What Type Of Water Heater Is Most Energy Efficient?

When your Orick, CA, home needs a new water heater, choosing one that’s energy efficient will save you a lot of money. Water heating accounts for about 20% of a typical household’s utility expenses. An energy-efficient water heater will also reduce your home’s carbon footprint. If you’re thinking of moving soon, an efficient water heater will add value to your home. Here’s what you need to know about what type of water heater is the most energy efficient. Conventional Storage Tank Water Heaters Conventional storage-tank water heaters come in a range of efficiency levels. They’re less efficient than a tankless or on-demand water heater, but there are a few things you can do to boost their efficiency. Get an insulation blanket for the water tank. Insulate the hot water pipes. Set the thermostat to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Tankless Water Heaters Tankless water heaters are more energy efficient than conventional storage-tank water heaters. That’s because the tankless units don’t constantly use energy to maintain a supply of hot water. They only use natural gas to heat water once you turn on a hot water tap. Some tankless water heaters feature an intermittent pilot or a hot surface igniter, which further enhances...

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How Do Water Heaters Work?

You probably only think about your water heater when there’s a problem, such as only cold water coming out of a faucet. There are four types of them used in homes. Tank Water Heater This is the most common type of water heater. It’s a large, round tank of water usually found in a garage or laundry room. Tank water heaters use either electricity or gas to heat the water in the tank. The tank is insulated, which slows the amount of heat lost. The tank is heated on the bottom and warm water naturally moves to the top. There are electrical elements inside the tank and a pressure-relief valve on the outside in case there’s too much water pressure. Tankless Water Heater As the name implies, these water heaters don’t have a tank. Instead, they heat water only when it’s needed. When a hot-water tap is opened, cold water flows into it and it’s heated with electricity or gas. The hot water then flows to the tap. Once you turn off the tap, the tankless water heater shuts down. They are very energy efficient. of Eureka, CA, installs, and repairs water heaters. We sell Noritz brand tankless water heaters...

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How to Tell If You Have a High-Efficiency Furnace

Your home’s heating system uses a significant amount of energy each year. Ensuring that your furnace is working as efficiently as possible can help to keep your energy bills in check during the fall and winter seasons. How can you tell if the furnace in your house is a high-efficiency product? What’s the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency Number? The Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) number tells you how much energy a furnace is able to turn into heat. For example, if a heater is able to turn 100 units of gas into 70 units of heat, it would have an AFUE rating of 70%. All furnaces manufactured and sold in the United States must have a minimum efficiency score of 81%. You can usually find the energy efficiency rating for your unit on the item itself or in the owner manual that comes with it. Does It Have an ENERGY STAR Label? Any product that meets the Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency requirements will be labeled as such. To qualify as an ENERGY STAR product, it would need to have an AFUE rating of at least 90%. Make Sure to Stick to a Regular Maintenance Schedule Clogged air filters, broken...

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All About Today’s Fantastic Furnace Systems

Today’s furnaces are a staple in so many homes and businesses across the globe. These awesome pieces of machinery heat entire structures and can do so automatically, without the need for much human involvement. For more on these popular heating systems, read on. How They Work Furnaces work by generating heat inside of a compartment and then distributing that heat throughout the home using a fan and ductwork. Typically, these systems make their heat with the use of electrical resistance or the combustion of a gas such as natural gas or propane. In addition, furnaces include numerous mechanisms that monitor temperature, flame, fan speed, and other functions for safety and operational purposes. The resulting mix of components is an awesome system that has been used for more than two centuries. The History of Modern Furnaces Interestingly enough, the first known furnace heating system was erected in the Massachusetts Medical College in 1816. This system utilized a furnace in the building’s basement that connected to ductwork that ran throughout the rest of the building for heat distribution. This was actually a gravity-hot air system that would be subsequently developed further into a more recognizable semblance of our furnaces today in 1835...

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Why Air Filters are Important for Your Heating System

The Importance of Air Filters to Your Heating System Whether you own a heat pump or furnace, your heating system comes with a crucial component called the air filter. Located in the return vent, it has the job of capturing pollutants like dust, lint, pet dander, and mold spores. Why are filters important? The answer can be laid out as follows. They Protect the Heating Components The primary purpose of filters is to keep the above-mentioned pollutants from gathering inside the furnace or, in the case of heat pumps, the air handler. A dirty system is an inefficient one. For instance, you don’t want dust and dirt all over the furnace blades and burners. Dirty burners will prevent the heat exchanger from heating up to its full capacity, causing the furnace to run longer to reach your set point. In fact, it may never reach the set point as the air will be largely lukewarm. As for dirty blades, these will work harder to spin. In both cases, the results will be more wear and tear and higher energy bills. They Keep the Indoor Air Clean Contrary to popular belief, filters are only secondarily meant to clean the air. Naturally,...

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4 Major Indoor Air Pollutants

When you think of pollution, the first thing that likely comes to mind is big factories releasing smelly fumes into the atmosphere. Although outdoor pollution is harmful, indoor pollution can be just as bad. Learning about indoor pollution will help you to keep your family safe. Here are the four main indoor air pollutants. 1. Carbon Monoxide Carbon monoxide is odorless and invisible. The gas is a result of incomplete burning of fossil fuels. When inhaled, carbon monoxide reduces the intake of oxygen in the body. As a result, you will experience nausea, headache, confusion, and tiredness. A high concentration of carbon monoxide could lead to death. To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, ensure appliances such as heaters are correctly installed. 2. Mold Mold is a type of fungi that grows both indoors and outside. Although there are harmless varieties of mold, some types are harmful. Mold contains allergens that can trigger allergic reactions in some people. Allergic people can suffer from eye and throat irritation, coughing, swelling, skin irritation, and headaches. Severe reactions can lead to difficulty breathing. In other cases, molds can prompt asthma attacks. The key to fighting mold is reducing the moisture and humidity levels in your...

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