JD's Prompt Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Blog: Archive for the ‘Heating’ Category

How to Protect Your Furnace from Ice

Monday, February 5th, 2024
feathery-crystallized-ice-patterns

While we don’t tend to have long stretches of extreme cold in our area, extreme weather does sometimes happen. In fact, one of the longest stretches when the temperature stayed below freezing in Lubbock—for an entire week!—was just a few years ago. And when temperatures are that cold, even if it’s not for quite that long, you could be at risk of a frozen furnace.

You might be surprised to hear that an iced-up furnace is even possible. How could a furnace freeze? Where does the ice come from? We’ll explain all about it, including what you can do to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.

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Watch for These Signs of Danger from Your Heating System

Monday, December 11th, 2023
person-checking-carbon-monoxide-alarm

It’s dangerous to be without a heating system in the dead of winter, especially if this is one of those winters when a polar vortex brings unusually cold temperatures to Texas. But it’s also dangerous to have a faulty heating system, which could risk your health or your home. To stay safe as well as warm, be aware of these signs of danger, so you can address heating system hazards right away. 

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Can I Repair My Furnace on My Own?

Monday, February 20th, 2023
wrenches

If you’re looking to save money on home repairs, don’t look to your furnace. You can take care of many DIY projects around the house, but you should consider the furnace strictly “off limits.” 

In other words, the simple answer to the question in the title of this blog is “No.” 

However, there’s a more complex answer… 

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Why Your Heating Bills Seem Too High

Monday, February 6th, 2023
man-frustrated-with-high-heating-bills-on-his-computer

When the cold weather descends on your home, do you start to feel anxious about looking at your monthly energy bills? After the fall, when you don’t have to rely much on your AC and the heater hasn’t yet turned on, you can get used to seeing lower energy costs. But if your winter energy bills do seem too high, it’s a good idea to ask yourself “why?”

You may have trouble with your heater, or perhaps you’ve fallen into some poor habits when it comes to using the HVAC system or how you manage energy consumption in the house. We’ll look at some causes for high heating bills and see what you can do about them.

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How These Furnace Components Can Help or Hurt Home Efficiency

Monday, January 9th, 2023
pleated-air-filter

Every time your home’s furnace turns on, it consumes energy. That’s a given. But a furnace can consume more energy than necessary, and that will cause a drop in the general efficiency of your house. 

In this post, we’re going to look at furnace components that can help, or hurt, the efficiency of your home. If they’re currently hurting your home efficiency, then the best course of action is to call our team for furnace repair in Lubbock, TX or other HVAC service. We’ll help you enjoy a comfortable and energy-efficient home!

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What Is Short-Cycling and Why Is It a Problem?

Monday, December 26th, 2022
technicians-with-heat-pump

Short-cycling is a condition that occurs in heat pumps, air conditioners, furnaces, and other HVAC systems. It’s one of the more common problems that can afflict a home’s comfort system, but it also has a tangle of possible causes behind it. Short-cycling is both a symptom of a problem and a problem on its own. 

In this post we’ll go into detail about short-cycling, why you want it stopped, and why it happens.

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6 Important Care and Maintenance Tips for Your Furnace

Monday, December 12th, 2022

It’s furnace season, and although you might not have your home’s furnace running as often as somebody who lives in Milwaukie or Minneapolis, you’ll still rely on it during the winter. Sometimes it does get extremely cold here in Texas!

With that in mind, we want to pass on some important care and maintenance tips that will help your furnace run safely, efficiently, and effectively through the season. 

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Are You Using Your Heater As Efficiently As Possible

Monday, November 28th, 2022
technician-installing-furnace

Our wintertime temperatures do not usually get as cold as our neighbors in the Midwest or the Northeast, with last year’s winter being a huge exception!

That said, it may typically seem pretty silly to worry about heating efficiency too much. When you don’t use yours that much, why should you care about how efficiently it operates? Well, because how efficiently it operates informs how much you spend on your monthly energy bills, and every homeowner wants to save money where they can, right?

That said, there are a number of things you can do to boost your heating efficiency during a standard winter (again, with recent events being a large exception to this rule). Read on to learn more!

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How to Boost Furnace Efficiency

Monday, February 21st, 2022
technician-working-on-furnace

Most winters, we don’t use our furnaces for a very long time around here, right? But when we do need them, boy do we need them!

This means they need to work as efficiently and effectively as possible. Also, given how much you use your air conditioner each year and how much that costs, it makes sense that you would like to save as much money as possible on your energy bills during the cooler months.

And maybe you think that the only way to make your furnace use more efficient is to not use it at all. But this is simply not the case, plus it doesn’t do much for your home comfort, right?!

Read on as we uncover some simple ways you can boost furnace efficiency without shutting it off altogether.

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Have You Scheduled This Important Heating Service Yet?

Monday, February 7th, 2022
technician-working-on-furnace

Do you know when the best time of year is to schedule furnace maintenance? Many HVAC technicians, including the ones on our staff, will tell you that it’s fall. So, since it’s now winter, does it matter that you haven’t had maintenance done yet–is it too late?

Nope, it’s not too late! Actually, what’s much more important than the timing of your heating maintenance is the consistency of this service. We recommend fall because this is when HVAC pros are less busy with emergency service calls and therefore you’ll find it more convenient to schedule maintenance during this time. But it’s actually most important that you have maintenance done once a year.

On that note, if you have a heat pump system instead of a furnace, you’ll want maintenance done twice a year. But for now, we’re going to talk about why furnace tune-ups are so vital to your comfort, home performance, and efficiency.

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