Cheeky Heating, Cooling & Plumbing Blog: Archive for the ‘Heating’ Category

What You Should Know About Your Gas Furnace Heat Exchanger

Monday, January 24th, 2022
gas-jets-of-a-furnace

If you’re like many homeowners in the Dunwoody area, you likely have a gas-powered furnace in your home to keep yourself and your family warm. Furnaces are a great heating choice, as they are powerful and very cost-effective.

Today’s furnaces even have a higher efficiency rating than just a short decade ago. In fact, the highest AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency) rating for a gas furnace is 98%. Trust us, that’s efficient!

In addition to high efficiency, you want to know you can rely on safety when it comes to your heating system, right? Gas furnaces certainly are not dangerous by nature. However, if you don’t take care of your furnace as you should, then it can certainly become dangerous.

The most common culprit of a dangerous furnace, especially an older one, is a cracked heat exchanger. Even if you don’t have an obvious problem with your furnace’s heat exchanger right now, if your system is 15+ years old, it’s time to start considering an upgrade.

Read on to learn more!

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Tips for Boosting Heating Efficiency

Monday, December 27th, 2021
checklist-with-red-marker

Heating in Woodstock, GA is a necessity for winter. Especially when the temperature drops to an average of 35°F during the month of January. This doesn’t mean you want to pay an arm and a leg to keep your home cozy.

There are some simple tips you can do to boost the efficiency of your heating system. This will help keep your bills lower through the chilly months.

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Signs that You Have a Furnace in Need of Repair

Monday, November 15th, 2021
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When you live in a climate like ours, there’s no denying that air conditioners are pretty important. In fact, you might not even think about your heater very much at all, until a chilly night when it breaks down.

Of course, a furnace breakdown is a lot less likely if you invest in routine furnace maintenance, and schedule repairs as soon as you know you need them. But how do you know you need them? True, we’ll tell you during your maintenance appointment. But also, there may be times between tune-ups that you need a small repair or two. Knowing the signs will help you avoid bigger, emergency repairs. Read on as we uncover what these signs are!

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Furnace Installation: Why Size Matters

Monday, January 25th, 2021
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If you’re in the market for a new heating system, the chances are you’re feeling a little pressed for time. It is winter after all, and temperatures are only getting chillier. But before you rush out for the biggest furnace you can afford, remember, bigger doesn’t always mean better. In fact, in the case of this heating system, bigger might not mean better at all. It may be worse.

The fact of the matter is, the size of your furnace can have a huge impact on its functionality. It’s important that your furnace is carefully sized for your specific home.

And remember, proper sizing is just half the battle! Installing a furnace isn’t a small job—it requires specific experience, skills, and even licensing (especially in the case of a gas-powered furnace that has to be hooked up to a main gas line). Trust us, you don’t want an undersized or an oversized system. Read on to learn why!

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Common Heating System Repair Needs to Be Aware Of

Monday, January 11th, 2021
technician-servicing-furnace

Heating services are important no matter where you live. No matter how briefly you need your heater, you need it to work well, right?

Whether you have a gas or electric furnace, you want to keep a close eye on its performance so that you know if and when it’s time to call in a professional for service. Of course, you can prevent the majority of repairs with routine maintenance—85% of repairs, actually! But they could still happen. Read on to learn more!

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What DOESN’T Go Down the Garbage Disposal

Monday, December 14th, 2020
bubbling-drain

One of the biggest jobs plumbers tackle at the end of the year is drain cleaning in Sandy Springs, GA to unclog kitchen sink drains. November and December are times of cooking and feasting, and even if this year’s festivities may look different, you’ll probably still want to indulge in the joys of good food during the holidays. Unfortunately, this can put plenty of stress on the drains in your kitchen—the garbage disposal in particular. You don’t want to have to call a plumber to clear out a clog, and you certainly don’t want to have a busted garbage disposal on top of that. 

Earlier this year, we offered tips on avoiding drain clogs. In this post, we’re going to look at how to avoid a busted garbage disposal by listing items that should never go down it. It’s easy for homeowners to make the mistake of believing a kitchen sink disposal can handle anything. But it can’t … and here are some key items it can’t.

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Is It Too Late to Tune-Up Your Heater?

Monday, November 30th, 2020
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The short answer to this is, “the only time it’s too late for a heating maintenance session is if your heater is broken down beyond repair.” Okay, that wasn’t that short of an answer, but you get the gist.

Here’s the thing, you know that it’s not going to get as frigid cold here, but our winters do get chilly enough to want a great working heater that we don’t have to pay a lot to use, right? Well, the only way to ensure this is this case is by properly caring for your heater, and that includes scheduling routine maintenance.

Sure, it’s a little late in the fall season to have maintenance done. But what matters more than the time of year you have maintenance done is how consistently you have it done. For a furnace or boiler system, we recommend you have annual tune-ups completed for your system. For 2-in-1 heat pumps, we recommend this service every 6 months. Read on as we uncover the numerous benefits of this service!

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Why Is a Cracked Heat Exchanger Such a Problem?

Monday, November 16th, 2020
jets-of-a-furnace

Are you utilizing a gas-powered furnace for your heating needs? It’s a great choice for homeowners throughout Duluth and the surrounding communities! It’s actually still the leading heating system found in homes throughout the country, especially in areas like ours that may not have a need for a powerful boiler but still needs effective and efficient heat for our chilly winter nights.

They’re cost-effective, and a fantastic choice for many people. However, when not properly cared for, furnaces can present dangers you might not think about. This is going to be the case for any appliance that utilizes natural gas. They are not dangerous by nature, but skipping maintenance or neglecting an aging system can certainly lead to problems. One of these problems is a cracked heat exchanger.

Heat exchangers are something you should know about, and never ignore if you suspect you have an issue with one. If this is the case, turn off your heater right away and give us a call.

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Heater Noises You Don’t Want Haunting You

Monday, October 19th, 2020
technician-working-on-furnace

It’s that time of year—spooky ghost stories and jack-o-lanterns abound have us feeling festive for Halloween. Still though, even if you believe in ghosts, it’s important that you’re aware that most times, those strange and unfamiliar noises you hear in your home are not caused by poltergeists. Rather, they are typically created by something going amiss with your plumbing system, or in many cases your HVAC system.

Sure, there are some noises your heater is going to make this winter that you’ll be familiar with. For instance, you may hear the ductwork crackling a bit when your furnace first comes on, as the temperature fluctuates. You will also of course hear the whoosh of air through the vents. Below, however, we’ve uncovered some heater noises you don’t want to hear. Don’t let them haunt you! Call our team to exorcise them.

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Should You Sign up for a Maintenance Program This Year?

Monday, October 5th, 2020
two-technicians-working-on-an-air-conditioner

Temperatures are starting to cool! True, it’s not going to start snowing tomorrow or anything, but this does mean that it’s almost time to give our air conditioners some reprieve in favor of our heating systems.

We have a question for you though–did you have your air conditioner maintained last spring? Make that two questions–have you scheduled your heating maintenance yet?

Routine maintenance is essential if you want HVAC systems that operate as efficiently and effectively as possible, for as long as possible. This means getting a tune-up at least once a year each for your air conditioner and heater. And if you have a heat pump system? You should get a tune up every 6 months.

If you’re worried about remembering to actually schedule these maintenance sessions? Worry no more! Enroll in a maintenance program and we’ll do the remembering for you.

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