Tag: Heating Installation

Getting the Most Out of Your Frederick Home’s Heating System

Posted on by Larry & Sons

Are you thinking of upgrading to a high-efficiency heating system in your Frederick home? Whether you want a new furnace, heat pump, or geothermal system, there are some things to consider before you upgrade. There are also a few ways to get the most out of your system after it has been installed.

At Larry & Sons, we want to help our customers get the most out of their heating investment, so we’ve put together a short list of things to help you take full advantage of a new heating system.

Heating Bills

Regardless of the type of fuel you use, you can help maintain lower heating bills if you know what you typically pay throughout the season. If you haven’t kept a record of your bills, call your gas or electric company and ask for a copy of your fuel usage over the course of the winter for at least two seasons. This will help you formulate an energy saving goal, as well as a goal for how much you want to pay for heat in an average month. You may decide that you want to switch to a different kind of fuel to help save money.

Overall Home Efficiency

Before making any changes to your heating system, make sure that there aren’t any other upgrades you can make in your home first. Whether it’s adding more insulation to your attic, or sealing off areas where there are large air leaks, you won’t get the most out of those savings without doing this before installing a high-efficiency heating system. Installing double-paned windows, storm doors, and even adding ventilation for better airflow will help overall home efficiency. Once the system is in place, consider installing a programmable thermostat that is compatible with your system so that you aren’t heating the house during times that it’s not necessary.

Size and BTU

Sizing a heating system is an important part of the installation process. While your contractor should know what size is appropriate for your home, you should be able to tell if your current system provides enough BTUs for your heating needs. Talk with a Frederick heating expert at Larry & Sons about your options.

Frederick HVAC Tip: Washington County Saving Energy This Summer

Posted on by Larry & Sons

Everyone wants to make their home more energy efficient, it not only saves you money but it also makes your home more environmentally friendly. Upgrading your Frederick HVAC equipment is a great place to start, but it can be hard to decide what to do first.

Before you start making changes, ask yourself the following questions:

How much do you spend on energy?

Paying attention to your energy bill from month to month is very important. A sudden spike could indicate a problem with your Frederick  HVAC system or other appliances in your home. If you start trying to embrace an energy efficient lifestyle, your energy bill can help you keep track of how well you are doing.

Are there benefits to this upgrade?

In addition to being energy efficient, you should discover if there are any other ways that a change can benefit your home. For instance, a new air conditioner could make your home more comfortable, or zone control could make it easier to keep every room in your home the desired temperature. You’d be surprised how many energy efficient upgrades can really improve your whole home and not just your energy bill.

What is your budget?

Budgeting is never fun, but it’s important step to figuring out what you should change first. While it would be great to replace your air conditioner and furnace for ENERGY STAR rated models, it’s a big investment. You can try the little things first, like improving you insulation, repairing air ducts, and sealing air leaks. After you have saved up and improved other parts of your home you can work on replacing your HVAC equipment.

Improving the energy efficiency of your home will make it more comfortable and lower your utility bills. If you have any questions about energy efficient upgrades you can make to your home, call Larry & Sons Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning today!

What Are My Heat Pump Options? A Question from Marlowe

Posted on by Larry & Sons

Once you’ve decided that a heat pump really is the best option for your Marlowe home, you’ll still have a lot of options to consider. There are actually quite a few types of heat pumps and they can vary considerably in terms of their energy efficiency and other available features.

For instance, you can choose to go with a heat pump with a one-speed, two-speed or multi-speed compressor. Single speed compressors are only capable of operating at full capacity. That means that they’ll certainly be able to keep your home warm, but they may be working harder than they need to at some points.

A two-speed or multi-speed compressor, on the other hand, can be adjusted to more appropriately fit the heating and cooling needs of the moment. There will certainly be times when you don’t need your heat pump to be going all out, and the ability to regulate this level of performance can benefit you in several ways.

It will allow you to maintain a more consistent indoor temperature to be sure, but it will also reduce the overall wear and tear on your heat pump over time. If your heat pump doesn’t have to run all out all of the time, it simply won’t wear out as fast, and that will save you both money and frustration in the long run. It’s also worth noting that heat pumps with two-speed or multi-speed compressors are more easily integrated into a zone control system if you have one in your home.

However, regardless of what type of compressor your heat pump has, you’ll also have to examine the various heat pump models available to determine what their actual energy efficiency ratings are. Each heat pump actually comes with two ratings, one for heating and one for cooling.

The heating season performance factor (HSPF) reflects the heat pump’s heating efficiency, while the seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) is a measure of its cooling efficiency. The higher both of these numbers are, the higher the efficiency of the unit. But you don’t necessarily need both numbers to be as high as possible to get the best heat pump for your home.

If you’re going to be using the heat pump more for cooling than for heating because of the climate where you live, you’ll want to make sure the unit you get has as high a SEER as possible, but you won’t have to worry too much about the HSPF. But if you’re going to need more heating than cooling, you should pay more attention to the HSPF than the SEER.

Is Geothermal for Me? A Question from Gettysburg

Posted on by Larry & Sons

Geothermal heating is a great alternative to other types of home heating systems available in Gettysburg. It is safe and efficient, costs very little to operate and makes use of a great renewable resource right below our feet. But is it right for you? Well, geothermal heating may be the right choice for many people, but there are many things to take into account before you can determine whether or not it is the best choice for your home.

The first important thing to understand when you are trying to decide whether or not to go with geothermal heating is how one of these systems actually works. A geothermal system heats your home by extracting heat from the ground and then transferring that heat into your indoor air. This happens when liquid, usually water or antifreeze, passes through a loop of pipes installed several feet below the ground.

The liquid absorbs heat from the ground, which in the winter is always warmer than the air, and carries is back up to an air handler inside your home where that heat is allowed to disperse into the air. Once the air is heated, the air handler blows the air through a system of ducts throughout your house, providing a constant stream of heated air to all areas of your home. The liquid, on the other hand, simply cycles back through the ground loop to pick up more heat and repeat the same cycle over again.

Because a geothermal heating system does not actually generate heat, it requires very little energy to operate. This means that it is both very cheap for you to run and environmentally friendly. But since installing a geothermal heating system involves putting pipes in underground, it can be pretty expensive initially. However, as long as the amount you save every month on your heating costs is enough to offset the high initial price of installation, it is worth it to put down the money up front.

Another alternative, of course, is a more traditional air source heat pump. These are much cheaper to install and nearly as cheap to run. However, air source heat pumps are not as efficient when the air temperature gets below freezing as a geothermal system can be. If you live in an area with harsh winters, the geothermal heat pump is a better option than an air source unit.