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Posts Tagged ‘Eugene’

Is Fall a Good Time to Schedule Air Conditioning Maintenance?

Friday, September 12th, 2014

If your air conditioner made it through the summer with little or no trouble, you may not think about calling a technician. But you are doing your system a disservice if you do not allow a technician to fully inspect your AC well before the next cooling season. Fall is an excellent time to schedule air conditioning maintenance, especially if a technician did not look at your system during the cooling season. Here are some of the advantages you may notice come spring if you schedule AC maintenance today.

Higher Efficiency: When a technician visits your home for maintenance, your air conditioning unit will be cleaned, adjusted, and thoroughly inspected. This is advantageous for many reasons, including efficiency. Your energy bills can go up if a part is out of place, needs repairs, or if it’s dirty. Clean components are more effective at carrying out the heat exchange process that is necessary to cool the air in your home, which means your unit will run as it’s supposed to, keeping bills low.
Longer Lifespan: Air conditioners that receive regular maintenance also tend to last longer. Most air conditioners have an expected lifespan of about 10-15 years, but without any maintenance, your unit may not make it that long. This is because small problems will worsen over time, causing some components to fail early on. After a maintenance inspection, you will be alerted to any small problems that may be at risk of damaging your system permanently.
No Surprises: Finally, if you schedule maintenance today, it’s unlikely that you’ll be greeted by a failing unit in the next cooling season. For example, you may be unaware of low refrigerant in your unit unless you get a visit from a maintenance technician. A refrigerant leak may get worse, and, by spring, you may have very little left. When you switch on your AC, the lack of refrigerant could cause compressor failure, but scheduling maintenance now means there probably won’t be any unpleasant surprises such as this in the spring.

Do you need air conditioning maintenance in Eugene? Trust the dependable technicians at Comfort Flow Heating for all of your AC repairs or for regular maintenance. Give us a call!

Tags: Air Conditioning Maintenance, Eugene
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Why Schedule Professional Duct Sealing?

Friday, September 5th, 2014

Ductwork can break down just like any other part of your air conditioning system in Eugene, and the results can cost you money every month in your utility bills. One of the best ways to reduce the problems caused by faulty ductwork is to schedule professional duct sealing. Since 1961, Comfort Flow Heating has helped multiple customers throughout the Eugene area with ductwork installation, repair and replacement, and we can help you with your ductwork.

What Is Duct Sealing?

Duct sealing entails repairing the holes and cracks that can develop in ductwork over time, as well as sealing connections together with metal binding. To properly seal ducts, your technician will use a substance called mastic coupled with either fiberglass or foil tape. Mastic is an adhesive that is also a very strong bonding agent. When sealing holes or cracks in your ductwork, the technician will spread mastic over the faulty area, then lay tape over the mastic. The mastic needs a period of time to cure, during which it hardens into a permanent seal. This procedure is done for all holes and cracks in your ductwork.

When sealing connections, the technician will brush mastic onto the ends of the two pieces of ductwork that are coming together, then wrap a piece of metal binding around them, connecting the two ends together. The binding is secured with sheet metal screws, and the mastic will harden, creating an air-tight seal between the two pieces.

What Are the Benefits of Duct Sealing?

There are several important benefits to duct sealing:

Significant reduction of air loss – one of the biggest problems with faulty ductwork is the rate at which air is lost. It is estimated that up to 30% of your total air loss can be attributed to faulty ductwork. By sealing the holes and cracks, you can restore your air flow.

Better energy efficiency – when your system loses air, your air conditioner has to work harder to recoup the loss; this puts stress on your AC. Anytime your air conditioner is stressed, it uses more energy to operate.

Better indoor air quality – different kinds of particles and fumes can enter your air flow directly through the holes and cracks in your ductwork; this can reduce your indoor air quality.

Duct sealing can provide you and your air conditioning system with a lot of benefits, but only if it’s done correctly. This is why it’s important to always hire trained professionals for any kind of work on your air conditioning. If you are interested in scheduling duct sealing in Eugene, call Comfort Flow Heating today.

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Why Would I Consider a Geothermal System?

Friday, August 15th, 2014

A geothermal heat pump takes up a large amount of space compared to a standard (or “air-source”) heat pump or the combination of an air conditioner and a heater, such as a furnace or boiler. Geothermal systems also require a longer period for installation and have higher upfront costs. So why should you consider going with a geothermal heat pump rather than one of the numerous alternatives?

There are many good reasons that a geothermal system should be on your shopping list for a new comfort system. The benefits that these appliances provide help them pay back their initial costs many times over, both in savings and in dependable comfort. To find out more about the possibilities for geothermal installation in Eugene, OR, call the professionals at Comfort Flow Heating. We’ve helped customers find the best way to heat and cool their homes since 1961.

The Advantages of Going Geothermal

Dependable performance: Standard heat pumps have a major drawback that sometimes prevents homeowners from installing them: they suffer from efficiency loss during extreme weather conditions. The colder it is outside, the harder it is for a heat pump to extract heat from the outdoors and bring it indoors. The hotter it is outside, the less efficiently a heat pump can release heat to the outdoors. But geothermal heat pumps use the steady temperature 10 feet below the frost line to extract and deposit heat. At this depth, the earth remains around 55 degrees no matter the temperature above ground—you won’t have to worry about your heat pump struggling during any time of the year.
Energy savings: Using the steady temperature of the earth also means that a geothermal heat pump will need to use less power on average than an air source heat pump. The U.S. Department of Energy has discovered through testing that ground source heat pumps can work 3 to 6 times more energy-efficiently than other types of heating and cooling systems, and they will pay for their installation costs in 5–10 years.
Longevity: You will have many years after the payback period to enjoy the savings of a geothermal heat pump, because few comfort systems have such long lives. The indoor heat pump elements of a geothermal system will last 20+ years (with proper maintenance), while the underground loops, the most expensive part to install, can last for 50+ years. Chances are that you won’t ever need to install another comfort system once you have a geothermal heat pump working for your home.

Geothermal heat pumps won’t work ideally for every property: they require the right amount of space, soil conditions, and temperatures. Call up our specialists in geothermal heating and air conditioning installation in Eugene, OR today to arrange for an appointment to survey your property. Comfort Flow Heating will find out if geothermal is your best choice, and then handle the installation quickly and effectively so you can benefit from decades of efficient and reliable heating and cooling.

Tags: Eugene, Geothermal
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Thermostat Problems and Air Conditioning Repairs

Monday, June 16th, 2014

Thermostats are small devices compared to rest of a home’s comfort system. But don’t let that diminutive size deceive you: thermostats are powerful control centers that can make or break an air conditioner. In this post, we’re concerned with the ways a malfunctioning thermostat could “break” your AC—or at least make it start to work incorrectly and require that you call for air conditioning repair service in Eugene, OR.

Because thermostat issues can look like electrical or mechanical failures inside an air conditioner’s cabinet, you must have skilled repair technicians handle the job of fixing them. The professionals will know where to search to determine the source of your home’s cooling woes. You can reach Comfort Flow Heating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for emergency service that will cut to the heart of the problem and fix it.

Some Common Thermostat Issues That Require Repair Work

Miscalibration: When a thermostat begins to misread a home’s temperature by a few degrees or more—a miscalibration in the temperature sensor—it will result in behavior from the air conditioner that will create an uncomfortable home environment. This is usually a simple repair for technicians, although they may advise that you replace an old manual model thermostat with an updated and more precise digital programmable unit.
Connection loss: A thermostat (except for recent wireless models) communicates to an air conditioner through a series of wires that control when the fans and the compressor turn on and off. Loss of connection in any of these wires due to breaks or loose connections will cause the air conditioner to fail to turn on or refuse to turn off. These types of problems often look like serious malfunctions within the AC itself, but experts will narrow down the problem if it originates with the thermostat and provide the necessary targeted repairs.
Poor unit placement: If amateurs originally installed the AC in your home, the thermostat may be located in a poor position to record accurate temperatures. If it the thermostat is too far from the center of the house, it will pick up outlier readings that won’t reflect the actual temperature of the rest of the house. If placed in direct sunlight or near outside drafts, the thermostat will detect “ghost readings” higher or lower than the true temperature. These problems will all lead to poor AC performance. Technicians will have to move the thermostat to a better spot.

Call Comfort Flow Heating for AC Repairs

Sometimes determining what is causing a malfunction in an air conditioning system is the hardest part of a repair. But if you leave your air conditioning repair in Eugene, OR to the experienced team at Comfort Flow Heating, you can expect a fast and accurate solution to whatever ails your comfort system.

Tags: Air Conditioning Repair, Eugene
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Stages Involved In Geothermal Air Conditioning Installation

Wednesday, May 7th, 2014

So, you’ve been thinking about having geothermal air conditioning installed for your home. A good choice: you’ll not only invest in more efficient cooling (and heating), you’ll also invest in the environment.

Installing a geothermal heat pump is a large task that involves a number of stages. Fortunately, you can leave most of the hard work to professionals in air conditioning installation in Eugene, OR. You can find them at Comfort Flow Heating.

Here are the stages our geothermal installers go through to deliver the many benefits of geothermal power to our customers:

Although the actual placement of the geothermal loops is the most labor-intensive stage of installing a geothermal heat pump, the most detailed stage is the evaluation of the property and sizing the system. The installers must decide on the type of loop configuration (vertical or horizontal) that will work with the space available, and the heat load capacity required to effectively cool and heat the home. In many cases, a 3-ton setup is right for most homes. However, the installers will consider factors such as the soil and local geology and available size for the loops when making these determinations, as well as the standard heat pump sizing concerns (house size, insulation, etc.). Sizing any home comfort system is a complex process, but geothermal systems go beyond in intricacy.
The next stage is the installation of the water-to-water heat pump inside a home. Geothermal heat pumps rarely use chemical refrigerant, but rely instead on water run through the loops. The installers place the indoor unit of the heat pump inside the home in a position to hook up to existing ductwork. This work is little different from installing a standard air source heat pump.
Next comes the actual placement of the ground loops that carry the water through the soil to deposit heat from indoors (air conditioning mode) or remove it (heating mode). This work will usually take a few days, but the time required will depend on the loop configuration. Shallower horizontal loops need less digging, while vertical loops will use more labor because of how deep they reach. After the loops are set and connected to the indoor heat pump unit, the installers run the system to test for leaks and to see if it cools/heats the home as intended.

Call for Professional Installers

Many homeowners shy away from a geothermal installation because of the idea of their property getting ripped up for loop installation. Although the work isn’t easy, it’s also not as disruptive as many people imagine; with the right installers on the job, it will be finished before you know it, and you can begin enjoying one of the most efficient heating and cooling systems on the market. In only a bit over 5 years, your geothermal air conditioning installation in Eugene, OR will pay for itself in energy savings.

Comfort Flow Heating has a long history of successfully installing geothermal heat pumps, as well as repairing and maintaining them. Contact us today to speak to one of our geothermal specialists.

Tags: Eugene, Geothermal Systems
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How Chillers Work

Monday, March 31st, 2014

For your commercial HVAC installation, chillers are often a good option for large spaces when you need to remain on a budget, and they are also effective for cooling down industrial machinery. Many people are not aware of how chillers operate and what makes them different from standard air conditioners. We’ll look into chiller function in this post.

Comfort Flow Heating has many years of experience installing chillers in Eugene, OR, as well as installing many other kinds of commercial HVAC systems. We also offer 24 hour emergency service, so you never have to worry about failures when you’re working odd hours of the night.

How chillers work

A chiller is a refrigeration unit that produces cooling by removing heat from liquid using either vapor compression or refrigeration absorption. Most chillers use water rather than chemical refrigerant as the circulating liquid (although they will still use refrigerant in the refrigerant absorption cycle to cool down the liquid), which is one of the ways that a chiller differ from an AC or a heat pump.

In the standard chiller that works as an air conditioner, heat is removed from the circulating water through the condensing coils. The chilled water in the unit is used to cool the air when it passes through evaporator coils, and the water returns to the chiller where it is cooled again. The amount of cooling BTUs from a chiller can be substantial, between 180,000 to 18,000,000 BTUs per hour, which makes them ideal for industrial use.

Chillers can produce a large amount of heat exhaust, which must either be released to the outdoor air, or, in more efficient units, recovered as energy to use in the heating process of the cycle.

Professional commercial chiller installation

As with any major appliance for a business, you want to make sure professionals in commercial HVAC install chillers for company. There are many different options for the type and size of chiller installed, and you’ll need special expertise to pick the right unit. Comfort Flow Heating has formed trusted partnerships with many businesses in the Eugene area because of our skill with installation and maintenance for their valuable equipment. Make us one of your trusted partners with installations of chillers in Eugene, OR.

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Radiant Heating Repair in Eugene

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014

Radiant floor heating may seem like it’s a new invention, but using hydronic power to heat floorboards and floor stones has been popular in Europe for a number of years. In fact, circulating water beneath floors to condition a room has a history going back to Ancient Rome. If you’ve ever experienced the warmth from a radiant heating system, you’ll immediately understand their popularity: the even, toasty rise of heat is one of the most comfortable ways to receive warmth. And this is only the beginning of the benefits from installing radiant heat.

One of the advantages of radiant heating systems is that they require few repairs, much the same with boilers. Troubles can still occur, however, and when you need heating repair service in Eugene for a radiant heat system—or any other heating system—turn to the trusted name of Comfort Flow Heating.

What does radiant heating repair involve?

As with any system that uses the circulation of water, the principle trouble that can afflict a radiant heater is leaking. The durability and corrosion-resistance of the piping used in radiant heating makes leaking unlikely. However, leaks can occur at joints and from the pressure of shifting floor stones or other floor damage. If you notice warping floorboards or excess moisture on the ground, it may come from a leak in the heating pipes.

Repairs for this problem may sound burdensome, but for experts with the right tools they don’t require much time and are not terribly invasive. Once the repair technicians pinpoint the leak using sound-detection equipment, they only need to drill a small hole through the floor material to seal the pipe. Once the leak is fixed, the technicians will replace the flooring.

The other repairs for radiant heating are similar to repairs for a standard boiler: fixing leaks in the tank, repairing water valves, restoring gas lines, clearing exhaust flues. If you have regular maintenance for your unit, these repair needs should rarely occur, and your radiant heating system will last for many years.

Regular preventive maintenance

Speaking of which… make sure to sign up for a maintenance program that will provide you with an annual check-up on your radiant heating system. This is the best insurance you can have against emergency repairs, breakdowns, and a shortened system lifespan. You should also rely on a repair company with 24/7 service so you can have repairs done as soon as necessary; this will help you get the most life from your system.

When you need heating repair in Eugene, OR, and you need it now, call Comfort Flow Heating—any time of the day or night. We specialize in radiant heating installation, repair, and maintenance.

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What You Need to Know about Heating Maintenance

Wednesday, October 30th, 2013

No appliance in your home will run forever, but often people treat them as if they were supposed to—without any repairs or maintenance. Although no appliance can obtain immortality, it can get the next best thing: service that meets or exceeds its manufacturer’s expected lifespan. To achieve this, the appliance requires regular preventive maintenance.

This applies to the heater in your home as much as to your dishwasher or laundry machine. To get through a Eugene, OR winter, you’ll need a heater you can trust to keep providing you warmth through the coldest days. If you schedule regular check-ups and tune-ups from a reliable HVAC company, you’ll have much more trust in your heater.

Comfort Flow Heating has been in business for more than half a century serving Eugene, OR with heating maintenance, repairs, and installation. Look to us to take care of your heating system so it will keep you warm all through the winter—and be ready for next winter as well.

Here are a few important points to know about heating maintenance:

It isn’t arduous or time-consuming: If you hire experienced technicians, a maintenance visit won’t be a major hassle for your schedule. Professionals have a checklist of tasks and inspections, and as long as your heater doesn’t require any major repairs, a maintenance visit will be over before you know it. And if your heater does need repairs, your technician can schedule the work and have it done in a timely manner.

It will save you money: Proper maintenance will not only prevent you from rushing to get a significant (and probably expensive) emergency repair, but you’ll also save money in another way: improved energy-efficient performance. A tune-up on your heater will get all its parts working smoothly so it will drain less energy while delivering the heat level you expect. You won’t have to suffer the burden of inflated power bills.

It will provide you better quality heating: Losing your heater during the winter is the worst-case scenario. But a reduction of heating power is a major inconvenience and a more common occurrence. A heater without proper maintenance will wear down faster, and as that happens it will weaken and you’ll start to notice cold rooms and a general drop in temperature in your home. A yearly tune-up will prevent your heater from declining into uselessness.

Comfort Flow Heating offers an Energy Savings Agreement of one, two, or three years. You’ll receive two visits annually (your air conditioner needs maintenance as well!) that will provide you with a precision tune-up for your home comfort system. Get all the benefits of heating maintenance in Eugene, OR from the experienced people at Comfort Flow Heating.

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What Does AFUE Mean?

Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013

If you own a home in Eugene, heating installation is going to occupy your full attention sooner or later. We need reliable heaters to handle our cold, wet weather, and while proper maintenance can keep yours going for a long time, every heater breaks down sooner or later. When considering a new heater, there’s a lot of things to keep in mind, including a strange little number called an AFUE rating. What does AFUE mean? And more importantly, why should you pay attention to it when buying a new furnace?

The term stands for “annual fuel utilization efficiency,” and as you may have guessed, it measures the efficiency of the furnace. It’s measured in a percentage, representing the amount of the furnace’s energy that actually goes into generating heat, rather than being lost to waste and inefficiency. So for example, a furnace with an 80% AFUE generates heat with 80% of its energy, with the other20% lost to waste.

Obviously, the higher the AFUE rating, the more efficient the furnace itself is. And as you may have guessed, newer units tend to have higher AFUE ratings than older units, which have lost efficiency thanks to outdated technology and the wear and tear of regular use. In fact, as of May 2013, the U.S. Government stipulates that all new oil furnaces must have a minimum AFUE rating of 75% and gas furnaces must have a minimum AFUE rating of 80%. If you have an older furnace, it’s almost certain to have a lower rating than this.

Gauging the AFUE rating of your furnace is just one of the steps you need to take, along with sizing your home properly and deciding if you want to use a traditional central system or an alternate model such as a heat pump. If you’re asking “what does AFUE mean?” contact the experts at Comfort Flow Heating for advice. We can make recommendations for you based on your individual needs, then set up a time for installation that matches your schedule. Heating installation service in Eugene is no laughing matter. Let our trained staff of heating installation professionals help make the process easy for you.

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How Does a Furnace Work?

Monday, October 14th, 2013

If you have an older heating system in your home, chances are good that it’s a furnace. Furnaces are among the oldest of all residential heating systems. In their earliest days, they were fueled with coal and wood. Newer models use electricity, gas, or propane, and can run at high efficiency levels. Some have AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency) ratings of 98%, which means they turn 98% of the fuel they consume into heat.

But how exactly do these grand warhorses of the HVAC world work? Or at least the modern one sitting in your house right now, doing the heating for the fall? Here’s a short rundown on the operation of the contemporary furnace.

If you need more help with a furnace, whether it’s maintenance or repairs, or if you want a new one installed, look to the Eugene, OR heating specialists at Comfort Flow Heating.

Whatever fuel a furnace uses, it operates on the principle of forced air heating. The furnace transfers heat to air, which blower fans then send through the ductwork of a house and out vents. Furnaces often share the duct system with an air conditioner so homeowners don’t need to take up additional space for their cooling system.

In a natural gas furnace, a pilot light ignites a series of burners inside a combustion chamber. The heat these burners create then enters the heat exchanger, where the heat transfers to the air and raises it to the temperature set by the thermostat. At this point, the blowers take the air and send it through the ducts. Propane furnaces operate on a similar principle.

For an electric furnace, instead of a pilot light, an electrical ignition begins the heating process. In place of gas-powered burners, the ignition activates heating elements that contain conductive coils. As current passes through the coils, they begin heating the air for the blowers to handle. The more heat the thermostat calls for, the more heating elements turn on.

This sounds deceptively simple, but furnaces contain many components to ensure that the heat exchange and distribution runs smoothly and without safety concerns. Trying to diagnose or fix a malfunctioning thermostat on your own is not recommended unless you have extensive HVAC training and the appropriate tools. You should rely on experts to handle whatever ails your furnace, no matter its power source. (Gas furnaces can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning, and electric furnaces may cause high voltage shocks.)

Keep your Eugene, OR heating system—whether furnace, heat pump, radiant floor heating, or geothermal—running effectively for you through fall and winter: get the advice and help of Comfort Flow Heating. We’ve been in business for 50 years, and we already know your furnace down to its smallest part.

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