What to Do If Your HVAC Blower Is Constantly Running

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An HVAC blower has two operating modes: intermittent and continuous. The fan setting on your thermostat allows you to select blower operation. For most people, the desired thermostat fan setting is “Auto.” The Auto mode means the blower turns on when the furnace or air conditioner cycles on and then turns off when the furnace or air conditioner cycles off. Conversely, if the thermostat fan setting is “On,” you'll get nonstop, 24/7 HVAC blower operation.

Why Not Continuous Air Circulation?

To some people, constant air circulating in the house — even when the AC or furnace is off — may be desirable. However, it’s worth noting the definite downsides to this option. The electric motor that drives the HVAC blower fan consumes a substantial amount of electricity, so nonstop blower operation will raise monthly bills considerably. Also, running the blower fan all day and night imposes substantial wear and tear on the blower motor, potentially leading to early (and expensive) replacement.

Why Does the Blower Run All the Time?

If the thermostat fan setting is “Auto,” the system blower should be turning on and off in sync with furnace or AC cycles. If the blower fan continues to run even in the “Auto” mode, fan limit switch problems are another possible reason.

The fan limit switch in the furnace air handler is the component that actually turns the blower on and off with HVAC operation. It also safeguards against dangerous overheating by shutting the furnace off automatically if the temperature in the unit rises too high. In certain circumstances, a malfunctioning fan limit switch may keep the system blower running continuously. This can be due to:

• The override button on the limit switch is set to keep the blower fan running continuously.

• The limit switch requires replacement.

• Issues with thermostat wiring such as shorts or disconnected wires.

Because the fan limit switch also prevents dangerous furnace overheating, any problems with the furnace relating to this component requires diagnosis and repair or replacement by a certified HVAC technician only.

For more information about issues such as nonstop HVAC blower operation, consult the professionals at Air Assurance.

How Long Is Too Long to Go Without HVAC Maintenance?

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Doing without professional HVAC maintenance is no bargain. Costly component replacements, along with significant labor costs, are often the consequence when a furnace or air conditioner needs repair because an initially minor malfunction has morphed into a major breakdown. Because system energy efficiency is one of the first casualties of neglected HVAC maintenance, you may also be paying significantly higher monthly electricity and/or gas bills and wondering why.

Another major issue is the fact that a record of annual preventive maintenance by a certified HVAC contractor is often required by the warranty terms of a furnace or air conditioner should the unit require repair or replacement coverage.

Here’s the typical life span of heating and cooling components and how HVAC maintenance matters:

Furnace Maintenance

• A gas-fired central furnace generally provides long service life ranging from 15 to 30 years.

• Fulfilling this extended life span assumes annual furnace preventive maintenance by a qualified technician to ensure that manufacturer-recommended service is performed and any incipient issues are identified and resolved before they become big problems.

• Since safety is a critical element of gas-furnace operation, annual maintenance also includes inspections and tests to confirm function of safety components and ensure safe operation.

Central AC Maintenance

• Today’s central air conditioners incorporate complex technology to maximize cooling performance and energy efficiency. Regular professional maintenance is vital to you being able to enjoy the benefits of these advancements.

• Depending on the manufacturer and typical annual hours of operation, a central AC can be expected to last an average of 12 to 17 years.

• According to industry statistics, the operating costs, reliability, and ultimate service life of a central air conditioner can be impacted if professional maintenance by a certified HVAC technician is neglected.

• Because certain warranty coverage may be void without a record of annual maintenance, the cost of expensive repairs and component replacements will likely fall entirely on the homeowner.

Talk to the experts at Air Assurance for more information about the benefits of regular HVAC maintenance by experienced, certified professionals.

How to Clean the Air in Your Home

Do you ever think about your indoor air quality? If not, you're like many other homeowners who, while they would never neglect cleaning their homes, don't give clean air a second thought. That's too bad, because research has shown that the air quality in most homes — particularly those with newer, tighter construction — is several times more polluted than the air outdoors. It may not be on your radar unless you have allergies or respiratory problems, but read on to learn what you might be breathing in your home. Then, maybe you'll decide it's time to do something about cleaning the air.

What Types of Pollutants Do You Have in Your Home?

The air in most homes is positive for a variety of airborne pollutants, including:

• Humidity

• Volatile organic compounds

• Dust mites and other decaying insect parts

• Pollen

• Dust

• Mold

• Pet dander

Over time, the pollutants build up, particularly if you keep windows and doors closed or if you do not have some type of ventilation equipment installed.

Cleaning the Air in Your Home

There are a number of ways to effectively go about cleaning the air in your home:

• Fix plumbing leaks, condensate drain obstructions, and leaks in the roof and ceiling to lower humidity in the home. Also, changing the HVAC filter often will help the HVAC remove moisture from the home's air properly.

• Install bathroom and kitchen ventilation to lower humidity in the home.

• Air out dry cleaning or articles made of pressed wood to shed volatile organic compounds, which are types of gases given off by certain products. Also tightly cap chemicals such as thinner, paint and cleaning solutions. Put them away in a cabinet or outside.

• Don't smoke indoors.

• Vacuum with a HEPA filter.

• Brush pets outdoors.

• To get rid of pet dander and insect particles, vacuum and clean rugs, carpets, and drapes.

• Use a quality air filter, changing it as often as the manufacturer recommends.

• Use either a portable air purifier or install a whole-home air purifier in the HVAC system.

For more on cleaning the air, contact Air Assurance of Broken Arrow.

How Hot Is Too Hot for Your Furnace?

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Although your furnace produces hot air for your Broken Arrow home, the furnace itself shouldn't overheat. Too-hot furnaces can result in costly and significant damage. Therefore, it's crucial to understand what can cause your furnace to overheat, how to recognize an overheating furnace, and what you can do to fix the issue.

What You Should Know About Furnace Overheating

The internal temperature of your furnace can rise rapidly beyond what's needed for regular operation when there's a blockage somewhere within the system. For example, a filter clogged with dust, lint, and other debris may prevent air from flowing freely out of your furnace. The limited airflow increases the risk of the furnace overheating.

Having some of your vents closed or blocked — or something falling on your furnace and blocking it — could also cause an obstruction. When trapped hot air has nowhere to go, it places a lot of pressure on your furnace and can cause it to overheat.

Your furnace also has protection mechanisms that prevent it from overheating. These mechanisms can fail and lead to overheating.

An overheating furnace may shut down unexpectedly and give you a hard time when trying to restart it. Other signs of an overheating system include:

• Short cycling

• Burning odors from the vents

• Odd noises from the furnace, such as banging and humming

An overheating furnace prevents your house from being heated adequately. The system could also suffer a premature breakdown and require expensive repair. If overheating damages the motor, you may have to replace your furnace. Overheating could also lead to heat exchanger damage, which could allow carbon monoxide to escape into your home's air.

Solutions

Changing a dirty filter and moving curtains and furniture away from your vents could solve overheating. Besides that, the best option would be to call in an HVAC specialist.

An overheating problem doesn't disappear by itself, so you should take action quickly. Remember, you can avoid having a too-hot furnace by ensuring your system is maintained properly. Contact us at Air Assurance if you need furnace repair or maintenance in the Broken Arrow area.

How to Go About Moving a Thermostat

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Are you considering moving your thermostat? It could be a blessing or a curse depending on how you go about it. Here's a quick guide to moving a thermostat to help you avoid making costly mistakes.

Why Consider Moving a Thermostat?

You may want to move a thermostat because its functional design detracts from the room's beauty. You could also move the thermostat because of heating and cooling problems resulting from the device's current location. Poor locations for thermostats that could cause problems like uneven heating and cooling, a short-cycling HVAC system, and high utility bills include:

• Near windows or doors

• In direct sunlight

• On exterior walls

• Kitchen

• Rarely used rooms

• Above your air vents or HVAC system

How to Move the Thermostat

When moving a thermostat, remember it should be centrally located on an interior wall of a frequently used room. Replacing your old thermostat or moving the current one to an adjacent wall can be a DIY project because it doesn't require rewiring the thermostat. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Shut off the power to the HVAC system.

2. Take out the interface from the thermostat's back panel.

3. Disconnect the cables slowly.

4. Take out the back panel.

If you're replacing the thermostat:

• Install the new panel.

• Reconnect the cables to the new thermostat interface, ensuring you connect the wires to the right ports.

If you're moving the thermostat to an adjacent surface:

• Drill a hole in that adjacent wall before installing the new back panel.

• Pull the wires with a wire-fishing tool through the new hole.

• Connect the thermostat interface.

If you're moving your thermostat to a new room that's far from the current location and cables, you would need some advanced wiring knowledge to install the thermostat yourself. You're also likely to find installing a wireless thermostat challenging because you'll have to install a sensor correctly on your HVAC unit. It's best to leave such tasks to an HVAC professional.

Correct thermostat placement will help you achieve optimum home comfort and efficiency. If you need help moving a thermostat in the Broken Arrow area, contact the HVAC experts at Air Assurance.

Advantages of Geothermal Heating in Your Home

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Geothermal heating utilizes the natural heat in the ground to warm your home in the winter. It comprises an indoor pump, a compressor, and a fan, as well as looped piping that's buried in your yard. The geothermal pipes contain a fluid that absorbs heat from the ground and transfers it to the geothermal pump, which sends the heat as warm air throughout your home.

Here are some exceptional benefits a geothermal system offers your Broken Arrow home.

Promotes Health and Safety

Geothermal heating uses renewable energy from below the Earth's surface rather than flammable fossil fuels, making it safer and more environmentally friendly than other heating systems. It doesn't produce carbon monoxide. It also doesn't recycle air, which reduces the threats to your home's air quality. As a result, a geothermal system is more beneficial to your family's health.

Geothermal Heating and Cooling

In addition to providing heating in the winter, a geothermal system can provide cooling in the summer. In the summer, a geothermal system absorbs heat from your home and transfers it to the underground piping loops, where the Earth absorbs it.

Hot Water Supply

A geothermal system can produce the hot water you need for your bathroom and kitchen. What's more, it heats water more efficiently than standard water heaters.

Efficiency

A geothermal system uses significantly less energy to draw heat from the ground than gas furnaces, achieving between 400% and 600% efficiency. It also performs the work of an air conditioner and a water heater. Consequently, it can lower your overall energy consumption by as much as 70%.

Works Silently

Once installed, a geothermal system operates quietly.

Long-Lasting

A geothermal system isn't installed directly outside. As a result, its components aren't subject to deterioration from exterior elements like rain, snow, ice, and varying temperatures. The indoor parts have a life span of several decades. The rest of the geothermal system can last as long as 80 to 100 years and usually comes with an especially long warranty.

Although geothermal heating has high initial costs, it will likely end up paying for itself and providing valuable benefits for many generations to come. Contact us at Air Assurance if you need information on geothermal systems or other heating and cooling products and services in the Broken Arrow area.

Main Drain Cleaning Services in Tulsa

Main Drain Cleaning Services in Tulsa

Mud, soil, leaves, branches, and burrowing nests are some of the things that can block your outside drain. Putting the wrong things down your kitchen sink, drains and toilets can also leave the outside drain clogged. Here's what you can do to deal with a blocked outdoor drain.

How to Handle It When You Find Your Outside Drain Clogged

You can clear a clogged outside drain by hand. However, you'll need to wear rubber gloves because the drains tend to be smelly and dirty. To unclog the drain:

1. Remove the drain covers.

2. Reach in and remove as much gunk as you can at the entrance and exit.

3. Insert your garden hose as far as possible into the entrance point, turn it on, and flush out the debris until the water frees up the line and runs clear.

If there's standing water, you may want to get rid of as much of it as possible before removing the clog with your hands. Nevertheless, your garden hose will work through the standing water.

An outside drain clogged may require some specialty tools, such as:

• Sewer-cleaning machine. To use the machine, you feed a cable attached to it into your outdoor drain pipe. The cable spins through the pipe to break up the blockage. You can't use the machine if your pipe is perforated or corrugated, because the sharp blade on the cable's tip can tear it apart.

• Hydro jetting. With a perforated or corrugated pipe and PVC, you can try using a hydro jetter. This machine flushes out the blockage using high-pressure water.

You can rent hydro jetters or sewer-cleaning machines from a local hardware store. Keep in mind that these machines can hurt you and your pipes if you're not experienced with them.

If you find your outside drain clogged despite your efforts or are having trouble clearing it, you should call in professionals. For all your plumbing problems in the Broken Arrow area, contact Air Assurance. We offer a variety of plumbing services, including hydro jetting drain cleaning and sewer repairs and installations.

Pests and HVAC: How to Keep Them Apart

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The idea of animal or insect pests getting inside your HVAC is certainly unpleasant. Fortunately, this is not a common occurrence. However, it does pay to be vigilant and watch for certain signs that you may have unwanted intruders in your HVAC system. Read on for some tips for dealing with pests and HVAC.

Ductwork, Pests, and HVAC

In most homes, the ductwork is out of sight — either up in the attic, down in the basement, or hidden away in a chase. Unfortunately, it's hard to keep an eye on the ducts this way. You won't necessarily know if the segments have become disconnected or have cracks, holes, or other damage.

Once there's a breach, air can leak out and humidity can get in. So can insect pests, theoretically, although most would have trouble sustaining life with those high-pressure rushes of air through the pipes. However, it could happen. Of possible concern is the presence of rodents, roaches, or other insects, creating a bad link between pests and HVAC.

If you detect an unpleasant smell emitting from your vents, you may want to have your ducts inspected and cleaned. Certainly, you should get them repaired so there are no holes or cracks. If you have access to your ductwork, you can repair them with mastic sealant and foil tape.

Condenser Unit

The outdoor condenser unit can be attractive to different types of pests, such as mice or some insect species. Do not cover the unit in winter, as this may invite creatures to seek a sheltered habitat. Have the unit inspected regularly, and if the HVAC tech finds evidence of an infestation, contact your pest-control specialist. Keep the area around the unit clear of weeds, tall grass, leaves, and other debris that may harbor pests, thus creating problems with pests and HVAC.

Vents

Pests may gain access to your HVAC system through flues and vents. If this is a concern, examine your vents to make sure there are no odors or other signs of infestation. Clean your vents regularly, vacuuming as needed.

For more on pests and HVAC problems, contact Air Assurance. We serve Broken Arrow and the surrounding area.

How to Handle AC Water Leaks

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What should you do if you suddenly find water on the floor next to the air conditioner cabinet? Don't panic; this can happen to HVAC units occasionally, especially if you don't get regular maintenance. Read on and learn how to deal with AC water leaks.

Condensate Line

Your central air conditioner not only cools the air but also removes humidity from your home. After the moisture condenses on the indoor evaporator coils, it runs through the condensate line to a pan. From there, is drains away to the outdoors. Sometimes this line becomes clogged with dirt and debris which, when mixed with condensation, becomes sludge. When this happens, moisture can't flow outdoors, but it can overflow the condensate pan, and depending on where it is located, it can end up as water on your floor or, if upstairs, the ceiling. One telltale sign is dripping sounds inside your AC as it struggles to dehumidify the air.

If you have your air conditioner serviced every spring, your tech would likely pour bleach into the line to ensure that moisture flows freely. But if your line becomes clogged, it's a fairly simple repair. Your HVAC tech can also unblock the line with a wet/dry vac so there aren't any AC water leaks.

Dirty Air Filter

Another reason you may have AC water leaks is due to a dirty air filter. Dirty air filters impede the flow of air in the unit so that they may fail to properly remove moisture on the evaporator coils. When this happens, you may hear dripping sounds or see some flooding on the floor. Also, your air will not be cool. Always change the air filter according to the manufacturer's specifications.

Refrigerant Leak

A refrigerant leak will also keep your air conditioner from properly cooling the air. When there's a leak, the pressure inside the unit is lower, causing the evaporator coil to freeze. Once again, the AC is not able to cool or remove moisture, so that condensation may leak from the unit.

To learn more about AC water leaks, contact Air Assurance of Broken Arrow.