Red Rock Mechanical, LLC Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Heating System Repair’

What Strange Furnace Smells Might Be Telling You

Monday, January 20th, 2020

girl-pinching-noseWhen a furnace first turns on for the winter season, it emits a burning odor into the air from the vents. This is normal. It’s odor of the dust along the heat exchanger or heating elements burning off as the unit heats up. The smell will subside after a short time and the furnace will get into the regular groove of warming the house.

But if a furnace starts to smell funny after it’s started up for the season, it’s often a warning something is wrong that needs attention. We want you to know what these unusual odors may mean and when to call for furnace repair in Plattsburgh, NY from our team, so we’ve written a short guide. If you have any doubts about your furnace, don’t spend long analyzing it—shut the furnace off and call for assistance. Always better to be safe when it comes to a central furnace.

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Corrosion and the Furnace—Yes, It Can Happen

Monday, December 9th, 2019

rusted-furnaceWhat sort of home appliance do you think is most likely to corrode? You’ll probably think of the water heater, or shower heads and other water-using fixtures. You probably don’t think about your gas furnace rusting. It doesn’t use water to warm your house, after all. It applies heat to the air through a metal heat exchanger that contains hot combustion gas.

But furnaces can rust, and many do. It can be a minor irritation, a sign the furnace is too old and needs to be replaced, or even a major safety hazard. Let’s look a bit more into how corrosion can affect a furnace and what it means.

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Is It Too Late to Bother With Heating Repair?

Monday, April 15th, 2019

hand-holding-wrenchIf the heating system in your home is still working the way it should during the last few cold days of spring, you can probably shut it down for the summer without much worry. As long as you remember to schedule maintenance for it in fall before the first cold settles in for the end of the year, you shouldn’t need further heater service in Burlington, VT for a good long strength.

However, if you’ve noticed anything wrong with the heater at the time of year, please take steps to have the system inspected and, if necessary, repaired. You might believe that heating malfunctions in spring aren’t a big deal since the heater is about to shut down for the season. But the truth is that a heater should never be allowed to run or be left it sit for a long stretch of time if it needs a repair.

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How Can a Heat Pump Get Heat From Outside in Winter?

Monday, March 4th, 2019

hot-and-cold-houses

This is a common question people have when they first hear about how a heat pump works. The conversation usually goes something like this …

HVAC Tech: A heat pump is basically like an air conditioner. But it can work in reverse.

Homeowner: What happens when an AC runs in “reverse”?

HVAC Tech: Well, normally an AC draws heat from out of your house. That’s why the air feels cooler indoors.

Homeowner: I thought an AC generated cooling.

HVAC Tech: Cooling is the lack of heat. The AC takes the heat away, making the air cooler. But the AC has to put that heat somewhere, so it releases it outdoors. Now imagine doing it the other way. A heat pump when in heating mode draws heat from the outside and releases it indoors. Presto! Home heating.

Homeowner: Oh, I see. But … wait a minute, I’m only going to run the heat pump in heating mode when it’s cold. So that means the heat pump is bringing in heat from the cold air outside?

HVAC Tech: Yes.

Homeowner: How does that work? It’s … cold outdoors!

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There’s Smoke Coming From My Heat Pump! What’s Wrong?

Monday, January 7th, 2019

geothermal-vents-in-groundIf you’re asking this question, this is probably the first winter you’ve spent with a heat pump providing comfort for your home. You made a change in spring or winter to your HVAC system and replaced it with a heat pump. This is a great choice—heat pumps are able to deliver excellent cooling in hot weather and energy efficient heating in winter. Thanks to advances in heat pump technology, heat pumps operate in cold temperatures better than ever before.

But making the change to a heat pump brings with it a few adjustments. When you see what looks like smoke coming off the outside cabinet of the heat pump, please don’t panic—this is actually how the heat pump is supposed to run, as we’ll explain below.

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October Is Here: Time to Think If Your Heating System Needs Work

Monday, October 1st, 2018

service-blue-markerThe recent rains should serve as a strong reminder: it’s definitely fall, and we’re on the road to winter. Air conditioners will soon turn off for the rest of the year and furnaces and boilers will fire up (or heat pumps switch over to heating mode).

Now, before that happens, ask yourself if your heating system needs work. Can you trust it to make it through another tough winter season?

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Mid-Winter and Your Furnace: Why You May Need Service

Monday, January 22nd, 2018

woman-in-sweaterThe middle of the winter is the point when you may have concerns about the performance of your home’s furnace. It’s wise to be on the lookout for potential problems. It’s not only the coldest time of the year, but the furnace has done a half season of work and has another half ahead of it.

There are a number of reasons why you may need to have professionals give your furnace a look and make fixes and adjustments in mid-winter. Schedule your heater service in Burlington, VT or the surrounding areas to ensure you don’t have a furnace that fails for any of the following reasons:

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Some Boiler Malfunctions You May Run Into

Monday, January 8th, 2018

service-reminder-clockA boiler is a great way to provide warmth during a stormy and cold winter—and we’re in the middle of one of those right now! The heat coming from radiators and baseboard heaters is cozy and spreads evenly through a room, without having to blow around any dust from ductwork. A boiler also has a great advantage over a furnace, which is that it usually needs fewer repairs over its lifetime. A boiler contains fewer moving mechanical parts that can break down. As long as you remember to schedule heating maintenance for your boiler each year (do it now if you haven’t!) you should have reliable comfort through the season.

There’s no guarantee, of course, that your boiler will work without any troubles. Let’s look at some possible problems your boiler might encounter. Call for boiler heating professionals to check out the issue before it worsens and you end up with no heat at all!

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Is Your Electric Furnace Not Up to the Task?

Tuesday, December 26th, 2017

cold-sweater-manThere’s a good reason natural gas furnaces are common for heating in Burlington, VT: they have immense heat output that can overcome even the deepest cold days. And we have quite a few super-cold days in Vermont and New York! A gas furnace not only effectively warms up a house, it also saves money since natural gas costs less to use than electricity.

Natural gas, however, isn’t available to all homes in our area. Some homeowners prefer not to use it even if it is available because of safety concerns. For those homes, the electric furnace is always an option—and it can be an effective option as well.

But this winter, are you finding your house is colder than normal, even when you have the furnace turned up all the way? The electric furnace may not be up to its job. Let’s find out why.

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Why Isn’t My Gas Furnace Turning On?

Monday, November 27th, 2017

natural-gas-furnace-burnersWhen you’re making your winter plans, both in the short-term and the long-term, you probably make most of them around being in locations where you can receive warmth. In your house, that means a natural gas furnace that works whenever you need it to, that will turn on when the thermostat signals your house requires a boost in warmth.

You probably aren’t planning for the furnace to refuse to turn on at all. You can take steps to avoid this during the fall (arranging for professional heating maintenance is one of the best), but there’s nothing that can stop all potential furnace malfunctions. If your furnace isn’t coming on and you aren’t getting any heat, there are a couple of possibilities for why it’s happening. Some you can correct on your own, but others will require you call for heating repair in Plattsburgh, NY from HVAC professionals.

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