Heating | McKinzie

Furnace Repair Warning Signs in Bryan and College Station

It’s mid-January, and what’s probably foremost on your mind? Spring, of course. And an end to the heating season.

Ah, if only wishing it away could make it so.

So what’s a concerned and slightly chilly homeowner to do? Well, for one thing, you want and need to pay very close attention to your furnace for the duration of winter. Because if it starts exhibiting strange behavior, you’ll want a professional to look at it right away with the goal of not allowing whatever the problem might be to get any worse. Because that would probably mean an unwelcome repair bill.

So does YOUR furnace need a professional look-see? It probably does if you observe any of the following:

Furnace Sounds Like it Needs an Exorcism

A well-maintained furnace will traditionally operate at the sound of a whisper. As in, you should barely able to hear it. But things like a loose belt, a problem with ignition system, or some other part that needs to be replaced can make enough noise to make up even the heaviest sleepers in your home.

You Have a Yellow Pilot Light

While yellow may be pleasing to your eye, it’s not a great sign for a furnace, as a properly working furnace has a steady blue flame. Worse, and while yellow indicates an improper mixing of gases that in turn could lead to a carbon monoxide leak. So that’s something you want looked at without hesitation.

Your Furnace is a Slow Starter

A slow-starting furnace, or one that has trouble staying connected is a clear warning sign of an internal repair issue or a problem with your thermostat.

Water, Water Everywhere

Watery condensation on the inside of your windows may or may not indicate a furnace repair problem, but it’s still worth letting a professional take a look.

Your Furnace is Near Antique Quality

While a lot of “old stuff”, there’s nothing valuable about a furnace that it has exceed its useful lifespan. So if yours is at least 15 years old, it’s a good idea to start thinking about replacing it before it completely shuts down and then makes that decision for you.

“Can Someone Please Pass Another Tissue”

A furnace that’s dirty and not running up to par is likely spewing unhealthy air for you and your family to breathe in, however inadvertently. So if a bunch of you all start feeling poorly at the same time and the symptoms persist, absolutely call your doctor. But call us, too.

You see, at McKinzie Heating & Air, we repairs all makes and models of home heating systems. And for your sake, we’d rather repair it than have to replace it. And the sooner you report any kind of performance issue or symptoms you’re not familiar with, the sooner a repair or cleaning might be all it needs. So contact us today and discover the high level of service we have in store for you.

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How to Heat Your Home for Less in Bryan and College Station

“Hot enough for ya?”

Now THERE’S a line you won’t be hearing for another several months.  Which means that until summer returns, we’re going to have to find something else to complain about besides the heat.  Unless, of course, you’re inclined to complain about how much you pay every month to heat your home.

If so, you’re in very good company.  USA Today recently reported, for example, that, on average, Americans spent an average of 13% more to heat their homes in 2014 vs. 2013.  Which means that, unless you got a 13% raise in pay over the same period of time, you probably felt at least a little bit of a pinch.

What’s in store, heating cost wise, for the winter of 2014-2015?  Hey, why wait to find out when there are things you can start doing right now to feel warmer at home without paying more for the luxury.  Here are just a few common sense solutions:

• Keep your head and feet covered. When your head and feet are cold, your whole body feels cold.  So keep them covered while you’re at home so you can set the thermostat a little lower.

• Change your bedding. Flannel sheets will help keep you nice and toasty all night long, as will throwing another blanket on your bed, especially one made of down or wool.

• Place area rugs over hardwood floors. Area rugs and carpeting serve as another form of insulation by blocking the cold from and helping to keep your feet warm.

• Run your ceiling fan in reverse. That serves to force the warm air back down so you can feel warmer at lower temperature settings.

• Cover up those drafts. Even makeshift solutions like placing a towel across a window sill keep more heat indoors, and more cold air out.

• Keep physically active. A body in motion not only tends to stay in motion, it also requires less heat to keep warm since its generating heat of its own.  So take up a hobby, buy yourself a workout mat or treadmill, or find some other way to keep off the couch while doing something fun and constructive.

Another great way to feel warmer at lower temperatures is to add humidity into the air.  At McKinzie Heating & Air, we can help you do just that with a whole-house humidity control system.  They’re effective energy savers all year long as you can add humidity during the winter and lessen indoor relative humidity during the air conditioning season.  Contact us today to learn more or request a free system proposal.

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Heating Repair Problems in Bryan & College Station

Have you ever woken up first thing in the morning – or, worse yet, in the middle of the night – and called out to no one in particular: “Who turned off the heat?”

It’s one of life’s more common, everyday rhetorical questions. That’s because the answer is almost always: “No one, the heat turned itself off.”

So, let’s see, if you could pick the best, most convenient time to lose heat, when would that be? Yep, another rhetorical question, since most people’s answer is “Never!”

Are you having issues with your heating system right now? If so, what you most need to learn is what’s causing the problem. That way, you can get it taken care of before it gets worse, especially since heating problems almost always get worse. And it will most likely take a qualified and experienced home heating professional to help you get to the bottom of things.

In the meantime, here are the most common symptoms of home heating problems, and a few probable causes of each:

• Uneven temperatures from room to room – Frequently this signifies restricted airflow in your ducts, a crack or leak in your ductwork, or perhaps even a blocked or restricted vent or register.

• No heat at all – Before assuming the worst, check your fuse box or circuit breaker panel to make sure your furnace is getting power. You should also make sure your furnace is turned on and that your thermostat is working properly.

• Not enough heat – Any number of things can need attention in this case, including cleaning or replacing your filter, repairing a cracked or leaking duct, and correcting an imbalance in your airflow.

Of course, the trick to staying warm and comfortable all winter long is to prevent heating system problems in the first place. And the best way to do that is with annual preventative maintenance. Our trained and experienced technicians perform multi-point cleanings and inspections that enable us, among other things, to spot and fix problems in the making before they cause you any serious trouble. Annual maintenance also helps your system last longer, run better, and all while minimizing your annual heating costs.

Contact McKinzie Heating & Air today to schedule service so you don’t have to worry about what COULD go wrong.

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The Benefits of Heating System Maintenance in Bryan and College Station

Before you even think about settling in for a long winter’s nap (wouldn’t it be nice if we really could do that?), it’s time to think about waking your heating system up from its long summer’s snooze.

It’s been sitting there since April or May with nothing to do, and no one to keep warm. But before you know it, you’re going to be calling it back into action, and expecting it to behave without missing a beat.

Unfortunately, things don’t always work that way. First of all, your home heating system has an average expected lifespan of about 15 years, which means each year it gradually loses a little bit of its former oomph. And then there’s the normal wear and tear that comes with a long winter’s work out, producing heat for you and your family day in and day out. In the process, electrical connections can loosen, dirt and dust accumulate, cracks or leaks can form in your ductwork, and so on.

That’s why McKinzie Heating & Air recommends annual heating system maintenance. Basically, you have everything to gain, including:

• Longer system lifespan
• Fewer and less costly repairs
• Cleaner indoor air
• Even temperatures from room to room
• Elimination of hot and cold spots
• Lower heating costs

During our heating system clean & check process, we perform a number of critical steps including the following:

• Test ignition system for safe and proper operation
• Test safety and control circuits for proper operation
• Test exhaust system for proper venting
• Lubricate and clean blower motor air vents
• Measure temperature differences – supply and return
• Inspect and adjust fan belt tension (if applicable)
• Calibrate and level thermostat (if applicable)
• Clean or replace filter
• Lubricate all moving parts per manufacturer
• Tighten and inspect all electrical wiring

As you can see, your heating system has numerous working parts, and they all need to operate at peak efficiency for your family’s improved indoor comfort, safety, and convenience.

Contact us today to request heating system maintenance for your home, and give yourself one less thing to worry about with winter right around the corner.

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Heating System Cleaning & Inspection in College Station

If you’ve had your heating system for at least five years, well, we’re not going to ask you to raise your hand. Even if you did, how would we know?

Instead, we’re here to tell you that you’re in the vast majority of home owners here in Bryan, College Station, and throughout the country. That is, of people who don’t take proper and faithful care of their heating systems.

And yet it ought to be the other way around, where it’s the rare home owner who forgets or neglects to schedule annual heating system maintenance. That’s because some pretty unpleasant things can happen when you choose to leave it un-maintained, such as:

• Premature failure. Most heating systems today are built to last at years and longer, and yet we routinely see them crash and burn in as few as seven years from simple neglect.

• Off-the-charts energy expense & fuel costs. The less care you take care of your furnace, the harder it has to work to keep you warm. And that drives up system operating costs, higher and higher every year.

• Dirty indoor air. At the very least, you should clean or replace your heating system’s filter once a month. Otherwise, the dirt and dust it’s collecting will be swept into your ducts, living spaces and, eventually, your lungs. And then come the colds, respiratory ailments, and problems with allergies and asthma. But heating system’s collect dirt and dust in other places, too, like the furnace cabinet. Hence, once again, the need for annual system maintenance.

Folks, we’re not trying to scare you. Just tellin’ you like it is. At the same time, we want you to know that nobody is better trained or qualified to keep your heating system in top working order than the good folks here at McKinzie Heating & Air. We service and repair all makes and models, including yours. So for the very best in winter time comfort, safety, and energy savings, give us a call today and ask for our heating system cleaning and inspection service. We’ll get right on it.

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How to Purchase an Electric Space Heater in Bryan & College Station, TX

It’s right around this time of year when most people are divided into two opposing points of view:  first, that winter will never end or, taking the more optimistic view, that spring is right around the corner.

Either way, winter has its own plans, and no amount of wishing or hoping will change them.  But there’s always more you can do to keep warm indoors.

Take electric space heaters, for example.  Today’s models are sleeker, more energy-efficient, and safer than ever, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. So how do you know which model is right for you? Here are a few things to think about before making that purchase.

Types: Convection, Radiant, or Combination

• Convection heaters are a great choice for heating large rooms for short periods of time. They heat the air in a room – not objects or people – by using a heat-transfer liquid such as water or oil along with a heating element. The liquid is sealed and will never need to be refilled. These heaters work best in rooms that can be closed off vs. big open spaces.
• Radiant heaters heat objects and people in a room with infrared rays, as opposed to circulating warm air in a space. They warm up quickly, are more energy efficient than other models, and typically generate very little noise.
• Combination heaters offer the best of both worlds by heating people and objects while using a fan to circulate warm air within a room. However, combo heaters are the least energy efficient alternative.

Safety First

• Be sure that the space heater you purchase has been tested and meets the safety standards by an independent safety laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratories. If it doesn’t bear the UL sticker, move on.
• Look for a unit that has both an over-heat switch and a tip-over switch.
• If you have small children or pets in the house, consider a space heater that stays cool to the touch.

Your Needs

• Consider the room you want to heat. How big is it? Is it closed off or open to other rooms of your home? Make sure the heater you select can adequately heat the space.
• For ultimate comfort, choose a space heater with a programmable thermostat, one that will maintain your desired temperature while lowering your energy costs.
• Consider aesthetics and noise level. Some are sleeker and quieter than others, by design.

At McKinzie Heating & Air, we can’t emphasize the safety factor enough.  As licensed electricians and HVAC professionals, we have a lot to offer to help keep your family warm and safe, 24/7.  And one of the ways we’re pleased to do so is with helpful articles like these on our company blog.

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