Whether you have family members that suffer from specific contaminants, or you just want to clean up your indoor air, you should know the common contributors to indoor air quality problems, such as:

• Carbon monoxide: Produced by fuel-burning equipment such as a gas furnace or wood-burning stove. Surprisingly, when you burn candles, they also emit carbon monoxide, along with other harmful pollutants.
• Radon: A gas that naturally occurs within the ground when uranium breaks down, it often seeps into homes from the ground.
• Pesticides: Often used to control pests in the home.
• Chemicals: This type of pollutant is present in many home cleaning solutions, disinfectants and plug-in air fresheners. In addition, common hygiene products, including deodorant, dry-cleaned clothes and shampoo, often contain harmful pollutants.
• Home materials: Carpets, furnishings and construction materials commonly contain pollutants.

One of the best ways to find out which pollutants exist within your home is to have professional testing done. Once testing has revealed the culprits that are impacting your home’s indoor air quality, you can implement several solutions to address the problem, including:

• Removing pollutants from the home.
• Using filtration, usually in the form of a more efficient furnace filter, which will trap more dust and other particulates.
• Installing an air-purification system. You can choose a system that will target the pollutants in your home.
• Implementing humidification, to ensure balanced home humidity and decrease the presence of bacteria and viruses. Or dehumidification, to help keep mold at bay.

Get control over your home’s indoor air quality by implementing source control practices, or installing filtration, air-purification, humidification or dehumidification equipment that will target specific problems in your home. For help, contact the experts at Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling. Serving homeowners in central Indiana for more than 42 years.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about indoor air quality and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling services Central Indiana including Hancock, Hamilton, Madison and Northern Marion. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today! 

• Use a high-efficiency HVAC filter: Install a high-efficiency filter in your furnace or air conditioner. Filters with a high MERV (minimum efficiency reporting value) rating are more effective at trapping and holding the dust and other particulates that flow through your heating or cooling system. Change filters each month.
• Exchange bedding weekly: Beds are significant sources of dust generated from cloth fibers and your own skin cells. Change and wash bedding at least weekly.
• Clean cushions and bedding outdoors: Take non-machine washable bedding, sofa cushions and slipcovers outside and beat them to dislodges dust and fibers. This helps keep particulates out of your home’s indoor air.
• Beat your rugs: Area rugs are subjected to heavy use and generate a lot of dust. Take these sturdy rugs outside and shake them vigorously to remove dirt, or beat them with an old-fashioned rug beater, stick, paddle or tennis racket.
• Capture dust: Use damp rags or electrostatically charged cleaning cloths to pick up dust rather than spread it around. Avoid using feather dusters, as they tend to just stir up dust.
• Filter the air: While vacuuming, run your furnace or air conditioner’s fan. This will keep air circulating through the unit’s filter, where dust will be trapped and held.
• Use the right type of vacuum: Clean carpets with upright vacuum with a strong agitator. Use a canister-type vacuum with no agitator to clean wood, tile or vinyl flooring.

Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling has been providing quality plumbing and HVAC services in central Indiana for more than 42 years. We serve customers in Noblesville, Kokomo, Franklin, Columbus Greenfield and the surrounding areas. Contact us todayfor more information on reducing dust problems in your home and improving overall indoor air quality.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about dust problems and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling services Central Indiana including Hancock, Hamilton, Madison and Northern Marion. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!     

System Type

The three most common types of heating systems are:

• Forced-air furnace, a unit that burns fuel to heat air that is blown through ductwork to areas throughout your house.
• Heat pump, a heating system that moves heat into or out of your home using a system of pipes and heat-transporting refrigerant.
• Geothermal heat pump, which relies on the relatively constant temperatures underground to transfer heat into and out of your home.

Buy A High-Efficiency Unit

High-efficiency furnaces cost more initially, but over time they are very cost-effective. Look for a unit with a high annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) rating, as higher AFUE numbers mean better efficiency. A higher-AFUE heating system will immediately lower your fuel costs. Replacing an AFUE 80 furnace with an AFUE 95 model, for example, will save approximately 15 percent on your annual fuel expenditures.

Get The Right Size

Make sure the furnace you buy is correctly sized for the space it will heat. A too-small furnace will not heat adequately; it will work harder as it tries to heat your home, increasing overall wear and the possibility of expensive breakdowns. A furnace that is too big will cycle on and off more often than necessary, leading to increased wear and tear and a shorter life span.

Use Tax Credits

Check with your HVAC dealer to see if the heating system you’re buying qualifies for any federal tax credits for consumer energy efficiency. These credits, which in the past have amount to several hundred dollars, may apply to certain types of high-efficiency furnaces or heat pumps.

Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling has been providing quality plumbing and HVAC services in central Indiana for more than 42 years. Contact us todayfor help in choosing a new heating system.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about choosing a new heating system and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling services Central Indiana including Hancock, Hamilton, Madison and Northern Marion. Visit our websiteto see our special offers and get started today!     

Among the more common components needing repair or replacement is the furnace blower. This high-powered fan blows the warm air generated by the furnace into the ductwork and out at vents and registers throughout your home, where it provides the seasonal heating that keeps you and your family comfortable.

Blowers are the hardest-working part of your furnace, and are frequently the component that is running most often. For this reason, blowers are also the parts that wear out the fastest. Over the life of any furnace, it is likely that you will have to have the blower fixed or replaced at least once.

Regular furnace blower maintenance performed by your trusted HVAC professional can keep the blower and the entire heating system running smoothly and reliably. Your HVAC technician will inspect the blower for problems and malfunctions and fix them before they cause a total breakdown.

If your furnace blower fails, it may be a better idea to replace the entire blower unit. However, some smaller elements of the blower can sometimes be fixed or replaced, such as the blower wheel (also called the squirrel cage blower wheel), the rotating fan inside the blower that circulates the air or the fan motor, the unit that turns the blower wheel to drive air flow and increase the velocity of heated return air so that it reaches all parts of your home.

Summers Plumbing, Heating, & Cooling has been providing quality plumbing and HVAC services in central Indiana for more than 42 years. We serve customers in Noblesville, Kokomo, Franklin, Columbus, Greenfield and the surrounding areas. Contact us todayfor more information on furnace blower maintenance, for help with a maintenance inspection and for expert repair service and replacement of components and entire blower assemblies.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about furnace blowers and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling services Central Indiana including Hancock, Hamilton, Madison and Northern Marion. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!     

• Insulate pipes: Check with your hardware store or HVAC supplier for pre-made insulation designed to wrap around pipes and protect them from the cold. If you can’t find ready-made insulation, wrap your pipes with standard blanket or roll insulation. Make sure pipes are well insulated in unconditioned areas of your home, such as crawl spaces, basements and attics.
• Install heating tapes: Wrap your pipes with electric heating tapes, manufactured lengths of cable or wiring containing heating elements. Plug the heating tape in when temperatures drop to generate heat and prevent freezing.
• Seal out the cold: Seal cracks, openings, holes or other areas in your house where warm air can leak out and cold air can get in. Check your basement, crawl spaces, outside walls, foundations or other areas where cold air can reduce temperatures around water pipes.
• Run faucets: When temperatures drop, turn on your faucets to create a small but constant flow of cold and hot water. This keeps water moving through the pipes, reduces line pressure, and helps prevent freezing.
• Open cabinets: Open the cabinets under your kitchen and bathroom sinks where water pipes enter your home. This lets heat get to the pipes, further protecting them from freezing.
• Be cautious: If leaving your house for an extended period, do not turn your heating system below 55 degrees. If possible, drain your water pipes and shut off the water until you return.

Summers Plumbing, Heating, & Cooling has been providing quality plumbing and HVAC services in central Indiana for more than 42 years. We serve customers in Noblesville, Kokomo, Franklin, Columbus and Greenfield and the surrounding areas. Contact us today for more information on avoiding frozen pipes.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about frozen pipes and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling services Central Indiana including Hancock, Hamilton, Madison and Northern Marion. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!     

Freezing pipes image via Shutterstock

• Blanket insulation, including batts and rolls of fiberglass, mineral wool, or fiber-type insulation.
• Loose-fill insulation, consisting of cellulose, fiberglass, or mineral wool pellets that can be blown into place using specialized air compressors and hoses.
• Spray foam, a polyurethane or other plastic-type substance that is applied as a soft foam that hardens to a very solid consistency.

There are three major factors to consider when upgrading using these types of insulation:

1. Apply Insulation Where Applicable

Blanket: Use in unfinished walls, floors and ceilings, and between wall and ceiling joists, studs and beams.
Loose-fill: Use in existing enclosed walls, open new wall cavities, unfinished attic floors and in areas that are difficult to reach with traditional types of insulation.
Spray foam: Like loose-fill insulation, use in existing enclosed walls, new wall cavities and unfinished attic floors.

2. Installation Methods

Blanket: Placed between wall studs, joists, beams and nailed, stapled or otherwise secured into place.
Loose fill: Blown or poured into place with specialized equipment such as air compressors, hoses and nozzles.
Spray foam: Sprayed out of smaller cans or larger pressure sprayers.

3. Advantages Of Chosen Insulation

Blanket: Can be easily installed by homeowners as a do-it-yourself project; pre-made rolls of insulation can be found to fit most standard wall stud and joist spacings.
Loose fill: Ideal for adding insulation inside existing walls, in areas with irregular shapes, around obstructions or where other forms of insulation cannot be installed.
Spray foam: Also good for adding insulation to existing walls, irregularly shaped areas, and where other types of insulation are impractical or too difficult to install.

Contact us at Summers Plumbing, Heating, & Cooling for more information on choosing the best insulation types for your home sealing and insulation upgrading project. We have been providing quality plumbing and HVAC services in central Indiana for more than 42 years.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about insulation and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling services Central Indiana including Hancock, Hamilton, Madison and Northern Marion. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!     

Heat recovery ventilation (HRV) helps improve climate control, provide fresh air and save energy by reducing the heating and cooling requirements of your home. Heat recovery ventilation systems work by using the heat from the outgoing air to warm up the fresh, incoming air to your home. In this sense, an HRV removes the polluted and stale air out of a home, extracts the heat and replaces it with fresh air — thereby improving air quality. They can recover and reuse upward of 70 percent of the energy that exits your home. This can mean more comfort for you and more money in your pocket when the monthly energy bill arrives.

A heat recovery ventilation system can be installed as a stand-alone device or added to an existing HVAC system. If your house operates on a central ventilation system, the installation of a heat recovery ventilator can be less expensive than installing a window-mounted model.

While these types of energy recovery systems do require more maintenance than other ventilation systems, they also offer the opportunity to improve the air quality inside your house and decrease the operational stress of your heating and cooling system in the long-term. You just have to remember to regularly clean and insulate the ventilation ducts to achieve and maintain optimal energy recovery.

When you are ready to start saving money and energy, contact Summers Plumbing, Heating & Coolingto increase the comfort of your home.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about heat recovery ventilation and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling services Central Indiana including Hancock, Hamilton, Madison and Northern Marion. Visit our websiteto see our special offers and get started today!     

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that in a typical house, about 20 percent of the air moving through the duct system is lost to leaks. Leaks in your duct system also create an air-quality problem, circulating dust, fumes and allergens that would have otherwise been kept out of the system.

Because ducts are often difficult to access, you may want to hire a dependable contractor to improve your duct efficiency. But before you do, take a look at these tips from the EPA regarding duct sealing so you’ll know what to expect:

• Use mastic sealant, metal tape or an aerosol-based sealant to close gaps — not duct tape.
• Insulate ducts in unconditioned areas with insulation with an R-value of R-6 or higher.
• Inspect the entire duct system, including crawl spaces, garage, basement and attic.
• Ensure your air return ducts are properly sized.
• Straighten out flexible ducts that are tangled or crushed.
• Always conduct a combustion safety test after ducts are sealed to make sure there is no back-draft from fuel burning appliances.
• One of the most common and easiest to fix leaks are at vents and registers where they meet the floor, wall or ceiling.

For more information on duct efficiency, contact us at Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about duct efficiency  and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling services Central Indiana including Hancock, Hamilton, Madison and Northern Marion. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!     

Energy costs are on the rise, and heating and cooling your house are two of the largest energy consumers in your home. Reducing heating and cooling costs can save you hundreds of dollars each year, and a dual-fuel system can help you achieve these savings without forcing you to compromise comfort.

A heat pump alone will lose efficiency when the temperature outside drops below freezing, which causes you to use more energy to warm your home. If you could reduce the burden on your heat pump or furnace and allow them to share responsibility, you could decrease energy use. That is exactly what a dual-fuel system does.

Like a hybrid car, dual-fuel systems utilize the most efficient source of power at a given time. When the temperature is mild, the system uses a heat pump that is electrically powered. During colder weather, the system switches to a more efficient furnace or boiler. You no longer have to sacrifice either comfort or money; the dual-fuel system gives you the best of both worlds — energy savings and a comfortably heated home.

Using the energy efficient dual-fuel system can save you 30 percent, or more, on your energy bill. The system does not require any more maintenance than a conventional system and wear and tear are actually reduced on the back-up system because of less use.

An HVAC expert can help you determine the best type of system for your home and answer any questions or concerns you may have. They can also provide you with an estimate of energy savings you can achieve by upgrading to a dual-fuel system. An HVAC contractor or your local utility provider can advise you of any tax credits that may be available and your system could pay for itself within just a few years.

For more information on dual-fuel systems, contact the experts at Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling. We have been providing expert plumbing and HVAC services for more than 40 years.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about dual-fuel systems  and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Summers Plumbing, Heating & Cooling services Central Indiana including Hancock, Hamilton, Madison and Northern Marion. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!     

Energy Saving image via Shutterstock