Touchstone Heating & Air Inc. Blog: Archive for the ‘Heating’ Category

Is Your Furnace Going Bump in the Night?

Monday, October 2nd, 2023

It may be a spooky season, but that doesn’t mean you want your furnace to participate by giving you scares. If your furnace is showing signs that something is wrong, it is better to address your concerns now instead of putting off service until later.

Our team is here to help with heating repair in Alachua, FL. You can keep reading to learn more about the signs that your furnace is facing some struggles that need to be addressed before temperatures drop even more this winter. Then give us a call to schedule your service and rest easy knowing that your furnace is in the best shape possible.

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Some Important Info About Electric Furnaces

Monday, February 6th, 2023
electrical-icons

Electric furnaces are heating systems found in many homes in Florida. They’re far more common here than in more colder parts of the country. You may be considering installing an electric furnace in your home, or perhaps you’d like more information about the one you already have. We’re glad to help out, whatever the case. But here’s something you might not have known:

Electric furnaces can outlast many other heating systems

Because electric furnaces don’t have the strain of combusting fuel and the presence of combustion gases like natural gas furnaces, and they don’t have as many moving parts as heat pumps, they will not wear down as fast as either. Where a natural gas furnace will usually not last much longer than 15 years and heat pumps can last around 10 to 15 years, a quality electric furnace can last beyond 15 years. 

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Yes, Your Heating System Can Be TOO Powerful!

Monday, December 26th, 2022
sunshine-illustration

This HVAC fact often comes as a surprise to people. After all, what’s wrong with having a heating system in your home that’s more powerful than necessary? True, it costs more to buy a more powerful system, but it means you can always have the extra heat boost when you need it, and when you don’t need it, you can just turn it down.

None of this actually works out, because furnaces and heat pumps don’t operate with a throttle where you ramp up and down how much thermal power the heater puts out. Aside from wasting money on getting a heater that’s too powerful for your house, an oversized heater will create other problems that will cost you in both money and comfort. 

Let’s take a closer look at why an oversized heating system is bad news for your home.

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How Does an Electric Furnace Work?

Monday, December 12th, 2022
heating-element

Electric furnaces are a common option for heating in Florida. In regions with colder winters, electric furnaces can become costly to operate and they don’t have the heat capacity and heating speed of using a gas-powered furnace. In our short and mild winters, however, electric furnaces are cost-effective and just plain effective. For homes that don’t have a connection to a gas main, using an electric furnace in Newberry, FL is an excellent option for winter heat.

If you’d like to know more about electric furnaces and how they operate, we’re glad to share our knowledge with you. 

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How Heating Maintenance Improves Your Winter Safety—Even in Florida

Monday, November 14th, 2022
furance-checked-by-technician

Each fall, we make it a point to remind our customers to schedule heater maintenance in Wellborn, FL and elsewhere in North Central Florida. It’s easy for people who live in a warm climate to let their home heating needs slip past. There simply isn’t the same urgency in Florida when it comes to winter as there is in a place like Wisconsin. But heating maintenance is still important in our region, and that’s why we make a bit of noise to ensure the homeowners know it’s the time of year to get their heating maintenance appointment on the calendar before the winter.

There are several reasons why these annual inspections and tune-ups for home heating systems are important, even in the Sunshine State. Maintenance ensures the best performance from a heater when necessary, lowers the occurrence of malfunctions, and keeps energy efficiency high. But even without those factors, there’s an important reason to always have heating maintenance … and that’s safety.

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Get Ready for the Season Ahead With Heating Maintenance

Monday, October 17th, 2022
repairmen-two-door-ladder

It’s October, and even if the weather is still warm, this is when we recommend our customers arrange for their annual heater maintenance in Fort White, FL and throughout North Central Florida. Scheduling maintenance now ensures your system is ready before cold weather arrives, helping to prevent unexpected issues when temperatures drop. Regular annual maintenance also helps avoid the need for furnace replacement, saving you from costly and inconvenient system overhauls. Regular maintenance helps ensure that worn or damaged parts are identified early and can be replaced before they cause major system failures.

Unfortunately, people often forget the importance of heating maintenance in a place that gets as warm as Florida, but with the heating season approaching, this is an important service, as we’ll explain below.

Introduction to Heating Systems

Heating systems are the backbone of home comfort during the colder months, ensuring your family stays warm and cozy when temperatures drop. Whether your home relies on a natural gas furnace, an electric unit, or an oil-powered system, each type of heating system has its own set of features and maintenance needs. Keeping your heating system in top shape is about more than just comfort, it’s about maximizing energy efficiency, reducing energy bills, and avoiding costly repairs down the road.A well-timed furnace tune up can make a world of difference, helping your system deliver optimal performance all season long. Regular maintenance tasks, such as inspecting the heat exchanger for cracks, checking for gas leaks, and cleaning or replacing the air filter, are essential for keeping your heating system running safely and efficiently. These maintenance practices are crucial not only for furnaces, but for your entire hvac system, ensuring reliable comfort and efficiency throughout the year. By staying proactive with your maintenance routine, you can extend the lifespan of your furnace, improve indoor air quality, and ensure your home is ready to handle the demands of winter. In this article, we’ll walk you through the key steps to maintaining your heating system, so you can enjoy reliable heat and peace of mind all season.

Understanding Your Furnace System

To keep your home warm and comfortable during the colder months, it’s important to understand how your furnace system works. At the heart of your heating system are several key components that work together to deliver reliable heat. The combustion chamber is where fuel and air mix and ignite, creating the heat your home needs. This heat is then transferred to the air by the heat exchanger, a critical part that ensures your system operates safely and efficiently.

Once the air is heated, the blower motor pushes it through the ducts and into your living spaces, ensuring even distribution throughout your home. The air filter plays a vital role by trapping dust and debris, preventing them from circulating in your air and potentially clogging up the system. Regular maintenance of these components, such as cleaning or replacing the air filter, inspecting the heat exchanger, and ensuring the blower motor is running smoothly, helps maintain optimal performance and energy efficiency. By understanding these key components and their functions, you can better appreciate the importance of regular maintenance in keeping your furnace system running efficiently and your home comfortable all season long.

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Is Your Furnace Running Inefficiently?

Monday, March 7th, 2022
money-saving-house

Your home’s furnace plays a pivotal role in your overall comfort and well-being. Being the essential resource that it is, it’s also something that necessitates a great degree of value and prioritization. Supporting your furnace is an essential practice in bolstering your home’s heating, as by doing so you can properly identify and mitigate issues that could end up costing you time, money, and peace of mind.

In this regard, it’s a common intent among homeowners to know how to assess their furnace’s performance, so as to ensure it’s functioning to the best of its capacity year-round.

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How Long Will My Furnace Last?

Monday, February 7th, 2022
furnace-old

Nothing lasts forever, and the same goes for the furnace in your house. Sure, it won’t see as much use in Florida as, say, in colder states like New York, Maine, or Rhode Island. Regardless, you still want to get the most out of your furnace even if it isn’t seeing much use.

In this article, we’ll go over how long you can expect your furnace to last, some issues that can shorten its lifespan, and when it’s time to get a new one.

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Explaining the Electric Furnace Efficiency Rating

Monday, January 25th, 2021

money-saving-houseInstalling an electric furnace in Macclenny, FL is a good choice for home heating. Electric furnaces can handle the heating requirements of the mild Florida winters without much trouble, and they’re good for homes without a connection to a gas main. 

We want to address something that’s often misunderstood about electric furnaces in this post, which is their energy efficiency, or specifically their energy efficiency rating. This can help you understand the benefits and disadvantages of using an electric furnace, as well as assist in the future when you’re making decisions about HVAC installations.

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Why Is My Heating System Making My Home Too Hot and Stuffy?

Monday, December 28th, 2020

temperature-gaugeHeating a home in Florida during our mild winters is a bit of a juggling act. We don’t need our heating systems to run every day, through most of the day, as in a cold northern state where the weather is routinely below freezing. We’ll need our heaters on certain occasions and run them long enough to keep away the cool chill of days that are in the 50s. This makes it easy for a heater to get a house too hot and stuffy when it runs. 

If you’re currently having trouble getting your house to the right balance of comfort on colder days because it always seems like rooms are getting uncomfortably warm, then you may need heating repair in Macclenny, FL. There are several possibilities for why you’re having this stuffy, overheated house problem.

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