Touchstone Heating & Air Inc. Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Gainesville’

You Want a New AC for Next Year: Now What?

Monday, October 19th, 2020

air-conditionerThis sounds a bit like a Christmas request (we don’t think Santa can cram a new central air conditioning system down your chimney, and we also doubt he has the proper certifications to accurately size it), but it may be a big question you’ve got for the upcoming season. You know that the current AC you have is near the end of its service life, and trying to push it through another summer in Florida may end in disaster. 

If you’re concerned about the performance of your central air conditioning system, we suggest you take steps soon for AC installation in Gainesville, FL. Our winters may have cooler weather than our summers, but the hot days never go away for too long. You may need the air conditioner up and running soon—so it’s better to have the air conditioner be a new one.

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What AC Service Do You Need More: A Repaired AC or a New AC?

Monday, September 21st, 2020

question-markFlorida doesn’t go by the same seasonal playbook as many parts of the country. Air conditioning service in Gainesville, FL is something people consider throughout most of the year. Fall and winter offer better opportunities to have air conditioning jobs done, but the gap between periods when we won’t need our ACs running and when we do is narrow.

Since it’s now officially fall, it’s the right time to bring up a crucial question about air conditioning services: which job do you need done the most in the coming months, repairing your air conditioner or getting a new one?

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How Our HVAC Pros Can Help Your Cooling in Late Summer

Monday, August 10th, 2020

wrenchesThe later summer can be the worst when it comes to heat and humidity, especially in Florida. It can also be the worst when it comes to air conditioning system performance—a lot of pressure and stress have built up on the AC components in the last few months, and when it gets even hotter, the system may start to lose capacity or even break down.

It doesn’t have to be this way, not when you have a great Gainesville, FL, HVAC contractor who can help you out. We have more than two decades of helping North Central Florida homeowners enjoy the best cooling. Here are ways we can help you with cooling during the risky late days of summer.

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Indoor Air Quality in Homes Is Worse Than Ever—Here’s Why

Monday, May 18th, 2020

woman-with-allergiesYou’re staying indoors much more these days. Probably much more than you ever expected or ever wanted. So it’s a good time to talk about indoor air quality—starting with the bad news.

Indoor air quality is worse today than ever before. In fact, studies in residential and commercial buildings have discovered that the air quality indoors is often three to four times worse than the air quality outdoors. That sounds like it goes against the basics of the idea of “air pollution,” but it’s a fact. Your own indoor air may be making your comfort and health worse, and that walk outside could do you some good.

But you still have to be indoors much of the time, so learning more about indoor air quality in Gainesville, FL and how to improve it is extremely worthwhile.

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Duct Cleaning and Other Ways to Help With Allergy Season

Monday, March 23rd, 2020

family-in-yard-before-frame-houseSpring brings warm weather, but it’s also the season when people who have allergies to grass and pollen suffer from hay fever the most. The warmer weather causes plant blooms, and the pollen count shoots into the stratosphere. It can even be an uncomfortable time for non-allergy and asthma sufferers.

You can take various medications to help deal with the symptoms that come with allergy season. There are also ways to attack the source of the problem, at least inside your own home. One of the most effective of these services is duct cleaning in Gainesville, FL, particularly if you’ve never arranged for this service before.

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Looking for Better AC Efficiency in a New Unit?

Monday, March 9th, 2020

touchstone-new-ac-yorkWarm weather settles in early during the year for Florida—if it can ever be considered to have “gone away” in the first place. If you’re looking to change your air conditioning in Gainesville, FL because you have an ancient money-guzzling cooling system, early spring is the best time to schedule the work. Speak to our technicians, and they’ll help you get started finding the right new unit with no rush.

If the money you’ve spent on cooling your house the past few years has irritated you, then we’ll guide you toward an AC unit with better efficiency. Below we’ll look at a bit more at the quest for an energy-efficient choice.

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The Top 5 Reasons to Schedule a Pre-Season AC Tune-Up

Monday, February 24th, 2020

AC-repair-contractorSpring arrives officially next month. And in Florida, it’s already unofficially here. Time to prepare your home’s central air conditioner for another sweltering summer slam. How do you do that? Call your reliable professional HVAC technician (spoilers: that’s us) and tell them you want a pre-summer AC tune-up and inspection.

There are many reasons for pre-season tune-ups, and we’ve picked the five biggest. So put your hands together, we’re counting down…

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How Furnaces Have Gotten Better and Better

Monday, January 13th, 2020

gas-burnersOnce upon a time, the most common furnace for a house was a ghastly monstrosity known as an “octopus furnace.” It sat in the basement of the home, burned coal, and distributed heat by letting it rise through large pipes that crawled up through the house. Inefficient, unreliable, costly, dangerous.

Obviously, furnaces have come a long way since then. We don’t have old octopus furnaces around in Florida (we rarely have basements!), but the changes in furnace technology over only the last two decades are impressive. If you have an older furnace (15 years or more), we recommend looking into the new models with their superior efficiency.

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Is Duct Sealing Really Beneficial?

Monday, December 30th, 2019

inside-corrugated-air-ductThe ductwork in the modern home is often substandard, as if the original builders of the house didn’t put much thought into the placement or materials of these important air channels. We’ve seen plenty of poor ductwork in the more than two decades we’ve worked on HVAC systems. This is why duct sealing in Gainesville, FL is one of the most important services we can provide for a ventilation system. Leaks are much more likely to occur in poorly designed and installed ducts. But even quality ductwork can develop leaks.

Professional duct sealing is the only way to effectively close air leaks along ductwork. A few leaks may not sound like it’s that big a deal, but we can assure you that duct sealing is highly beneficial, no matter the number of leaks.

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Bettering Winter Indoor Air Quality

Monday, December 2nd, 2019

air-filterMaking it through winter in comfort here in North Central Florida is rarely a problem—at least when it comes to keeping warm. Low temperatures are rare, and heating systems don’t have to stretch hard to get the job done.

But there’s another aspect to comfort that can become trouble during our winters, and that’s the quality of the air in our homes. Because our houses are usually well-sealed against the outdoor air (making it easier to stay warm, even without the heater running), there’s little chance of fresh air currents to sweep out the stale indoor air and its pollutants. Your house may end up with stuffy air filled with dust, lint, germs, chemicals, and other unwelcome particles.

However, you have ways to improve your air quality during winter. Our technicians offer indoor air quality services that can make your air quality as pleasant as your indoor temperatures.

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