Like any product you want to keep in good shape, HVAC equipment requires proper care in order to give you the maximum benefits. Trained technicians can service your heating and cooling products to make sure they're working at their top potential and help prevent more expensive repairs in the middle of the hottest or coldest months of the year.
Reach out to Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc. at 803-265-4208 to get a comprehensive quote on replacement equipment.
Two-stage heating enables the furnace to heat at two levels of output: high for cold winter days and low for mild ones. Around 80 percent of the time, your homes heating requirements can be met when the furnace is kept on the low setting, enabling your two-stage unit to operate for longer periods of time. Two-stage units also give more even heat distribution, fewer temperature swings, quiet operation, better air filtration and energy efficiency.
Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc. has a variety of brands and models that are more efficient than ever and make it easier to find the correct solution for your home. There are innovative systems that make heating or cooling your home more automatic, operating similar to cruise control to make minor adjustments to help meet your comfort demands with energy efficiency. Give us a call at 803-265-4208 to learn more about the technology we carry.
Modern furnaces are designed with a host of innovative features older furnaces don't have. Todays heating systems offer more even heating and are better at governing airflow. Although the air coming out of your vents may seem cooler than your old furnace, the airflow is much better and more efficient.
Another bonus of modern furnaces is their ability to operate with other HVAC products as part of a high-efficiency whole home comfort system. When combined with a high-efficiency air conditioner, furnace blowers can more easily accommodate add-on cooling. Other innovations, such as Precise Comfort technology and variable speed motors, will help your furnace operate more efficiently and quieter than ever.
The Department of Energy recently boosted the minimum efficiency levels for air conditions, and the standards vary by region. Contact Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc. at 803-265-4208 to find out the requirements for the West Columbia area.
Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc. offers a number of HVAC products with high-efficiency ratings, which can help lower the amount of energy they require to run. Aside from picking products that have received Energy Star® certification or achieved high SEER ratings for air conditioners or AFUE ratings for furnaces, you might consider the following:
- Making certain that your system receives regular maintenance by a trained technician can keep your system operating at its top performance.
- Zoning systems enable you to heat or cool only certain areas of your home, so you wont have to pay to heat or cool spaces that aren't used.
- Using a programmable thermostat allows you to set the temperature in your home around your schedule. They can be programmed to give you the comfort you want when you're home and increase or decrease the temperature while you're not around, helping you save on utility costs.
Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc. is well-known in the West Columbia area and you can trust them to provide quality home comfort products. We offer a variety of innovative and high-quality products. We are dedicated to providing customers high-quality service and will make sure you find the appropriate solution for your home.
Improving your home's indoor air quality starts with four basic strategies:
- Poor indoor air quality leaves your home with lots of air pollutants floating around. So, to increase IAQ, the first step is to get rid of as many pollutants as possible. You can easily do this by cleaning and vacuuming at least weekly, frequently washing linens and storing cleaning products safely.
- Proper insulation is great for keeping your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer, but it also makes it difficult for airborne pollutants to escape. We have products that help swap stale air for fresh, filtered outside air.
- Good ventilation and regular cleaning are a start, but air filters, germicidal lights and purification systems take your IAQ to the next level by capturing microscopic particles, killing germs and eliminating particles while destroying chemical vapors.
- Programmable thermostats will help control the humidity levels and temperature to help avoid particles and germs from building up while also keeping your home comfortable.
We recommend that you meet with one of the professionals at Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc. and have them assess your home and current indoor comfort system. We can help you choose which equipment will be best suited to meet your needs.
Most homeowners believe that air conditioners make it cooler in your house, but it actually removes the heat from inside your home, moving the hot air outside. That hot air goes across a cold indoor coil where refrigerant in the lines sends the heat to the coil in your outdoor unit, releasing it outside. This cycle continues until the indoor temperature reaches the temperature you set on your thermostat.
Due to the amount of energy used by heating and cooling systems, the Department of Energy (DOE) raised the minimum efficiency levels for air conditioners, heat pumps and packaged units manufactured after January 1, 2015. These levels are determined by region and carry varying requirements based on your location. Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc. can help answer any questions you may have regarding these minimum requirements and let you know what choices are available when you're searching for a replacement system.
You can find these numbers on a nameplate or sticker that is near your systems service panel. The sticker should be white with black letters and have both of these numbers located around the top of the sticker. M/N signifies model number while S/N is your serial number.
There are a couple ways to determine what size system will best suit your home, but the most reliable way to size a system is by having your local Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc. technician come out and perform a load calculation. This calculation considers your homes: square footage, insulation value, amount of insulation, and a handful of other factors.
The short answer is Yes. Dirt and other debris can impede your systems ability to work efficiently. For heat pumps, it is normal to have frost or ice on them during the winter, but they also are built with defrost controls to ensure they work efficiently in those types of conditions.
Two-stage cooling means that your cooling unit has two levels of operation. When summer is in its hottest weeks, the high setting is used, and when its cooler or more mild, the low setting gets the job done.
Typically, the lower setting can take care of your cooling needs, but even when the high setting starts up, you may not realize it because it can generate such even temperatures for your comfort. This can also mean a quieter cooling system, greater efficiency and improved humidity control.
Your system could be freezing up for a couple of reasons, but the most common are dirty filters, low refrigerant, a dirty evaporator coil and/or a faulty blower motor. Changing a filter is something any homeowner take care of; however, you should call the professionals at Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc. at 803-265-4208 for other problems or if you have other questions or concerns.
Picking the best thermostat for your cooling system comes with a lot of considerations. Thats why its nice to have such a great variety of choices from Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc.. Whether you're in the market for for a programmable or non-programmable thermostat or want to join the smart home trend, there are a variety of thermostats that you have to choose from. Some thermostats will depend on what type of heating and cooling system you have, but the experts at Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc. will be able to help determine what options meet your needs and your budget.
Heat pumps can be a tad confusing due to their name, but they actually meet both your heating and cooling needs all year. When its hot outside it operates like an air conditioner in that it removes heat from your home, but when it cools off, the process gets turned around and it collects heat from outside and brings it inside. Heat pumps are also very efficient, and may produce up to two or three times more heat than the energy it uses.
Of course we advise you to also replace your indoor system, but this is why:
- All outdoor cooling systems have a matching indoor unit that they are created to work with to ensure efficient performance. When they aren't paired with the other part as a total system, efficiency may be affected.
- As with most products, advancements have brought about newer, more efficient ways of doing things. Heating and cooling systems are no different. These improvements most importantly include better heating and cooling efficiency, but also include improved air handling, filtering and noise pollution reduction to name a few.
- Heating and cooling systems that are more than 10-15 years old normally need to be replaced. Not only do they consist of outdated technology, but they are also less efficient than todays models. Buying a new indoor unit at the same time means you'll have a matched system to provide you with better comfort and efficiency for years to come.
The communication module on your home energy system may send the system's performance records for each module to a website. You may visit this website to learn more about the system's status, energy production and environmental benefits. The site also shows carbon offsets as it happens.
In most areas, rain will naturally clean the solar modules. If you live in a dusty or industrial area, periodically spraying the modules with water could help improve performance. However, detergents and high-pressure hoses should never be used to clean solar modules.
The right thermostat for you depends on your heating and cooling equipment. Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc. offers programmable and nonprogrammable thermostats that can help increase the efficiency of your HVAC systems. Check out our available products or contact us at 803-265-4208 to learn more.
Heating and cooling can make up a significant amount of your utility bill. The innovative and high-efficiency heating and air conditioning products available from Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc. can help reduce these costs. If you're looking for a new heating or cooling system, look for products with high SEER ratings for air conditioners and AFUE ratings for furnaces. SEER and AFUE are a measure of system efficiency, and the larger the number, the more efficient the product. Besides purchasing a new home comfort system, consider these additional factors:
- Is your system typically maintained? Whether it's a furnace or air conditioner, HVAC systems will work more efficiently after regular maintenance checks.
- Could your home use a zoning system? If there are spaces in your home that are rarely used, a zoning system will allow you to heat or cool only the most used areas of your house.
- Are you taking advantage of a programmable or smart thermostat? According to the U.S. Department of Energy, programmable thermostats may decrease your heating costs by up to 35 percent, and your cooling costs by up to 25 percent.
Zoning your home allows you you the the comfort of sectioning portions of your home and control the temperature differently in each area. Zoning equipment is ideal for when you have spaces of your residence that are rarely used or when you and your family are always in disagreement of what the temperature in each area of your home should be. Zoning systems are nearly silent and efficient, allowing you more control over the comfort of your home. Learn more about the zoning equipment available from Tri City Fuel & Heating Co., Inc..